I would think this is the most useful site for the new year...for those not in London.
As I am the magister ludi here is the story as promised:
I had an odd experience today. I have the characteristic of never forgetting someone's face. It is almost a curse, as many forms of remembrance are for many people. When I went to registration earlier this year, there was an
(admittedly) attractive Chinese girl pacing outside the building. I didn't
know where to go, so I asked her if she was there for registration. Her face
contorted into the deepest scowl imaginable and she said, "No." Apparently she
thought I was going to hit on her? Well, I eventually found where I was
supposed to go, and later, I saw her in there registering. Four months later, I was at an exhibit of the first three emperors of the Qing dynasty at
the Royal Academy... I was looking
at the emperors silk robe and in the reflection of the glass... I saw a familiar
Chinese face... even Chinese, who should all look alike to begin with (I would like to think I wrote this all for that zinger!).
I glanced around to verify, and she noticed me. It seems she might have
recognized me, or else my face provokes a common response as the scowl returned
to her face.
It seems like a bit of a paranoid story, but I contend that the two easiest things to read in a person's face are recognition and disgust.
??.??.? Feng min 0rz
As I am the magister ludi here is the story as promised:
I had an odd experience today. I have the characteristic of never forgetting someone's face. It is almost a curse, as many forms of remembrance are for many people. When I went to registration earlier this year, there was an
(admittedly) attractive Chinese girl pacing outside the building. I didn't
know where to go, so I asked her if she was there for registration. Her face
contorted into the deepest scowl imaginable and she said, "No." Apparently she
thought I was going to hit on her? Well, I eventually found where I was
supposed to go, and later, I saw her in there registering. Four months later, I was at an exhibit of the first three emperors of the Qing dynasty at
the Royal Academy... I was looking
at the emperors silk robe and in the reflection of the glass... I saw a familiar
Chinese face... even Chinese, who should all look alike to begin with (I would like to think I wrote this all for that zinger!).
I glanced around to verify, and she noticed me. It seems she might have
recognized me, or else my face provokes a common response as the scowl returned
to her face.
It seems like a bit of a paranoid story, but I contend that the two easiest things to read in a person's face are recognition and disgust.
??.??.? Feng min 0rz
posted by akrites @ 10:00 PM
3 Comments:
At 10:07 AM,
baj said…
i suppose i should count myself fortunate that i don't suffer from such facial recognition misery. i remember nobody and nothing. i'm starting to forget how to type my own name. ahhh, early senility. how i welcome you.
At 1:44 AM,
akrites said…
Interestingly enough, Salman Rushdie writes about a character with this sort of... problem (though quite a bit more intense, this guy remembers every event in his life which keep repeating over and over in his head) in his latest novel. Though the Indian commander in Kashmir is one of the villains. As much as a post-modernist book can have a villain. I should hope this won't have such a drastic effect on my own disposition.
At 12:57 AM,
Omar said…
Now there is a story that I would expect you to write about, well done I say! You are absolutely right about recognition and disgust being two expressions that are easily distinguished. Unfortunately, I all too often am prespented with the latter. Another expression that I often encounter, pity!
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