Wednesday, January 9, 2008

* Ugly Ducklings

Hi there,


My good friend, Betty, is so very good at answering those silly blog memes. Especially the ones where they ask you to list 10 or 20 strange, or unusual things about you. Of course I know that it's because she is such a clever and witty person with a real gift for writing. (also, I think she isn't above stretching the truth a bit - for literary and amusement purposes only, of course !) But when I look at those questions, my mind goes blank. To be honest, most of the weird stuff about me just isn't very interesting - or funny. But today, when I walked into Walgreen's to buy a pack of smokes, the meme muse shat upon my head. I realised that some of the strangest things about me, are things that happen inside my dark and cavernous mind.

As I stood in line at the counter waiting my turn, I took note of the man in front of me. He was a tall, thin man of about 45 years old with a thin angular face. His eyes were deep set, and actually, quite striking. He had high cheek bones, and a short, thin nose with a moustache below. His hair was jet black and combed back from his face. All in all, on an attractiveness scale of 1 to 10, I'd give him a 6 or 7 - maybe higher, but he really wasn't my type. As I watched him pay for his items, I realised that my mind was playing that little game that I have played since . . .well, since I started having babies.

In my mind, I began erasing all the lines and wrinklies from his face, and mentally rewinding the years, until I could begin to imagine what this man looked like as a baby. In this instance, I had to look the other direction and stifle a giggle. Without a doubt, his man was a really UGLY baby! As I watched him complete his purchase, and complain about the electronic credit card swiper-thingy, I concluded that this guy had probably spent alot of years in the land of ugly. In my mind, his rude and arrogant behavior confirmed my suspicions. Poor little ugly duckling !

Some people are easier to visualise than others. Strangely enough, senior citizens are some of the easiest. In spite of the gray hair and wrinkles, they are who they are. They don't feel the need to look like the people in magazines. In spite of still being young, teenagers usually do their best to eliminate all remnants of childhood, so they can be a little more challenging. When Jasmin was about 8 or 9, and struggling with self-esteem, we used to flip through the fashion magazines and giggle at how we imagined the all the gorgeous models looked as babies. But like the guy at Walgreen's, the biggest give away is their behavior.

I realize that my imagination probably isn't very accurate. I've seen alot of babies, and in reality, very few, are actually ugly. I think that most of the ugliness comes later, and for the most part, it's probably more of a perception on the child's part - which is actually quite sad. It's just my twisted little game, and it gives me an occasional giggle.

Well, sadly, that was the most interesting part of my day. I'm ready to gather up my shoes and socks, and head off to dream land.

Have a great Wednesday.
Love to all,
Susan

1 howled back:

Anonymous said...

Hey I liked that post, and I laughed about how witty you think I am and how you know I 'embelish' a lot of my interesting facts. That made me smile. It is true that most of what I say on eastwest is tarnished with the bullshit brush, hhaha.

Yes, looking at people and imagining them as babies is something very unique! I have never done or thought to do that....it's a great 'quirk' !!
It reminds me of something my friend Megan would do. She likes looking at people's faces too.

Maybe it's got something to do with you being an artist and your brain has to try and get a grasp of a subject? Maybe it's because you need a visual to understand something or someone's behaviour? Or indeed maybe it is just something from your dark and cavenous mind :)

I will now study faces a bit more and see if I can find the appeal in it!!

love ya, mel