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Mammograms — a Lifesaver or Modern Torture Device?
The trials and tribulations of life with tits
In 1983 during my junior year of high school, we were assigned a “how-to” speech. For some reason, I thought it would be hilarious to demonstrate how to make cookies using pre-made dough from a tube (a sensation that had only recently hit store shelves and which, at the ripe age of 16, I saw as a sign of the End Times). I thought it would be extra hilarious if I did my demo as Julia Child getting drunk, ruing the demise of real cooking. For good measure I threw in a blood-spurting injury. And no, creating a “character” was not part of the assignment. But I’ve always been captivated by Julia Child.
About two weeks ago, I found Julia, the 2021 documentary about Julia Child, directed and produced by Julie Cohen and Betsy West. An extraordinary testimony to a life well-loved, I highly recommend a watch. Child makes for an interesting subject, especially for any writer who has struggled to produce their work. Did you know that she spent nine years and experienced multiple publishing setbacks before having her first cookbook released? I didn’t.
The film also made far less of her childless marriage than did the 2009 drama, Julie & Julia, which — in my recollection anyway — found ways to shoehorn that fact in at every turn. But then, in…
