Old Man Crush #1: Steve Martin

I've been obsessed with Steve Martin since...forever, maybe? My parents were big fans of the early SNL episodes where he hosted tons and tons of times.

I suppose my earliest Steve Martin memory was Parenthood. Parenthood is one of those movies that when I first watched it (in fourth grade...seriously) I didn't understand most of it. However, with more viewings as I had gotten older, all the jokes make sense and it's as hilarious as ever. I lost my retainer when I was in fourth grade (I put it on a napkin at Ted Drewes and it got thrown away. We went back, dug through the trash, the police tried to arrest one of the men that was helping me, and...well, it was messy) and Kevin, one of Steve Martin's kids in the movie, loses his. I thought this was fabulous.

As I got older, I watched more Steve Martin movies - Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Cheaper by the Dozen (yes, it's awesome, I love it, get over it), Three Amigos!, Shopgirl...all amazing. Obviously his earlier work is...better, but even movies like Cheaper by the Dozen 1 AND 2 make me happy. Kathleen showed me Shopgirl, and lent me the book (which he wrote). Pete and I watched The Jerk this week, which he had never seen and I hadn't seen in years. It was...hysterical.

Other fascinating Steve Martin tidbits: I just read his autobiography, Born Standing Up, and it is brilliant. He knew so many people before they were famous, like Fleetwood Mac. They LIVED together for a bit, all of them hoping to hit it big some day. Steve Martin worked HARD, performing in tiny clubs for one or two people and painstakingly writing new acts and rehearsing. And he learned a lot of his magic tricks at Disneyland, when it first opened.

Favorite Steve Martin quote: [From People Magazine, in which he was listed as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World] It's very hard being one of the most beautiful people. Having this kind of beauty is actually a burden. Sometimes I go to a party and not one of the other 49 most beautiful people is there. That makes me feel very solitary and alone, because it means I am the most beautiful person in the room. If I'm going to a party where I know there will be "less-beautiful people," I try to "dress down" in order to hide my beauty. But this seems to have a counter-effect of actually making me more beautiful. I guess me and dungarees are a pretty potent combination. I try not to lord my beauty over others. This is very hard. I try not to mention that I am one of the most beautiful people, but somehow it always comes out. I will usually only bring it up when I'm asked to do a task, like open a garage door. People seem to enjoy my beauty and are genuinely happy for me, because after I mention it they always say, "How nice for you."

FAVORITE Steve Martin...anything of all time: King Tut. His face, his movements, I just laugh so hard.


And, a few more thoughts (most of these features won't be quite as long, Steve is a favorite).

1. I recently saw the majority of Father of the Bride. I cried.
2. Did you catch Mr. Martin on American Idol? The night of the finale I was at home and mom wanted to watch it...so I watched it with her (ew), BUT Steve Martin was on there! He played the banjo! And he recently released an entire banjo album!
3. Steve Martin has kind of always reminded me of my dad. I feel like they're really a lot alike, especially when dad is happy.