I've got my Sprite...

...I've been tagged again. Thanks, Chris, altho you may know how the story goes. My Junior High and High School crushes were the 1-2 punch of Regan Kuehnle and Marlene Haegele. A striking brunette and willowy blonde, respectively. Hoo boy. Had a few pseudo-dates with each which, in hindsight, I prolly could have turned into real ones had I been a bit more self-aware. Ah well.

However, given the theme of this blog, I’ll concentrate on my big-time college crush: Kristy Swanson. Stumbled across her in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was instantly smitten. Classic California beach blonde, and she spent much of the movie in cheerleader attire. Seriously.

So I found her in magazines, put up her posters, tracked down VHS tapes from her rather checkered film career, etc. Revisited her as Simone, the girl who said “Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.” Suffered thru Mannequin 2: On the Move. Realized she was the chick Duckie ended up with at the end of Pretty in Pink.

Given that I often drew Duckie comparisons at the time, I suppose it’s no surprise that I decided to push this crush beyond your garden-variety celebrity obsession. Perhaps it was Xmas fever, perhaps it was too much egg nog, but I decided to invite her to my agency’s holiday party – I was a senior at USC at the time, interning at Ogilvy & Mather Direct.

So I skimmed through one of (the many ;) articles I had on her and figured out who her publicist was. Wrote a witty yet sincere invitation and faxed it off on company letterhead. Very professional. I don't believe I mentioned I was a college intern. At that point, I assumed this little lark was over, but a small spark wondered “What if…”

Turns out that question was answered later in the day, when a number I didn’t recognize popped up on the Caller ID on my cubicle phone. Trying to sound far more mature than I was, I picked it up to find myself talking to the aforementioned publicist. She explained that she’d shown the invite to Kristy, who thought it was the nicest thing, and she would have said yes… but had to decline, as she currently had a boyfriend.

I said I understood.

Her boyfriend at the time, I believe, was Chad Lowe. So I was saying this thru clenched teeth. I mean, I’m no superstar, but I could have taken Chad Lowe. This was even before he got all weepy at The Oscars.