The Homely Suicides

Peer opinion of us shouldn't really matter in the large perspective of things.

shouldn't. but it does.

The way we act, dress, and think is regulated by how we will be viewed and treated.

it is easily seen in children and teens- who MUST have the same style of clothes and hair as the other kids at school. if someone is too different, they are ostracized and ridiculed, abused or just plain ignored.

every once in awhile we hear of some kid who freaks out and pulls a gun on their classmates. teenagers have breakdowns. self-abuse and even suicide attempts occur every day. ask any high-school counsellor.

we'd like to think that we outgrow this stage, become more accepting and charitable to others.
do we?

do we stop caring about fitting in when we reach for our diploma?

How many of you cried because you weren't popular enough at school, or because someone said you were fat or ugly?

How many of you still cry because the world just doesn't smile on you? because you're tired of reaching for that unattainable goal of acceptance?

is your life only worth what other people think? would you snuff it out because it's too hard to face society?

we are each given a measured time in this world- the things we are meant to do and the people we are meant to effect we spend much of it figuring out.

at the end of the journey, will it really matter that some idiot in preschool said you had a big nose? that your girlfriend left you for a cuter guy? that you didn't get the job because you 'weren't the image we're looking for'?

is it worth it?

what do you think?

Anthony & Cleopatra

sympatico.MSN.ca

Cleopatra, Mark Antony no beauties, coin shows
14/02/2007 10:56:46 AM

Mark Antony and Cleopatra - one of history's most famous romantic couples - were not the beauties immortalized in prose and portrayed in film, according to a 2,000-year-old coin bearing their likenesses.
(Scott Heppell/Associated Press) "

The image of Cleopatra is on one side of the silver denarius, dated to 32BC, being displayed at England's Newcastle University.(Scott Heppell/Associated Press)

Academics at Britain's Newcastle University studying the Roman denarius coin say the Roman politician and Egyptian queen bore little resemblance to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, the actors who portrayed them in the 1963 film Cleopatra.

"The image on the coin is far from being that of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton," said Lindsay Allason-Jones, director of archeological museums at the university, recalling the film that ignited the tempestuous romance between the two stars.

According to the likenesses on opposite sides of the coin, Mark Antony had bulging eyes, a thick neck and a hooked nose, while Cleopatra had a sharp nose, a chin pointing upwards and thin lips.

It's not the first time images of Cleopatra have turned up showing a less-than-flattering version of the famous Egyptian queen.

But the public perception of her as a physically attractive woman has in part endured because of her legendary charisma.

As the Roman writer Plutarch wrote, "her actual beauty, it is said, was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her."
"But the contact of her presence, if you lived with her, was irresistible; the attraction of her person, joining with the charm of her conversation and the character that attended all she said or did, was something bewitching."

Allason-Jones concurs, saying the image of Cleopatra as a seductress is a more recent image.
"Roman writers tell us that Cleopatra was intelligent and charismatic, and that she had a seductive voice but, tellingly, they do not mention her beauty," she told the BBC.

The coin from 32 BC would have been issued by the mint of Mark Antony. It went public on display Wednesday at the university's Shefton Museum.
With files from the Associated Press

© 2007 Bell Canada, Microsoft Corporation and/or their contributors. All rights reserved.

What do you think?

Does What's 'Inside' Really Count?

So, we've all heard the saying "it's what's inside that counts"(probably from our mothers), and it would be a pretty idyllic society if this were true. If only people saw through whatever outer shell someone had and got to know them for their character, personality, experiences, hopes, dreams, values, etc. Then it wouldn't matter if someone were fat, bald, had a big wart on their nose...

But how long does it take us having contact with someone to even start to look deeper? 'First impressions', and resulting first judgements, really seem to stick with us.

I've heard of a trend called "Dating in the dark"- you get to know someone through conversation first, and then if you are both still interested, with the lights on. Of course, there's also "speed-dating", where it's pretty much what you see and can gather from a 5-minute conversation that are the only hints before you choose who you like enough to see again.
I wonder which is more popular?

So many people, though they might have gotten together because of shallow reasons, stay together because of shared experiences, troubles weathered, and after getting to know what really makes the other tick.
Looks eventually fade, "assets" get saggy, hair thins...

What do you think?

Symmetry

Have you ever heard the saying 'Easy on the eyes'- that's I think pretty much what our brains see as attractive- symmetry, smooth lines, things that don't overload our brains and senses. They are actually easier for us to take in and process.

So, did God make us this way for a reason? Is it really a kind of 'natural selection'- the 'good looking' people couple up and the 'unattractive' people just die alone, without reproducing children with similar flaws?

Coming from a Christian perspecive, I find this very confusing. Don't we all have equal worth? Doesn't everyone deserve to be happy and loved?

What do you think?