I Want To Be Julia Child!

Yes, that's right, I want to be the Julia Child of literature! Or, if she doesn't suit your tastes, maybe Mario Batali or Emeril Lagasse or even Betty Crocker! What do all of these have in common? Yes, they were, or are, famous, and popular, chefs. But, the question is, why? What made them famous? If I can grasp that-if I can capture it, and apply it to this, to MyndFood-then I believe that I can be a successful writer.

Julia Child, each of these others, too many more to list-they achieved success in the cooking field by, first, knowing how to create dishes that were pleasing to taste-that people enjoyed eating! They knew which ingredients to put together, and exactly how to do it, to cause people to enjoy the dish. But, it took more than that; taste is only one aspect of good cooking. The other is presentation: they were able to create these savory dishes, and present them in a manner that was visually pleasing. It must look appetizing before anyone is going to get anything out of it.

Can this be applied to my chosen field? I believe it can. I want to be a successful purveyor of mental nutrition-of word fodder, specifically. First, I have to be able to create something that is appealing-that looks good. This is good writing-you know, punctuation, sentence structure, vocabulary-all the the things that, if applied correctly, keep the dish from looking sloppy. I believe that, to some degree, I have that-but perhaps not. I am ALWAYS eager for you, my beloved taste-testers to critique me. Please do-often! But, I need more than just that; it has to taste good! Can I tell a story? That's the question, really! I can put together the best looking dish on the planet, but if it's bland, or even worse-terrible, then it's not very successful! So, I ask you, faithful readers, how does it taste? Let me know!

But, I think that there is one thing missing here-something that we haven't captured, that is common to each of these successful chefs. It's simple, really-when you think about it. The truth is, you can create the most visually appealing dish, and it can taste like heaven on earth, but if you don't let anyone taste it, then you're not very successful, nor will you be! So, this is the real answer to a comment regarding a previous post. An anonymous reader asked, "Can BLOGGERS be humble"? This is my response: I can't speak for the entire blogging community-that would certainly be egotistical! But I can speak for myself. Yes, if, anonymous, you say that bloggers are arrogant or egotistical because the very nature of what they do-blogging-is self-centered, or, as you said, "it's all about them," then perhaps I am not humble. Because, yes, this blog is about me (and the things that make me me-like family, friends, literature, music and the like), but yes, it is self-centered. Why? Because this is my testing ground; this is where I lay my various dishes out for you to sample. If I don't, then I'll never be as good as I might, because I'll never get independent feedback regarding the quality of my dishes. But, more importantly, even if I can lay out a beautiful dish, and it tastes fantastic, if I don't let anyone eat it, then it's just a wasted effort! So, for now, O cherished diners, you are the ones who I get to feed!

So, belly up ladies and gents! Free food-free fodder for everyone! Get it while it's hot! Plenty to go around!

Oh, yeah...how's it taste?