History of Crushes

OK, So I've been holding onto this post for like a week until Blogger would let me post photos. But it still won't. So, I will just go with it anyway. But before I get to that, I thought I'd a quick recap of favorite (to me) PTOIT features:

Fun With Google: Will return to PTOIT whenever Blogger lets me post pictures.

Monkey Search 2006: The last development was when we discovered that the missing Red Fez Monkey pencil topper was indeed still out there somewhere. Even though I'd given up ever seeing him again, this new information gave Monkey Search 2006 new hope. But then...silence. No new news. No letters. No photos. There is no sign of that little guy. However, there is a new Red Fez Monkey in my life. My Intended bought be a two-inch ceramic monkey (wearing a red fez). And this one--hold on to your hats, people--actually smokes. There will be pictures ... you know, someday.

The Matt - Charissa Connection Campaign: Another photo-intensive feature, this effort to get my friend Charissa to meet Relient K's frontman will hopefully return in the next couple of weeks. No, Matt has not yet contacted Charissa, despite the video she made him. And all my wonderous photos of what a meeting between them would look like.

Now, on to today's thoughts:

Last week, I got to hear my Dad's version of my sister's "Meeting Neal Cotts" story.

In his version, Sisterwas so weepy and on the verge of blacking out at the presence of the White Sox reliever that my Dad had to almost push her over to him and then literally hold her over the bullpen wall to hand him her ticket to sign. (If only opponents got so weak-kneed at Neal's presence.)

Anyway, it got me thinking about celebrity crushes. My celebrity crushes really aren't that intense. They are pretty fleeting. And I don't even think they are really as romantic as they are admiration. And I find a common thread in my crushes--almost always my crush is on an actress' character, not her. Thus, my crushes aren't about actually wanting to meet or date that person, but more of just innocent thinking that I'd like to meet a real-life someone like that character. When I say innocent, I really mean it. I am, after all, still pretty much a 5-year-old in an adult's body. And my crushes still seem to be that innocent and naive as chasing around a girl on the playground, and not knowing why.

My first crush, and the girl who made me realize that girls are kinda cool, was Kelly Martin on Life Goes On. Sweet Little Becca. He cute bob hairdo, her little glasses (early on), and her downright sweetness. She started my thing for the girl next door. I didn't know why I found her so interesting, but I just knew that I did.

After Becca, I remember being in junior high or high school when the big Mighty Morphin Power Rangers craze hit. I never watched the show, but the ads and McDonalds promotions were everywhere. And so was the pink ranger (Amy Jo Johnson). And a second crush was born. Since I didn't watch any of the shows she was in (Rangers, Felicity), this crush actually wasn't about her character. She was just a cutie. And it's interesting: Because the crush was just based on looks, it was very fleeting. And then I moved on to two characters...

When Scream came out, I was shocked by how good the films was, and how darn lovable (and tough) Neve Campbell was. And a new crush developed. I loved Sidney. I wanted to protect her (or have her protect me). By the time, Scream 3 and her rash of other bad movies came out, I was over it....

And onto Monica Gellar (Courteny Cox). When Friends debuted, she was always my favorite. Even over cutie-putie Jennifer Aniston. I think it was how goofy, organized and manic she was on the show. She was a cool combination of funny-zany and responsible. I admired that mix.

After Monica and Neve, I had more of like mini-crushes. There was Thora Birch's clever and snarky character in Ghost World. There was Samantha Morton's sweet, determined, and gently loving mother character in In America. And Kelly Martin returned to TV on ER and my crush returned. She was still Little Becca to me. But all growns up. I took her death on ER pretty hard.

The only girl I've ever met after thinking she was neato from a far was singer Joy Williams. Yah, she was too young for me. And yah, this was again very much an innocent schoolboy crush. But, like everything else in my life, I enjoyed hamming it up. It's what I do for laughs.

Anyway, two funny stories with Joy:

1) I went to a banquet where every table had a CCM singer at it. I saw the table with Joy's placecard on it, and there were like 6 single guys already squating there. And it turned out, that right before the meal, the organizers moved her to another table. Hmmmm.

2) When I first met Joy, she was as sweet and effusive as could be. I didn't blackout or tear up or anything, but she did put her hand on my leg at one point to show sympathy (this is most womens' reaction to me) and I was like, "Holy crap."

Anyway, going through my History of Crushes has made me realize that I don't currently have any celebrity crushes. Instead, I guess my only crush is My Intended (ya, I should get points for that.)

But here's what's funny: I do see traces of some of these celebrity crushes in My Intended. She had one high school friend who always called her Becca for her resemblance to Kelly Martin. And lately, a few of us have joked that she can have Monica Geller-like moments. I think this history of crushes helped me identify the things that I'd really want in a woman. And I found The Intended. In her, I see the girl next door sweetness of Neve, Becca, and Joy. And the cleverness of Ghost World's Thora Birch, the cunning toughness of Neve's Sidney character, the strength and nuturing of Samantha Morton in In America and the faithful devotion of a Joy Williams.

So, that makes me believe my sister will find a guy with Neil's scruffiness and increasingly ineffective left-arm. (That's not you, Derfman.)