More on "selfie"

[RSL]

Exactly!

[sdwilsonsct]

Let us not overlook the socially helpful aspects of the humble selfie:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/selfie-leads-winnipeg-police-to-teen-robbery-suspects-1.2435142

[fike]

Good point, Slobodan. Hear, hear. I like the idea of differentiation, making clear the schism involved between "selfies" and actual art.

That just sounds snooty.  Everyone can make art.  Remember what it was like to be young and beautiful.  There is a great desire to freeze in time a feeling that you know is temporal.  Don't begrudge the young and beautiful and their time to frolic and celebrate their beauty with a photo.

[RSL]

Snoot, snoot! Come on, Marc, I have 17 grandchildren and I can tell you that the young and beautiful always will frolic and celebrate their beauty whether you care or not. On the other hand, at 83 I still frolic and celebrate, but not my physical beauty. I've never had a desire to fix myself in time. Life has its seasons and I celebrate them all. I think most sane people are a lot more interested in pictures of others than of themselves.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

As another elderly curmudgeon I'd like to point out that not all of the young are beautiful.

[fike]

As another elderly curmudgeon I'd like to point out that not all of the young are beautiful.

Yes, of course, but youth is always beautiful. 

What I am reacting to is the notion that the desire to take a photo of yourself is a horrible and narcissistic thing when young people shoot a selfie, but when Renoir, Van Gogh, or Davinci did it, somehow then, THAT was different and therefore ART.   Sure there are crass and shoddy selfies being shared on snapchat and facebook and twitter all the time, but it is uncharitable to exclude people from the joy of art merely because they aren't very good at it or because they are a bit self-absorbed.  As a matter of fact, I am not sure there is any class of human being quite so self-absorbed and narcissistic as artists who have painted, drawn, or photographed themselves.  ...and so what.  Celebrate yourself!  You are the only you that you will ever know. 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

,,, it is uncharitable to exclude people from the joy of art merely because they aren't very good at it...

Oh, on the contrary, it is quite charitable... to viewers.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Yes, of course, but youth is always beautiful. 

But, as George Bernard Shaw put it, "Youth is wasted on the young."   

[Rob C]

Yes, and he ripped it off the French:

"Si jeunesse savait et vieillesse pouvait."

The older I get, unlike stamper, the more I realise that I let slip away.

Rob C

[jjj]

But, as George Bernard Shaw put it, "Youth is wasted on the young."   

It's a nice catchy phrase, but was probably said as he was getting on a bit and was jealous that he didn't have as much fun as he should have whilst young.

The French phrase is slightly more balanced as it reflects both sides of the age divide.

[Rob C]

It's a nice catchy phrase, but was probably said as he was getting on a bit and was jealous that he didn't have as much fun as he should have whilst young.

The French phrase is slightly more balanced as it reflects both sides of the age divide.

But it still doesn't help my score; these young people never learn.

;-(

Rob C

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... I think we are just seeing the curmudgeon-factor here...

I think framing a difference of opinion as a  "curmudgeon-factor" makes just as much sense as me calling your opinion the usual youthful, leftist BS, no?

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

Bashing narcissistic people all day is quite a narcissistic endeavor by itself.

[Rob C]

Bashing narcissistic people all day is quite a narcissistic endeavor by itself.

I used to love mirrors as much as they loved me - I think I told you they used to reach out and kiss me; now we hardly speak.

Tempus fugit. And steals everything else away with it.

;-)

Rob C

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

I used to love mirrors as much as they loved me - I think I told you they used to reach out and kiss me; now we hardly speak.

Tempus fugit. And steals everything else away with it.

;-)

Rob C

Its about time I come to Mallorca and we go out drink a beer or two ...

[jjj]

But it still doesn't help my score; these young people never learn.

In that case all the old folk must be pretty ignorant too, as learning doesn't tend to happen much once one matures.  

[jjj]

I think framing a difference of opinion as a  "curmudgeon-factor" makes just as much sense as me calling your opinion the usual youthful, leftist BS, no?

Not quite, as grumpy complaining about new things is quite definitely curmudgeonly. That what it means. Though sometimes a bit more bad tempered.

[Rob C]

In that case all the old folk must be pretty ignorant too, as learning doesn't tend to happen much once one matures.  

It gets even worse: when one lives alone too long, as many do, there is a distinct tendency to lose one of the first factors governing inter-personal relationships: one loses that automatic reaction of first considering words and actions from a perspective other than one's own. Come to think of it, living alone may not even be a necessary part of that gradual loss.

Rob C

[jjj]

If you ever had that 'reaction of first considering words and actions from a perspective other than one's own' in the first place, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. As it is something rarely done by most folks.

[Rob C]

If you ever had that 'reaction of first considering words and actions from a perspective other than one's own' in the first place, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. As it is something rarely done by most folks.

I guess that I had it on and off; usually, when it was off it was off at the worst possible moments. Worse, it was sometimes off intentionally, and in retrospect that was really, really dumb.

;-(

Rob C