CHEAP CAMERA/10 SECOND TIMER SELF-PORTRAITURE

Monday, October 25, 2010

How's it Hangin', Haters?


(Snapped on 10/17/10)

Do any of you guys find anything particularly outrageous about the outfit that I'm wearing in the photos on this post? (For godssakes - at least I'm wearing clothing this time) Ok, well how 'bout what I'm doing in the photos - you see anything wrong with that? Right. I didn't think so either. So could someone please tell me then, why folks were so visibly flipped out by watching me innocently photographing myself on the "dance floor" and elsewhere around the grounds of the spectacular estate where our annual Balloon Festival was recently held? I mean seriously...is what I do really all that bizarre or even such a difficult concept to grasp? One guy actually shrugged his shoulders, rolled his eyes and shot me a nasty look as if to say, "Aight, ya' dumb bitch...suitcherself" when I responded to his offer to take the picture for me with, "No thanks. I'm doing "dash" photography, the whole point is to snap the pictures myself"

Or could it be that most people really are that uptight......I am inclined to vote for the latter...


(Snapped on 10/17/10)

Ok...so in all fairness, not everyone was a total grouch about me publicly fulfilling my right to artistic expression. One lady came up to me and said she'd been watching me for awhile and that she thought what I was doing was cool. And after explaining the whole 10 sec. timer thing to two teenage girls who approached me and timidly asked what the deal was, they were so fascinated that they followed me everywhere I went, until my battery died and I left...it was cute. Plus look - I did get that one lady to smile (see above) But still...check out the elk there in the background. I swear he seems downright pissed off! His expression and body language were def more in line with the disapproving looks that my behavior generated from most onlookers. It's so funny to me that even a guy in a goofy elk costume could feel justified in exhibiting his obvious objection to my harmless antics...


(Snapped on 10/17/10)

But that's all right, cuz I exacted my revenge when I set up my cam and took pics. of myself dancing in front of him...(wait...is he giving me the finger?!)


Anyway, my intention here is not to bitch and moan about being some embittered, misunderstood "artist" - quite the contrary. The purpose of this entry in its purest form - is to show off these pictures that I thought didn't turn out half badly - thank you scenic Long Branch and you too - beautiful, deep blue sky! But while I'm here, I'd also like to thank my haters...

A Twitter friend quoted his pastor the other day when he tweeted, "Send your haters a Thank You card" and the instant I read it, I latched on to the idea. 

It's been my experience with haters, that 9 times out of 10 the most vicious ones are people who know me in real life (although sometimes only vaguely) and by and large I find them to be reprehensible cowards. I'll skip the part about how so many of my haters also happen to be women who would have everyone believe that they are pious, Christian do-gooders (gag). Don't get me wrong, I do know that there are good Christians out there (my dear Twitter friend for example) but these women are not that. The biggest bullies I've encountered in my adult life without exception, are "ladies" who wear their religion on their sleeves...and after getting a whiff of my alternative lifestyle, treat me as if I'm Hester Prynne's kid sister...with leprosy. But wait - before I stoop to their level by going off on some wicked tangent, I shall instead hold my tongue in regards to that subject... 

Ok so, break the whole cowardly haters thing down even further and you'll discover that there are several common methods that your acquaintances will typically implement when hatin' on you. At the Balloon Festival, I got a taste of the one where a person acts like they're your good buddy to your face, but later on you catch 'em staring you down, snickering and whispering behind a cupped hand into the ear of another colleague. Admirable...very 6th grade...

Lately though the trend seems to be more of an unwarranted cold shoulder, from people who used to be perfectly polite, even friendly towards me - and to whom I have never personally committed any infraction. I find it very interesting that what I do in my personal life deems me worthy of unmitigated passive aggression. The buzz about my photo blog is so much more negative and epidemic than the comparatively lenient backlash I withstood in regards to my old blog...which absolutely blows my mind. Cuz if you ask me, this blog is light and fun and I've always hoped it would convey a positive message about having the confidence to pursue an artistic inclination (no matter how unorthodox, obscure, or obscene?) as well as celebrate the human body and all of the cool things that it can be capable of doing...but evidently either I've missed my mark, or many have completely missed the point.

I know that I probably sound uber-paranoid, but my kids even notice the succession of slights, after which they comment...completely unprompted.

There's another form of silent treatment that's really odd to me, although I'm not totally convinced that it places the aggressor under the umbrella heading of "hater". Let's just say though, that it in no way has me "feeling the love"...

Ever since I got my photo blog up and running, conversation in general on Facebook, has become conspicuously suspended. And I'm not just talking about a lack of input good or bad, from my FB "friends" (most of whom have known me for ages) in regards to the posts on The Big Ugly. By now I've gotten rather used to posting entries into a virtual vacuum...What I'm talking about is more of an uncomfortable, inexplicable echo syndrome which chronically follows my unacknowledged attempts at simple small-talk. Sorta like, "HELLO...hello...hello..." For instance - there've been a few times recently, when I wrote on the walls of or sent messages to people with whom I considered myself to be friendly, maybe not super tight friends, but friendly just the same...and I get nothing...no response at all. The same goes for new FB friends who may already know me but who've only recently friended me. I accept their friend requests and may write to thank them and say "HI"...and what do I get? Absolute silence. Like, what tha freak you guys? You're gonna friend me, but you're not gonna talk to me...righteous. I would actually prefer them to tell me to "Go to hell" than to leave me dangling the way that they do... 

To my FB friends who blatantly ignore me I suggest, if there's something I've done that makes you never want to talk to me, then why don't you simply un-friend me? I've grown to expect being shunned by the Bible-thumpers, but by my "progressive" pals from the past? Preposterous...


(Snapped on 10/17/10)

Now...this is the part in the story where the metaphorical beams of light break through the ominous, black clouds. I'm talkin' about the few, the proud, the brave - who consistently remind me that they do appreciate this endeavor about which I've become so passionate...and even go so far as to set the record straight to the growing contingent of Big Ugly nay-sayers who formulate their opinions of me - on hearsay, instead of seeing for themselves what my site is all about...and for that I am infinitely grateful. The input of even a couple of good peeps, really does negate the animosity (silent or otherwise) of the meddlesome "moral" majority…in my mind, at least. 

To my haters I extend my sincerest "Thank You". You don't frighten me and I'm not gonna change just for you (if anything, I'm gonna get worse). Oh and I'll keep on truckin' if you'll keep on spreadin' the word. Your slander is my free advertising...Halleluiah, Hosanna and AMEN!

2 comments:

  1. I dig your attitude. Keep having fun.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Honey Pie! I DEF consider you one of the few, the proud and the BRAVE! *MUAH*

    ReplyDelete