Il y a des phénomènes qui demeurent indescriptibles jusqu’à ce qu’un génie leur donne un nom. C’est le cas de la duckface, la grimace préférée des gens pris en photo (cf. nana à gauche), partout dans le monde (rassurant et flippant à la fois…).

Plus d’images ici

               Have you ever found yourself in this situation?

A colleague or adult student who you have known for several months invites you to join a social event — usually something related to business or work where dragging along a foreigner is a sure-fire way to draw attention to oneself.  At this event, the said colleague or student, who you know only by their English first name and some bastardized roman pinyin spelling of their family name, starts to introduce you to people saying that you two are like sisters (if you are female) or you are like an older brother (if you are male). 

At this point, you notice an uneasy ”cognitive dissonance” type feeling rising from the pit of your stomach, and wonder:  How to respond to such an introduction?  You certainly cannot loudly declare that you hardly know this person; but acknowledging such an introduction as genuine seems preposterous.  Therefore, you just nod your head and smile awkwardly.

If you have been there and seen that, you are definitely familiar with this classic scenario:  “Foreign teacher meets the cult of face.”

               Now, there are those who will accept such social discourse at face value; these people are usually Americans who are either on some Christian missionary bent or on a personal mission to spread American democratic values to the world; and proceed to infantalize the local population saying:  “Oh aren’t these native Taiwanese so cute.  They think everyone is their friend.  They are just like adorable little children.  Don’t you think?”  My answer — absolutely not. 

               The concept of face is as complex as the culture from which it arises; and, like everything else in the modern world, has become quite faddish and hollowed out.  Just take a look at these definitions of face courtesy of Wikipedia:

… Face is the respectability and/or deference which a person can claim for himself from others, by virtue of the relative position he occupies in his social network and the degree to which he is judged to have functioned adequately in that position as well as acceptably in his general conduct. (Ho 1975:883)
… Face is a sense of worth that comes from knowing one’s status and reflects concern with the congruency between one’s performance or appearance and one’s real worth. (Huang 1987:71) … (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_(sociological_concept))

               The above sounds like a noble and clear set of social norms, but in today’s society where the need for instant gratification is all-pervasive, these sort of strict social guidelines have inevitably become corrupted to meet the needs of the selfish individual.  Hence, the concept of face has created a confusing social world where people say things that they don’t mean to misrepresent themselves for all kinds of both elaborate and mundane purposes.

               Revisiting our earlier example, we can see that this said colleague or student is attempting to enhance their standing in a particular social network with an untruth.  This individual is presenting a foreign teacher as a close and intimate friend to create a certain image of themselves.  Perhaps, this individual wants to appear more “international.” — who knows.  The point is that, in this case, the foreign teacher is not their bosom buddy, so this person is essentially getting fake face. 

               What if the other members of this social network discover the lie?  Well, it is unlikely that there would be any repercussions as most members of the group are probably also misrepresenting themselves on some level to improve their standing in the eyes of their peers.  In this way, an entire layer of distortion has now been accepted as reality. 

               With so many half-truths and untruths saturating social interactions, it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.  Take one of modern Taiwan’s greatest illusions – the filial son.  In most cases, the filial son is a middle-aged, unmarried or divorced, living-at-home man who is not in the least bit dutiful to his parents.  This guy is often too lazy to look for work; or is waiting for the folks to croak so he can get the house; or wants mommy to cook and clean for him; or finds the family home a comfortable place to crash between girlfriends.  At any rate, this guy is usually a burden to his parents, not a help.  Still, you will hear community members, family and friends all declaring this son’s virtues:  

• “What a wonderful son to stay at home with the parents every night.”  (translation:  He comes home from the bar every night and crashes in his bedroom then sleeps to noon the next day.)
• “He is giving up his chance for marital bliss to care for his parents.  How filial!”  (translation:  He is so much of a loser that he can’t even afford to “buy” a wife from mainland China.)
• “It is so tiring for him to take care of his mother and look for work.”  (translation:  He would rather stay up all night surfing the Internet and sleep all day than go out to look for a job.)

               The list of pretty lies is endless, and it is difficult to see “congruency between … performance or appearance and … real worth” here. 

               All of these statements come from the same place and have the same result.  Those around this loser-son are giving him face by bending the truth to pretty much the breaking point, and as a result are creating a false reality where this loser can live comfortably.  In this “Oz,” the loser doesn’t have to face the fact that he is a disgrace.

               Image you are actually a woman who is interested in this loser — been there done that — how do you sort through the bullshit?  Further, this loser probably believes his own propaganda, so you will be forced to endure months of a life in “Oz” before realizing that you have made a terrible mistake.  It’s not a pretty picture.

               So next time you get that “Dorthy-in-Oz” feeling, listen to it. 

An Apt Definition of Paradoxical from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradoxical　

” …  paradoxes involve false statements or half-truths and the resulting biased assumptions.

For example, consider a situation in which a father and his son are driving down the road. The car collides with a tree and the father is killed. The boy is rushed to the nearest hospital where he is prepared for emergency surgery. On entering the surgery suite, the surgeon says, “I can’t operate on this boy. He’s my son.”

