Buzzsaw's Blog
1. The Love Smile.
This is the one reserved for someone you love. It’s like a secret handshake. And when you’re in it, nothing else matters.
2. The Old Friend Smile.
You’re meeting someone you haven’t seen for a long time. They walk in. You embrace. You look at each other. Your smile says, “I missed you.”
3. The Fake Smile.
We use this when we know we should smile, but don’t feel like it. We think nobody can see it’s insincerity, but we’re fooling ourselves.
4. The Smug Smile.
You know something they don’t. And they know that you know something they don’t. They just don’t know what it is.
5. The Passive Aggressive Smile.
If you had a sibling growing up, you know this one. Your sister started drawing on the walls. You joined in too. But she told on you. And she knows you won’t implicate her in the crime. Because she has your favourite toy. And she’ll break it. This smile says “I have the power. I own you.”
6. The Reminiscent Smile.
You’re with a group of friends, talking about college, or that time they went on a night out and saved a woman’s life. After the lively back-and-forth of anecdotes ends, you all fall silent and savour the memories.
7. The Face Ache.
You laugh so hard that your face just hurts. Right in your cheeks. But you can’t help it. It’s painful to continue, but it’s even more uncomfortable to hold it in.
8. The Little Smile.
When you arrive home, or step foot in a place you really love. It lasts only a moment. But it is a moment that fills you with a sense of tranquillity.
9. The Victory Smile.
You got the job. You closed the deal. Some smiles are for life’s little victories. This one is for the big wins and the landmarks.
10. The Sisyphean Smile.
Have you ever tried to cheer someone up? They’re crying and you’re doing all you can to bring a smile to their face. Finally, you strike a chord, and for a moment, the sadness fades and the smile appears. But just for a moment. They remember the cause of their pain and the smile you worked so hard for is lost. The sadness emerges again.
11. The Sleepy Smile.
You wake to gentle sunlight, the aroma of fresh coffee and the news that a bacon sandwich is on the bedside table. The stuff of dreams.
12. The Surrender Smile.
It can get no worse. Everything has been taken from you. You are broken. You have nothing left. You have no more tears and no more screams left to expel. All you can do is smile at how ridiculous this thing called life can be.
13. The Psychotic Smile.
You have a friend who’s really into cheese. Or obsessed about a musician. One mention of their “thing”, and they halt what they’re doing. You watch their face transform. Whatever expression was their before is replaced with a wide, manic grin. It’s unsettling.
14. The Stranger Smile.
Not to be confused with a fake smile. I use this smile when I’m walking the dog in the country and I see an elderly couple. It’s sincere. It’s warm. It makes them feel comfortable. I hope.
15. The Malicious Smile.
Someone you hate has just failed. Your rival is collapsing and burning. When we take pleasure in the misfortunes and suffering of others, this one crosses our face and blackens our heart.
16. The Lonely Smile.
The smile you have when no one is looking. When you are alone with your troubles, your fears, your worries, your anxiety. Or when you are thinking of the people around you and the richness of the world.
Harry Houdini granted a short interview to Edna Ferber of the Appleton (Wis.) Crescent in July 1904, after the 19-year-old reporter encountered him at a local drugstore. “Now, don't you exaggerate just a little bit when you are giving your performances?” she asked.
“Well, I fail to see how any exaggeration would help me,” responded Houdini. “The chain and bolts and bars and handcuffs are of iron and steel, and I shouldn't care to exaggerate those. My secret? Well certainly it is a trick of my own. No house or bank would be safe from prying hands if I revealed it to the world. I should be doing a great wrong to give it up, for nothing would be safe.”
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