I never used this word once, but we develop expectations. By expectations I mean, we hate vacuums, and we fill in gaps. I was going to write a dialog between me and Mist1. If you think that I actually know Mist you'd be wrong. I know her just as well as I know you, whoever you are who is reading this at the moment. But, some of you aren't quite as anonymous as others of us. Take my bloggy sister Alison. You can go to her blog and see pictures of her, videos of her, and hear her talk. Not me. Not Claudia. I don't know what Lee looks like, or Mist, or Pickled Olives, or Glamourpuss.
Yet when I write about Mist, I have filled in a picture of her in my mind. I have expectations of what Mist looks like in my mind. Same thing for Lee, and Odat, and Glamourpuss. 123Val has pictures of herself on her site so I know what she looks like. So, pick a few of the people that you read on a regular basis, and have never met, and write a description of them in the comments section. Include me. I have my description of Mist written, and I'll put it into comments tomorrow towards late evening. Something is wrong with blogger at the moment, so I can't put any of your links in.
The Zen story is about expectations and discrimination, as you have probably guessed by now. I'm looking forward to this. It's very zen you know.
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Crankster: 5'11 inches, wheres old docksiders til they get holes before replacing, Dark hair, tapered with some length but not past his ears. Wears a "sport coat" on occasion and has at least two peirs of cords.
CEO: 6'1'' sandy brown/blonde hair. Played D & D through college. Wears a cord blazer with elbow patches. Owns one pair of decent cuff links - maybe even from Tiffany's.
ODAT: Long dark brown hair, 5'5" dresses smart casual. Owns a lot of black clothes. Would never wear a scrunchie.
I would guess Lee, but I kno her and that would not be fair!
I'm an attention whore, apparently.
Yes, I have mental images of many of the bloggers I read. But I know what an equal amount look like, as well.
As far as expectations and discrimination go, I think that once I've gotten to "know" someone via their blog, their appearance doesn't much matter.
Then again, I fell in love via the internets, so what do I know?
whoa...now see, I thought Lee was a guy!! way off!!
Claudia, I think is about 5'6". stronger than you'd imagine from hauling all that camera equipment around, light brown hair, jeans and polo shirts are a staple part of the ward robe, wears her hair short.
I picture Glamourpuss as a dead ringer for Blaze Starr who was affiliated with Huey Long when he was the Governor and Senator of Louisiana . About 5' 6" dark brown hair cut short, the peaches and cream British complexion, and a perfect smile
I usually visualize The Mist as Fergie or sometimes as a giant goldfish. I am serious here. Sometimes she is a very waify blond, her hair is straight and bobbed, and she's short, about 5 ft without heels.
The CEO I see as a George Costanza type, though perhaps taller, no glasses?, maybe looks a little bit more like one of the principals at my old high school.
Mist I see as more of a young Lea Thompson, red hair cut about jaw length, a few freckles, somewhat preppy.
I see Glamourpuss as more of a Christine Keeler type. Long, slender, mysterious with dark hair and a slightly darker complexion. Perhaps a little Welsh blood? (Funny that you see her as Blaze Starr, CEO. Not what I imagined).
CEO is tough, as I've gotten a wide range of details. I imagine him as a person of some substance, like a younger Brian Dennehy with a touch of Peter Boyle. He can be pretty physically intimidating, but is playful person. If you look in his eyes, past the inevitable eyeglasses, you see a lot of humor.
Pickled Olives I imagine as having a somewhat sporty physique. Brown wavy hair, off the shoulders for convenience. Polo shirts and delicate Irish features. The kind of person who probably has some nice jewelry but would be perfectly comfortable wearing a plastic bead necklace made by a child.
Odat throws me, because she seems to balance a mellow vibe with some serious convictions and ambition. If she was a guy, she'd have a few Jerry Garcia ties. As it is, well, I don't know.
Lee always surprises me. I thought she was a guy for a long time, too, because I misread some of her earlier posts. I see dark hair pulled back, olive skin, comfortable clothes, probably sleeveless shirts. I imagine that she's happiest in her studio, pulling prints and mistakenly smearing ink on her cheeks. Perhaps I'm projecting too much of my little sister.
I see Claudia as sporty, more concerned with function than form in her clothes, slightly tanned. I don't have a strong visual beyond that.
Part of the problem with the expectations that get built up in your mind Crankster, as you so correctly point out, is that they aren't all rational, or subject to reason, but more often than not, emotional to the person coming up with them. Blaze Starr is someone I knew growing up in Baltimore. She lived fairly close to me, and was one of the nicest people you'd ever hope to meet, and one of the most beautiful, inside and out.
A slightly different exercise might be to describe someone as an animal. If you do a group, you might extend it, and say forst describe yourself as an animal, then, everyone in your group. Now, share what you have written with the group. Everyone gets a blank look until someone asks, what's being a lion mean to you? And then everyone realizes what's happening.
I always see the Crankster as around 5'10" tall slim and wiry, with very clear eyes, standing next to a strawberry blond Misanthropster about 5'5" smiling, and very independent woman.
wow. this is a tough one...
but here's a go at it...
CEO 5'11, flashy dresser, introspective yet devilish..
Pickled Olives...I picture as shoulder length blonde hair, very vibrant, average height and fit.
Crankster...5'11 dark hair, glasses, jeans, casual shirts...
Claudia, tall, dark hair and eyes,
always laughing.
Mist, wild red hair, that's all i get about her.
Lee, dark hair, petite, casual dresser and mischieveous.
How funny that you grew in Baltimore and knew Blaze Starr. John Waters is one of my favorites, and I loved his little essay on Blaze Starr. This, by the way, is part of why I was blown away by your reference.
And I totally get what you're talking about with the animal thing. One of the key elements here is what long hair, hair color, dark eyes, etc. mean to us. I'm impressed by how often people start out with height, and what it seems to mean to them. This is particularly interesting to me because I hit major growth spurts in late high school and college, but was very short for most of my childhood. The cultural significance of height, therefore, is pretty amazing to me.
I've actually met people that remind me of animals...there was a cop in the town I grew up in, he reminded me of a sea turtle..he was even slightly hunched as if he were carrying a shell.
I went to the funeral of one of the big dawg bloggers back in the summer. I was totally anonymous but recognized the names of several people there for the services.
Odd how they all look so normal on the surface.
There's more going on in the comments section than in my posts, and that's a pretty good thing in my opinion.
Please, continue.
this is difficult because I've seen pictures of many of the people whose blogs I read...and then those with the avatars...that becomes my picture of them! duh...
let's see...
CEO...I imagine you as older...50's maybe, very self-confident...probably from the name CEO!! :P
Crankster, I imagine tall, thin, slightly balding light brown hair, no glasses
Mist...she throws me...from the stories, I imagine a Beyonce with wild hair...but then I think to myself...she could be a really good writer and be a white woman in her 50's wearing sweats at home creating this character...
Odat..tall, thin, business suit..but purple business suit. Hard-working...Mid-length brown hair, olive skin...but then when she gets off work, I imagine her walking down the streets of New York with a big purse and taking the time to look up at the sky and take a deep breath (maybe not so much in winter though..)
I am a man. I have really dry skin and two of my original teeth. I have breast implants.
I will never post photos.
oh puleeze...if you were a man, you would never mention your dry skin!
I have dry skin, and my feet, don't even get me started.
It's really funny, I couldn't be more unlike how you described me. Except for the independent part.
There is a picture of me on my husband's blog... somewhere...
misanthropster- I think I got right the only thing that really matters
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