strange behaviors

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  • Richard Conniff

  • Reviews for Richard Conniff’s Books

    Every Creeping Thing: True Tales of Faintly Repulsive Wildlife: “Conniff is a splendid writer–fresh, clear, uncondescending, and with never a false step; one can’t resist quoting him.” (NY Times Book Review)

    The Species Seekers:  Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth by Richard Conniff is “a swashbuckling romp” that “brilliantly evokes that just-before Darwin era” (BBC Focus) and “an enduring story bursting at the seams with intriguing, fantastical and disturbing anecdotes” (New Scientist). “This beautifully written book has the verve of an adventure story” (Wall St. Journal)

    Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time by Richard Conniff  is “Hilariously informative…This book will remind you why you always wanted to be a naturalist.” (Outside magazine) “Field naturalist Conniff’s animal adventures … are so amusing and full color that they burst right off the page …  a quick and intensely pleasurable read.” (Seed magazine) “Conniff’s poetic accounts of giraffes drifting past like sail boats, and his feeble attempts to educate Vervet monkeys on the wonders of tissue paper will leave your heart and sides aching.  An excellent read.” (BBC Focus magazine)

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    A Memorial to Fallen Naturalists

     

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Defeat and Defiance: Two Faces

Posted by Richard Conniff on November 27, 2013

I have been writing, off and on, for a while now, about the incredible ability of facial expressions to reveal our inner emotions.  So this photo from today’s (UK) Telegraph caught my eye.

The photo’s not dated, so I don’t know if it was taken in the wake of revelations about Nigella Lawson’s alleged cocaine use.  (The allegations–fair warning–come from her estranged husband Charles Saatchi, who called her “Higella.”  Clever boy.) It appears to have been taken Monday.

What interests me is the defeated angle of her head, the fear in her eyes, and the wary, anticipatory way her lips drop open.  That, and the glowering, untouchable defiance of the 19-year-old daughter:

Nigella Lawson and her daughter Cosima. (Photo: Wenn)

Nigella Lawson and her daughter Cosima. (Photo: Wenn)

This entry was posted on November 27, 2013 at 11:06 am and is filed under Read That Face. Tagged: , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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