Of lesbian-ish men and other happy-making things

[bop_radar]

I have been anxious and jittery this week, hence the lack of posting. I have a stressful work commitment tomorrow which will mean I won't be able to watch Smallville until the weekend (grrr... after it's been off for so long... grrr). Hopefully I will feel much better when it's over.

Since it seems as if I am not alone in finding this week bleak/stressful/difficult, I figured I should post something cheerifying.

I have become quite fixated with this list of the top-ten lesbian-ish men. And not only because Jamie is on it. ;-) I'm slightly confronted by how many of my top crushes are on that list... Johnny Depp? Check! John Cusack? Check! Jake-y holding down top spot? Check! And I have soft spots for Eric, Orlando and Keanu too. Should I reconsider my sexuality?! o.O *giggles* OK, totally not, because I like men waaay too much to give them up, but it still amuses me that I like the pouty pretty boys. But why is Tommy not on that list?! (I am heartened to see him mentioned in the comments.)

This list has got me all thoughtful about the nature of attraction and things I find hot in straight men. Probably connected to the fact that I like a lot of the guys on that list is the fact that I find straight guys who demonstrate the following ridiculously attractive:
- comfortableness with their feminine side
- willingness to be objectified
- willingness to play 'second' to or be topped by straight girl.
Yet I'm a bit contrary, because at the end of the day I don't want them to be too girly. (Hence the importance of good arms! *g*)

One question this list raises for me is what would the equivalent list be like from gay men? Which girls do they crush on? Anyone care to speculate?

What about girls that straight girls commonly crush on? Are there common attributes among them? Because part of me wants to say yes, and part of me thinks it's too hard to generalise... I feel sure fandom will resolve this matter for me. *nods*

bananainpyjamas tagged me for the ten favourite things meme.

1. Raspberries: oh, most wonderful of fruits! I like all berries, but raspberries most of all. If there's a raspberry anything on a menu, I'll make a beeline for it. Favourite raspberry variations: fresh raspberry jam, mum's raspberry hazelnut meringue cake, frozen raspberries mixed through greek yoghurt, chocolate-covered raspberries, raspberry smoothies.


2. Red shoes: red's a great 'feature' colour. Too much of it is a bad thing, but a striking splash is always fun, and red shoes make me cheery. (This is pretty much my criteria for any clothing--will it make me feel cheery?) I've had red shoes in my wardrobe all my adult life, whether it's red one-stars, cherry red campers, or maroon-red ballet flats.


3. Rai, Aishwarya: Bollywood mega-star, who I am quite besotted with. Anyone who looks that while doing such ridiculous dancing gets points from me. Plus she's incredibly well-spoken, gracious and graceful in person. I can't look at her for too long--I get too hypnotised.


4. Reading! Of course. Probably the most obvious 'R' on my list, since I started reading as a teenie wee bop. The first word I spoke was 'book' (no doubt because my parents were depriving me of said item! *glares*). The first word I ever read (aloud) was 'Coca-cola' when we were on holiday in Spain. (My parents figure it was the only word I recognised on the signs.) I remember overhearing the boys in my primary school talking about me:
Boy 1: What do you think of k?
Boy 2: She's ok but she reads too much.
Oh, how I blushed behind the pages of my novel. ;-)

5. Radiohead radioreverie made me! No. Actually she didn't. ;-) They'd totally make my list of cool 'R' things, even without her spamming me with Thom and Jonny pics/news/trivia on a weekly basis.


6. Recycling I'm a dork, I know. But recycling is yay! I have a compost heap I am very proud of, and apart from doing the regular recycling of paper and bottles and cans, I try to re-use water from the house on the garden, and my boy and I are excellent scavengers. It helps that he's in the waste management industry. ;-) I'm a big fan of the hard rubbish collection--I've found the most awesome things in that.

7. Rushdie, Salman One of my favourite authors, largely on the strength of Midnight's Children, though I love The Satanic Verses as well. He's had some weaker works, it's true, but as a teenager Midnight's Children was a real eye-opener for me into the world of contemporary international fiction and magical realism.


8. Roman Holiday One of my favourite movies. Audrey's so gorgeous in it--she makes the cutest drunk ever. And I love the final scene. Plus vespas! Rome! gelati! hijinks! It's a classic for a reason.


9. Redemption A fictional theme dear to my heart. I'm a sucker for redemption/rebirth/renewal plots, as readers of my meta will know. (For Smallville fans: this explains why I'm a Lex-fan in the early seasons and then flip over into being a Clark fan in the later seasons.) Naturally this often means I'm drawn to dark plots and attracted to some pretty dark characters. Recently I ran through the crimes of my favourite characters and managed to tick off rape, murder, incest, crippling entire nation states and attempted genocide. *beams* About the only thing I can think of that my darlings haven't been guilty of is cannibalism, and now I feel I'm only tempting fate... eeep!

10. Rosenbaum, Michael So predictable, I know. But how could I leave out the acting genius behind Smallville's Lex? Especially when he's so totally, adorkably, hyper-actively insane.


Anyone want a letter?

