Julie/Julia Project...an affair?!? really?

So, most people know that I want to go to culinary school one day - a small community class or possibly even an apprenticeship but I want to push my cooking to the next level. I love food so much... I love smelling it, making it, EATING IT, watching it, talking about it (constantly), reading about it... everything about food, I simply adore. To the left is a few books from my cookbook collection.

So there is no wonder why I was drawn to the movie Julie and Julia. Clearly a New York blogger that loves food and cooks it in her tiny apartment... can I love or relate to a character more???? Based on my
history with cooking, I was very familiar with Julia Childs; however I didn't know much about Julie Powell. So I decided to look her up and see what other projects she was working on and I VERY UNFORTUNATELY stumbled onto Powell's second book, Cleaving: a Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession, which details an affair she had after the first book's publication, as well as her experiences learning the butcher trade. WHAT!?! Even while married to her husband, she writes (about her REAL life affair) in Cleaving:

" gut-churning descriptions of phone sex with her lover ("I had nothing to go on but...the quickening of that wet slapping sound that barely reached the receiver), revels in the bruises he gives her ("The first time he slapped my face...I was bound up in trusses I'd given him"), and later tries to exorcise her demons through a joyless, anonymous pick-up ("What a pretty little whore you are")."
-- by Rebecca Marx, "the Village Voice" (read full article here)

In Julia and Julie, one of the major themes is love. Love between women that love food and their husbands that love their quirky food-loving wives. I related to this, because Mike has been the victim of many food projects and has encouraged my passion for years. But unlike Julia Childs, who stayed married to the love of her life until his death at the age of 92, Julie let the fame get to her (which is slightly hinted at in Julia and Julie) and began having affairs on the man that held her down the entire time. WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE?!? HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO HEAR THIS STORY?!? Fame, money, and power brings betrayal.

I know one thing - there are times I wonder if anyone is reading this blog. I want to YELL OUT - IS ANYONE THERE??? I get frustrated at times when I see that membership hasn't grown, no one comments or I just feel like an unsuccessful wannabe... I want success....I want it all, BUT NOT at the risk of losing love... from Mike, friends, family, God or myself...never. Keep "success"... in my life I will always choose love and loyalty.

Money...fame...a job..."success"...will not look out for you...always (Morrie says this in tuesdays with Morrie) and there is nothing better than knowing that there are people or a person in this world that will not leave...that is watching out for you.