Selfie spotlight

I don't do selfies well. I have friends and family members who take it to the art form level — literally. 

I'm always awkward. 

You think I'd like them, since it's like looking in a mirror. But usually the angle isn't right, or my glasses look askew or I've got a glare. My chin looks misshapen. My smile is too big. Too fake. Too toothy. 

I'm ok with other people's selfies. I'm even ok with other people's pictures of me. (Ok, my daughter has taken some doozies, but that was intentional — mostly.)

So when friend debi wanted a picture for a Facebook post, she grabbed one Izzy had taken. But then she said I could give her a different one. 

I just got my hair cut, so it's really cute. (That's the only part of me I think is cute, by the way.) I figured I'd take a few selfies. 

The secret to good (ok, marginally better) photography is to take a lot. This isn't the era of 36 photos to a roll. Oh no. You can — and should — take a lot. In this digital age, fire away. Don't want them? Didn't turn out? Delete. As easy as that. 

The trouble is you have to wade through all those photos to find the couple you want to keep. 

I took well over a hundred selfies. I ended up with a handful worth considering. I only sent two to debi. 

The strange part is, when you look at that many photos of yourself, you start to look like someone you don't know. It's like when you think too much about how a word is spelled — take "was" for instance. Think about it, how it's spelled, how it sounds, and pretty soon it's gibberish. That's what happens to me and selfies. Pretty soon I'm just a weird-looking woman, grinning at the camera. 

Maybe that’s why I don’t do selfies well.