When Julie & Julia came out, everyone kept telling me I just had to see it. Why?

“You’re a blogger. You’ll love it!”

All that did was make me cringe.

Great, some new standard of wonderfulness to live up to that I likely never will.

Yet, even before the movie was released, when they were just showing previews, Julie & Julia had piqued my interest.

Cooking, Julia Childs (who I’d read some biographical info on for a Gale work project a few years back and couldn’t help but be inspired by), and blogging…yes, it certainly did have all the makings of a movie that would appeal to me. Throw in Meryl Streep (LOVE HER!) and Amy Adams (who I have yet to watch perform and not be enchanted by) and I knew sooner or later I’d cave and see the movie.

Oh, which reminds me why else I didn’t see it when it was in theaters. When it came out I was still in my “funk.” I had submitted so many stories and all had met with rejection. (Okay, not all. In some cases the pubs went out of business. Others were MIA…and still are.)

The last thing I needed reminding of was my yet once again failed attempts at getting more things published. BAH! (And, no, my past publishing “successes” proved little consolation. All I was focused on was why I couldn’t repeat that process!)

But little did I know there were major circumstances out of my control. Namely, the planets truly were not lined up in my favor.

I’ll never forget writing an article for Families.com a coupe months before I quit in 2008. I talked about the black cloud I was under and just could not seem to shake. I’d fallen away from following astrology at that time. If I’d been on top of it I would’ve known about Saturn and all the chaos it was causing…and still had yet to cause. Truly, I was jinxed by a black cloud. Or, more aptly, a black planet.

Saturn was a HUGE factor in my “funk.” When Julie & Julia first came out it was still “infecting” me. Seeing the movie back then might have only served to aggravate me more than inspire me.

But Saturn’s since moved on and with it so has my black cloud and my funk. When I finally saw Julie & Julia last weekend I was in a good place mentally. I could receive the movie’s message as it was intended.

If you’ve seen it, it’s kind of fairytale-ish in its own way, isn’t it? Which appeals to me. I like fairytales. I believe in happy endings. Or, rather, I want to believe they’re at least possible.

That Julie had this idea to write a blog, and it ended up generating interest which lead to a book and a movie deal…it doesn’t get much more fairytale-ish than that.

But I liked that it showed the ups and downs both Julie and Julia faced. Julia Childs wasn’t an immediate, overnight success.  She had her own adversity to face and challenges to overcome. Julie, too, wasn’t an instant hit.

In fact, the scene where she got her first comment, her first non-mom comment…I laughed and cheered for her. I remember my first non-Families.com fellow blogger comment, a.k.a. from a reader…WOW! What a feeling! There’s little that compares to some faceless stranger you’ve never met taking the time to comment on your words. Amazing.

But the most fun I had watching the movie was that both women had dreams in their hearts and passions to pursue. Ones that motivated them to get up every morning and to shut out the naysayers.

They were their own knights in shining armor. They saved themselves and created their own happily ever afters on their own terms. That’s awesome!

Those are the kinds of stories I like most. It’s inspiring to see people living “better than they ever dreamt dreams coming true” lives. All because they stayed true to their Authentic Selves.

And more and more I’m fascinated by bloggers who make a name for themselves with their blogs, are used as experts in magazines and on TV shows, have huge followings, make money via their blogs, get book deals, etc…

From the time I could put pen to page and let loose my imagination, I’ve always had this idea I would write world-renowned novels. That’s how I would make my mark.

But my dad always used to encourage me to pursue non-fiction.

“Ick. So not me. You, like, have to give facts and stuff.” (This was during my Valley girl phase, but it’s the most telling description of how I felt about non-fiction.)

But in my early thirties something weird started happening to me. I started having this itch to write something…else. Something that stretched me. Something deeper. Something that might matter.

Then I learned about blogging…such a wonderfully freeing form of writing. And come to find out people were making their marks that way.

Could I be one of them? Did I dare try?

I held off for a long time, but when the opportunity to write for Families.com came along, it showed me “Yes, Courtie, there is a blogging Santa Claus!”

It reminds me of the chant in the 2004 movie version of Peter Pan. When Tink’s near death but Peter and Wendy and all the rest start saying, then shouting with abandon, “I do believe in fairies! I do. I DO!”

They resurrect Tink and breathe new life into her.

That’s what blogging has done for me. I’ve “met” some amazingly wonderful “faceless strangers” who I still haven’t met in real life, but it doesn’t matter. They’re kindred spirits and I count them among my dearest friends.

The one who comes to mind first and foremost is Jade Walker. She started following my Marriage posts at Families. It didn’t take long before I looked forward to what she would say.

One thing led to another and we started chatting via email. Next thing I knew she was sending me story ideas. Now we exchange birthday cards, presents, she sent me amazing gifts to boost me through my cancer days…Basically, she’s become a good friend.

And then there’s the friends I’ve made since starting up Haunt Jaunts, like Autumnforest, Julie, and Patty. Autumnforest was the first winner in my Halloween Blog Party but you know what she did? She ended up sending me a gift! A very cool ghost hunting game. And now it’s not uncommon for us to chat via emails about our writing aspirations…among other things.