The apparent paradox is caused by a hasty generalization; if the surgeon is the boy’s father, the statement cannot be true. The paradox is resolved if it is revealed that the surgeon is a woman, the boy’s mother.”

As I said before, I am out there scouring the internet for different deals and hot products. I hope that some of them are helpful to you and you are able to find something that you love. I am going to load this post up with a bunch of stuff I think might be useful to you. Don’t be overwhelmed by how many products I post. These are all just things I want to get as well

I can’t wait to go shopping over the next few weeks. I will be loading up on all the makeup deals I can find. I can’t seem to think of anything else I want for Christmas, hah! <~~~~ I guess maybe some books?

So I was stumbling around this site a bit and found a few things I thought were worth mentioning. First off…

Estee Lauder Individualist Natural Finish Foundation

Made in your shade. Now there’s a makeup that’s as individual as you are. A makeup that matches your true skintone for the most natural, flawless look. The natural finish blends in so well, it’s undetectable. All you see is gorgeous, flawless skin. Exclusive Ideal Match technology features a unique blend of pigments in a reflective base that captures your skin’s natural tone and gives you your shade of difference. The feel is weightless and comfortable. What makes you different is what makes you beautiful. And now you can discover how beautiful natural can be with Individualist. Oil-free. Non-acnegenic. Dermatologist and Ophthalmologist-tested.

Brush Cleaner is a Must!

This professional cleanser gently and thoroughly cleans, sanitizes and conditions makeup brushes–both natural and synthetic. I don’t go without brush cleaner. It keeps your brushes around alot longer

Tinted Protection is the way, for less is more

Casual sheer makeup that is oil-free and waterproof with built-in sunscreen. Moms this is the perfect thing for your young teen girls wanting to wear makeup, just a light tinted SPF foundation that wont make her look like she is wearing makeup, but will make her feel better about her teenage skin.

Enhance Your Brows With one Of the Best

Achieving the perfect brow with this kit is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Brows enhanced with color, frame your face, add expression and highlight your eyes. See and feel the difference between a natural, mineral-filled brow and a harsh, pencil-drawn brow. Our 100% pure bareMinerals Brow Colors with natural hair-like shades apply beautifully and stay on all day naturally because they are oil free and won’t rub off.Kit includes:bareMinerals Brow Color Angled Brow Brush Brow Finishing Gel

The Get Started 7- Piece Eye Kit is Smokin! This is a Makeup Bag Must!

Get Started Eyes 7-piece eye defining and lining collection takes the guesswork out of getting started with 100% pure bareMinerals eye makeup and explains to you in simple steps how to achieve your desired eyes. We’ve chosen all the right tools to make your application enjoyable and effortless in no time at all. Plus, we’ll lead you each step of the way with our how-to-guide, which provides a multitude of beautiful, everyday wearable styles. Save over 50% – A $94 value for only $49

Bare Escentuals Wearable Eye Kits

The Bare Escentuals Wearable Eye Kits are perfect for specific color preferences. Like all Bare Escentual Products it is great for bringing out the true colors of your eyes. The kits come in many color combinations, greens, browns, purples, and others. Each comes with 3 colors and information on how to best use the product! Grab one of these before they are all taken up!

Liner Shadow

Wax free. Oil free. For a look that won’t smudge.

Wearable Lip Kits

One Lipstick, one Lip Liner and one Lip Gloss in each kit.

Ok ok I think that is enough. If you check out that site you will find tons of awesome stuff. So just click on a photo and go check it all out

Happy browsing!

Aub

Photographed by Tambako the Jaguar

Another picture of the mother cheetah and again licking her nose, I already got a few such pictures during previous visits but I like her eyes on this shot.

Picture taken in the zoo of Basel.

– License

I have been looking for a good foundation brush for a while. I know MACs brushes are supposed to be the best but i don’t really want to pay £24.50 for one. So i went into Superdrug to look at the GOSH make-up brushes but they didn’t have any foundation brushes left so i was just browsing around looking at make-up and saw a wall with brushes, tweezers, lashes etc. And i came across QVS, they have a really big range of brushes and for this price i thought i would try the foundation brush, because for that price, if i didn’t like it, then it wasnt money down the pan.

The packaging says that it is new, it’s professional quality, has soft nylon bristles and can be used with oil or water based make-up. For foundation application, synthetic is definitely best, natural hair brushes tend to become clogged with liquid make-up and you end up wasting product. A synthetic brush glides smoothly through, distributing product evenly.

I think it’s great! I seem to need less foundation because is spreads it all out evenly across my face and the result is flawless application. Fab value for money!

On fridays I will post an example of some habit people on these sites do that really get on my nerves. Starting with this:

Title:

Why are you eating my face?!?

Open Question

Show me another »

Why are you eating my face?!?

This sections really slow so I thought I’d liven it up a little x]

 

SO the real Q is…what did you immediately think when you read the title? I’m curious

Amaira <3

• 39 minutes ago
• – 4 days left to answer.

Answer Question