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BLANKING_THE_CANVAS

                                                     June 02, 2006

So, I was hanging around in Vesuvio in North
Beach, talking to a young woman about something
or other (bohemian history, no doubt).


In passing, she indicated that she
tended to take the line that

   "appearance doesn't matter".

I.e. who cares about fashion, why
worry about dressing weird, when what
counts is what goes on inside your head?


This is a very sensible,
no-nonsense position,
but I don't think it
holds up very well.


   If she dyed her hair green
   she would very quickly find
   that it changed the way
   people related to her.

   Some people would immediately
   give her credit as a creative
   genius.

   Some people would leap to blame
   her for any screw-up ("what do          These two sets
   you expect from a flake like            of people would
   that?").                                not necessarily
                                           be separate and
                                           distinct.
      In the face of this
      it's hard to say that
      "appearence doesn't
      matter".

      Clearly it matters
      to a lot of people.       (In fact, I doubt
                                 anyone would ever
                                 bother to say "appearence
        It's possible to         doesn't matter"
        argue that               if it were really
        "appearence              true.)
        *shouldn't*
        matter"...

        But why shouldn't it?

        Isn't it a method of
        communication?  Why
        should some channels
        be favored, and others
        dismissed?


                   Why waste a canvas?


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