and tomorrow, i dig into the way to cook

So here I am, sitting in my bed in California, watching Julie and Julia. I'm a little more than half way through now and I absolutely love it. I was familiar with Julia Child before this movie. We own at least one of her books and she's somehow one of those strange little characters in my memory that seems to sit in a place of some honor for no particular reason I can think of.

But the thing I'm really digging about this movie (aside from the food)? The female friendships. How fabulous, Julia's friendship with her sister and Simone Beck and Avis. Julie's female friendships are less noted, there is the woman in the cubicle next to her and then the friend she goes to the bar with. The female friendships are wonderful and fascinating and not about backstabbing, lying, or catfighting, which female friendships are so often shown as being. And I love it. To be honest, while my friendships have not all been completely free of fighting or irritations (certainly, I live with four very dear friends and as much as I love them, you cannot live with a person and not sometimes want to strangle them. Such is life!), by in large they are lovely things. It is true, I have few male friends and the ones I do have I love dearly but to have strong female friendships working from a base of empowering, loving, and trusting each other is truly a wonderful thing.

I'm just so surprised and delighted to see female friendships that are so positive and loving. They make the male characters almost incidental at times (though god, I do love Paul Child) which is rather a change from your average film where the women are practically interchangeable, without any real characteristics unique to themselves.

So, thus far, Julie and Julia? Love, love, LOVE. And now I'm digging out my Julia Child cookbooks and planning to get down to kitchen business tomorrow or Thursday.

All is as it should be.