Friday, March 24, 2006

Cody Willard is My Type


Do you have a “type”? A certain sort of look that gets you every time? I guess I do. Case in point: Cody Willard.

I suspect the general female populace is oblivious to the existence of Cody Willard, based on the fact that you can’t find a photo of the guy on the web larger than
100 x 100 pixels. So I will assume I must introduce this young man to you. He’s a finance and telecom expert, manages a hedge fund, keeps a blog and writes columns, and according to my husband occasionally offers his expertise on CNBC. I guess he also plays guitar, although I was disappointed to find the links to his song clips weren’t working.

So far you are unmoved, eh? I suppose I should throw in the part about the gorgeous brown eyes, great hair, boyish good looks, and infectious smile.

I apologize for being so shallow; you guys are used to me looking at the erotic life in such a complex, deep, meaningful way and here I am treating poor Mr. Willard like mere eye candy. He seems very intelligent as well as articulate and funny, and I’m sure he has many other qualities to recommend him. But the reason I’m blogging today is to discuss the interesting phenomenon of purely physical attraction, since it really doesn’t happen to me all that often anymore.

Back story: I got home from the office yesterday and my husband David announced he had found a guy who was totally my type. He had DVR’d this fellow for me and was quite excited to see if he was right. David and I do occasionally test our abilities to pick out people who the other will be attracted to. That’s a good sign of a healthy relationship if you ask me...or at least a long one! So he fired up the old DVR box so I could check out Cody Willard.

Right on, Davie.

Cody was, to me, one of those guys it just hurts to look at. And yet I found myself saying, “Is he going to talk more? Do they cut back to him later?” So obviously it was the good kind of pain. I think what happens when you look at a human face that you find especially charming is a mix of pleasure and fear that the pleasure can’t last. I suppose the reason I hit Google Images after we had dinner (at David’s urging I might add) was that I wanted the consolation of being able to look at that face again sometime. Humans are always reluctant to let go of beauty: that’s why we photograph sunsets, download our favorite songs and carry them around in our pockets, and try to keep flowers alive as long as possible.

That’s also why some people become stalkers, but fear not, Mr. Willard, I fall short of that level of crazy. The fact that you are “my type” is an accident of nature, although I suppose we might give you credit for the great haircut. And if I get up the moxie to send you a link to this blog, it will be more for the practical reason that I use any excuse to promote myself, and not any nefarious intention. But I digress....

My point: sometimes it’s just a physical attraction, but physical attraction is a funny thing. We find it hard not to extrapolate. It’s as if our psyche insists no one so beautiful could possibly be less than wonderful beneath the surface. Anthropologists would say this is the nature of the primordial brain: we are drawn to beautiful people because that means they are healthy and genetically sound and will help perpetuate the better traits of the species. Perhaps. But I think physical beauty just arouses our hope for spiritual beauty as well. We want more than to have our eyes be pleased--we also want to experience things like kindness, talent, intimacy, and amusement.

When you picture actually meeting some celebrity you find really attractive, how do you feel? The common reaction to that thought is terror. It’s not just shyness, or the fear that we will be completely inept at the encounter. We’re also afraid of finding out the beauty IS only skin deep. We earnestly want to believe the beautiful person is not just some schmuck who happens to be hot.

Which oftentimes, alas, he is. I’m not referring to Mr. Willard of course...I mucked about in his blog for awhile because it was interesting, and I found him to be very ethical, thoughtful, and even a good match for my politics, bonus. But my point here is that sometimes a person must simply rejoice over the physical beauty and not worry about the rest. After all, it does brighten the day to spend a few minutes gazing at some really gorgeous brown eyes and a great smile.

Well, having borrowed Cody Willard for illustrative purposes like this, I think the least I can do is link to
his blog in return. Of course I can’t vouch for his money management skills...all I know is, if he suggested I invest in his fund, I’m not sure I could make a totally rational decision.


MARCH 25 UPDATE: Cody's music links are functional again (spooky but interesting stuff) and he very kindly posted the video of the infamous episode of Kudlow & Company that inspired this blog, for those who care.


MARCH 27 UPDATE: I did get up the moxie to email Cody. And he wrote back. Doesn't it do the heart good when the good-looking ones are nice, too? :-)

18 comments:

Becka said...

Diana! How weird, I had the same exact experience myself, except it was with the model for a men's hair product. LOL It's the model on the "light brown" "Just for Men" hair color box. He's got this sandy brown/blond hair and blue eyes that can just look right through you.

I saw this add for "Just for Men" hair color in a magazine and I stopped dead in my tracks. Usually, I flip again and again, looking for an interesting article. But this wasn't even an article. It was a picture of a box of men's hair color! And I was drooling over the man on the box. LOL

I'm desperate to know what this man's name is. I want to know if he has more pics, a website, a blog, ANYTHING!! :P And I'm totally with you about a man being so attractive it hurts to look at him. Hurts so good, as John Cougar would say. :P

Here's a link to what he looks like, the man of my hair color dreams:

http://www.justformen.com/products/haircolor/haircolor4.pdf

Wowza. Am I drooling?

