Gangsta Boo

There are many reasons why I love Rihanna, but this may be the least superficial one: She's just fun. And she's just the right amount of crazy.

Some Most All women are crazy—every guy knows this (some of us all too well...*cough*). There's a definitive point along the scale of crazy, though, where you're messing with a truly psycho broad; and, unless you like waking up with a gun barrel pressed to your nuts, you would be best advised to steer clear of these women. What you look for, then, is a gal who's about three steps short of that precipice. One, say, who isn't shy about rocking out at a concert with "Thug Life" written on her stomach:

Compare this to the infamous photos of Lindsay Lohan with a knife to Vanessa Minnillo's throat, and you have a vivid example of the right way and the wrong way to do a spontaneous, nonconformist-chic photograph. Right amount of crazy vs. Wrong amount of crazy. And then, just when you've gotten used to her foot-to-your-throat punk persona, Rihanna pulls a 180. The same playfulness that a moment ago was used to project the rebellious nature of a middle-fingers-up thug is called on to remind us that she is also a girly-girl expertly capable of employing her sexuality:

No human being is one-dimensional, but pop stars—or rather, the avatars that pop stars use when they feel that fans and cameras are watching—often are. They become so careful about how any one action or soundbite will be used against them that they stick to a narrow script, never daring to veer across the dotted lines. And that's my favorite thing about Rihanna: She's not afraid to change lanes as the situation dictates. She keeps it 100; she's all her, all the time. She's beautiful, rich, and famous, and certainly those are attributes that will earn the attention of a man with even the most honest of intentions; but the fact that she's actually as attractive on the inside as on the outside means a lot. She's exactly the type of woman every man wants to marry: honest, fun, sexy, and just the right amount of crazy.

Images from The Daily Mail. TJ with the assist.