"Julie & Julia" & CultureGrrl: The Donation Connection

The real Julie and Eric Powell, taking a break from cooking, blogging, movie premieres (and editing)

At last, a hit movie about blogging!

I was thoroughly enjoying the entire "Julie & Julia" movie---the parts about the down-to-earth (and sometimes downtrodden) food blogger, Julie Powell, just as much as those about the celebrated progenitor of all those television cooking shows, Julia Child (in an over-the-top, hilarious Streep-ian metamorphosis). Suddenly, towards the end of the two hours, I experienced a jolting "did-I-really-hear-that?" moment.

Julie's husband Eric, whom she describes as a "saint" (for putting up with all that cooking and blogging) is identified, in passing, as an editor at Archaeology magazine.

Eric? Editor? Archaeology?

Could that really be CultureGrrl Donor 52 (not the sheikh; scroll down) from Long Island City (which I recognized, at the start of the movie, as the locale of the Powells' apartment)?

I must confess that I haven't memorized the names of all my benefactors (and I hadn't remembered "Powell") but Eric stood out for his editorial occupation and for the saintly note that he sent me right after clicking my "Donate" button. I had been tempted to ask him to let me publish his kind words at the time when I received them, but had managed to restrain myself.

As soon as I got home from the movie, though, I shot him an e-mail, and now I've gotten Eric Powell's permission to publish his note and to acknowledge how supportive he's been of the blogging life. He's not just Julie's saint, but also CultureGrrl's "patron" saint!

Here's what he had written to me in July:

I'm a big fan. Please don't stop blogging.

I keep trying to slow down my typing, with notable lack of success. Julie is also still blogging, here. Eric claims she "only blogs very occasionally now," but that's not how it looks to me---at least not lately. She's got a new topic, though---her life in the movies!

Her blogging life, as portrayed by actress Amy Adams, rang true to me---using the blog as an outlet, wondering if anyone's actually reading, gradually discovering that there's a growing, devoted audience (and adding a PayPal button to help buy more lobster!).

Neither Eric nor Julie got a cameo appearance, but NY Times writer Amanda Hesser did: She got to play herself, interviewing Julie for this article, which catapulted the amateur cook to fame, a contract for this book, and a movie about her improbable feat of cooking and blogging her way through Julia Child's magnum opus.

Can the CultureGrrl movie be far behind? They wouldn't even have to change the title very much: from "Julie and Julia" to "Lee and Celia"---the ghost in my apartment, who is a strong role model for strong women (and, like Julia, has also been in the Smithsonian!).

Maybe I need to blog my way through every American art museum. In the meantime, though, let's get practical: Are there any more Erics out there? Since we're on the subject of French cooking, how about clicking my "Donate" button from Paris? (Maybe my new fan base, Peoria? Just kidding!)

But seriously: My warm thanks go out to CultureGrrl Donor 66 from Westminster, CO.