Avatars

[Dan Rowden]

Well, this is an interesting point, really, in that your new pic, in my view, says more about you than your other two. And yet, it's not a picture of "you".

It all boils down to what you want to convey, the problem being, that intention and interpretation quite often don't match.

[Shahrazad]

Well, this is an interesting point, really, in that your new pic, in my view, says more about you than your other two. And yet, it's not a picture of "you".

I thought about that. The Canal is very much part of me, imo, but not in a way that is obvious at first. You have to think about it, and if you happen to know nothing at all about me, you'll never see the connection.

But otoh, the pic of the Canal would never help you find me in a crowded place. A pic of me hopefully would.

It all boils down to what you want to convey, the problem being, that intention and interpretation quite often don't match.

That is also true.

[Carl G]

The Canal is very much part of me

With your Arabic-sounding screen name, I was thinking Suez Canal?

Kidding, but some might take it like that, you know.

[Dan Rowden]

Piss-off Carl with the pretend shit. Sher is Pananian; everyone knows that know. And the Sewerz Canal doesn't look anything like that.

[Shahrazad]

Dan,

Carl is right. Some here might not know where I'm from, for example, Sapius.

There's this guy I don't know at BA who is arguing with me in the reparations thread, and he thinks I'm a black girl on welfare living in USA. People assume stuff sometimes.

But anyhow, besides the fact that I'm attached to my history and geography, what else does the avatar tell you about me? I would think not much.

.

[Carl G]

Sher,

I like your landscape avatar not only because it shows your native land, but because the colors and arrangement are lovely and restful. I see it as an abstract design first. Then I have a positive overall impression, and only then to I see what it is, and the scene pleases me. Dan's, David's, and Matt's are also pretty nice this way, while Elizabeth's and Leyla's strike me negatively. Kevin's, also abstract at first, looks comical for him, like a dandilion fuzzball or cotton candy, and then one sees it is a sun.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

To me, David's either looks like a tree or shrub really close up, or a windshield after someone's head got smashed into it.

edit - But if I look at it long enough, it looks like a glowing-eyed gremlin peering through a dirty window.

[Leyla Shen]

The immortal Dean Martin wrote:

...Leyla's [avatar] strike[s] me negatively.

Then it is indeed the perfect avatar for me.

You see, that explains exactly why the Leafy Sea Dragon is an endangered species.

Most people can't even see them for the camouflage and, when they do, they love what they see for all the wrong reasons.

[Shahrazad]

Thanks, Carl.

I actually tried to prepare 3 or 4 other canal pics before I did this one, but was unable to get them small enough for them to be accepted in this forum. Plus, I didn't know what I was doing at first. So I ended up with the pic that worked.

I also get a negative feeling with E's avatar.

BTW, what is yours supposed to say?

[Aaron Mathis]

I really like Diebert's avatar.

While I find Cory's is just too pretentious.

[Carl G]

Sher,

I never had an avatar here until Aaron and I started kidding around on a couple threads, him being Sammy Davis Jr, and I Dean Martin. I got a few real laughs out of that rat pack play acting. And the Dean avatar, at first bordering on the ridiculous, has kind of grown on me. Dino looks ever so slightly like me, and he's a genial chap (and was never the excessive drinker he portrayed himself to be).

But don't worry, folks, he'll be gone soon, and we'll be back down to serious business. This is a respectable messageboard!

[Jamesh]

You see, that explains exactly why the Leafy Sea Dragon is an endangered species.

Put the Leafty Sea Dragron in a different environment and it will become extinct. A lack of adaptability.

[Leyla Shen]

Sure. Suddenly and rapidly poison the air and man, too, will become extinct in the same way.

Or was there some profound point you were trying to make?

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Aaron, why the lion? It's better than the scarecrow, but it's certainly no tin man (which would be appropriate for this forum).

[Jamesh]

Or was there some profound point you were trying to make?

Well I was looking to, but alas I'm half pissed and couldn't think of anything decent. Still can't.

[Simon]

Aaron, why the lion? It's better than the scarecrow, but it's certainly no tin man (which would be appropriate for this forum).

Aaron chooses the lion because he is a coward who always needs to be exciting himself and others. He functions to distract people from being comfortable with greater truth.

The Devil rests easy on hearing an honest word, for now he is both seen and accepted. The small honesty of man is the Devil's fodder. Nowhere is this small honesty found in greater abundance than in the comic. "Lets be honest" he says, "Lets be frank about the wretchedness of our lives: lets all laugh!"

Do you feel uneasy in the company of such wits? Have you ever wondered why people with such obviously talented and articulate minds should devote their lives to the entertaining of the mindless herds with such trivia? Are you suspicious? Have you noticed how everything must be a joke with them, and how their voice changes as they shift from one role to another, always one step ahead of reality.

What are they running from with so much fear? Why the need for such an armoury of humour, insight and imagination? It is enough to arouse fear in any man, when even the strongest animals are seen running for cover.

The enemy is of course - the truth. The wit has a mind which forces many truths upon him, but his vision is all too human for such alien things. He preserves his life with humour, by desperately dousing his stinging eyes with the eyedrops of wit.

Humour is a will to power. It seeks power over all that limits it by exposing those very limitations. Some have even gone so far as to call this "self-knowledge"! But I tell you, the humour of this world is a small honesty indeed. With it does man find a temporary freedom from his self-made shackles. With it, we become more secure inside our prison by accepting our imprisonment. It is as though, through the help of humour and honesty we have managed to get ourselves a more comfortable prison cell.

Small honesty's greatest fear, and death to the Devil, is the man of Great Honesty. Such a man is like a sinking ship. The more honest he becomes, the faster he sinks. And just as people abandon a sinking ship, women and children first, so do people abandon the honest man. He rapidly becomes a liability rather than an asset.

Not like Aaron's even that great of a wit. He just does what he can to stay afloat. He just does what he can to sustain the emotions of himself and of others. It's like the fool who goes around spreading his music, trying to become well liked, convinced that he's enchancing their lives with the excitement of his theatrics. He is brandy for the dammed, as the dammed drink the brandy.

[Faust]

Whyyy can we only upload avatars no larger than 6 KB?? Your avatars look very detailed and I don't know how they can have a small file size... Oh and can we make the dimensions larger tooo, pleasee?

[Gretchen]

Whyyy can we only upload avatars no larger than 6 KB?? Your avatars look very detailed and I don't know how they can have a small file size... Oh and can we make the dimensions larger tooo, pleasee?

I am no genius in computers as the rest are, but you can import it into Paint or something just as suitable and reduce the dimensions, saving it as a jpeg, uploading it...and it works. The painting in my avatar is actually a 30x36" painting and it looks like a very miniature version of the real thing. Try it out!