Jason Mraz doesn’t get enough love around here. He’s an extremely talented musician and a decent guy who keeps his business out of the tabloids. He’s not hanging out at clubs, getting DUIs or sticking his foot in his mouth all the time so we don’t talk about him much. We’ve written about him exactly twice that was two years ago, and they were low key pieces about something interesting he’d said. (We also featured him once on HGF.) He’s a multi-platinum artist and he’s all about the music. In fact Jason is so focused on his work that it cost him his engagement to his long term girlfriend. He just told The Daily Beast that losing his fiance was his biggest regret, and the way he said it sent a little pang through my heart. It was romantic, longing and sweet. I’m sure there are plenty of other women clamoring to take her place now. Here’s his quote:

Mraz told The Daily Beast exclusively that he’d recently split up with his fiancée, 29-year-old singer Tristan Prettyman. “My greatest mistake right now is, I’ve been clinging to my art,” he said. “In that, I have victory for my art and a great loss for my heart. At the moment, my beautiful fiancée is no longer my beautiful fiancée.”

Mraz, 33, explained (see embedded video) what led to the breakup. “Two halves don’t make a whole,” he said. “Two wholes make a whole. In my relationship, I was giving myself away to make the relationship better, but in actuality, wasn’t doing better by doing that. I became less of a man.”

“I have victory for my art and a great loss for my heart.”

Mraz popped the question to Prettyman last December after a lengthy on-again, off-again relationship that included a previous split, in 2006. “SHE SAID YES,” he tweeted on Dec. 24. He surprised Prettyman with a 2.3-carat diamond ring on the beach, “under a blanket of stars and a watchful bright moon,” as he later described on his blog. In January, he explained to US Weekly why Prettyman, a singer-songwriter, was the one for him. “You just know,” he said. “We grew up to be each other’s dream person. She is definitely my dream girl.”

He added last night: “We are still super friends, we go to yoga together, we surf together. We acknowledge the journey that each of us are on. We certainly want each of us to feel whole and complete. And it’s when you’re whole and complete that that attraction exists and it really thrives.

“The good news is that no matter what— ” he paused and glanced to the side—”I’m looking over here, because I think my publicist is freaking out.”

[From The Daily Beast via Popeater]

Some of that stuff can sound a little pretentious, but when you watch the video of Mraz saying it, you can tell that’s just how he talks. It’s sad when you split up with someone you were hoping to spend the rest of your life with, but better now than after you’re married and have to go through the headache of getting a divorce. It sounds like Mraz was having identity issues and was giving too much in the relationship. That happens all the time and it’s not only women who change too much in an effort to make it work.

I hope we talk about Mraz again soon, but that it’s not because he’s dating a twit of a starlet or model. That doesn’t seem to be his speed anyway. Who would be good for him who is single now? I can’t even think of anyone I like for him who isn’t married. (Zoe Deschanel and Emily Blunt come to mind but they’re both married.) That’s what happens with the good ones, they go fast.

Jason Mraz and Tristan Prettyman are shown on 2/11/11 and 11/8/10. Credit: WENN.com

I feel kind of guilty putting all of these engagement announcements all together, but in my defense, two of the couples that got engaged are kind of boring. First up: Hugh Hefner got engaged. He’s 84 YEARS OLD. He proposed to one of his many girlfriends, Crystal Harris, who is 24 years old. OH GOD.

Hugh Hefner rang in the holidays with an engagement ring.

The Playboy founder is engaged to girlfriend Crystal Harris, 24, he announced on Twitter.

“After the movie tonight, Crystal & I exchanged gifts. I gave Crystal a ring. A truly memorable Christmas Eve,” Hefner, 84, wrote. “When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears. This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory.”

Later, he clarified, “Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring. I didn’t mean to make a mystery out of it. A very merry Christmas to all.”

