Asterisks

There are so many ways to read a sentence that sometimes it's nice to write select words in italics, just like this, to indicate what's important or what should be stressed.  But sometimes I can't write in italics because that option is not available.  The tacit understanding is to use asterisks to denote stress, but I dislike this pratice.  I feel that it turns the word or words into overzealous, pom-pow wielding cheerleaders.  Look at *this*.  It looks ridiculous.  It's not that I am against cheerleaders but rather that I resent making my words resemble them.  Using italics makes me feel so much more refined and elegant.  I'd rather use asterisks singly, as an alternative to using parenthesis*.

*except for when I would like to interrupt my writing with the neat curves of a parenthetical thought.