The Year of Reading Proust

No readings as yet of Proust, but I've been reading The Year of Reading Proust, and it's actually not about Proust when what happens during the year the author is reading Proust. Talk about being several levels removed from reading Proust! But I am enjoying the book because the writer is about my age and speaks to me, again on several levels and I like her sense of humor and sense of life.

Actually, since someone has already been there, done that, I am considering my options. Alain du Bouton also has a similiar Proust book out. That I have even read. Duh! Au revoir, mind.

Standing in line at the supermarket, I'm thinking a much more ORIGINAL stunt would be A Year of Checkout Counter Magazine Diets, as four or five new ones pop up each week.

Could I hack it? Probably not. Would I lose weight? At least a little. The problem is, although I like most foods and am basically omniverous, there is "stuff" I will not touch. Margarine, for one. Non-fat half and half. Total Yuck! Most diet foods. Have you ever seen an "All Natural" label on Egg Beaters, for example? Diet foods tend to be artificial ingredients to the max. Substitue chemicals for calories. Leaner living thru chemistry. Not even a Hobson's Choice? Why poison yourself? Read the labels.

What amuses me no end is that for years all the lipophobes were scarfing down margarine which turned out to be FAR worse for you that butter.

Maybe I should do food in Proust? Besides tea and madeleines is there any? There sure were enough receptions and dinner parties. Maybe that would work. And maybe old Marcel never says a word about what was actually served? Is that even possible with All Those Words.

We shall see.

Odette says, "If you diet, don't eat a lot of artificial foods with chemicals for ingredients. Eat less of everything except fruits and veggies. Eschew trans fats. If it ain't all natural, don't eat it. Bon Appetit!

Little Miss Sunshine

The character of the brother who attempted suicide in the movie is the self-described "best Proust scholar in the U.S." At one point in the story, he bemoans the fact that no one reads Proust anymore and also states what a great writer Proust is. Amen. One finds Proust mentioned in the damdest places. The screenwriters obviously honed in on an author well-known but little read. That would be our boy Marcel. I have been doing my own writing of late, and haven't gotten into Total Proust Mode. But winter, and January cometh. Alors!