I thank you for the air to breathe, the heart to beat, the eyes to see again

[in_the_blue]

Over Thanksgiving, I saw that a number of you posted things you were thankful for. I love reading those. In a way, that's what inspired me to do this post. I thought it would be fun to do a virtual tour of the zodiac and share with you some of my guiltiest guilty pleasures sign by sign. Typically, guilty pleasures don't need explanation, right? Behind the cut, to save my friends list from this extensive picspam.

Aries (fire)
Aries men are a little bit of a downfall for me. My ex was an Aries, and I love their aggressiveness and fearless plunging ahead no matter what.


Oh, geeze, my love for Eric Clapton goes back so far I can't even remember how far back it goes. I think he keeps getting better as he gets older, too. He might not be God, but he sure sounds the part when he picks up that guitar.


Steve McQueen fascinates me. He lived fast and rough and scraped his way into everything he got, and most people don't even realize he was deaf in one ear from a diving accident. I cried when he died.

Taurus (earth)
I have a love/hate relationship with Taurus people. My favorite Taurus is my kid, but that's no guilty pleasure. Taurus men have a solid luxury to them, stubborn and insistent as they are.


If I could have someone read to me every single night, it would be Steve Blum. Not only does he have one of the most spectacular voices I've ever heard, I'm also pleased to say that he's a complete sweetheart and so friendly. I want to wrap him up and take him with me everywhere I go. Also, he has eyes to die for.


HelLO, Taurus! Looking at Kevin Garnett is so deceptive because as a pro athlete he moves and runs like a gazelle, which makes me think Gemini. But he's as stubborn and determined as anyone, and just watch him play basketball sometime if you need proof of how solid a performer he is.

Gemini (air)
I could've populated this list with a couple dozen Gemini men easily. They're deceptive: with Gemini, you always get more than you bargained for, even though they like to pretend they bend with the wind whichever way it goes. Here you go, my first nod to absolute celebrity coming right up. Not that I was given a life-size standee of Captain Jack Sparrow by my coworkers or anything a few years ago...


Was there a time when it wasn't popular to adore this guy? He's such a Gemini: impossible to pin down, impossible to label, impossibly talented. He's like two dozen different people all in one, and like fellow Gemini Bob Dylan, impossible to predict.


Air-sign eye candy, but not just that, Ryan Black is every bit as versatile as Johnny Depp and as a bonus, is one hell of a sweet person. He's a fairly incredible actor and while I don't follow him any more to know what he's doing these days, Dance Me Outside is one of my favorite indy films and he's absolutely stunning in it (as he was in the CBC-TV spinoff, The Rez).

Cancer (water)
I have a stupid weakness for water sign men. As in I have to stop myself when they walk into the room and remind myself it's just the pull of their sun sign doing it to me. I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't help themselves around them. Yes, Cancerian men are lunatics -- they have to be, they're ruled by the moon -- but lunatics of the best possible sort. They exhibit this stupid sweetness and dedication and loyalty and I just... okay, enough.


Michael Trucco needs no explanation. He just has that presence that practically invites staring. This might be my favorite picture of him. It's not my fault if you can't turn away.


Look at that grin! LOOK AT IT! BenJarvus Green-Ellis is so Cancerian. I don't know if he's crabby in person, but he personifies the giddiness of this sun sign to a tee. At the start of the season my husband (Capricorn) and I were watching the Patriots and I said who's this Green-Ellis guy? I like him, he's on my personal fantasy team for the season. He's been such a go-to guy for the Pats but my favorite thing is watching that huge grin break out on his face after every successful play.

Leo (fire)
The showoffs of the zodiac! I actually had a hard time with Leos. I love them, but I'm not usually as wowed by them as I possibly should be. Maybe that's my Scorpio sun sign at work being skeptical. Not that it was hard to pick.


With Antonio Banderas, his Leo sun shows in those gorgeous eyes and in the tilt of his chin. He's pretty much a spectacular example of a Leo man, strutting and grabbing the spotlight no matter where he is or what he does.


