Thirteen Thursday # 12

Thirteen Girl Crushes:

1. Anne Lammott. She is so DAMN funny sometimes. She's someone who thinks. A Christian who counters the daily crap being presented as "Christianity." Those of you out there who bash Christians as a matter of course, read Traveling Mercies; might give you a bit more perspective.
2. Shirley Manson, the lead singer from Garbage. Are they even together anymore? I love this woman's voice. I love her great big eyes and the fact she's not stereotypically beautiful.
3. Angelina Jolie. Okay, I know, how dull, trite, and sheep-like can I be? Sorry, but I think she is just amazing looking. Those lips? Good god. I'd take her over Brad any day.
4. Dorothy Parker. Being that she's dead, I'd kinda freak out if I ever met her, but major crush I have on her anyway. Her writing gets to me. The humor, the lightness, with all the dark and twisty stuff underneath. And even underneath that? Hope. Go read the Portable Dorothy Parker if you've not done so in a while.
5. Meg Ryan. She's just so damn cute.
6. Madonna. I had to include her. In college, when she first came on the scene, there was no one like her. She bent all the rules, and really, she couldn't even sing, but the force of her personality overwhelmed all of that. She's always done (or at least appeared to have done) everything her way. She worked at becoming famous. When she did her Sex book, it was thought out; none of this flashing panties, shaving one's head crap.
7. Ellen Degeneres. She could have become bitter or mean, or her humor could have gone sarcastic after all the shit she's gone through, but she hasn't. Her show was hilarious, and then canceled when she came out. She had a very public break up with someone who I think is totally bonkers, and never said a nasty word about it. I admire her. She's also smart; a rare treat on television today.
8. Gilda Radner. She left us too soon. More with the funny and smart. I remember going to a small show she had at my university; she was probably already sick at the time. You would never know it. For all the goofy-ness and slapstick, she had class and dignity. And oh, did she make me laugh.
9. Jane Austin. How could I leave her out? I can't imagine how she chafed at the world she was stuck living in, but her books are all so wonderful. Rather than play the game that so annoyed her, she wrote about it. Wrote about it in a way that's still relevant today. She charms me every time I read her writing.
10. Debbie Gibson. Okay, now it's Deborah. But, the crush was back when she was still Debbie. I looked just the teensiest bit like her when I was 16, and I had the black hat. I loved the boppy sound of her songs, and I really was impressed that she wrote most of her own lyrics. Wow. If she could do it, maybe then could I.
11. On that same note, The Go Go's. I LOVED the Go Go's in only the way a high school senior can, playing their records over and over until my mother or father got sick of it and yelled at me to quit, studying their videos (and remember, it was the year that MTV got its start), dressing like them, putting a massive poster of them up on my bedroom wall... Oh yeah, I had it bad. And Belinda Carlisle was a little zaftig. That meant that maybe I could be considered pretty too some day.
12. Patti Novak. Who's that, you ask? She was my roommate for the last three months of my freshman year. I moved into the dorm late (another story... another post), and there she was. She had the best laugh of anyone I've ever met. She was a tiny little thing, with this belly laugh that bubbled up from deep inside her. It was infectious. If I'm 80 years old, and I hear that laugh, I'll know it's her. Everything was so much fun with Patti. The last time I saw her was in a restaurant here in town. She was getting married to a man named Joe and moving to Kansas. I have a feeling I will somehow find her again.
13. Mrs. Green. She was my English teacher in high school. I had her in ninth grade, and then again as a junior and then for AP English my senior year. I never saw her wear pants, only dresses and skirts. All the boys wanted to go out with her and all the girls just wanted to be her. She was always gracious and expected the best from us. You know, one of those teachers you want to impress? She was that. Later, when I was a teacher's aide, and saw her at the school, she continued to be my idol. She had fallen in love again at 40, had a baby at 42, and another one at 46. There was hope for me yet.