In the book-turned-movie Julie and Julia, the character played by Amy Adams blogged about her pursuits to model the work of her idol, Julia Child. She shared her joys and frustrations as she plunged fearlessly into the metaphoric bouillabaisse of gourmet French cooking. In her daily blog entries, she assessed her own success or failure to meet each challenge.
My idols are good writers. They range from Pulitzer Prize winning authors (John Kennedy Toole) and news journalists (Helen Thomas) to skilled story tellers (Craig Dees) and clever bloggers (Carla Curtsinger of The Sticky Egg).
I especially love humor writers. Erma Bombeck is my Julia Child. If I were to embark on a project à la Julie and Julia, it would be terribly humbling. I dare not even try to model Erma’s artistry. Even so, as I look back on my 50 years, it would be tempting to wonder whether I suffered as many pitfalls and pratfalls as I did just so I could amuse my friends with stories of my own foibles.
Even though I am the child of two very funny people, one a professional humorist, my true talent lies not in producing humor but rather in passionately appreciating it. And while this blog may be a platform for evangelizing about delicious prose, I hope you’ll also allow me to also tell an occasional personal story in homage to this dear icon.
Word Nymph 
Nothing says Passover like briskit. No one ever mentions that when the Jews fled Egypt with nothing but matzohs on their backs, engraved on the matzohs was a kick-ass recipe for a kick-ass briskit!