It's that smooth-as-silk voice. Or maybe the dimples. Or maybe the way he just oozes into a space and takes it up, the way his presence is undeniable, but I have such a soft spot for Kevin Spacey. He's just so good at every role he takes on and even if my favorite is still Lester Burnham from American Beauty, I pretty much can't refuse to see him in anything.

Virgo (earth)
Surprise me, astrology! I came up with more Virgo men for this than any other sign and in fact, have to give you three instead of two. I don't know if any of these men weigh in on the troublingly neurotic side of Virgo but they're all stupidly beautiful. They have a tendency to exhibit this beautiful restraint, carry themselves like princes, and there's just something impeccable about them.


I know, right? Stupid sexy Cylons. The truth of the matter is that I've had a little thing for Callum Keith Rennie ever since I saw him in the film Double Happiness. And then there was that Due South business too, and... and then BSG. The thing about him is that he's got this precision of movement, no matter what he does, that's so Virgo and so helplessly lovely. Watch him for how much he keeps inside as much as for the emoting he does.


That I'm a fan of voice actors is no secret. What you might not know is that I have such a crush on Beau Billingslea. It's not that he's a former University of Connecticut (my almost alma-mater) football star or that he's been in dozens of movies or that he's such a huge part of what I love about Cowboy Bebop. It's that he's a gorgeous and amazing person, sweet and kind and gracious, beautiful and dignified. In short, he's everything good about Virgo.


Bonus Virgo man. If you've never seen Yusaku Matsuda, you should. Watch a few of his films: he had an amazingly beautiful restrained passion that looks like it's just begging to be let loose. He was long and lean and lanky and determined and his very own force of nature just waiting to be unleashed.

Libra (air)
Librans are the balance of the zodiac, or at least they wish they were! If you've ever heard the phrases then again... or on the other hand... peppered into a conversation, odds are you're talking to someone with heavy Libra influences in their chart. They're like see-saws: one thing, another, the first, the second, until they balance out to a nice level place. Ruled by Venus, they're also very sensuous people.


Look. At. Him. Jason Carter has dimples (a Libra trait) even when he's serious. He's funny; he's determined. He's crazy; he's level-headed. He's a million miles an hour; he's stability. I wish he had opportunities to do more serious work because he's a beautiful actor, although he does great with the horror and more campy stuff too. Also, in this picture, he's like... my perfect archetype.


Okay, so I confess this to the world: no one would have made a better Aragorn than Viggo Mortensen. He is the perfect embodiment of that role for me, and that's the way I love him. He's a pretty brilliant and talented person in so many different ways: poet, musician, actor, photographer. He has that air-sign vibe of simply floating through the world, but I'm not fooled. I know there's a monster amount of determination and work that goes into everything the guy does.

Scorpio (water)
Home at last with my very own sun sign. My favorite astrologer, Linda Goodman (triple Aries) said that Scorpios always walk a dangerous line and that they smolder with passion and intensity. That they soak in every experience and live it and wear it for all to see. These guys fit that bill.


Jeff Buckley might be one of my favorite Scorpios of all time. There's just something about him. In every interview I've read about him, the person being interviewed always mentions that he was just an amazing person, impossible not to love. Would that he'd had the chance for that, right? He's got those intense Scorpio eyes, that sense of so much broiling just below the surface.


Talk about wearing your life experiences on your sleeve: I can't think of anyone who embodies that more than Anthony Kiedis. He and the Red Hot Chili Peppers might have already seen the bulk of their glory days, but he fascinates me and has from the first time I saw him. I think he's pretty much magnetism personified.

Sagittarius (fire)
The boyfriends of the zodiac! Kind, generous, friendly, outgoing, athletic, and clumsy, they almost manage to come off as boy scouts. But they're not, even if they are completely adorable.


