Sunday, February 12, 2012

Crushing on Neil & Amanda

by Jeffe Kennedy

I'm not hugely into celebrity crushes. Some of the blogger gals do boyfriend of the week. Sister bordello-occupant Allison Pang has her Midnight Man Candy. There are actors I particularly like, but looking at the pretty pictures just doesn't do all that much for me.

I need a story.

I know, I know - I'm such a girl.

See, even this meme with Ryan Gosling doesn't really light me up. They are funny, with the "Hey Girl..." followed by some sort of impossible female fantasy. There's even one on Twitter now for the Gosling Literary Agency, with the profile tag line: Hey Girl, your manuscript made me cry. I can see how they're amusing, with lines like Hey Girl, gonna negotiate your contract now. No, no, you go get a coffee. I can't...I don't want you to hear me raise my voice.

But this is the one that grabs my little writer-girl heart:


I admit it: I have a total crush on Neil Gaiman. More, I have an uncharacteristically bi-crush on both him and his wife, Amanda Fucking Palmer. If you know nothing about her, watch this video at least. It's not entirely safe for work, though it's all suggestive with nothing really showing.



I love that these two very different, creative and off-beat artists found each other. I think that it's great that they managed to put together this marriage where they're both off intensely doing their own things.

I confess that I worry about them.

This is the true celebrity crush, I think, where I feel like I know these two. Like they're already my friends. And, like the worst of nosy friends, I worry about them. I want to ask if they spend enough time together. Are they happy? I want to invite them over for wine and dinner so we can all dish about our latest projects.

I read their blogs and mentally respond.

When they were in Santa Fe visiting George R.R. Martin and I didn't find out until afterwards, I felt irrationally hurt. I mean - they could have called!

Still and all, I don't think this kind of this is particularly unhealthy. It's good to have people who embody certain goals for us. In the past, it used to be the nobility, the kings and queens and descending royals who we admired and emulated. Or the church elders or great philosophers. Today the pundits snark that our new royalty are the Hollywood stars, implying that these are empty people to look to.

I'm not sure it's wrong. It's all part of the fantasy, crushing on the hot guy, fantasizing about being as beautiful as Keira Knightly, thinking that Johnny Depp would probably totally fall for me, if he only just took the time to get to know me. That Ryan Gosling would make the best literary agent ever.

And, you know, if Neil and Amanda had just called me, I would totally have had them over for dinner.

It would have been a wonderful evening, too.

8 comments:

  1. Oh, man. Neil is way hotter than almost all the movie stars - brains and sensitivity and creativity and oh yes, he's nice to look at. When they come over for dinner, I'd sure like an invite. In fact, I'll just work in the kitchen and eavesdrop, that would be just fine with me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So true! I'll totally let you work in the kitchen, Kerry. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had no idea Neil had written a few eps of this latest reboot of Dr. Who.
    I'm almost tempted to watch it just for that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh you didn't? Yes, the fans were all agog. So was Neil for that matter - long time dream for him.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Totally see what he sees in her with that awesome video!! That is so krazy! I was fascinated by their wedding. Did you see it? Oh, Amanda is so wild. You know, Neil, which is what I call him, lives a just a bit over an hour away from me. He, and of course Amanda, too, when in town, could come over for dinner any night of the week!!

    Seriously, there are so few role models for artists, and they are just wonderful for that. They march to their own freak drummers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I did see their wedding, Carolyn. Completely enraptured. I'm sure Neil and Amanda would love to come to your house for dinner, too!

    You know, you're right and that's an excellent point. Us freaky artist types don't have all that many role models. Seeing how they create their own, unique version of marriage that still serves their artistic lives is definitely inspirational for me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Heh - I thought this was rather relevant. :)

    http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/17587749189/i-have-always-been-told-that-one-should-never-meet

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ah yes - I totally agree with him, Allison. Thanks for sharing it!

    ReplyDelete