Grasshopper's Role Models

All of this advising first year students has also got me thinking about who my idols are and it's interesting to see that they're all a bunch of odd couples from reality TV! (This is in addition to the list that includes Martha Stewart, by the way).

First up: P!nk and Carey Hart

It takes real balls for one to write really edgy songs about not fitting in at high school, questioning the crazy president's policies, or not putting out and P!nk does just that!

Even more fascinating is the fact that she comes across as being really level-headed, despite her crazy stage persona. I kind of wish I could have her courageous outspokenness, commanding stage presence and rational thoughtfulness...

And I always thought that P!nk was a lesbian, but her boyfriend, motorcyclist Carey Hart, was actually one of the star particupants of "The Surreal Life: Season 5".

What impressed me most about Carey was the fact that underneath his uber-tattooed exterior, he was a super chill guy who remained very nonjudgmental and pretty calm (even when he had to deal with jerks like Jose Canseco and crazies like Omarosa and Janice Dickinson).

Carey's cool demeanor, juxtaposed with his insane exterior, makes him a pretty cool foil to Pink and a nice role model to kids out there. I really wish I had his type of management skills.

Secondly: Christopher Knight (i.e. "Peter Brady") and Adrianne Curry (i.e. America's Next Top Model)


I know this looks like the portrait of a washed-out old man with a gold-digging supermodel wife, but Chris and Adrianne had one of the coolest and most hilarious love stories in "Surreal Life" history.

It was so obvious during season 4 of the D-list reality TV show that the producers wanted Adrianne to hook up with the male Calvin Klein model, but I was pretty shocked when showed that she cared about more than looks and fell in love with Christopher Knight instead. It was seriously the sweetest pairing I've ever seen-- and it provides hope to many of us ordinary guys out there!

But it's more the individual personalities of Chris and Adrianne that make them my celebrity power role model couple.

In addition to his former stardom, Chris is a successful businessman and really showed himself as caring husband with a lot of foresight and intelligence.

And Adrianne, while being slightly offbeat, really came across as being incredibly caring and supportive of her crazy housemates and demonstrated a lot of depth when she thought long-term and hooked up with the stable, dependable man, rather than the underwear model.

This couple gets my best wishes for their future in expanding their family!!

And finally: Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Carolla


Dr. Drew is probably the most articulate, analytical psychiatrist out there and he shows a genuine concern and tremendous wealth of knowledge to every patient he comes across.

Adam Carolla (who was also the voice of Spanky Ham in "Drawn Together"!) was an awesome wing-man to Dr. Drew on "Loveline", always cracking hilarious jokes with impeccable timing.

I hope that others out there also strive to have Dr. Drew's knowledge and Adam Carolla's sense of humor.