John & Julie & Julia

Julia Child made me a blogger.
     At the beginning of this year, I watched Julie & Julia. For those of you unfamiliar with the film, it concerns a young woman in Queens, Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams), who is feeling that her life has stagnated. To break out of her doldrums, she decides to cook her way through Julia Child’s tome, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in the course of a year - 524 recipes in 365 days - and to blog about the experience. The movie then jumps back to Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) in late-1940s Paris, who is also looking for something to do with her life. After several unsuccessful attempts at procuring an avocation, including hat making, she finally enrolls in the Cordon Bleu cooking school, where she sticks out like a broken drumstick as a tall, uncouth, loud American - who fearlessly attacks every cooking challenge.
     The story cuts back and forth between the stories of these two women, who both find fulfillment in their own ways in the act of cooking. Julia, after many struggles, writes her masterpiece and gets it published. Julie gains more and more followers for her blog, is profiled in the New York Times, and publishes a book about her year of cooking called Julie & Julia.
     The day after watching this film, I started this blog. I was truly inspired by the notion of sharing a passion - in my case, it happened to be jazz instead of Coq au Vin - by communicating with others online. And even though fame, fortune, and the New York Times have yet to come calling, I don’t regret it a bit. In fact, I’d like to encourage anyone reading this to start a blog. Whatever it is that you’re passionate about, share it. If you’re a visual artist, post your art. If you’re a musician, post your tunes. Writers, write. There’s an audience out there looking for you. And you’ll get to indulge your own sweet tooth for your subject every day. You can have your cake and blog about it too.