Smiles.

I smile a lot.
I smile several times a day.
I have made hundreds and hundreds of people smile.
Making people smile has been a goal since my uncle died about 11 years ago.

But here's the kicker.  I hate smiling for the camera.

When I smile in just a natural situation - laughing at my own joke (which happens all too often), laughing at someone else's joke, meeting someone, teasing someone, making fun of someone, telling a dumb story, hearing a dumb story - I am not self conscious at all.  Smiling like that is normal.  Everyone does it.  Smiling for a camera is creepy.

Seriously.  Thinking about it.  You're making this face that's all "I'm happy and have nice teeth."  Then they are going to do God knows what with the picture.  They could show other people, put it on the internet, put it in a frame and then you're basically a piece of museumery.  THAT is creepy.

I don't smile for cameras.  And people hate that.  I will make scads of goofy faces for a camera (seriously even thought about making a book out of my facial expressions - I think it could cheer people up), but I hate smiling for the camera.  

Plus also, I already have smile lines and don't really want those to be recorded.  And my eyes get poofy when I smile.  And my cheeks are round.  So, all in all, it's best that I just make a goofy face for the camera.  It's better.  And people laugh.  And that's way better than hearing, "Oh, my gosh!  How cute are you!?"  Because we all know I don't look cute when I'm "smiling for a camera" and therefore people are lying.  PLUS when I'm laughing hysterically, I'm obviously smiling in some way, and that's always more fun.  When I got my senior pics taken for college, everyone's favorites were the ones where I was laughing or being serious.  I think it's because a boring "oh, hey, look at me" smile isn't me.

I don't even know what I'm saying.  Just that smiling for the camera is dumb.  I won't do it.