My head hurts. I don’t know if anyone else gets this, but I have an eye that from time-to-time decides it no longer want to sit alongside my other eye. It chooses, rather, to align itself with my left nostril. Seriously. The eyebrow always does what the eye tells it to, so it ventures downwards also. Needless to say, I look like a freak. On days like this, it is very difficult to apply eye make-up. (I admit that I am a “girly” girl and venturing out amongst the humans with naked eyes is not something I do on a regular basis). I have fare eyelashes. Without my mascara, I have pig eyes. Honestly. Have you ever looked at a pig’s eyes? I know that pigs are cute, but they’re cute despite their eyes. And pig eyes really don’t work on a person.
So, now I look doubly freakish. Not only do I have pig eyes, but they are asymmetrical too. I look like a Picasso painting in the flesh. Don’t even bring up the possibility of hiding behind my sunglasses. For one thing, I misplaced those a couple of days ago, so I have been reduced to wearing a pair of old ones. And they have green frames. I think they’ve been kicking around since the early 90’s, but that’s no excuse. Forest green frames. What was I thinking? Plus, due to the recent migration of my left eyebrow, I now only have one furry caterpillar sitting over my frames. Sunglasses look weird when you can only see one eyebrow. And drawing one over the left frame is not an option. Imagine taking my sunglasses off and showing the world that I now have three eyebrows. Okay, one is down around my nose. More like a moustache to one side, but still.
Sorry for the whinefest, but I really needed to vent. Does anyone else have this problem? Seriously, my eye professionals are stumped. I will now focus on the task at hand–my three facts of the day.
1) Speaking of Picasso, I haven’t actually delved into the world of Art for any strange new facts yet. So, here it goes. The name “Pablo Picasso” is a good name. Has a nice ring to it. It flows.
Unfortunately, for Mr. Picasso–his real name is not quite so simple. In fact, his full name has 23 words. His complete moniker is: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso.
Apparently, he was named for several relations and some Saints. And everyone his mother had ever met.
I bet he never signed a cheque. Who could blame him?
Van Gogh lopped off an ear. Picasso whacked off 21 names or so.
Which brings me to this freaky little car. This is a re-designed Citroen dedicated to and inspired by Picasso. A British mechanic spent six months creating this masterpiece he calls “Picasso’s Citroen.”
Ironically, Citroen does have a model called the “Picasso” (pictured here).
Not quite sure how it got this name–it is rather staid for something inspired by the legendary artist who created humans out of cubes. There is a Grand Picasso as well and it is rather mini-van-ish. Picasso was known as a great Playboy–hardly the mini-van type. I rather imagine him driving a giant phallic symbol like a 1970s Stingray or a modern-day Dodge Challenger.
Maybe it’s just me.
2) Like I said, pigs have small blank eyes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. This little pooch pictured here, however, does not have that problem. He has the antithesis to pig eyes. The Marty Feldman of the dog world, one could say.
This dog’s penetrating stare has earned him the Guinness World Record for the dog with the largest eyes. Not bad for a little lad that was once a pound puppy. Bruschi the Boston Terrier‘s owner, Victoria Reed, says she didn’t notice her dogs large eyes until her friends commented on them. Really? Is she blind? Is this her first time seeing a dog?
It was these comments that led her to contact the Guinness World Records people and the rest is history.
Not only are his eyes big, but they seem to point in different directions. She didn’t notice? Really? I think she deserves some sort of award.
3) When I think of a unibrow, Sesame’s Street’s Bert comes to mind. Let’s face it. Bert pulls off the unibrow look with style and finesse. Maybe it’s the lemon yellow skin. Or his tuft of black hair. Whatever it is, it works. On him.
Outside the Muppet world, sporting one large, unending eyebrow is not exactly going to win you dates. Unless you are in Tajikistan. According to Wikipedia, the women there are wild about the unibrow. Apparently, it is a sign of virility. Personally, I think it is a sign of not owning tweezers.
It turns out that George W. Bush also has a proclivity for synophrys (the official medical term for this condition. Yes, it is a condition). During his tenure as President of the U.S.A., George Double-Ya’s unibrow was divided in to two. But in his early shots, like this one here on vacation with his wife, he clearly sports a Bert brow.
According to a Victorian criminologist by the name of “Cesare Lombroso“, people who are genetically inclined to having one giant eyebrow are also more likely to engage in criminal activity. Hm. Not only does George W. prove this theory, but many of TV’s not-so-nice characters possess unibrows (Bert, of course, is the exception. If I were a Muppet, I’d marry Bert). But here are just a few of TV’s un-friendly unibrows:
The Simpsons , Maggie, may be young, but not too young to have an arch nemesis. This is him. Notice that this evil baby sports a unibrow.
Lemony Snickett’s A Series of Unfortunate Events’ Count Olaf dons a handlebar-style unibrow.
And, of course, The Men Show’s Mr. Stubborn and Mr. Grumpy (the ones with the negative traits) also have eyebrows that meet in the middle.
If I had a unibrow, would it stay in place or would I have one giant lopsided eyebrow? Thanks to my Tweezerman pointed tweezers, I’ll never have to find out.
Photo Credits: Picasso’s Citroen (neatorama.com), Citroen Picasso, (carautoportal.com), Big-eyed dog (Guinness World Records.com), George W. Bush (unibrowclub.com), Simpsons baby (tvtropes.org). Count Olaf (fanpop.com),