From ye olde Formspring: I’ve never introduced myself to you, in person at least. I think you are intelligent, attractive, a wonderfully acerbic wit, creative, enviable, enigmatic, intriguing, and constantly searching. What’s an ideal fella to you?
Hot dang! I like fellas who heap on the sweet words. That’s pretty much ideal. :) (<---- when I put an emoticon in an actual post, I mean it.) This question immediately made me think of this long, drawn-out dreamboy description I wrote in my diary many, many years ago. And, because I'm stalling on how to describe my current ideal fella AND I enjoy every opportunity to laugh at sweet little virginal teenage me and her sweet little virginal teenage worldview, I’d like to transcribe what I considered the perfect dude on June 16, 1997:
Tall, about 5’11” to 6’1″. Lean, but not skinny. Medium brown hair, amazing blue-green eyes, 5 o’clock shadow of light brown hairs.
His hair is a grown out bowl cut that wisps in and out of his face like Chris Hardwick’s. His jawline is perfectly chiseled and his voice is deep. It’s smooth and almost buttery. His laugh is infectious and boyishly cute. His smile is bright and radiant and reveals almost perfect teeth. His body is muscular, with only slightly defined pecs and a hint of a six-pack. A loose t-shirt hangs over his too-big-for-me-but-I’m-comfortable jeans that are cleverly buttoned just below the elastic wasteband [sic, yes I just sic’ed myself] of his plaid boxers. His feet are hidden beneath folds of denim, and are clad in scuffed looking Airwalks or Vans, probably close to a year old and borrowed from a friend. Inside this incredible-looking creature is a childish curiosity about the world in which he lives. He’s smart, but not in a conventional way. His grades are good (but not good enough for his parents) but he lacks scholastic enthusiasm. Often during class, he is caught drawing cartoons or sketching the teacher as the devil. (later edit: Or writing poetry.) He is a favorite among peers, but not because he’s popular or greatly desired. His popularity comes with his constant wish to be an individual and his incredible sense of humor. He is humble, never uttering a conceited word, and he is the most considerate being on earth. He treats his mother as if she were a porcelain doll, his father as a comrade.
This guy’s heart is open to all walks of life. He judges but not purposely or vindictively. His concience [sic!!!] forces him to always admit when he’s wrong; saying he’s sorry is never a problem.
When he loves, he loves with every fiber of his being. His is romantic, not afraid to share his feelings, or say what he means.
His dreams are vivid and shiny; mostly about fame, but he realizes the reality that covers them. He doesn’t shun the idea of marrying and having a family; it’s his #1 dream.
He’s multi-talented and loves all forms of art. Music is his companion, art is his friend, and his friends are the world to him.
But when he is in the mood for private-time [sic], he retreats to his room and daydreams of his love, and their future together.
He would never neglect her; she means the world to him. He would sacrifice all just to see her happy.
He’s mature and caring, not entirely afraid to cry, but very masculine when he needs to be.
In other words, internet, I totes thought I was going to meet and marry a skateboarding-themed JC Penney ad some day. Jeez O. Peete.
I wrote that description of my ideal man as I was being slowly and excruciatingly pocket vetoed by my first boyfriend, who had just graduated high school and suddenly, without warning, had stopped talking to me in anticipation of all the sweet college ass he was about to get once he arrived in Knoxville. It took him a full three weeks of no contact with me before he caught me in the chip aisle of the grocery store where he worked and dumped me on the spot. I didn’t protest; I just sort of nodded my head expectantly, trying to be super understanding because why WOULD a college freshman want to stick with a high school sophomore, especially me, especially in Hardin fucking County, population LAME? We shook hands — really — and I snatched a bag of Doritos and got the fuck out of there. I buried that confusion and resentment deep, though. Real deep. You can’t tell at all, I know!
So. In the intervening years, my expectations for what the male sex should offer me have, uh, simplified somewhat. I no longer daydream about crumpled denim cascading around skateboard shoes or (wince) wispy, grown-out bowl cuts, but I do love a man who can make me laugh. That’s absolutely No. 1. And before, when I said he had to be smart but not conventionally smart? Yeah, no. I now fully admit that I like ’em nerdy. Nerdy and booksmart, in my self-indulgent little bubble, also implies a certain set of sociopoliticalpsychoreligious beliefs I needn’t really get into here. I don’t mind some ambition. A good work ethic (and, obviously, a job — maybe even a career — and plenty of independence). He’s got to be easy on the eyes, but my definition of that is ever-changing, so I won’t spend any time defining it now. Creativity. BUT NO MORE MUSICIANS. No offense, musicians. You’re all just too, uh, complex for me. That said, we have got to be able to share music. Swap mixed CDs and get wistful about hooks and lyrics and interesting chord progressions and finding songs that speak to the now in the way that so much good music does. He should be kind, at his core. He needs to be silly. And to know that my favorite game will be trying to embarrass him in public. Or not trying and embarrassing him anyway. Because I’m a fucking dork. He’s got to get my humor. He’s got to get me. And he’s got to want me. Every fucking crazy inch of me: The me who sings in the car, talks to herself at the house, speaks in complete sentences to the cats, takes pictures of everything, has an unscrubbably filthy mouth, and always laughs a tick too loud.
He should have a grand romantic gesture or two up his sleeve that he can pull out periodically to make sure I am not completely eaten up with cynicism.
He needs to have a good relationship with his family, and be able to fit into my crazy family with relative ease. He should probably be open to having a family of his own, because, despite my better instincts, I imagine I would like to have a family some day. And I’m going to need a solid partner.
Well. I thought I had simplified what I want, but maybe I haven’t. Nope, I’d say maybe I’m pickier than ever.
Well, let us not forget a certain je ne sais quoi.
That’s French for “knows how to pretend that he knows what certain French phrases mean,” right? If so, then yes. He needs that.
I’m slightly embarrassed that you and I had roughly the same ideal guy in 1997. You know, considering I am 10 years older and was in graduate school at the time.
Chris Hardwick? The one I just recently discovered existed and is from Memphis? Huh.
I’ve seen enough “criteria for the perfect (or even acceptable) man” lists to choke a horse over the years–heck, I used the “Je ne said quoi” line on Wendi Thomas over six months ago, because I KNOW that even when a fella meets every qualification on the list, there’s the OTHER list: the one you don’t write down, or even know about, maybe.
That nobody I’ve ever loved has fit the model for my “ideal gal,” and that my those who did almost always bored me to tears says a lot, I guess. I don’t know exactly WHAT it says, but it’s a lot, I’m sure.
Best question to come out of Formspring, huh? I hope you figure out who this dood is.
Aw, this post made me nostalgic. But then it made me think about the bullshit I’ve been through and who I’m with now, and how some things are worth going through because you recognize and appreciate the good stuff after. And then it made me laugh about the boyfriend I made up in 5th or 6th grade with my friend and how detailed we were about everything we made up about him. :)