Joseph Gordon-Levitt: If you're Robin, then I'll be Poison Ivy

There's nothing quite like meeting up with a kid you had a crush on when you were both oh-so-little, and finding that he's still something else. Now imagine that you can actually go back in time and watch his 15 year old self do all the things that set your little heart on fire.

Apparently, this totally worked for me when I was 12.

What I'm getting at here is that I've been re-watching 3rd Rock from the Sun. And it made me feel juuust a little like a creepster watching Tommy toss his super cool long hair around. Yes, kids, that's right, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was one of my young loves. Granted, I felt a little less creepy when I checked IMDB to discover that Joe is, in fact three years older than me and always has been. Phew! And, I've gotta say, the kid had some talent. He's not one of those cute little kid actors, he's got skills, he's got class, he's got this great episode where he retires from the mission and goes to live in a retirement community. The kid is no slouch.

Dear tumblr, thanks for this.

And, surprise to me, the girl who played his romantic interest in 10 Things I Hate About You, Larisa Oleynik, also plays his girlfriend on 3rd Rock. (The internet maintains that they dated.)

Speaking of which, who among us late-20s/ early-30s women hasn't watched that movie about 7 trillion times, until the VHS wore out, the new DVD got scratched, and, well, it's not on Netflix instant play, so... I even know some guys my age who are willing admit to loving the crap out of 10 Things I Hate About You. Heck, I even tried watching the recent TV adaptation, which did not turn out to be a productive, or particularly enjoyable, use of my time. Maybe because they strayed so thoroughly from The Taming of the Shrew. And it's complete lack of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Boo.

Because that's what I'm here to talk about. Average Joe. And he's not just an actor, oh no. He's the kind of guy who makes me feel guilty about all that time I could be spending finishing the book I started as my college senior project. (Really, I've got the beginning written, and an end kind of planned; how hard can the middle be? I'll just do it later.) Oh sure, he's acted in over 60 titles, yeah, but he's also directed, written, produced, edited, composed, done things I'm not even sure I know the past tense for... Sheesh!



Joe has his own production company. But here's the really cool part, it's not just his, because hitRECord is collaborative. AND it's about to have it's own, actually on your television, honest to goodness TV show. It's the kind of thing that almost makes me wish I owned a television....

Click the link, check it out. Because hitRECord is one of the coolest ideas I've seen in a while. This is (one of) the (many and varied) future(s) of the internet, people. Collective art. And collective profits, if there are any. Maybe one day, when I'm feeling quite sassy, I'll stroll on down to hitRECord and lay down a story or two and see what becomes of them. Or maybe I'll pick up someone's tune and write some lyrics. Thanks for the invite, Regular Joe! What a big, sexy brain you have.

And speaking of cool--we all knew I'd get to this paragraph eventually and if you haven't seen the full Dark Knight Trilogy, then spoilers are ahead--the guy is Robin. I mean, OK, he's not Batman... yet. But come on. 3rd Rock from the Sun, Inception, Dark Knight Rises, Looper; for a guy who calls himself Regular Joe, he's basically a Sci-fi dreamboat. And I for one, would like to board.

Extra goodness:

The kid can dance!

Pros: Time-traveling, crime-fighting, dream-invading alien. Makes pretty sweet art. We've invested in a long-term relationship.

Cons: Not actually a time-traveling, crime-fighting, dream-invading alien. Best part of his fan club's website is a link that looks like it's internal, but instead takes you directly to his tumblr. 2 points.