Aug 14 2011
FACES IN STRANGE PLACES
Greetings, Cool Peeps:
This week I’m talking about faces in strange places. A little odd, yes, but maybe this blog will help us discover just how similar or just how different we are. Indulge me, please.
When I was a child, I loved visiting my grandmother. Her guest bedroom had this beautiful old-fashioned wallpaper with winding vines that boasted exquisite flowers. Before I would turn the light off at night and before I would get up in the morning, I loved to stare at the wallpaper. It was a challenge to find faces in the flowers. Once I found a face, I would play this game where I would turn my head away and then turn back again to see if the face was still there.
But the flowered walls weren’t the only place I saw faces. My favorite part about taking a bath at my grandmother’s was looking at the little man’s face with the big nose that went up and down.
“That’s just a drain, Molly,” she would say. “You move the lever up, the water stays put. You move the lever down, the water drains.”
“It’s a funny man with a big nose,” I would say, laughing, and my grandmother would always give in and say, “You’re absolutely right, Molly. I think it is.”
Every since my childhood, I’ve seen faces. Happy, sad, crazy, perplexed, silly faces.
I see faces in trees and faces on the ground. Look at these three photos I took recently. Do you see faces? Animal or human? I know these are just three random spots, but every day when I pass them on my way to work, I say hello to the faces.
In the first one, with my head to the left, I see a sideways bunny. With my head to the right, I see a horse. In the second one, I see a partial skull. Or maybe a man who’s been buried alive but is rising to the surface. Yes, peeps, my brain does take a vacation from men, work, fashion, straunts, and various pet peeves to go just a little AWOL. And I love it! Yeah, yours truly is a little freakin’ bonkers. But you already knew that.
The third photo is my favorite. Look at the amazing face of a man in profile with his eyelids, nose, and cheeks so pronounced. I see a wise and ancient soul — one who has been asleep for years or perhaps is meditating.
Here’s a house that I pass every day. Tell me you don’t see a guy looking at you in a Big-Brotherish kind of way. Look at those patriotic eyes. And that mail slot you think you see, that’s the dude’s mouth. He doesn’t talk a lot. He just waits for the mail carrier to bring him lunch.
Last week, I was chasing a story in a town I’d never been and saw these ladies in someone’s backyard. I call them the “Mop Sisters.” They haven’t seen a good hair day in a very long time. But they’re looking for someone, maybe some nearby old brooms, to sweep them off their feet. (Oh, wait, they don’t have feet.) Hmmm.
Last week, I was in New York, and looked up in Times Square at these streetlights. Only I saw sad, moping eyes that I wanted to comfort. (Yes, we’ve already established I’m a bit nuts.)
When I got home from my jaunt in the city, I fed Captain Jack, my beautiful orange furball, and lo and behold, I noticed that the cat food lid was smiling at me. See what happens when you take time to really look at things? (You lose your mind!)
And lastly, with a hungry cat fed and a tired me resting in my favorite chair, I looked over at my purse. It was smiling at me, too.
“Thanks for not spending too much of my money today, Molly,” it said. “And thanks for taking me to New York. I always have fun there.”
Tell me, peeps, what do you see when you look beyond the obvious? Do you see faces? Images? Do YOU see faces in strange places?
See you next week.
Yours in pickiness,
Molly
Molly, I can’t tell you all the things I see, you would think I have gone stone crazy, and lost my mind. I see stuff way past my capacity, and after I adjust my lookers, they see what I am seeing too. I can see way beyond my control. I look to see what’s behind what I am looking at. My imagination goes wild Molly, you dig me girl. I love the mail slot… I do believe if you look real hard, you will find something anywhere. Love your blog.
Talatha
Hey Talatha:
Great to hear from you, g/f. Oh, I don’t think I would think you’ve lost your mind if I knew a few of your secrets. I think we all have to expand our minds in order to really use them. Know what I mean?
Your comments always make me smile!
YIP,
Molly
This is really cool Molly.
I see faces all the time in things. Clouds, trees, ‘sand’ – it’s funny really. Is it our way of humanizing everything? IDK but it is pretty cool.
I especially like the tree with his big nose (assuming it is a guy of course – could be one hell of an ugly woman but hey I would never say that to her face ) and the mop sisters- gorgeous in their hey day, I’m sure.
Maybe they are there to make us feel less alone or comfort us when we need it. G works in mysterious ways ;).
Love it!
Hey Lisa:
Thanks. You know, there is a lady in Swansea who could be one of those mop sisters. She was a star ballerina in her day — a teacher for many years after. Every time I look at the mop sisters, I see her. Beauty isn’t the only thing in the eyes of the beholder — there’s so much more.
Thanks for coming all the way from Oz to see me. You rock, g/f.
YIP,
Molly
Thank you, For another fabulous/slightly quirky blog this week, Molly.
You make us all feel, if I dare to use the word, normal. Our conscious minds are only a part of us, which see things as they really are. However, our subconscious minds (much more powerful) will observe further into an object, place, or memory and develop something entirely different. I share the third photo as my favourite too. The more I look at the ancient man. I think….how could it be anything else?
