Who shot Julia Child?

I ran across some link to a story about Julia Child, I think it was a link to a recipe of her's, and there was a video about the woman who did the blog that became the book that became the movie that I didn't see.  But the clip had a lot of footage of Julia from "The French Chef."  I love food.  I love cooking.  I read the Julia Child book (can't remember the title, of course) and loved it and as soon as I have a spare hundred bucks I'm going to buy Mastering the Art of French Cuisine.  Until then, I'll grab what I can off the internet.

Anyway, I'm watching this video, and Samantha comes in, and she starts asking about who Julia Child was.  I tell her she was the first real celebrity chef, before that was even a term, and how she had a tremendous influence on the way we cook food today.  "Is she still alive?" Sam asked.  No she passed away, but she led a very full life.  Pause.  "Did somebody shoot her or did she just die?"

Okay, at first, I really wanted to laugh at that one, but I didn't.  The idea of someone wanting to shoot Julia Child, well, it's going to make a hilarious short for you tube.  Somebody get on that.  So I do my best to explain the concept of 'natural causes' and how after a certain point, when someone is very old, they die.  And as I'm explaining this to her, I wonder to myself, 'did somebody shoot her?  that's her first guess on how she died?  what the hell is this kid watching?  or hearing about?'

Yes, I let her watch TV, but I don't remember any episodes of "Phineas and Ferb" where Dr. Doofenshmirtz is busting caps in people all over Danville.   And I'm pretty sure these isn't a My Little Pony called 'Homicidal Molly' or Pistol Packin' Priscilla.

Of course, the enlightened parent would have calmly said, "that's interesting that you know someone can die from being shot.  How did you come to possess this tidbit of knowledge?"  But I can't stop thinking, "where the fuck did you pick that up?"  shows you were I am and on the enlightened parent continuum.   I'm higher than Joan Crawford but lower than Dr. Phil.

We watch "Cupcake Wars."  For those of you that haven't seen it, there is no actual warfare or gunplay.  We watch "This Old House" (coincidentally produced by Russ Morash, who produced The French Chef).  Then it hits me.

Rango.

We saw Rango.  Twice in the theaters.  We own the DVD.  I own the soundtrack.   (did it win for best animated movie, i'm out of the loop on that stuff).  And I thought it was wonderful.  the animation was superb, outdoing Pixar.  Great story, well written, Johnny Depp, brilliant.  I sometimes sing the theme song to Sam when we're rushing to school.  But it does take place in the Old West, if it was populated by vermin.  And there is shooting.  There is a lot of shooting.   And people get shot and die in the movie.  (I can only remember one, and it was a bird, but you get the idea).   

Now, according to the wife, this is the age (six) when girls start to get obsessed with death.  Pretending that mommy or daddy has died, funerals for the dolls, that kind of thing.  I haven't witnessed that yet in Samantha, but I guess we're starting down that road.

I feel bad.  Yes, I know I didn't sit her down and watch the extended cut of Peckinpaw's "The Long Riders" but I also didn't watch the movie first to make sure it was okay (something a more evolved parent would do.  Her friends father does that.  But how the fuck does he have time to go to the movies by himself?  And IF i had that kind of time, I would pick something I wanted.  AND I feel like I can't bring it up with her again because too much time has passed.  I'm sure the damage was limited, and hopefully this won't stop her from becoming the first female president of the united states.  A fifth grade teacher in our school is convinced this is her destiny.  I just want to be able to use her college money for a bass boat, but that's getting off topic.  And we're supposed to go see The Lorax on Friday.  Any advance word on what that contains?  Violence?  Nudity?  A viable third political party?  I'll have to roll the dice and hope I don't screw her up more than I already have.  I'll forward this post to her future therapist.

still here

It's amazing how things can get away from you.  I haven't written a post in a while, though I've meant to on many occasions.  I need to do it more.  It's good for me on a regular basis, like exercise, which I am also starting again this week.  Lots of great things happened this week, but I can only think of one thing to write about.

My dad is losing his mind.  Granted, I've thought that for the past forty years, but now, the picture is becoming tragically clear.  Recent things he has no memory of.  Recent like a day ago.  Losing things.  Getting lost.  Last week he went to a funeral.  Or he tried to go.  He got lost.  He wound up in another state.  I'm not making this up.  The last conversation we had about his health, he said, "I was never expecting to live this long."  Ok.  What the fuck does that mean?  'I had no plan before, so I'm just going with that'?  Later he tried to get me to promise to put a pillow over his head if he was suffering and couldn't do it himself.  For the record, your honor, I said no.  The funny thing is, now, he won't even remember asking me.

I hate to agree with him, but I'm surprised he's lasted this long too.  He led a very... take no prisoners kind of lifestyle, and many times I've heard the phone ring and thought to myself, "is this the call?"  He has a heart condition and more angioplastys (sp?) I'm sure he's got a permanent quick-connect access point in his left side.  He can't go for more than two hours doing anything without taking a nap.  He's been obese is along as I can remember, I hard core smoker until recently, and in my non-medical opinion has been over-medicating himself for the slightest twinge for years.  Maybe that's what's keeping him alive.   But I think what's contributed most to his present mental condition is his, I don't know, his receding from society, from life outside the walls of his house.  He doesn't go out, he doesn't like to socialize, he can't accept any stance on anything that isn't in complete alignment with his own thinking.  He doesn't take any classes or have any interest in learning anything new.  The only thing keeping his going is his wife.  Which is sweet in a way, and terrible in another.  "what if something ever happened to Mom," I asked him one time."  "Simple," he said.  "I would kill myself."  So you can see why I'm not really good at planning long term.

There's not much I can do about it.  My sister had an idea for him to get a dog.  Something that would get him walking regularly, get him out of the house, get him interacting with other humans.  I think it's a great idea, as long as he doesn't try to return in the first time it pees on the rug.  Patience is not one of his strong points either.

I didn't want this to turn into a blame-a-thon.  He's not perfect, he was dealt a particularly shitty hand early in life, and he did the best he could.  I'm going to miss him when he's gone.  But part of me feels like he's been gone for a while already.