20 April 2007

Tell Lloyd Dobler I said, "Thank you"

If you're one of the individuals who will spend this Saturday evening at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner and thus be within breathing distance of my current love and a love from one of the brightest, dearest corners of my teen-idol past, I envy you. The latter of these two is a man I first encountered in the mid-'80s as high school loser Bryce, rediscovered in 2000 as Rob Gordon, then for whom I fell hard - really hard - a year later as Jonathan Trager, but who will always, always be, to me, the sweet-natured, misunderstood, "sport-of-the-future" kickboxer Lloyd Dobler.

It was Lloyd's unflinching I-will-hold-this-boombox-above-my-head-and-make-you-listen-to-Peter-Gabriel-on-repeat-until-you-admit-you-feel-the-same-way-I-do perseverance that helped shape for me - and for so many other girls - what it was I wanted in a man.



He taught me to want a man who would clear a path for me even if it was in a 7-11 parking lot.

He taught me to want a man who when he discovered my earmarked dictionaries (or in my case, stacks and stacks of SAT prep flashcards) would look down, smile, and think to himself, "So her."

He taught me to want a man who, even when he was out with the guys and I was nowhere in sight, would say things like:

"This girl was different, man. We'd go out, we wouldn't even have to go out, you know? We'd just hang out. This girl made me trust myself, man. I was walking around and I was feeling satisfied. Can you imagine that?"

So if you happen to run into John Cusack by the crudites tray two nights from tonight - he'll likely be flanked by John McLaughin, the closet Serendipity fanatic who invited the actor - give him my very best and please tell him I said, "Thank you."

Oh yeah, tell him to stick to the romantic comedies, too. No more Identity bullshit.

And just because fantasy is fun, if I were actually going to this chichi gala and money weren't an issue, my ensemble would include this royal purple layered silk Malandrino couture gown with lantern neckline, empire waist and bubble-hem from her Fall/Winter 2007 collection (price upon request), these barely-there Azzaro jeweled t-strap sandals ($1,680 at bergdorfgoodman.com), this metallic box clutch by Bottega Veneta ($2,250 at net-a-porter.com) and my own stack of yellow-gold Indonesian bangles:

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

that dress demands sculpted shoulders.

You must think you're hot stuff, huh?

Anonymous said...

I love that movie! I've had a lifelong crush on John Cusack as well. Just something about him...

Anonymous said...

Purple and gold would be stunning with your coloring. I'm surprised you'd pick a non-black dress, but *pleasantly* surprised.

How nice would it be to just tell Rachel Zoe to go "fetch" whatever you picked out?

Anonymous said...

Lane Meyer just didn't do it for you?

Anonymous said...

The dress is stunning! You'd look amazing.

Also, John Cusack is the sweet dorky type that makes me swoon.

Johanna said...

I adored him in that film, too, Suz, but he is, was and forever will be Lloyd for me.

And as long as I could abstain from her awful wardrobe in "Say Anything," if I could be any woman in any movie, Ione Skye's Diane Court is way up there on the list. Top 3, easy.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful dress!

And thanks for the clip - reminded me to download that song from iTunes.

Anonymous said...

I'm going and I promise to stalk him for you!

And if you did go and you wore that dress, you'd knock all of Washington on its ass. No one wears dresses like that. They're all about 15 years behind, which means this year it'll look like...yup, 1992.

I'd invite you to come with, but seeing as though we've never met and I'm obliged to take a source (plus, I think we'd make tongues wag being two women and all), my hands are tied.

But I promise, if I corner him, I'll pass along your URL to Lloyd.

Love the blog, btw!

Anonymous said...

Holy stunning. You would look like a goddess in that dress. Tan or not, with your half-Asian eyes played up with lots of dramatic eyeliner...simply gorgeous.