Comments

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

Good luck tomorrow! I'm sorry it's going to delay SV for you.
:-( But at least you'll have something to look forward to afterward, right?

That list of lesbianish guys is hilarious--especially the picture of Jake Gyllenhall. I do agree with you about Johnny Depp, John Cusack and Orlando Bloom, though.

And your discussion of raspberries is making me very hungry. Raspberry hazelnut meringue cake sounds especially yummy.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yes, I will be rushing to my dl when I get home. *g* (Rushing to pizza and chocolate as well, possibly, if things don't go to well. I just worked out that I'm spending 9 hours travelling for a 2 hour meeting. *headdesk*)

Why for you laugh at Jake-y?! ;-) *pats the pretty* No, you're right--it is a funny shot.

The meringue cake is to die for, I swear. I never get sick of it and demand it yearly on my birthday. *g*

[serenography.livejournal.com]

I do!
And that's an incredible list. I heartily agree with so many of the things you listed, starting with raspberries and Rosenbaum (possibly at the same time?)

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

:-D Mmm, yummy!

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

I've oft noted that my love of MR was cemented when I saw Sorority Boys. I'm normally not interested in guys, but I do tend to find them attactive if they look good in a dress. :D No one on that list, except maybe Johnny Depp... I had a fair crush on James Marsters. I even dled his album.

Raspberries. Mmmm.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Hee. See I'm the opposite--guys in dresses do nothing for me at all unless they are MR, in which case he's oddly hot... proving how exceptional he is. ;-)

You're immune from the list. You be lucky!

[attaccabottoni.livejournal.com]

It's a stressful week for me because of the lack of anything exciting to do, which helps build up the stress towards a very eventful Saturday. But, yay picspam! Reading is a given favorite thing, but I'm glad that someone else shares the love for recycling (it seems hardwired into me since I was doing it before I learned how to properly do so in school) and redemption (Catholic, so it doesn't apply only to fiction for me :D). I'm curious though, which of your favorite characters committed incest?

While I most heartily agree with questioning the conspicuous absence of Tom Welling in that list, why is MR not included too? (*thinks of "Sorority Boys" and all the cross-dressing Lex fics*) My love for him is so baffling, he even makes a straight girl like me want to be a gay man so I'd have the right equipment to do stuff to him (*blushes at dirty thoughts*).

As for your questions, I don't know if I'm entitled to answer the straight girl female crushes, because I admire a lot of blindingly pretty girls, but only openly admit attraction to strong, sensible, driven, and slightly geeky women (or female characters) regardless of their looks. But yeah, I'm sure someone dedicated enough would build the female equivalent to the man-crush (http://www.mancrush.com/mc/unit) list and analyze it. :D

These memes are so fun!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

which of your favorite characters committed incest?
Jaime Lannister from GRR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. His is a redemption journey of spectacular magnitude.

My love for him is so baffling, he even makes a straight girl like me want to be a gay man so I'd have the right equipment to do stuff to him (*blushes at dirty thoughts*).
Haha! You are in no way alone there. ;-) I agree--MR and TW should both TOTALLY be on that list with their gender confounding ways.

strong, sensible, driven, and slightly geeky women (or female characters) regardless of their looks.
Ohh, can you give a fictional example? I reckon I only girlcrush on very strong female characters, even if I like or admire other girls. The attraction only kicks in for me if they're all alpha-y.

Man-crush list! Yay--thank you! *goes to peruse*

[dionusia.livejournal.com]

Wow, that top ten men list made me so happy. JAMIE of course. And Jake! And Matt Damon! Aaaa! Hmm, running through my personal favorites on that top 10 list (nearly all of them -- but Bloom is a little too girly for me…) I think I’ve got my own crushes formula figured out:

Smart + attracted to strong women + full, sensual lips + amazing arms + strong jawline = OMG perfect!

Learning about Jamie’s degrees and interest in Italian lit just made me flailier than I’d ever been before. Whew! Sexy!

I love your “favorite things” list too…Roman Holiday is an all time fave of mine as well. Gelato! + Hepburn AND Peck! + Rome! + Vespas! = Perfect Squee. When I was studying over there I loved going through all the places they went to during the filming (much like the rest of the tourists in the world). It’s awesome that it was shot on location, not many films in that period were. And oh, that last scene! Sniff.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Yup I've got nearly all of that top ten covered in my crushes, though I never really got the Matt Damon thing. Orlando, on the other hand, I have secret lust for--though I know he is too girly for many girls. ;-)

Smart + attracted to strong women + full, sensual lips + amazing arms + strong jawline = OMG perfect!
Hee! I'd add cheekbones to that list. ;-) You can't go past good cheekbones. And Jamie scores really well on all those points. (Yup, I pretty much fell head over heels for him when I learnt he had an MA in Modern Languages--French (my major!) and Italian (Dante!) *loves*).

Roman Holiday is so wonderful. And hee, I had a crisis about plurals! There were multiple gelati in movie, yes? Or is gelato the collective noun also?

