« u and me and dada makes 12 | Main | damn me and my shut mouth »
May 18, 2003
don't do that
never mistake small couscous for quinoa. you end up with an overcooked gelatinous mass. tasty with brewers yeast and curry powder though...
late last night dean looked over at me and asked "when did you grow a beard?"
i thought he was joking. he wasn't. this from a guy who has photographed me for over 25 years (he took the swollen photo that graced this website. so i told him 97. he cracked up laughing. 45 minutes of laughter. then he dug up some grays anatomy coloring book type affair to explain why he never noticed it. and i had to explain to him that the beard has been on my face for over 20 years, and i'm short fat and bald too. he still doesn't believe me. later he asked his girlfriend if i had a beard. she said no. if i didn't look like shit without it, i'd hack it off right now.
just for the record, i have a beard. and i'm straight.
for years i've described my self as short fat bald and ugly. i never realized my ugliness had reached the point of hideousness associated with medusas. people willfully avoid looking at me. it takes a willfull act to not look at the lump living on your couch. "don't look dear, you'll go blind!" .
Posted by parody at May 18, 2003 10:49 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.ffej.org/cgi/mt/mt-tb.cgi/614
Comments
That's a common phenomenon, Ffej. When you know someone for a while, they stop paying attention to the way you look (at least, the details.) Matt, who I've known since first grade, tells me he imagines me with no glasses, and dark brown hair. It's been over 20 years sice I looked like that.
It can be embarrassing. Some years ago, a guy who worked on my floor came into my office and told me he wanted to do a name change. I figured it was the typical routine name change, until we got to the line where you put the new name -- he selected a female name. It was only then I realized he was wearing make-up, heels and a pastel pantsuit. He could tell I was surprised, and expressed a bit of disappoitment that I hadn't noticed he had been dressing as a woman for weeks.
Some people, at least (myself included) do the recognition thing intuitively. It's more about shapes, profiles and movement than about "distinguishing" characteristics -- that requires focus, and you don't usually focus your eyes on people you already know.
Or I think of a funny incident when I was a kid. A friend was sunning herself on the lawn, when someone rode out her driveway on her bike -- a thief. When the cop asked for a description, the best she could do was: "He was tall, skinny, and Black. He had an Afro, was wearing a hat, and moved very loosely." The cop's response: "Lady, you just described one-third of the people on the South Side." That's an honest cop.
It's maddennig to think of how many people go to jail on IDs like that. Recognition of people is more intutive than rational. That's why eye-witness identification is inherently unreliable.
Posted by: Jerry at May 19, 2003 06:58 AM
Thanks Jerry
I've been feeling somewhat an ass.
Posted by: hyperbocock at May 20, 2003 12:02 AM
ooooooh, i'm having to restrain my tongue.
next time check the fridge before you make comments about my apearence.
better living through facial hair for over 25 years...
Posted by: ffej at May 20, 2003 05:59 PM