Being French has always been in vogue.  Slap a couple of accent marks on something like an Olay bodywash and suddenly you’re paying $2 more for perceived luxury.  What do we call high fashion?  Haute Couture.  The best, most luxurious cut of steak?  Filet mignon.  The best type of kiss?  The French kiss.  You get the idea.  We just can’t help but think that the French are just un petit cut above the rest.

While we may over-romanticize France, I was not disappointed when I visited France last winter.  Thus, it seems that everyone I know is equipped with this bizarre, overly-romanticized fantasy (or fear, depending on your side of the aisle) about the most luxurious brand of man: the Frenchmen.  The polished, handsome man who nonchalantly sweeps us off our feet and leaves us captivated and hanging on every word.  The man who models the very idea of perfection.

I, too, am afflicted with this fantasy, and it was not allayed when I became friends with a Frenchman this summer who, accidentally (he was not of my inclination, after all), had me fascinated and transfixed whenever he spoke.  Was it the French accent?  Was it that he-like all Frenchmen-are acutely aware of exactly what to wear to bring out that certain je ne sais quoi?  Was it the tales of exotic travels and seemingly impossible adventures that were brushed off as almost too common and passé for him to mention?

Who knows…but least we have company.  I discovered today that we humans are not alone in our love for the French. Yeboeh, a 12-year old French gorilla is being transferred from Paris–the city of love–to a zoo in England.  The three female gorillas in England, who have been rendered widows after the death of their silverback last December, were shown a poster of the Frenchie who may, just may, sweep them off their hairy feet.  Their reaction upon being given the poster of their soon-to-be beau?  CNN reports:

“One female gorilla shrieked in delight, while another wedged the poster in a tree to stare at it.  A third, clearly overcome by emotion, held the photo close to her chest — then ate it.”

So maybe it’s just part of who we are.  Thousands, even millions of years of evolution can’t stop us.  We just love to love the French.  C’est la vie.

@AaronEndre: I'm mad at you!

Earlier today I stumbled across Tweeple Magazine, which is essentially the People Magazine of Twitter.  But because there aren’t as many celebrities on Twitter, it’s got less content.  Anyway, I digress.

So in a cheeky tweet I said:

“Do I actually have to be important to get into http://www.tweeplemagazine.com? I guess not: @carsonjdaly is on the front page. “

Almost immediately I received this from Carson Daly:

carsonjdaly: “@AaronEndre Aaron, its really funny how you take a shot at me, and youre the 22 yr old male tweeting to justin timberlake all day. way 2 go!”

I felt bad and yet kind of victorious.  Bad because I actually like Carson Daly and he was offended, but victorious because I had made a celebrity come down to my level to chide me for an innocuous dig.  And not only did he take it sourly, he sent a few jabs my way as well.  And for the record, he’s referring to ONE Justin Timberlake tweet, inquiring about a possible new album.

So I immediately responded with:

“@carsonjdaly It wasn’t a shot at you. There’s nothing but love & respect here. It was a shot at “Tweeple Magazine” for even existing.” and “@carsonjdaly But I’m sort of surprised that you responded–and with a jab at that!”

Thinking that I had successfully cleared up our differences at the expense of Tweeple Magazine, I was immediately tweeted at by the Founder of Tweeple Magazine (and Tweepular, among others):

“@AaronEndre I own tweeplemagazine along with Tweepular & other tools. Can you point me to something you have created I’d like to take a peek”

So now I was back on the defensive because I’d thrown Tweeple Magazine under the bus.  Perhaps surprisingly, I’m not one of the people obsessed with celebrity gossip.  I just think it’s silly.  But I know that lots of people love it.  So I had to communicate that in my next tweet:

“@jasontryfon Just not something that I find value in right now. I’m sure there are lots of people who love it! Best of luck! “

His response was so succinct that I couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic or not:

“@AaronEndre right. Thank you.”

If there’s a lesson in all this, it’s this: be careful what you tweet, seemingly joking or not, particularly if it’s directed at someone with whom you have no relationship because it can be taken the wrong way and put you on the defensive.  It’s common sense but we sometimes need a reminder–or at least I do, even if it comes from Mr. TRL himself.

And for the record, I actually DO like Carson Daly (I hope one day to take him out for a drink and laugh about this) and I admire the work that Jason Tryfon put into Tweeple Magazine and his other ventures (I’d take him out for a drink too!).  I wish them both the best of luck and I hope they’re laughing about this as much as I am.

UPDATE: May 12, 2009

Since this was posted I’ve heard back from both Jason Tryfon of Tweeple Magazine and Carson Daly.  Tryfon re-tweeted this blog entry and then graciously offered to feature me in Tweeple Magazine one of these days (via his comment below).  Cheers to him for being a good sport.  I’ll be keeping an eye on the evolution of Tweeple Magazine and hope you do the same.  And if you’re not familiar with Tweepular check it out!

Carson Daly read this blog entry and tweeted this at me:

carsonjdaly: @Aaronendre WOW! we will have a drink and laugh at this 4 sure. you just made a cynical comment at the wrong time. i was defensive. ALL GOOD

To which I responded late last night:

AaronEndre: @carsonjdaly @jasontryfon Wow, they really are good sports. Cheers to Carson Daly and Tweeple Magazine. This round is on me.

This morning I was greeted with:

carsonjdaly:@AaronEndre morning bro..cheers!

A happy ending after all.