Teen Beat

I vaguely remember mooning over celebrities in my youth: Michael Jackson, Rick Springfield, Johnny Depp, River Phoenix, Kiefer Sutherland, John Taylor (Duran Duran), Dweezil Zappa, Billy Baldwin (circa Flatliners), pretty much all of Depeche Mode, Rob Lowe, Timothy Hutton, Judd Nelson (Breakfast Club!)and I really liked Andrew McCarthy for some reason.

I know that I liked these celebrities and was interested in stuff they were doing--music, TV or movies. But I didn't obsess. I didn't have posters or buy teen dream magazines.

Over the years, instead of growing out of adolescent fantasy, I have mastered the art. With my pop culture and celebrity gossip addictions I have come to appreciate more than ever the abundance of beautiful men out there for me to have schoolgirl crushes on.

My teenage daughters find it silly, scary and more than a little bit sad.

My most recent obsession is with Tyson Ritter, lead singer for The All-American Rejects. I fully believe that if I was 10 years younger I would hit the road and go after him--and I just KNOW that he would find me witty and beguiling and I could help heal is shattered heart. He is beautiful. I love his hair and his crooked smile. He's funny and undeniably dorky. On their fan site he does Rejects TV and he is strangely fascinating and outrageously hilarious. He wrote one of the best "screw you!" breakup songs ever, "Gives You Hell." And (obviously) he's a musician--my greatest weakness.

He currently serenades me every time my phone rings, and it always makes me smile.

I don't know if crushing on hot, twenty-something stars makes me a (god forbid) cougar or a pedophile, but there sure are a lot of tasty, young morsels out there these days.

Some of my other faves include Zach Efron (I was just as shocked as you--but have you seen 17 Again?), Shia LeBeouf, Taylor Lautner & Justin Timberlake.

In the thirty-something category, I like Zachary Quinto (Spock totally brought the sexy back!), John Mayer (I know he's a prick, but he's a hot, tattooed musician prick and that is TOTALLY my type!), Milo Ventimiglia, Adam Levine (Maroon 5) & Jared Leto.

So, here's to hot men and sweet, sweet dreams...goodnite!

Celebrity Sightings

For a religious reader of People and Entertainment Weekly, not to mention a devotee of the “news” (on E! “anchored” by Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic) it is no surprise that the odd celebrity sighting would cause a rise in blood pressure, heart palpitations, and silly girly squeals; however, I happened to go through security at the airport today with Tommy Lee and remained mostly cool.

He is a beautiful, tattooed, rock & roll man—soooo hot! He looked exactly like himself—which kind of surprised me. I mean, for some reason it seems impossible that these sexy specimens actually exist in all of their glory 10 feet away from the normal masses, like me. He (and an entire entourage that bore a striking resemblance—sans tattoos—to my younger daughter, Gabi: black hair, black clothes, skinny jeans, wrists wreathed in bracelets and cuffs, beanies or other hats) rolled up casually through the VIP line and as my eye was drawn to the black-clad group, I squeaked “It’s Tommy Lee!”

I was too far away to get a good pic, (he was graciously stopping for everyone with a camera phone) and as he entered the actual strip-down portion of the security line about 2 minutes before me, I was perfectly placed to miss all good photo-ops. I rushed out of the line and schlepped my computer, Ziploc of 3.4 oz (or less) liquids and gels, purse, jacket, and boots (why did I decide to wear boots on my way to 110-degree Scottsdale?) to a bench right next to where Tommy was standing, big smile on his face, letting the growing crowd say hi and take pics. By the time I planted my ass and accompanying security strip-down fallout and fumbled in my bag for my phone, I looked up to hear, “Thanks everybody. I’ve gotta go now.” And he walked away down a terminal that was not mine.

I had cut it pretty close today and only had about 10 minutes before boarding. Should I walk down the wrong terminal just for a chance at a pic to prove I stood mere feet away from Tommy Lee? Should I take my shot at being a groupie (damn those extra 30 pounds I haven’t lost yet!)? Should I pretend to be an actual Motley Crue fan? No. I should not. That is silly. But it was still amazingly fun and cool to see him. Even though people were whispering about times being tough for Motley Crue if Tommy is jumping through the same hoops at the same location and time as the rest of us. Hello!!—it’s 2008 and it’s Motley Crue…they are probably in the position to be feeling the same sting at fuel prices as everyone else—and I do not think it diminishes Tommy’s coolness or hotness quotients one little bit. (And, no, those do not contradict or cancel each other out!)