Monday, December 03, 2007

Just for fun - with X's &O's from Cindy

I’ve never been a big traveler. This past year I made up for it – in a big, big way. I was fortunate enough to visit (among other not so hot spots) New York City, The Grand Caymans, The Grand Canyon, and Italy. Yeah. Trust me. I know. I’m a lucky dog.

During my travels, I had the opportunity to do in-depth studies on the male species in each specific area. Dirty job but someone – okay, not just someone I - had to do it. But I did it for you – really, I did. And I forced myself to really get into it and rate them all on the hunk scale. Here are just a few of the many, many subjects.

Now I know I showed you this little ditty (did I really say ditty??) once before from NYC, but he deserves an honorable mention. All things considered, the Naked Cowboy was pretty cool. No, really. It was February. He was COOL outside in his tightie whities so I took one for the team and tried to warm the poor guy up.

And, ah, the Grand Canyon. It’s gotta be every woman’s dream to be on a raft on the Colorado River with her very own squad of hotties. Okay. So there were 5 other friends with me. Let's not split hairs. But seriously, it was raining men - as is evidenced by this photo. The next one is of me and Johnny, the first mate of our raft. Johnny is also a cutie pie and a seriously excellent master-baker. For real. Johnny master-baked his way through the Grand Canyon. :o) These guys all get my blue ribbon vote!

And then there was Italy – Bella, bella ... Italy. There were just too many cute Italian guys who seemed to have a thing for short, squat, middle-aged American women with bookmarks :o) The men of Italy were amazing. Best in show goes to, Marco, Elio, Franco, and Georgio.










So, there you have but a few of the memorable men from
my travels. Bottom line, it was all about getting inspiration for my books. At least that's what I told my hubby :o)

So, where do you like to troll, um, I mean, study the male species for fodder for your plots? Magazines? Local pubs? Home town heroes? Right in your own living room? And, I know we've had similar discussions before but what about a guy - besides the way he looks - gives him that 'hero' quality?

28 comments:

Unknown said...

Dang. I've been going about this whole travel thing with my eyes on the wrong things! I've been looking at cathedrals and scenery and the Mediterranean and the Eiffel tower. . . not at the hotties that abound.

Hmmm.

Maybe traveling in a group isn't the best way to meet these hot guys. I did see quite a few hotties in Italy. But I have to say, the guys bearing purses. . . not so much.

Once in a while when I'm at the mall, I sit down with a mocha frappacino(sp) and have an ogle on the side. The beach is another good place-- except down here you will also see a lot of overweight guys in Speedos.

Playground Monitor said...

Ohdeargodinheaven! Once I recover the all the hunk photos, I'll try to clear my mind and come up with an answer to your question. I'm with Bettina; I've been taking photos of the wrong things all these years.

Marilyn

Playground Monitor said...

As you can see by the typos, the photos did a number on me. ;-)

Marilyn

Cindy Gerard said...

Betina - among the hundreds of photos, there are a few of the scenery and the cathedrals too :o)
For some reason I thought these guys might 'present' a little better on the blog :o)
And yes, Moniter - I understnad the typoo issuye :o)

Anonymous said...

Cindy--

And here I've been settling for buying the annual People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive issue for inspiration! I have been going about this all wrong.

Although last spring I was in airport and this soldier went walking by--oh, my. I didn't snap a picture, but his image is still clear in my head--that take-charge, I-can-handle-any-situation attitude. It was amazing.

Alexis Morgan

Cindy Gerard said...

Hey Alexis. I hear you. Something about a man in uniform. Yumm. Yumm.
I wish I had taken MORE photos of all the delicious Italian men. There is something about them. One, they LOVE to have their pictures taken, two, they smile so purty, and three, they love women. Just makes you want to - well, I'll save that thought :o)

Helen Brenna said...

This is so funny, Cindy. Yesterday, I just talked my dh into a trip to Italy. Do you think he'll let me go alone? LOL

Is it my imagination, or are guys cuter these days?

As for inspiration, I'll take it anywhere I can get it!

btw, I'll take the sweetheard with the puppy. What a doll.

Anonymous said...

And it's much too bad that you didn't have a picture of the Atlanta guy who invited you to the orgy for your hottie collage....!

Cindy Gerard said...

Helen - you're going to love Italy!!
Kylie - I know. What a bummer. He was a cutie pie.
Hum. I think I've sufficiently tarnished my image (what ever it was) with this post. People are going to start getting the impression that I'm a dirty old woman, aren't they?

Samantha Hunter said...

Yummers -- I just got a bunch of Naked Cowboy pictures on my last trip to NYC, though not with him. :) You're brave.

