The summer before I turned 12 Dirty Dancing came out on video (both the Beta and VHS versions--lol). I was heavily into the Sweet Valley High series, so my mind was primed for summer puppy love. I watched the movie only once, and O...M...G.....John Stamos was quickly forgotten. Hello, Patrick Swayze!
I have always had a thing for men who can dance (blame it on Baryshnikov and the years I spent in ballet, tap, and modern). Gene Kelly was one of my favorite leading men (not to mention, my all-time longest lasting crush) the instant I watched him woo Debbie Reynolds in Singing in the Rain. My dad is big into musicals, so I saw most all of the most popular ones before I was in junior high. SITR, Music Man, King and I, Fiddler on the Roof.....you get the picture. It wasn't long before I sought out every film Gene starred in (I have most of them all on DVD today and will likely get them all in whatever the new format will be decades from now). And his voice....he just was the TOTAL picture. I longed for old Hollywood glamour and blame some of my styling, both at work and at play, on him and his movies. He also shares my birthday. See? We were meant to be together.......anywho, Gene epitomizes the perfect man for me. He is confident, imperfect, dedicated, stubborn, comfortable in his own skin dancing, singing (or doing whatever it may be), and well put together. Read: HOTNESS. Can you name anyone these days who has even remotely the same amount of talent? Anyway, Gene is sort of my halo of crushes. While I would crush hard on John, Patrick, or later Trent, Gene is that gentle humming of a crush constantly in the back of my mind. I no longer crush on John today, but Gene is still here, front and center.
I'll get back to Mr. Swayze in my next post, since there are a few stories that go along with that crush.
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