Setting the Bar {Monday Morning Therapy with Dongsaeng}

Uh oh.  Here we are again.  The spotlight is on and I have to come up with something witty and entertaining to talk about.

Aw dangs.

I've been pondering on what to talk about all week.  I even started and got pretty far on a post, but decided just now that it wasn't witty or entertaining enough, so now I start over from scratch.

I want to talk about Junsu's new song.  But I'll save that for a joint post since Unnie is obviously chomping at the bit and I wouldn't dream of denying her that pleasure.  Soon though, very soon.

So, what does that leave us with?  Hmmm....

I don't really have any dramas to talk about.  I did make it through episode 4 of Love Rain.  I got seriously sidetracked with watching old episodes of 1N2D though.  In fact, that's what my original post was going to be about (1N2D), but a more philosophical approach as opposed to a review.  Probably too heavy for a Monday morning.  It's an incredibly entertaining show though and I am in love with it.

This weekend, the Husband took Little Popper #2 on a camping trip with a bunch of friends and their sons.  A great big wilderness adventure.  He, LP2, came back literally caked in dirt and mud and who knows what else.  Oh, and he was carrying an animal bone with him.  Lovely.  He was quite the wild mountain man.  While the boys were away, Little Popper #1 and I started watching My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.  She's only 10 so I thought she'd quickly lose interest, but no, Saturday I was down and out with a massive migraine all day so she watched it literally from morning til night.  She is only 4 episodes from the end.  Uh oh!  I've really created a monster!  Not sure how I actually feel about this.  Part of me is thrilled to be able to share something I love with my daughter (we don't often see eye-to-eye on anything so this is cool), but part of me is nervous that it will give her unrealistic expectations on men and relationships.  Am I only setting her up for a lifetime of bitter disappointment?  It's the same reason I won't let her read books like Twilight.  If she waits all her life to find a guy like the fictional characters we drool over, I'll never have Little Grandpoppers, she'll never find someone that meets her expectations.

Maybe that's what I'll write about.  Not my parenting dilemma, but the fictional characters that we drool over.

I am happily married and in a healthy relationship.  I know that my reality is amazing when it comes to my partner.  He's just the absolute best.  So why do I still swoon like a silly fangirl for these leading men when I am a grown woman who technically knows should know better?



Simple.  It's these "better than life" characters we visit with for 16 episode or more.  We get to know them really well.  They open up and we see and understand their innermost thoughts and feelings.  We see the depth of their hearts and boy, are they deep!  Ocean deep.  We fall under their crafty spell.

Ooh, boys, you so crafty!

Admit it.  Who doesn't go all weak in the knees for a sparkly blue tracksuit thanks to this man?

Hyun Bin as Kim Joo Won in Secret Garden

Or gaga for a crusader in a black face mask?  {Oooh, and that strut when he walks - he has the hottest walk out there...just sayin'. I could watch that boy walk alllll day long. Coming or going, it doesn't matter - the view is great either way}.

Lee Min Ho as Lee Yoon Sung in City Hunter

Being a princess takes on a whole new meaning if you're sharing a throne with a super hottie like these dreamy princes.  Disney's got nothing on these Prince Charmings!  {Hmm...wish my mall would open up a K-drama store.  And I could go in and buy a  Lee Seung Gi doll and all the accessories.  Um, someone?  Anyone?  Million dollar idea right there.}

Lee Seung Gi as Lee Jae Ha in The King 2 Hearts

Joo Ji Hoon as Lee Shin in Goong

Wouldn't work be amazing if our bosses were like these guys?  Rich and gorgeous and adored us?  Willing to lay it all on the line just to have us in their life?  {Or spray us with cola and kiss us in the kitchen or in front of all our friends while singing karaoke?  Or try to steal us from our goofy cousin but yet for some reason we don't choose him even though he's gorgeous and obviously the better choice (not that I'm KJJ biased, no not at all)?  Or dance the sexiest tango and stay by our side even though we only had a few months to live?}  Yeah, bosses like this would definitely earn their "World's Greatest Boss" coffee mug.

Kang Ji Hwan as Hyun Ki Joon in Lie to Me

Kim Jae Joong as Cha Moo Won in Protect the Boss (oh wait - he wasn't the leading man - ok,  fine, that other dude too)

Lee Dong Wook as Kang Ji Wook in Scent of a Woman

I bet these roommates would never dream of leaving the toilet seat up or stealing our cereal.

Lee Min Ho as Jeon Jin Ho in Personal Taste

Micky Yoochun as Prince Yi Gak and his trio of sidekicks, the Joseon 3 in Rooftop Prince

Some don't always start out as the dream boats they end up being.  But we still grow to love them as they change and mature right before our very eyes.  And we find ourselves rooting for them, even if there's a little "Mrs Robinson" effect going on {I'm looking at you Flower Boy Ramyun Shop - she was your high school teacher after all - ew! Think that would be cool in real life?  Think again.  She'd end up in jail and her face would be plastered all over the news and people would be calling for blood.  But for some reason, in a drama is perfectly acceptable}.

Kim Bum, Lee Min Ho, Kim Hyun Joong, Kim Joon as the F4 in Boys Over Flowers

Jung Il Woo as Cha Chi Soo in FBRS

These are just a few examples of our favorite leading men, or more accurately, our favorite fictional characters that win our hearts while defying all reality.  They keep us up late into the night as we cheer and cry and swoon.  In our rational minds we know they don't actually exist, but where's the fun in rationality?  We don't watch these dramas for rational thought.  As your addiKtion therapist,  I would just warn you to keep in mind that these types of men don't actually exist in real life.  They are created by a team of writers who craft their crafty spells in order to draw us in.  They're really really good at it.  Weird Science good.

{Anyone get that reference?  Anyone?  I know I'm dating myself here, but another 10 points hang in the balance.  All you have to do is claim them.  Unnie is disqualified, not just because she is a walking, breathing, talking human form of IMDB but because she works here and we're exempt from point collecting.  Sorry Unnie.  I know you're bouncing up and down in your seat raising your hand saying "Me! Me! Me!  I know! I know! Pick me!"} 

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but even the greatest guys can't live up to these fictional characters in dramas or books or movies or what-have-you.  As long as you keep that in mind and realize that the bar set by these characters is so unattainably high that no man on the planet can ever come close, then feel free to drool and dream away.  Swoon, dear readers, swoon.  Escape to that magical wonderland where guys dress well, smell great, and don't ever have gas or snore.  Go ahead.  We've got plenty of room here and a plethora of perfect men to go around.










So, who's your perfect fictional man?  Tell us in the comments section!

*** UPDATE***
Did you notice our countdown lurking in the side bar over >there >> somewhere?  We are down to the last two weeks of our two dramas.  What's next?!?!  How will we stave off the impending K-DD? Well, obviously according to me, one of the new dramas we focus on is going to have to be Time Slip Dr. Jin staring Jaejoong (and I'm sure some other people are in it as well).  I mean, it's Jaejoong after all.  Jae-freaking-Joong!  Ring it up - I'm sold!  My K-DD will be under control.  I'll miss seeing my Lee Seung Gi as handsome and dashing King Jae Ha, true, but I'll be able to take comfort in the screen glow of my number 1 guy in exchange, so it's all going to be okay.  To help celebrate and look forward to this new drama - we have a preview that was just posted so I thought I'd share it with you all.  Happy Monday!