This will be the third marriage for Hefner. In 2009 he filed for divorce from his second wife, former Playmate Kimberly Conrad, after the two separated in 1998. He was previously married to Mildred Williams; their marriage ended in divorced in 1959.

Harris was December 2009′s Playboy Playmate.

[From People]

There are sketchy age differences, and then there’s this. I mean… no fool like an old fool, right? I’m always reminded of something my father said about an older man marrying some young girl – “At his age, he’s just paying to look at her.” As in, all of Viagra in the world isn’t raising that sail, so Hef is just buying himself a young, pretty blonde to look at and be his companion. More power to him…? Ugh.

In other engagement news, Ginnifer Goodwin (32) just got engaged to her boyfriend of two years, Joey Kern (34). Apparently, Kern proposed earlier this month… and they just decided to announce it now. Their wedding date is tentatively announced for next fall. Also: Jason Mraz (33) proposed to his girlfriend, singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman (28). Let’s give a round of applause for age-appropriate unions!

Photos of Hef & Crystal, courtesy of WENN.

We don’t hear a lot about singer Jason Mraz, whose catchy upbeat single “I’m Yours” has reached quadruple platinum status and is the fourth most downloaded (paid-for) song of all time. Mraz leads a low-key lifestyle out of the spotlight, and as MSat pointed out in the only other story we’ve run on the guy, he could easily change that. He’s a superstar and could be hitting the Hollywood hotspots, dating famous women, and hamming it up for the cameras like John Mayer. That’s not what he’s about, though, and he’s happy to live a normal life that isn’t documented by the tabloid press.

In the June issue of Cosmopolitan, Mraz, 31, gives some advice to women who are hoping to have a chance with him. Whatever you do, don’t talk about celebrity gossip on the first date. While reading Mraz’s contribution for “10 Things Guys Wish You Knew,” below, I was listening to this excellent acoustic live version of “I’m Yours”. I was thinking about what he wrote while hearing him sing and I have to admit my stomach fluttered a little. There’s something about this normal attractive guy with big talent who finds down to earth women sexy:

1. You look sexy when you’re puffy from lying on the pillow all night.

2. We don’t understand your addiction to celebrity gossip. Whatever you do, don’t talk about it on a date.

3. Guys get a monthly type of PMS too. We get moody and need our space.

4. It’s the hottest thing when you say, “Are you going to kiss me now?”

5. We read and reread your texts and e-mails.

6. It’s annoying when a girl continues to ask, “What’s really on your mind?” Eventually, the answer is going to be “You asking stupid questions is what’s on my mind.”

7. A lot of us are insecure about our bodies. Women look like beautiful, soft, gorgeous angels when they’re naked. We look like hairy ogres or little scrawny trolls.

8. It’s cool when a girl isn’t weird about food. I love a woman who will eat something slimy.

9. Never tell a guy he’s just like your father. It creeps us out.

10. Put on a men’s dress shirt and nothing else. We’ll be able to unbutton it no problem, and it shows off your legs in a wonderful way.

[From Cosmopolitan, print edition, July, 2009]

Mraz has given us some tried and true advice about men that is also mirrored by the experts: don’t ask “What are you thinking?” and don’t bug guys when they’re in their “caves” – give them space and they’ll come back to you.

Talking about celebrity gossip on a date is probably akin to a guy blathering on about sports. It’s something that a date might have little interest in or knowledge of, and you want to keep the conversion on topics to which you both can relate. I can’t tell you how much baseball talk I’ve endured with various boyfriends, and it seems only fair that they should have to listen to some gossip, though. All of that should come after the relationship is established and the flush of love is still high, when the guy will sit through chick flicks and listen to you talk about Brad and Angelina, a goofy grin on his face as he stares into your eyes. I can see Mraz as the type who will put up with celebrity talk once he’s totally taken with a woman. She just needs to hide it from him during that critical “get to know you” period.

Jason Mraz is shown on 5/20/09 at the American Idol finale. Credit: WENN.com