09 July 2008

Take the chapstick; put it on your lips

Were you to ask my friend, ‘Veggie Girl’, what my ‘crush’ type is, she would answer without pause: Girl Genius likes boys – young and pretty. She is right to an extent. They have to be of legal drinking age. I am not a cradle robber – geez! And they definitely have to be pretty. I don’t crush on boys who look like they’ve had a rough life experience. I also like them a little dorky looking – but in an ‘awww, he’s so sweet’ way! Think mid 90’s Weezer – not the stapler guy from Office Space.

Current crushes: Prince Harry; Ezra Koenig (of Vampire Weekend); Ashton Kutcher; Christian Bale; Zach Efron (in 4 months). Anyway – you get the picture.

In my long-term relationships, however, I have only chosen older (even if only by 6 months) and un-dorky. Okay – maybe that is not entirely true – but I have not committed to anyone younger than me. You see, there is a time and a place for commitment, and crushes are not the best choices – as the infatuation will most likely wane – (or he’ll try to wax philosophy with you and it takes all effort not to put your finger to his lips and say “Shhhh, you are just for pretty.”) Not that I would EVER say that to someone. Purely a hypothetical here, peeps!

This leads me to the inevitable question of “what type am I?” Personally, I see myself as the girl next door who is quirky – and always a ‘good friend’. Don’t misunderstand; I am well aware that everyone else sees me as a glamorous rockstar with boys beating down the door just to have a chance at being rejected by my amazing self. Still, I think a touch of modesty can be kind of sexy – so we’ll go with the belief that I am the quirky girl next door – use your imagination if you must!

So, it was with these thoughts that I told ‘surfer boy’ yesterday that everyone knows his type of girl and that he needn’t be ashamed of it. He tried to deny it and claimed that he had no ‘set type’ but he does. His protestations made me giggle aloud.

‘Veggie Girl’ likes intelligent, introspective men who are older. ‘Secret Crush Girl’ likes her men with a touch of chocolate. ‘Library Guy’ likes women who look like flower children and concert festival goers. The list goes on and on. We all have a ‘type’ – and most likely, we don’t deviate far from the ‘ideal’ when falling into the euphoria of infatuation. It’s why we like crushing on celebrities and royalty and interns. Because there is no emotional attachment – it’s just good, clean fun!

Luckily for me, and possibly for you, real love pushes the boundaries and melts away those silly typecasts . . . enabling us to see past the image and into the reality. But that topic is better saved for a later date.

PERSONAL NOTE TO A FRIEND: I told you so. . .

Eidetic Vision

Main Entry: ei·det·ic Pronunciation: I-'det-ik Function: adjective : marked by or involving extraordinarily accurate and vivid recall especially of visual images - an eidetic memory Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.