Bruce Lee burned with an amazing fire. Competitive to the core, he was bound and determined to be the best at everything he did. In typical Sagittarian fashion, he was an athlete and a kindly philosopher. He had so much wisdom and so much wit, and was a cocky flirt and practically single-handedly managed to transform an entire genre for generations of people. I started watching his films when I was a kid and have never stopped. He's one of my heroes.


If anyone ever doubted that Sagittarius was a fire sign, Jimi Hendrix would have put them straight. Everything about him screamed of fire, from the way he used to light his guitars ablaze on stage to the amazing sounds he was able to coax out of those same guitars. Yet in typical Sagittarius fashion he was immensely private and shy and couldn't understand why people thought so highly of him. When he stumbled he stumbled too far, but brother, did he shine no matter what.

Capricorn (earth)
Capricorns are secret dreamers. I know; I'm married to one. They're steady and determined and they keep moving forward no matter what, and they get things done the way they want, and they're secretly delighted when people adore them, and they're beautiful if practical romantics.


Have you ever heard Dave Grohl interviewed? He's typically Capricorn: a little self-effacing but not really. Very firm on knowing himself and his limits. Filled with wonder at his own success, yet taking every chance to acknowledge his own hand in it. He's almost stupidly engaging, gritty and honest, and a beautiful overachiever. In short, he's compellingly adorable, just like a Capricorn should be.


I confess that regardless of sun sign, Ralph Fiennes would have made this guilty pleasures list for his eyes alone. They're gorgeous. He's gorgeous, in that earth-sign sort of way that speaks of grounded, of steady, of reliable without being predictable. He also has such a typical Capricorn face: rugged but beautifully delicate at the same time. What can I say?

Aquarius (air)
Aquarians are global people. So often, they put the needs of the group above the needs of just one (sound familiar, Star Trek fans?) but they absolutely do. They think on a big scale; they're big-scale dreamers and while plotting and planning isn't their forté, they're certainly good at imagining and pretending and playing. They can be troubling in their brilliance and in their ability to see what matters.


One thing I love about Crispin Freeman is his versatility. That combined with his willingness to go above and beyond and make himself available on a regular basis to his fans is so endearing. He... also might just happen to have one of the very best voices out there. It's lulling to listen to him, and he's voiced so many of my favorite anime characters. He has that unique ability to give away just enough of himself to satisfy people, but keeps the rest of it like he's a closely-held secret. He's also really smart and, in typical Aquarius fashion, makes it his business to share that knowledge with other people.


Talk about someone that had a global view of things. Spreading his message of peace through Rastafarianism, Bob Marley is still considered something of a prophet. He had such a unique and far-reaching outlook, so typically Aquarian, always dreaming of a better tomorrow.

Pisces (water)
Pisceans move through life with this strange, dreamlike, fluid grace. They really are the dreamers of the zodiac, and they always give off an aura of wanting more in this hypnotic and buried sort of way.


It must just be a Northwest thing, you say, but I'm not so sure. There's something incredibly compelling in Kurt Cobain. Yes, he was completely fucked up. Yes, he suffered from a great many clinical diagnoses, and spent the better part of his life with someone's foot on his throat but still, if you watch footage of him, he had that beautiful floating presence that so many Pisceans have. That the adulation he had wasn't the right thing to keep him from suicide, there's an amazing complexity to him that's too easy to write off as pure selfishness. Look beneath the rough exterior and there's a pure beauty to him.


Jon Hamm is the one I look at and see a huge neon sign that reads PISCES on it. It's in the way he moves, in the way there's softness to every line on his face and body. He's got a huge amount of grace; he's self-effacing but honest; he moves like a study in contrasts. It's not that I'm that huge a fan of his work, although I like it a lot. It's that he screams Pisces to me in a way few people do.

And there's my tour through the zodiac for you on the Guilty Pleasure bus. I hope you've enjoyed it. More amateur astrology is always available on request, and boy, do I wish I had room for some of my other favorites who didn't make it into this post!