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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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I often take horrible, ugly, almost offensive looking photos that conger up the whole idea of being hit over and over and over again with the ugly stick. No part of me is photogenic, really. Except for maybe my hands.
I don’t think anyone who knows me would ever deny this.
At my first newspaper job, the photo editor had to take, no joke, almost 100 photos just to get one that would pass. When I left the paper, there were so many unbelievably bad (except one) photos of me that they put together a whole front page for me. (They called it 'The Many Faces of Laura,' which still makes me laugh. And just last year, I needed another for work and the editor himself said the first one had to be retaken because well, I looked insane.
Yet, it seems that every other bad photo I've ever had snapped ends up on Facebook. Courtesy of my friends. Don't you just love friends?
On many occasions in the past few years of this Facebook craze, I log onto my account only to be hit by a photo of some woman who looks about 20 pounds heavier than her real life self, who has hair in need of a comb, cut or makeover and an extra chin or two. When I realize it’s me, I do a freak out. Everytime. I become convinced that I somehow can get this photo off the screen without letting the person who posted it know that I took it down. Oh how I hate to offend people.
But I’ve come to realize there’s no easy way to get these photos off of there without drawing attention to myself. I’ve been told that the person will discover I "untagged" myself and I’m not savvy enough to figure anything else out. Because even if I untag myself, the photo is still up and people who know me will know that's me. (Please help!!!)
Which brings me to last week. I get back from Italy still upset that my camera seemed to stop working somewhere over the Atlantic and my only opportunity for photos was my new phone. And it is hard for others to hold a cell phone steady long enough to hit a tiny button, so I have only one or two photos of me on my first overseas trip. (And they're blurry...)
That’s why I was so excited that one of my new friends over there promised to send photos. He did. And boy was it me and all my glory.
Self deprecation aside, I looked horrible. It was 100-plus degrees, or maybe just felt like it, and my straightener wouldn’t work on the new converter plug I purchased for $50 bucks. So, my hair was freezy and puffy. Sweat was pouring from everywhere.
Did I mention I look like I'm due in November? (Yep, not even pregnant...)
But really, how nice was he to send me photos. I keep thinking about that.
One close friend insists she can't see it on her Facebook account, and others I think just don't want to tell me. They know I'm still dealing with a god-awful photo stuck in Internet infamy from my highschool reunion two years ago.
In fact, I've only been successful once in getting a photo of me off Facebook. And of course that took my lovely husband calling a friend of his and begging he take it off. I mean, it was that bad that my husband wanted it down.
So I guess I just live with it, right? Confident enough that the people who know me know I'm really not that hideous?
Yeah, right.
I don't photograph well, either. The thing is, friends and family keep telling me they are surprised when they see the photos, because they see an attractive woman when they take the pictures. My theory is that they are looking at me with eyes of friendship and love, but that doesn't transfer over to the photos. However, last month to celebrate my 50th birthday, I had a hair, makeup and photography session, and the photos turned out beautifully. So far I've just seen the proofs and am waiting for the final edited version of the image I chose. It's going to be my proof to myself that I can look attractive in photos!You are so hard on yourself! I think you look great in your m2m pics. And your FB profile pic is darling. Guess I haven't seen the "hideous" ones. And I know how pretty you are in person! :)We are so quick to short change ourselves I know, because I do it too! I hate taking pictures of myself, but I know that people like having those momentos. Yesterday, I was hot and sweaty visiting my son at boy scout camp but a friend wanted to take a family picture of us and I smiled proudly, no matter how awful I knew I looked, because it was a moment worth remembering! Your picture on M2M looks fantastic...remember that!!If it makes you feel any better, I worked for a company that decided they wanted everyone to have "professional" pics taken for the employee directory. They probably took at least 20 different pictures of me before finally saying "okay we can't waste any more time with you". Uh..gee thanks. I don't know how many times they would say "smile with your mouth closed" or "don't smile". Needless to say when "retakes" came around, they had me on the list and I was once again "tortured" for what felt like forever! Those comments stick in the back of my mind and I seriously feel like Chandler in that one episode of Friends.Facebook is so scary, especially with pictures that can be posted anywhere without you knowing it. Having said that, I think we are hardest on ourselves. Your picture is beautiful! I'm having to retrain myself not to do the goofy faces, etc. when someone takes a picture. It's like I'm 12 or something. I like Mygr8crew's comment that she "smiled proudly," even all sweaty, etc. I'm tired of seeing pictures that are bad enough without me making cross-eyes or something silly.
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