How to read (my face)

Announcement time! The Maoist got in to Boston College. Woot! I just wanted to say how immensely proud of her I am. She was getting a Jamba Juice, saw one of my coworkers, and asked her if she knew where I was. She was then led back to the bathroom I was cleaning, where she told me the good news. I'm excited for her.

I also wanted to say how much I love running into people I know when I'm at work. If you see me you should holler at me and get my attention. It's happened a few times that I've be talking with someone and they mention that they saw me sometime earlier that day or week, but didn't say hello. They usually say it's because when they saw me I looked very busy, very angry, or both. I always have to explain to these people that I'm rarely either of those things, and that that's just the way my face looks. Apparently I look severe most of the time. I think it's the face, coupled with the way I walk, which is quickly.

When my face is at rest the corners of my mouth turn down slightly. I'm not upset, and I wouldn't call it a frown exactly, but that's the way it stays when it's at rest. My smile consists of my lips pulling themselves up into a straight line, taut across my face without allowing my teeth to show. So my neutral face is a frown and my smile is really rather neutral looking. I am not a tooth smiler. It's only within the last few months that I've even attempted tooth smiling for pictures. It's unnatural for me, and therefore requires a great deal of thought and preparation on my part. I may just have to get used to it. The world expects us all to be tooth smilers, but I like to think that all good smiles start in the eyes somewhere. There's a crinkling that occurs when something truly tickles my fancy, and it's after this that I throw my head back and laugh.

And if none of this helps you in reading me, there's always the Helen Keller approach, but I don't think you should start feeling my face unless you've already tried the approach I've delineated above.