I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier.

Last week I talked about my admiration for the work of that American icon, Julia Child.

I'm no foodie and yet I love her work.

As I said, one thing that I admire most about her is her unstoppable enthusiasm, her unself

conscious gung-ho attitude.

For many years, starting in the 1960s, she had a TV show on public TV called The French

Chef.

The show wasn't edited so people could see all the mistakes she made as she cooked.

In one show, Julia Child made a point that applies to cooking and also applies to life

generally.

When we see her trying and failing to demonstrate how to flip potatoes in a pan with just

a flick of the wrist.

When you flip anything, you really... you just have to have the courage of your convictions,

particularly for it's sort of a loose mass like this.

Well, that didn't go very well.

See, when I flipped it, I didn't have the courage to do it the way I should have.

But you can always pick it up if you're alone in the kitchen.

Who is going to see?

But the only way you learn how to flip things is just to flip them.

I love this because here she is, the expert chef, Julia Child on TV.

She tries to flip the potato.

She drops potato all over the stove.

...