DuracellEnergizer said:
I've had crushes on nine girls, and I can remember the names of each of them and the order in which I crushed on them (this includes the one I actually fell in love with).
First off, posting the actual names of the non-celebrity crushes is a little creepy... Just saying.
Second, celebrity crushes aren't viable crushes, so it doesn't matter that the Alantis Morissette and Heather Langenkamp you are attracted to do not exist anymore, and it shouldn't be an unpleasant experience for you. It isn't like if you had been born in the right decade you'd be hooking up with the young Heather Langenkamp. I feel like you might be taking your celebrity crushes too seriously.
Also, 2001 - 2008? That is a long time for a "crush" to last. Did you ever ask her out during that period of time, or have any kind of relationship? I am assuming this is the one you fell in love with, so there must have been something mutual there, right?
I'm coming to the conclusion that you are doing it wrong (but I could be wrong). For one, adults don't really use the word "crush". Of course, you could still be in high school for all I know. From high school to present I have been interested in so many girls that I couldn't possible remember all of their names, even if I knew their names to start with. Some were month long endeavors of trying to impress her, others lasted just the minutes it took to talk to her and find out she had a boyfriend or that she wasn't interested. Lingering crushes from afar are about as conducive as celebrity crushes. And no offense, but they can be kind of creepy. It is much better (and not creepy) to put yourself out there, crash and burn, cut your loses, and move on to the next; which is only the worst case scenario, alternatively, you might put yourself out there and find out she is interested.
Let's look at the situation with Brianna. You bemoan the fact that your work schedules didn't line up enough for you to get the chance to know her, then you got laid off. Losing the job sucked, but it shouldn't have had an bearing on how things played down with Brianna. She was a server, so the solution would have been to go back and grab a coffee/meal/whatever they served there at a time you knew she'd be working, and either flat out ask her if she wants to hang out*, or at least say something along the lines of, "Hey, could I get your phone number? I'd kind of like to stay in touch."
*This is kind of one of the cool things about our society at present, the word "hanging out". It is different than a date, but it still gives you close interaction time to get to know someone, without the pressures of a date. "You want to hang out sometime?" is a very different question than, "Would you want to go out sometime?", but the two accomplish almost the exact same things. Yet they have very different connotation to them. Asking a girl to "go out" with you tells her you are already romantically interested in her, which adds an element of nervousness and pressures, if she isn't sure how she feels about you, or has never thought of you that way before and was caught off guard by your question, then she is much more likely to play it safe and make an excuse. If you ask a girl to "hang out", it is merely saying I think you're kind of cool and wouldn't mind getting to know you better.
From there it can evolve into anything. If there is attraction and chemistry there, then it will probably evolve into some fun times down the road (or that evening), if there isn't but you end up getting along well, then you may have made a cool new friend, and if there is nothing at all, then you've really lost nothing and now know it is time to move on to the next one.