About Alexandra Heep:

Alexandra Heep is a longtime writer, chronic over-thinker, and recovering content mill survivor. Her work has appeared in literary journals, anthologies, and online platforms where words are still respected. She writes children’s books, health reflections, and the occasional blog post laced with humor and hard-won honesty. After years of illness, detours, and navigating the noise of modern wellness, she returned to writing with the firm belief that stories—like people—don’t have to be perfect to matter. She publishes under multiple pen names and drinks more goat milk than you’d expect.

Monday, October 17, 2011

A Picture for … A Hundred Words


Image Credit: Martina Mishoe

I am sure you have heard the phrase “A picture is worth a thousands words.” But, does it tell the real story? For one, with increasing technologies you can manipulate pictures how you want. That is what they do to models on magazine covers after all, airbrush them and shrink them even smaller into an unrealistic ideal we are supposed to emulate, when over half the population is overweight and the type of makeup they wear just is not realistic in the real world. 

We promote size 0 as perfection, but also advertise the super-sizing of meals and put processed sugars in foods that should not have them. Oh, I love me some chocolate and good quality pastries. But, foods like stuffing, meats, breads, condiments, cough syrup, crackers, cottage cheese, yogurt, tomato paste, juices, pickles, relish, applesauce, salad dressing, sauces and other items that should not have sugar in the first place have processed sugars added.

Also, on pictures we take with digital cameras we can crop out the ugly things you do not want, like sewer pipes in nature pictures (I have done that). But, I digress.

When I first started blogging, I never thought to add pictures to my articles. Blogger pros and friends kindly informed me that adding pictures would make the articles look livelier and interest the readers. So, now I add pictures, but not just any kind. Oh no. I know you can download images for free, but I use my own. I do not want something that is perfect by someone else to illustrate something I pour my heart and soul into. Well, sometimes I use some that were taken by friends or by my daughter, but that is because they happen to come along at the right time.

Now, my pictures may not exactly go with the topic the reader may think because after losing a couple of computers it’s put a dent into my files, but these pictures mean something to me. Also, many of them are old, scanned, and even the digital ones are not of the best quality due to a slowly fading digital camera that matches my state of health. Someone once criticized me for the lack of quality in my pictures a long time ago, but I don’t care.

With me, you’ll always get the real deal.

3 comments:

Raymond Alexander Kukkee said...

That's because you ARE the real deal, Alex. Your articles ring true, are very readable, and your pics are just fine! Keep doing what you ARE doing---which you are doing very well!

Diane said...

You definitely hit this topic on it's superficial head! You are wise to hold on to your authenticity, Alex. In a world where everyone is trying to be someone else or impress someone else, your attitude is refreshing.

Glorygarden@msn.com said...

while they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I know i can put a thousand words to almost any picture! I see you do too. Great job! :-)