This weekend, with temperatures dipping to -18°C and both Jess and I playing a symphony of coughing and sniffling noses, we thought we’d give the iTunes movie rental a whirl.  The way it works is pretty nice, though I think it should be cheaper – we won’t get into that right now.

The rental was $3.99 USD, and you get 28 days to start watching the movie.  After you start it, you have 24 hours before it’s deleted.  Not a bad deal, especially for something you’re not interested in watching more than once or twice.  Especially considering the purchase price of $14.99USD. 

We decided on Julie & Julia – A movie about a woman who had originally intended to become a writer and had previously abandoned a novel she was writing, who is now working a government job in New York City.  She’s tired of never finishing anything she really wants to acomplish and feels overshadowed by her friends’ successes while at the same time disgusted by the fact that they have become self-absorbed and distant due to those career successes. 

Already someone who enjoys cooking, and has achieved a moderate level of proficiency, she decides to assign herself the challenge of cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook within one year (365 days), and blog about the experience.

The movie depicts the lives of the two women – the present day Julie, and Julia Child as she writes the book and deals with the challenges of establishing herself as a professional. 

I found that I related very closely to the main character.  I, too, had original aspirations towards being a writer, I enjoy cooking, and rarely finish anything I have started.  In fact – that was part of my inspiration to stick with Taekwondo for as long as I have – and I can’t say I regret it! 

So the movie spoke to me, personally, and has helped inspire me to revive both my writing efforts through this blog, and my dwindling efforts in the kitchen.  Before the movie, I had even talked about doing something very similar – cooking a different recipe from a cookbook every day – but never got around to doing it.

There are so many things in life that can easily distract us from living our lives.  Things that distract us from what’s really important, and from realizing who we are.  As a person with widely varied interests, my original intent with this blog was to chronicle my explorations down many different paths.  As the title of this blog implies: I have many interests, but few specialties.  I hope I can live up to my own expectations of trying more new things and sharing those experiences through this online journal. 

I also hope that, while doing so, I don’t lose sight what is most important, which is not so much just to have the experiences, as to share them.