You are not alone with your visions. It is something that many of us share and ultimately enjoy.
Thanks again, Molly. As the ancient man would say, “You rock!” 🙂
Stuart 🙂
Hey Molly , I love the face house because of the decorations with the door. I also like the second photo. I can see a rabbit’s face.
Thank you for a great blog 😉
Hey there, Lucy!
Nice to meet you! So glad you enjoyed this week’s blog. I’m so happy that you see that rabbit’s face. I’m very sure it’s a rabbit. I dropped a carrot there and it gobbled it right up, nose twitching and all. 🙂 ha ha.
Yours in pickiness,
Molly
Molly, you are so insightful! Thanks for bringing these photos to my attention. In several of these cases, I would have never thought to look at them the way you did. Thanks so much for this wonderful collection!
Hey Molly!
I love this blog. I do this all the time. Recently i was doing a website for a friend’s business, and in the process of making the banner for this site, I was making some dark ominous clouds in a repeating sequence. After a few copy and pastes I noticed that I had created the face of a kinda scary looking old man or an angry Santa 😛 I didn’t tell my friend about it, and thought I would show him and see if he noticed.
He did not notice it straight away so I left it there, but a few days later he asked me to change the picture because a few people had commented on the “creepy santa face in the background of the banner” hahahah how funny.
Great blog again Molly, you are a Star!,
James
Love it! I do this all the time too.. Just the other day I was looking at a door knob that was staring right back at me… Then there was the slightly creepier face that was carved out of the wall at the train station…..
Hey, Molly, great pictures and such a variety of faces. I too see faces everywhere. I always thought it was a left-over quirk from my childhood. Now, I can see I’m in good company!
Molly,
This has to be one of your most fascinating blogs so far….I see faces, people animals, everything…. everywhere…in food, in the sky, in the Forrest at the beach! Actually I find solitude in looking for these things……
Thanks for enlightening us and waking our imaginations!
Sheri
Hey all of you cool peeps: Thanks for your awesome comments!
Stuart — you are so right about our unconscious minds. I think like is one giant ink blot test, except we use so much more than ink blots to interpret what we see.
Leigh Ann — So glad you enjoyed the photos. One of the perks of getting out of the office to chase a story is seeing and snapping these crazy pix!
James — Ha ha ha. You always crack me up! That’s so funny that you left the creepy Santa face in the clouds. I would have done the same thing. At least having other people see the same thing would give me a sanity check — or an insanity check. Either way, I’m cool.
Nicky — OMG! Having a door knob look at me would freak me out! I might think the whole building was haunted. 🙂 I would have loved to see that face at the train station. Sounds like a scene from a horror flick!
Christa — ha ha. I have lots of “leftover quirks” from my childhood. They make me the woman I am today. Quirky, picky, or downright weird — it’s all good and you’re in great company! 😉
Sheri — So interesting what you said about finding solitude in what you see. When life gets crazy, it really is great to have a release. To just look away and see something others might not and find another reality — if only for a brief time.
You are ALL — the coolest of peeps — and that includes Lisa & Lucy who commented earlier. Thank you, everyone!
Your in pickiness, quirkiness & living life,
Molly
This is a fun post! And I do this too–notice faces in all kinds of things. It’s fun to pick out these patterns and designs, especially if my mind can make something familiar out of them. There used to be a tree on our favorite walk that had a big bump on one side, and we called it “the bear cub” because that’s just what it looked like! The other great thing about noticing faces and other things is that it’s a boredom buster — when I’m waiting for someone or something at some new place, I look for faces & other patterns!
Hey Julia:
So happy to have another member of the Face Club! I’ve been just fascinated by everyone’s stories. Thanks so much for sharing!
Your in pickiness,
Molly
Love this! I see faces on cars too, like every car has a different face is a different kind of animal. Other than the VW bug, looking like a bug… I see a lot of BMWs looking like sharks, or mustangs looking like an angry hammer head shark.. haha
Til next week,
xoxo
Hey Janet:
You’re absolutely right, g/f. Cars do have faces, too. And sometimes they’re a lot more interesting than the faces behind he steering wheel. Ha ha!
Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to stop by. Love seeing you, g/f.
YIP,
Molly
Hi Molly,
Another wonderful blog. You know me girlfriend, I am the one that is always looking for the pictures in the clouds, trees, and everywhere else.
I thank you for the sanity/insanity check and for the wonderful pictures, LOL it will be so fun to look for faces in new places.
We have a great old sugar maple sitting in front of the horses paddock, one limb is bent just straight up, looking like it is waving at us every day. It is over a hundred years old and I pray that I never need to cut it down.
Hugs,
Marta
Hey Marta:
What a very touching comment about the bent limb waving at you. I love it. Sure hope you never have to take it down. Thanks for stopping by. You’re the best.
Yours in pickiness,
Molly