Now your eyes are turned from me, I shall surprise you

[sovay]

The internet has generated a picture of me I like.

It was taken by Roger Gordy at the Skellig Burns Supper on Tuesday—I found it on Facebook, which means I'm not actually sure about its visibility for people who have not fallen into that particular pit of social media. If it can't be seen here, I have reproduced the image below. But if you can interact with Facebook, please go and say nice things to the photographer, because seriously it's him and derspatchel (and ratatosk) right now. My mother has some pictures from Christmas I can agree are adorable, but I wouldn't use them for headshots.



I mean, I still have trouble believing my face is that shape, but at least I think it's aesthetically interesting rather than the return of Tiny Richardson.

Comments

[gwynnega]

It's a great photo!

[sovay]

It's a great photo!

Thank you! I actually like it!

[audioboy.livejournal.com]

It's a really lovely shot.

[sovay]

It's a really lovely shot.

Thanks. I'm not making eye contact with the camera (and don't even seem to have been aware a picture was being taken), which really helps.

[audioboy.livejournal.com]

Some people just look better in more natural shots like that.

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

An excellent portrait, I agree.

[sovay]

An excellent portrait, I agree.

Thank you!

I might still use the picture of me with the sparkler as my standard author's photo, though. It's got a sparkler.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

The crucial question, of course, is "Did you eat haggis?" (I've just been reading an article on the BBC news site about US attitudes to the chieftain o' the pudding-race. I did already know it was illegal over here, I just wasn't quite sure why. Apparently it's "Eww! Lungs! Not a foodstuff!")

[sovay]

The crucial question, of course, is "Did you eat haggis?"

Of course! Both the ordinary and the kosher, which I realize leaves the vegetarian haggis out in the cold, but I am a lot more entertained by kishke than I am by things that aren't actually meat.

I did already know it was illegal over here, I just wasn't quite sure why. Apparently it's "Eww! Lungs! Not a foodstuff!"

Wait, seriously? So you can make it at home in this country, just not sell it? How does that square with being able to purchase organ meats from markets, which I know I've done?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Here's the article on the BBC. The gist seems to be that (a) you can't import the true Scottish product at all; (b) you can make it and sell it in the US but you can't include lungs, which are "considered an inedible item" by the authorities.

Oh, and a third of all American visitors to Scotland think the haggis is an animal. Allegedly. I, um, would prefer to think that some of them were joking?

[sovay]

The gist seems to be that (a) you can't import the true Scottish product at all; (b) you can make it and sell it in the US but you can't include lungs, which are "considered an inedible item" by the authorities.

Huh. I assumed we were eating a version with offal, but I didn't even think to ask! It was very tasty.

I, um, would prefer to think that some of them were joking?

Eeeeeyeah.

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Huh. I assumed we were eating a version with offal, but I didn't even think to ask! It was very tasty.

Glad it was tasty!

The impression I'm given is that the version legal in America has only liver and heart and the stomach, but no lungs.

I've never had either the true or the false version, sad to say. Should do something about that, some time. If nothing else, a girl from Belfast was slagging me about my Scottish accent recently.*

*Meant kindly, I'm sure, although I was a little puzzled about how my Gaoth Dobhair Irish sounds more Scottish than her Belfast Irish. It was a lovely evening, any road.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, you can buy the canned product, but there is some debate about whether you can buy it as a frozen product. If it's already imported, it may be possible (see sites such as British Delights).

Why yes, I did already have this conversation this week. :)

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is nice! I wonder what/whom you're smiling at?

[sovay]

I wonder what/whom you're smiling at?

It must have been one of the songs, but I don't know which. I'm not singing, so it can't have had a chorus. That rules out most of the ballads and "Charlie on the MTA."

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That is so lovely!

[sovay]

That is so lovely!

Thank you. Tell the photographer.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Good light, and a very natural smile!

[sovay]

Good light, and a very natural smile!

I can take credit for one of these!

[selidor]

It is very good to have a selection of authorial photos. The colour tones in this are particularly nice.

[sovay]

The colour tones in this are particularly nice.