Julie leaves very thoughtful comments and exudes a balance and charm that never fails to bring me comfort. And Patty…if she stumbles on a neat site she shares it with me.

My blogging may not have generated income, book deals or media appearances, but I’ll tell you what…it’s certainly generated something equally priceless, if not more so: friendships.

And these friendships have done wonders for my soul. These ladies have breathed life into my Tink.

So everyone who said I just had to see Julie & Julia was right after all. It made me reflect on all the good that’s come of my own blogging –and all the dreams still yet to come true!

What has the world come to that any bad thing that happens almost immediately spawns a conspiracy theory? And how is it I’m married to a paranoid conspiracy theorist?

9/11 CONSPIRACY THEORY

I’ll never forget my shock when, after I spent the whole day glued to the tube on September 11, 2001, Wayne came home, watched for half an hour (he’d heard about it but hadn’t seen any of the footage yet), and came out of his semi-catatonic state (which was a reaction I expected) to announce, “This all seems a bit strange. Too concocted. It’s funny Bush gets in office and then this happens. Seems like a great excuse for us to get back to Iraq.”

“What?” I asked stunned. “You’re crazy. Four planes just got hijacked by terrorists. What does this have to do with Bush or Iraq?”

Yet, that’s what happened. Even though Iraq didn’t directly have anything to do with 9/11, we did end up back over there –using 9/11 semi-indirectly as a means of getting there. And the conspiracy theorists have had a field day with 9/11 cover-up theories ever since.

So, even before he heard any of them, he’d already developed his own. That’s always kind of freaked me out. (Well, when he very first said something I thought I must be married to one of the most cynical men in the world. But now since some stuff has played out like how he predicted even back on 9/11/2001, I wonder if I’m not married to a genius.)

Which made his revelation this week first stun me, then give me pause, then freak me out.

HAARP AND HAITI

Given his history, I shouldn’t have been surprised when he started hypothesizing the earthquake in Haiti was part of some sort of conspiracy. But then he started talking about it involving HAARP and possibly Venezuela. (The last thing he needed was a show like Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory to fuel his imagination. The HAARP one especially bothered/intrigued him and he hasn’t stopped talking about it since.)

Still, hoping to maintain some semblance of rationale in our household, I responded, “You’re absolutely nuts. 9/11 I’ll give you. There might be some funny business there, because some of the stuff is suspicious. But purposely creating a massively devastating earthquake? I’m sorry, babe. It sounds ridiculous, but even if it’s not…I’m not sure I want to live in a world where people unleash that kind of destruction on purpose. That’s just plain frightening.”

“I know it sounds crazy, but check it out. I’m not the only one to think this. I’ll show you.”

Sure enough, he popped “Haiti conspiracy” into Google and tons of links came up. Including ones speculating HAARP is involved and “helping out” in Haiti gives the American armed forces closer access to Chavez in Venezuela.

Huh?

IMPLICATIONS

So I don’t know which freaks me out more…that he automatically begins to figure out who could benefit and why when disasters strike, or that there are others with the same line of thought.

Because if there are others thinking that, maybe there’s something to it. Especially if stream of consciousness and universal one-mindedness theories are accurate. Maybe Wayne and his conspiracy cohorts tuned in to the cosmic frequency that generated the initial thought, which then created the action,  in the first place.

Now that is some scary shit. (Pardon my French.)

MY THEORIES

However, Wayne inspired me to do some conspiracy theorizing of my own. Here’s what I came up with:

1. Now we know where Tiger Woods went and what he’s been up to. Wayne’s always a big believer in the “wave this hand to distract you from what the other one is doing” tactic. (He’s forever questioning why the media covers certain stories in depth. He always assumes they’re trying to divert our attention away from something else, something bigger.) Well, Tiger was the big story. And everybody wondered where he went. I think Tiger did the whole wave the hand thing. He needed a big story, and he knew HAARP could deliver so he stole away to Alaska and…BAM! Next thing you know there’s an earthquake in Haiti and no one’s talking about Tiger Woods anymore!
2. It is the start of the Zombie Apocalypse. Yesterday my friend Autumnforest wrote on her blog about a subject near and dear to my heart: Surviving a Zombie Attack. I think about zombies all the time. I’m always watching for signs a zombie apocalypse may be starting. What sort of thing would start that ball rolling? Some kind of disease most likely. What better place for the infection to begin but a place with voodoo and zombies already in its lore? Then add in the tragedy of all those dead bodies…. I’m just saying, I’d be super suspicious if the news starts running stories like “It’s a miracle! After 10 days survivors emerge from the rubble in Haiti!” I’ll be watching very closely for signs the “survivors” aren’t zombies!

Yes, call me crazy. At least I know I’m being nuts and ridiculous. (Sort of. I’ve got my Zombie Survival Guide, which Wayne teased me mercilessly about. But like I always tell him, “We’ll see who’s laughing when you’re coming to me for advice on surviving the zombies!)