I love the guy with the little pitbull puppy -- two of my favorite things in the world, handsome guy, cute puppy. Sigh.

Sam

Playground Monitor said...

LOL@ I forgot about your orgy guy. I still laugh about that story.

I did see a hunk in the Atlanta airport last year when I was flying home from my sister's house. He defined tall, dark and handsome, and he spoke Castillian Spanish too. Every woman in that waiting area was swooning over him, and when he left to go to the bar, they all started whispering and calling him "Rico Suave."

The airline moved our gate at the last minute and as I was walking to the new gate I spotted him in the bar. I detoured through there, tapped him on the shoulder and told him the new gate number and went on my way. As I exited the bar, one of the women said "Hell, I wish I'd thought of that!"

Marilyn

Cindy Gerard said...

Atta girl Marilyn - I'm proud of you.

Samantha - As to the naked cowboy - He's a very funny guy. He has a website. It's a hoot if you ever want to check it out.

Anonymous said...

Ciao Cindy!
Being Italian and in Rome ,I’m in a perfect place to look around and have a great view of the best hunks , sometimes they are in a place where you don’t expect them to be .
I have just seen my mother’s new cardiologist who looks more like one of your bodyguards than a doctor ! When I opened the door and saw him I was petrified!! He must be six feet four and , as you know, I LOVE the idea of a six feet man with dark hair, green eyes and if they have a blue sky shirt I… Unfortunately … because I’m Italian and a little bit out of the market…I receive more attention from foreigners. I think I should travel more to study the matter!!
Love
Rossella

Kathleen Eagle said...

Good question, Cindy. Movies often give me great visuals, but I get more ideas for heroes from newspaper articles and stories a hear about something someone did. It's the everyday heroes that really touch me. The picture of a man with a young child often strikes a chord with me--the fireman or the soldier or the baseball player. You know the kind of photo I mean.

Cindy Gerard said...

Rosella!!
Hi to my buddy in Rome. I should have included a photo of you Marco - what a sweetie pie :o)

And Kathleen - you're so right. It's those kind of photos that show much more than meet the eye.

Debra Dixon said...

Cindy-- Excellent "sacrifice" for your fellow women. If not you, who? I like your attitude and your pics. Or should that be pecs?

Michele Hauf said...

Hmm, I've been doing most of my 'hero' searches staring at the tv. But you're right, they're all around us. We just need to look. And I do find myself checking out the whole 'package', so to speak, on occasion when I see a nice looking man in a store. Is it odd that I look at the younger men a lot? But it's always with the discerning eye that 'he'll grow up to be such a good looker'.

What gives them the hero quality? Heck, if a man holds the door for me when the wind is blustery and I'm running through six inches of snow for some warmth inside the store, he's a hero to me. I don't care what the dude looks like. ;-)

Cindy Gerard said...

Deb - thanks for appreciating my sacrifice. No body knows the trouble I went to :o(

And Michelle - If not younger men then who?? Okay. There are some older hotties out there too but a girl needs variety.

Linda said...

Lucky you to have seen such hunks when you were traveling. A few weeks ago I spent a lot of time in the Charlotte airport and was thinking to myself, where are the hotties? It was downright depressing.

Cindy Gerard said...

Bummer on the Charlotte airport.
I just wish we'd taken photos of all the cuties we saw. Wow!

Keri Ford said...

Men have to come from my imagination only. I tried looking at magazines....and I'll did was look at magazines. Same for the TV and movies and internet.

So I guess what I do is peice a guy together in my mind from several different men out there that I've seen.

Cindy, you have all the luck (and obviously a heck of a lot more self-discipline than I do)

My pick would be the hottie in the red shirt putting together whatever it is he's working on. I seem to destroy a lot of stuff, so I like me a handy-man. :)

Cindy Gerard said...

I hear you Keri and I have to confess: my guys come from my imagination too - but I needed an excuse to check these guys out, right?
And the guy in red lives in Positano and he's working on fishing net in the photo. Toocool, huh?

Unknown said...

Cindy, I can't open the pictures. Oh what a world, what a worlllllld!!

Kathleen Eagle said...

That naked cowboy is no cowboy. His butt's too big.

Cindy Gerard said...

You're right, Kathleen. He could never fit into a pair of Wranglers :o)

And Lois - sorry :o(

Playground Monitor said...

I guess I was drooling over the photos and I totally missed the "master-baked his way through the Grand Canyon" line.

You're bad, Miss Cindy. Baaaaad. ;-)

Marilyn

Cindy Gerard said...

Ha. I was wondering if anyone picked up on that :o)

Anonymous said...

Cindy, thanks for taking one for the team. What an eye-opener! Love reading this blog.