Thank you. I like browns and greens.

[rinue.livejournal.com]

For the record, I think you have a great face that's easy to photograph. I just think author photos and headshots are extremely hard to pull off, even for photogenic people. What are you supposed to look at? What expression are you supposed to make? What does "I am a great writer, but I'm not stuck about about it" look like? I still don't know. I hunted around at one point for the headshots of authors I like, and again for "best author photos," and I found nothing I would consider successful.

[sovay]

For the record, I think you have a great face that's easy to photograph.

Thank you. It is true that I also like the picture from the sci-fi B-roll shoot in August. I have just never thought of myself as photogenic: I have too many pictures where I can't believe anyone's face is supposed to make that expression, much less mine.

I hunted around at one point for the headshots of authors I like, and again for "best author photos," and I found nothing I would consider successful.

This is a fair point and the next time Tiny Richardson acts up, I will try to keep it in mind.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

That's a gorgeous shot. And your colors!

Nine

[sovay]

That's a gorgeous shot. And your colors!

I wasn't expecting the backdrop!

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

I wish I could take a biopic that good!

[sovay]

I wish I could take a biopic that good!

You know, outside of your LJ icons, I'm not sure I have seen a picture of you!

[edit] That's incorrect, but I maintain I've never seen a picture of you where I thought, "Well, that didn't come off."

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Excellent photograph! And I'm very happy that you like it.

I 'liked' it on FB, but didn't feel comfortable addressing the photographer. Now that you've said this, I'll go and do so.

[sovay]

I 'liked' it on FB, but didn't feel comfortable addressing the photographer. Now that you've said this, I'll go and do so.

Thank you. He gets a lot of credit.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

I really like the photo. It's very warm. :)

[sovay]

I really like the photo. It's very warm.

Thank you. I like that as an adjective.

[three-magpies.livejournal.com]

It's a great picture! Your profile is contemplative. Also warm, as someone else mentioned.

[sovay]

Your profile is contemplative. Also warm, as someone else mentioned.

I was listening to music I liked with someone I like beside me. I guess it produces good results.

[three-magpies.livejournal.com]

That equation bodes well for a good picture, yes.

[domparisien.livejournal.com]

It is a lovely picture :)

[sovay]

It is a lovely picture

Thank you.

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

That is an awesome picture! Yay!

[sovay]

That is an awesome picture! Yay!

Thank you! I was very surprised by it!

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

That's great. Also, that dark green suits you (I think I read somewhere that this and rust were your favourite colours).

[sovay]

Also, that dark green suits you (I think I read somewhere that this and rust were your favourite colours).

Thank you! They are.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Excellent photo on the part of both photographer and subject, though it doesn't hold a candle to the real thing.

I tend to photograph abysmally, so I empathize with the desire to amass a few good photos for official use. This one seems to be a keeper.

[sovay]

Excellent photo on the part of both photographer and subject, though it doesn't hold a candle to the real thing.

Hah. Thank you. Unsurprisingly, the few times I've seen myself on video, I also think I look funny. I'm working on this.

I tend to photograph abysmally, so I empathize with the desire to amass a few good photos for official use. This one seems to be a keeper.

I'm keeping it.

I have seen few photos of you, but I'd say they all came out well. If you're being selective, it's working. Alternately, Tiny Richardson is sitting on your shoulder, too.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

The whole 'I photograph abysmally' was after I'd seen a long series of photos of myself singing, in most of which I looked like I was waiting for someone to throw me a fish during feeding time. :)

I did find quite a few pictures of myself that I did like while I was producing my band's DVD. I do tend to like myself better on video. Possibly because I'm almost always in motion. I seem to have used up all my ability to be still as a kid.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Tis a very good picture indeed.

[sovay]

Tis a very good picture indeed.

Thank you.

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

It's a lovely photo.

Is it that you don't feel from the inside the way you apparently look from the outside? That's what lies behind my dislike of many photos of myself.

[sovay]

It's a lovely photo.

Thank you.

That's what lies behind my dislike of many photos of myself.

I don't know. I think I look like an idiot in most of them.