First Impressions, some thoughts on

[howeird]

If the first contact with someone is by:

1. Seeing them: All you have to go on is what they look like. You may be attracted or neutral or repelled by what you see. But you know nothing about anything but the surface.

2. Hearing them: You have both a voice and unless they are reading someone else's work, you also get a glimpse into their minds. You may also get a minor clue about what they look like because voice often reveals gender, ethnicity and native language. But not always.

3. Reading their writing, seeing their art: This gives you a peek into their brains and (depending on the content) souls. Thanks to the common use of pseudonyms, you can't rely on their names for any clues. Vocabulary and subject matter may give clues to their ages, but not necessarily.

For me it's always an adventure to meet someone a second or third way, after having met the person already in one of the other two ways. Sometimes it's an enjoyable adventure, sometimes not. Sometimes it's a surprise, sometimes the second and third contact fits well with your impressions from the first one.

Recently I was reminded of a variation of #3, stumbling across a sober, educational essay by someone I've read a lot of - and all the prior work was light comedy. Kind of like when I found out the first electric blender was invented by one of my favorite 40's band leaders.