[duskwillow.livejournal.com]

Oh I agree about the list of things that make guys hot. *nods*
How can they not be hot and sexy when they feel good and comfortable in their own skin no matter what anyone says or does. *swoons*

OMB!! The list!
Keanu! Cusack! Depp! Gyllenhaal.
♥
I approve.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

How can they not be hot and sexy when they feel good and comfortable in their own skin no matter what anyone says or does. *swoons*
Yup, it definitely comes down to being comfortable with yourself (both 'masculine' and 'feminine' parts) and with your sexuality. *nods*

The list is great, n'est ce pas? ;-)

[mskatej.livejournal.com]

Did you see that MR pic mailerose posted in her LJ of him playing dodgeball with the fake mo? SO MUCH LOVE.

And yeah, that's a pretty good list of lesbian boys. I'd do 'em all, and I'm especially pleased to see Matt Damon on there.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I did! It was teh hilarious. *g*

Matt Damon, huh? He's low(er) on my list. But I'm sure I would like him if I paid more attention. *nods*

[radioreverie.livejournal.com]

At first I thought you used the Radiohead icon because they came to mind when you were writing about lesbian-ish men! Heh. And then I saw the list below.

I think you already know just about everything that attracts me to a guy...

As for girls, I think I'm actually less consistent. Sometimes I like quiet, plain, bookish girls. Sometimes brassy, confident, sexy girls. Sometimes just plain beautiful girls. I don't have a particular type at all, though I've noticed I have an aversion to tall glamazon types like Angelina Jolie. Too much for me? Dunno.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Noooo, I used the icon for the R-ness! (I can change it to an Aish icon if it makes you uncomfortable--hee!)

Heee--tall glamazons are totally fine as far as I'm concerned. (Though I'm sure I'd actually quake in their presence in real life--but conceptually they're fine. *g*)

[myownghost.livejournal.com]

gyllenhaal has always reminded me of k.d. lang. i had a serious crush on her back about 10 years. androgyny can be so sexy.

none of the guys on the list is really attractive to me, though i've long liked john cusack as an actor. i noted that one of the comments on that list says that yeah, TW is pretty, but not as hot as KK. ...really? *does not see it*

redemption is one of my very favorite themes. it's almost a bullet-proof kink for me in fanfic, particularly if we're talking about lex. :)

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can see the gyllenhaal/k.d. lang resemblance...

Redemption is wonderful--it's totally my thing. :-)

[hazyshade.livejournal.com]

CHEEKBONES 'nuff said

Something else to cheer you up: my brother is apparently planning a LEE vid. Yay! :D

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, it is ALL in the cheekbones! Bless!

And that does make me VERY happy. Yay! \o/ Though I still totally want you to make one too.

[random-serious.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear this week has sucked for you... but the list of men was very cheeryfying.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

The anticipation of the dreadful work event turned out to be worse than the event itself. ;-) So I am home, exhausted but relieved.

[kristiinthedark.livejournal.com]

I would love a letter! Gimme!

And *big hugs*

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

'sanks! *yawns* I give you ... T.

[stardust-20.livejournal.com]

You know I don't totally get that top ten list of lesbian-ish men. I can see a few of them - Orlando Bloom for sure - he's so girly! but I don't get why Jamie Bamber is on it. He's Mr. muscle-man and just oozes testosterone (or maybe that's just me dreaming?) and I would never ever imagine him as feminine. *shrugs* Oh well, people have different ideas I guess.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Ahh... but I think testosterone can work in their favour--after all, it's about them being 'dyke-y' not 'feminine', so Orlando was actually the biggest surprise on that list for me. I wouldn't describe any of the others as uber-feminine (which is a turnoff in guys for me), but I'd say they all have a sensitive side/are in touch with their feminine side. And Jamie does play Lee, which I think contributed a lot to getting him on that list. ;-)

[never-evil.livejournal.com]

Aish is totally pretty isn't she? I am proud to say she was my fav from before she even became a movie star <333 (she got famous in India for winning the Miss World in 1994 along with this other awesome lady Sushmita Sen who won Miss Universe that same year)

Of course Reading had to be in there!

Rosenbaum FTW!!!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Awww, yeah, Aish is favourite. She's so totally likeable as well as being stunning. I didn't know about her until around 2000-ish when I started watching Bollywood flicks.

[dianora2.livejournal.com]

The importance of good arms cannot be understated.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I hear you! *nods vehemently*

[bloodygoodgirl.livejournal.com]

I love how they mentiond Apollo being Starbuck's bottom. Because it's so freakin true. I love red shoes too! I have a pair I call my Six!shoes because they're heels and strappy with an adorable open toe.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I love how they mentiond Apollo being Starbuck's bottom. Because it's so freakin true.
Ain't it just! ;-) And I love him for it.

Ohh, strappy, red shoes = yay!

A photo from your blog

[gettingthehang.livejournal.com]

Hello!

I am contacting you because I am working with the authors of a book about blogs, and I'd like to request permission to use a photograph of yours in this book. Please contact me at matt@wefeelfine.org, and I'd be happy to give you more information about the project. Please paste a link to your blog in the subject field. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Matt
matt@wefeelfine.org