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| There is a fly on Hillary's left eyebrow. |
Here we go again. It's
Thursday, October 13, 2016, and I'm continuing to do my best to avoid filling up my blog with political stuff. I did see a number of postings saying that a fly was causing some issues for Candidate Hillary during the debate last Sunday evening. I heard the expression, 'No flies on me' often during my growing up days. The dictionary has this to say about that idiom: "
One is wide awake; there is nothing slow or dull about one. For example, She may be new to this field, but there are no flies on her. This slangy expression, which alludes to flies settling on a sluggish animal, was being used in Australia in the 1840s but did not appear in America until the last decades of the 1800s." Since I didn't watch the debate I did not spot this in real time. I understand that once it was spotted, it swamped both Twitter and Facebook. At least someone was paying attention. I thought it was humorous only because of the saying. I couldn't resist. I'll let you think of an appropriate metaphor to improve the caption on the photo. This is not so much about politics but think of it as an entomologic commentary regarding the species Diptera, the study of flies.
Taking a selfie seems so been there, done that, in today's world. However, believe it or not, a fellow by the name of Robert Cornelius actually made one of himself back in 1839. He took the photo in the backyard of his family's lamp store in Philadelphia, Pa. In order to capture his image, he had to hold his same position between 3 to 15 minutes, depending on the amount of light available at the time the photo was taken. He had to work to get this one made. Before this one was discovered, two were thought to be the first ones taken and they were from the early 1900's. The original to this photo is now in the Library of Congress. It wasn't called a selfie back then. It was designated as a self-portrait. There are many self-portrait paintings dating back to the late 1300's. This tells us that a desire to portray ourselves has been around a long time. Who knows? Some of the cave paintings may include the artist's representation of himself. Now we see selfies proliferating social media. We now have the ability to photographically capture our every mood and disposition instantly sending them around the world. We've come a long way. Or, have we? I think it best for us all to take a few minutes and think about and meditate on this matter. I wonder if back in 1839 Robert asked anyone if they thought his self-portrait photo made him look fat. Just a thought. You might add that to your discussion among yourselves.
Just how much has this self-capture become a dominant factor in our culture? Writing about this subject reminded me of the photo I shared to illustrate this very point. That's our President along with the First Lady and he is making a selfie with David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. The occasion? The funeral service for Nelson Mandela back in December 2013. Many noted how the First Lady seemed unamused by the antics of the trio sitting beside her. The President's defenders say it was the Danish PM who started with her own personal smartphone. Others said it wasn't as if it was a solemn occasion since it was like a big party of sorts, with lots of celebration, music, and it even included native dance troupes. Appropriate or inappropriate? You decide for yourself. While it may not have been the most dignified of presidential moments, it most certainly reflects the Instagram mentality we all live in. I wonder how many selfies we would see if people had to hold perfectly still for several minutes. I'm pretty sure there would still be a few but nothing like what we see today. Please direct any follow-up questions regarding this matter to someone that might have a clue. Thanks for tuning in today and may we all pause and thank God for His provision and caring. Amen. ...More later.
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