I Was Not Picturing Julia Roberts When I Read Eat, Pray, Love

Admit it, you weren't either.

Call me stuck in the 80s, but I saw her more as one of the Elizabeths. Elizabeth McGovern (from her She's Having a Baby days) or Elizabeth Perkins (somewhere between About Last Night and He Said, She Said). Possibly Elisabeth Shue, post Cocktail but pre-Leaving Las Vegas. (Facebook friends suggested more modern picks Anne Heche or Naomi Watts.)

But Columbia Pictures decided to make the movie starring Julia. For ratings perhaps? The book wasn't exactly a riveting plot twister, as much as I enjoyed it.

I just can't imagine Julia Roberts lying on her bathroom floor bemoaning her unhappy marriage. Or gaining 25 lbs. in Italy. Or meditating for days on end in India.

I can't, in fact, stop picturing her blissfully happy in her marriage to camera man Daniel Moder, living in Taos with her three conspicuously-Hollywood named kids - Phinnaeus, Hazel and Henry.

Either that, or I'm trying to shake the image of her as a female escort, accepting that beautiful necklace from Richard Gere with her genuine Julia-only laugh, or listening to her Walkman in the bubble bath, singing a bad Prince song.

I bet author Elizabeth Gilbert, while she maintains in interviews she is honored, agrees that Julia is just a little bit too perfect to play this role perfectly. Nonetheless, I can't wait to see the movie.

An Internet Love Story

A recently divorced friend of mine has fallen in love.

The interesting thing about the story is that she and her new love have never met. In fact, they've only spoken on the phone 4 times. They correspond entirely via email and text, but they do it incessantly. More nights than not, they fall asleep (in their respective beds), laptops beside them, emailing back and forth into the wee hours of the night.

Theirs is a very cerebral, heady love. Said friend tells me that they aren't caught up in appearances (obviously), nor do they get tripped up by the nuances of verbal conversation (cadence, tone, etc.). Theirs is a love affair of words, the written word that is.

According to her, by stripping away all of the external stuff (oh you know, that physical piece, the talking part), they have really, really, really gotten to know each other. I am intrigued.

Of course, there is a dark side. They do plan to meet in person, soon. They've shared photos, as you might have guessed. But my beautiful friend is afraid that in person she won't measure up. I told her that there is no magic camera that takes a picture of a person who really doesn't exist.

So, I'm pulling for them. I truly hope their long anticipated face-to-face meeting will play out like the internet version of Cinderella. After all, she barely knew Prince Charming when she dropped that shoe.