Personally I don't get tattoos anywhere, not just on the face. And to be clear - it isn't a matter of not liking them, I'm really just neutral. I have lots of friends & family members who have them, and they're fine. I just don't get why you'd want one.
But re face tattoos: I am currently reading The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester - one of the few SF classics that I somehow managed to miss up to this point in my life. It's terrific and I'm enjoying it. But here is something I don't get.
The hero (or anti-hero) Gully Foyle gets tattooed on his face against his will early in the book. It is described as a "Maori-type" tattoo. Everybody from that point forward finds his face horrifying and all they can "see" is the tattoo, not his features.
Perhaps because tattoos are so common now, I just don't get that revulsion. Nor do I get how people could not see through to the guy's face.
Wow, I remember reading that book many years ago. I think you are correct that it was the time that it was published which explains the attitude towards the tattoo. Back then unless you have been in the military even a discrete shoulder tattoo would have been considered pretty radical. Even if you could cover it up.
this thread is mostly "stuff I don't like." I think most of us "get" why people like prog rock, or Barbra Streisand or get face tattoos. We just don't like that stuff and have no interest in it.
No, it's not stuff that I simply don't like. Like Springsteen - it's not that I don't like him - I just don't get all the excitement around him. We don't connect.
Re the full face tattoos vs the individual's own facial features: pattern blindness. I couldn't see a person's unique features, I'd be totally blinded by the lines and colours. Further, the patterns would be imprinted on my retinas for some time, covering everything I see. Part of my migraine condition is that I get visually lost in repetitive patterning and can't clear my visual focus.
Some people with seizure conditions are like that too.
Joanne, sounds awful and in your case I would get why you couldn't "see" Gully under his tattoo. But most people don't have that explanation.
most of this book is pretty far-fetched and that doesn't bother me at all. People teletransporting by thought alone across 1,000 miles? Ok. Trained super spies not recognizing a guy because he has a face tattoo? nope, not buying it.
I don’t get people who try to judge whether or not you’re truly a fan of something based on how much esoteric knowledge you have. For example, if you say you like Star Wars but don’t know Darth Vader’s inseam then you’re immediately labeled as “not a true fan”
I don’t get people who try to judge whether or not you’re truly a fan of something based on how much esoteric knowledge you have. For example, if you say you like Star Wars but don’t know Darth Vader’s inseam then you’re immediately labeled as “not a true fan”
Good one. I think it intersects with "toxic nerd culture" I posted before.
It isn’t just nerds. Way back when I was in middle school my older sisters were in stage crew. I stopped by after school to hang out and my one sister introduced me to another girl and said “You two have something in common, you both like Duran Duran.” Other Girl then looks me dead in the eye and immediately says “Oh, so you think you’re a fan? Name every Duran Duran album in order of release.” I literally hadn’t said anything yet, and my sister was just trying to find a common interest for us as we had just met
Joanne, sounds awful and in your case I would get why you couldn't "see" Gully under his tattoo. But most people don't have that explanation.
most of this book is pretty far-fetched and that doesn't bother me at all. People teletransporting by thought alone across 1,000 miles? Ok. Trained super spies not recognizing a guy because he has a face tattoo? nope, not buying it.
Our brains evolved to see the patterns over seeing the faces - too involved for me to explain, not being a neuroscientist however the explanations are clearly (and chattily) explained in Scatter Brain by Henning Beck. That’s why the full tatts work over facial recognition software and also why a lot of people can’t properly read facial expressions and emotions of people with full facial tatts. of course, most of that science wasn’t known when the book was written. All they knew was that camo including clumsy face makeup seemed to work. (Read science on zebra stripes, quite fascinating)
I'm using "nerd" in a broader context. I would say your Duran Duran aficionado was a nerd, but that's just a reflex.
This is particularly the case with sports. I liked sports. I like watching football and baseball. I know the rules and understand strategies and statistics. However, I can't quote (nor, often, remember) them, nor do I know the record of every player, nor do I have strong attitudes about any of it. How often have I been confronted by some sports bully (a nerd, indeed, but he wouldn't like that - and it's always a he) who has very strong feelings and barks "facts" at me to say that this player should be traded or that team can't ever make it to the playoffs. Hey, dude, chill. It's just a relaxing entertainment.
As best I can tell, people are contracting leprosy by merely touching armadillos. Folk lore says that some people eat armadillos.
In my travels out west say from TX to NM, I remember seeing many dead armadillos on the roadside. All I could ever think of when seeing these dead armadillos out west is "wow I hope people cannot get leprosy when they are dead."
As best I can tell, people are contracting leprosy by merely touching armadillos. Folk lore says that some people eat armadillos.
In my travels out west say from TX to NM, I remember seeing many dead armadillos on the roadside. All I could ever think of when seeing these dead armadillos out west is "wow I hope people cannot get leprosy when they are dead."
article also mentioned that it’s popular to eat them, I think it said ‘chili armadillo’. Therefore, handling them for food. Yuk!
article also mentioned that it’s popular to eat them, I think it said ‘chili armadillo’. Therefore, handling them for food. Yuk!
This is what I expect from the WO bagel joint.