Why Dex Faves

The basic reason any of us selects a deviation as a favorite is that we like it. I have others, as do many of you, likely.

If you look in my favorites, you'll notice I am biased towards depictions of women. You may interpret this preference in any way you that lets you sleep at night-- the dynamics of that is another story. If you depict a woman I'm more likely to fave it. And while pulchritude (this is rapidly becoming my second favorite word) and the gainax bounce may help, it isn't everything.

There are rules of "Artistic Merit" that I apply in picking my favorites: things like balance, color harmony, how a poem sticks to a single image or theme. Everyone has some unconscious knowledge of this to some extent. I generally choose not to look for these things consciously but to take note of how the work incorporates them as I view or read the work.

What usually catches my eye is some part of the work-- perhaps how the artist rendered the eyes, or lips. Perhaps it's the choice of color. Maybe there's a line in the poem that just jumps out at me and grabs my throat and throttles me. If you bother to read my comments I'll usually note what parts of the piece appealed to me.

Sometimes a piece may not be "as good" as what normally winds up on my favorites list. That usually means it's different and appealing in some way. This has happened quite a few times. After a month of looking at slick visuals done with the latest software, it's refreshing to see something crudely and honestly hand drawn.

Sometimes I fave for reasons of sentiment-- because I know what the artist is feeling at the time he made the work. Or perhaps I agree with him. I've even faved a a piece because I didn't agree with what it was trying to say--but I appreciated the humor.

Sometimes I fave for politics, and by "politics" I mean because I like the artist, or perhaps I want to make a gesture of goodwill. The pieces are generally good and will likely find their way into my fave list anyway. Perhaps I want to encourage a beginner to keep working to improve his art. Sometimes I fave to let someone know that he doesn't "suck."
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Riddle Me This, Indigo Girls!

How long 'til my soul gets it right?

There was a time when people ran to me for relationship advice. And generally their relationships fared well after they took it. So why can't I get it right? All this knowledge and I still stink at this so badly...

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I panic once and now I'm a damned pariah.

I know you're not reading this. Ironically this is why I'm posting it here. We humans are all such morons.

I am so tired of serial dalliances: there have been so many of you that your names are almost interchangeable. "I love you (insert latest name here)." Neither of us is in high school any more and my tolerance for bullsh!t has gone down considerably since I started writing loss poems for Socorro.

Nothing tastes as good. I can't run up walls the way I used to, or fly, when I was with you. Life hasn't made much sense since you chose not to be with me. I'm still your Dex, if you'd have me.

I thought there'd be time. Now there's likely someone else in your life and I'm stuck here, having assimilated your mannerisms and collected your pictures and your memories. Months spent in the accumulating, months to be spent in the discarding. In the grand scheme of things, nothing more than wasted effort.

Ironic that, if you were to take a cursory look at life patterns, I seem to be most unworthy of what my spirit yearns for the most.