Sydney Life

In case any of you have been waiting eagerly by your laptops and PCs, for the next installment of the epic drama that is my life, fear not. I have plenty of drama to share with you - but most of it does not concern me.

You see, my esteemed friends, when one reaches a state of academic nausea (such as I did on Monday), one turns to other comforts. When the book is too much to bear, the fridge becomes a source of joy. Food suddenly takes hours to prepare, making it difficult, nay, impossible, to get any work done. Moreover, daytime television seems fresh and innovative, and demands many of your waking hours.

And then, there is the very, very dangerous habit of becoming addicted to one television show in particular...and devising for yourself a little game that, likewise, preoccupies many of your waking hours...

The program in question is The O.C. Yes, I know I will be laughed at rather than lauded for watching this trash. Yes, I know it is trash. I am aware: thankyou to all the wowsers who would rather have me watching...anything else.

But desperate times call for desperate measures: I am at something of an impasse in my Honours work, and I feel, after my second week of semester, that I need a break. And let's face it: is there any better form of escapism than watching four beautiful teenagers fall in and out of love with each other as the band bellows "California, California...here we cuh-huhhhhh-mmmmm..." against the stunning backdrop of Newport beach?

Luckily, my brother owns the first and second seasons on DVD and so I've been able to indulge my guilty pleasure frequently and frankly, rather vociferously. It has come to my attention, on my travels through the County, that the three long-standing male characters in the series represent various male stereotypes (imagine, a show of such calibre operating on stereotypes!) cherished by the general female population. And so I have devised a little game called "Seth, Ryan, or Sandy?"

Ladies, this one is for you: which one of these gorgeous guys would you take home to meet Mum and Dad?

Personally, Ryan is out of the question: any man whose signature style is one step away from lifetime membership in the Plumbing Trade Union is a no-no. Also, he gets into a fight almost every episode: who wants to come home to a bleeding nose and a blue-black eye? Not conducive to dinner-table talk, ladies.

Then, there's Seth. Adorable, nerdy Seth. Any guy who loves to sail and pleases his parents by combining two major religious holidays to avoid family conflict is a winner in my books. His sense of style is far more enlightened than Ryan's: the argyle vests get a double tick, the boat shoes are icing on the cake. But Seth's lack of insight lets him down: rewind to series one, when he chooses Summer over Anna. Summer, Newport's answer to Jessica 'Tuna/Chicken' Simpson, or Anna, the thinking man's goddess? What should have been an easy decision ended in disaster, and simultaneously ended my (short-lived) love for Seth.

Which leaves me with Sandy. Ahhh, Sanford Cohen. Short, dark and handsome, Sandy is the Catch of the Century. From the very first moment, we saw him stick up for the little guys - he became Ryan's guardian, he helped bankrupt Jimmy Cooper try to start anew, he even tried to save his ex-girlfriend when she was accused of being a terrorist. This is the man dreams are made of. No Ryan-style jealousy here, either: he let his wife live next door to her high-school sweetheart, for God's sake! He surfs, he sings, he looks great in a suit. Yep, the Sandman is my pick: it might be the eyebrows, it might be the impish grin, but he sure has a certain joie de vivre that I have very unashamedly fallen in love with.

I hope to have found my inspiration to work (I think I might have left it where Stella left her groove) by next week, so I'll actually be able to write about uni. In the meantime, please let me know if you would like to join my Sandy Love Brigade, or if you have a secret lust for Ryan, or Seth, or even Zac, Luke, Jimmy or even (dare I say it) Caleb. Also, if you know anyone who looks like/sounds like/acts like/is like Sandy Cohen, send him my way!