A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words. Or is it?

I was shocked. I was disgusted. But I couldn't look away. Was it a wax figure in that bag, a Halloween decoration of sorts? When I realized that this young woman was really giving a thumbs up in front of a dead body, I was horrified. I thought about how many wakes I had been to. I remembered the smell of death masked by cheap flowers arranged in various shapes reflecting the hobbies and interests of the stiff.

A friend of mine, when posing for a picture, is known for naturally making squinty eyes right before the flash goes off. On a whim a few years ago, by adding the peace sign, she was a Japanese tourist, and has been known to make that pose in one out of three pictures since. It's funny to everyone who sees it because of the obvious association one makes with tourists in general. Then I thought of someone, who for all purposes is a tourist, used by the American government to "investigate" the probable causes of death to our Middle Eastern opposition.

In the Times article it fascinated me how the muscles in one's face can give deeper insight into the emotions that are taking place. I never thought about the complex system our bodies use to express our thoughts. It's pretty amazing.