~~Becka

Becka said...

Crap, the entire link didn't come thru. Well, just go to www.justformen.com and check out the model on the "light brown" color box. LOL

~~Becka

Diana Laurence said...

Hey Becka, thanks for posting! I checked out your Mr. Light Brown, and you're right, he's certainly Google Images-worthy...too bad you have no clue to his identity! That hurts. I remember having a similar thing happen once with a magazine ad. You get that "oh, look, it's HIM!" feeling, almost as if you've spotted a soulmate. Very freaky phenomenon, but kinda fun!

Diana

fairest said...

this is hysterical. You should ask cody willard for a discount to his telecom connection on thesteeet.com and start investing in the great wide world of telecom stocks.

it lists for $799 a year, but they'll sell it to you for $50, 60 bucks.

Diana Laurence said...

Hey fairest,

Great to hear from another Cody reader! Believe me, when I accumulate enough excess capital to warrant venturing into the stock market (beyond the trusty 401k), Cody aka the James Dean of Telecom will be the first person I consult for advice. Thanks for the post!

Diana

Diana Laurence said...

Todd Walker (he's a member of the Chicago Cubs, for those of you who don't know) is a looker in my opinion too, Laura!

Ritholtz said...

He's my type too!

txchic57 said...

You're no slouch yourself, Barry!

When do we get short again? Maybe Aug. 1?

Diana Laurence said...

Hey Barry, I'm with txchic57--you're no slouch, and I'm really tickled you posted. I said to my husband, "Hey, guess who posted on my blog...Barry Ritholtz!" He stared at me in stunned silence for a few seconds. Then he said, "THE Barry Ritholtz?" Well, if "Erotica with Soul" becomes a new hangout for the Kudlow & Co. regulars, that's fine with me. :-)

txchic57 said...

Cody's a good trader too. He has very good instincts about when to be aggressively long and when to pull back and get out. The bears find him a little too fundamentally bullish on the economy and technology but that's what makes a market. He really knows his telecom companies.

Plus as another woman, I also think he's really good looking :) and made that comment 3-4 years ago on the stock boards of some of the telecom equipment companies much to the derision of the assorted neanderthalia.

Diana Laurence said...

Well, fortunately for me, Cody took my blog in the spirit in which it was intended, and very humbly too, I might add. Which surprised me, as I kinda figured I wasn't the first to notice that face...LOL Anyway, as I wrote to Barry directly earlier today, perhaps we can discover the erotic romance reader/investor demographic and some of my blog readers will look into Cody's investment skills as well. I know after I make my first million I'll be contacting him about his hedge fund ASAP. :-)

Anonymous said...

I actually managed Cody when he was starting out in the business. He is a good kid, infectious light attitude and smart. Not my type but a down home person.

Diana Laurence said...

Hi Rob,

Hey, I understand if Cody's not "your type"...LOL...It's very cool that you posted though; getting to know the guy a little bit, I have been very impressed. Nice to hear another good "character reference"!

Unknown said...

Cody does it for me. In the financial way. And he employs my son in his internet business, BoomRevolution.com

Diana Laurence said...

Hi Steve,

Very cool! BoomRevolution.com is a nifty concept, as I'd expect from Cody. But please pass on to your son that the "About Us" link at the bottom of the home page is dead! Other than that little observation, I hope the site is a huge success.

Diana

Anonymous said...

I have known Cody since we were 5 (yes, thats right kindergarden). He has always had a kind smile and friendly hug. I am proud to call him a friend. I do find it hard to consider him a heart throb tho mostly because I remember him as the knobby knee teenager from our youth.

Anonymous said...

He is annoying, flat our annoying. I hope that his contract with Fox is not renewed, as he spends more time yelling and ranting about the "illuminati" than providing his viewers with useful information.

Moreover, he does not let his guests get a word in or finish a darn sentence. He then goes on to belittle them!

It's so evident that he annoys the hell out of Rebecca.

Eric Bolling should take his place.

And while I am on my soapbox, the man is a hypocrite. He spews about the ills and evils of corporate America, yet himself worked and probably made big bucks in the same system that he now trounces and denounces.

So it is OK for you to make your mark and your money but the rest of us are idiots who need your guidance. Do we really need you to point out to us how much it SUCKS to be regular folk? You know us regular folk who do not have our very own capital management firm or TV show.

WE KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE YOU ASSHAT

We know that we are being screwed by "the man" but we surely do not need to hear it from you every day for a damn hour! I just want to enjoy the show, and receive some objective advice.

And, it does not help that the man looks like a troll, it makes it much harder to deal with his constant spewing.

Diana Laurence said...

Hey, latest anonymous: But tell us how you really feel! Wow, I have no particular response for that other than I think this is the first "flame" of any kind ever posted on this blog. (It's kind of a "make love not war" place...pardon the pun.) I confess I've been out of the Cody loop for ages so can't speak on the issue of his politics or socio-economic viewpoint lately...