I took this self portrait of myself over 3 years ago.  This is the face I make  behind people’s backs who have just said really rude or insanely stupid things to me.  I also make it at drivers who do rude things.  I also occasionally make this face at myself when I’m being rude or stupid.  It never saw the light until a couple of days ago I happened to open this file of selfies and pulled a few choice gems out of obscurity.

I used it on facebook and discovered that my friends and acquaintances also enjoy it when I make a complete and utter fool of myself and show off my two chins and three necks.

My friend Mark said he really liked my new profile pic and asked if it was in homage to Bill the Cat.  Bill the who?  I said.  I had to ask Philip who Bill the Cat is and when he said he’s from Bloom County it all made sense why I don’t know this Bill Cat.  I have never liked Bloom County.  I find it tedious.  THAT’S RIGHT, I FIND IT TEDIOUS.

One of Mark’s friends remarked that Miley Cyrus also doesn’t know the reference.

Very clever.  Not only am I sticking out my tongue in this picture (obviously something no one has ever done until Miley did it) but like Miley, I fail to get cultural references that smart people get.   I know I’m being insulted because none of my peers ever compare anyone to Miley as a compliment.  What a cheap and stupid way to make a dig at me.  I tried not to let it get to me.

(I am aware that the person who made this dig probably did it in a spirit of “fun”.  Which makes me an asshole for taking it too seriously.  BAM!  Now I’m an asshole without a sense of humor AND as clueless as Miley.)

But I shouldn’t take it as the dig that was intended.  After all, I like Miley Cyrus WAY better than Bloom County.  Maybe I’m not a genius, and it’s true that I don’t aspire to cultural sophistication which so often simply becomes arrogance, but at least I always have the courage to go against common thought and evaluate things on my own terms.  Miley actually has a great voice and some personal creativity.  She is pushing boundaries as most young adults do, especially those previously worshiped as odiously and unrealistically “wholesome” role models.  I respect her acting out and acting outrageously.  Many artists of different mediums have done the exact same thing.  Maybe Miley is just heading down the Lohan path and is nothing but an empty headed teen sensation getting older and more stupid, but I reserve my judgement of her personally and watch with interest to see what she will make of herself.  She has quite a lot of talent and if she chooses she could be taken a lot more seriously as a singer and songwriter.

So I shouldn’t take it as an insult having my political comic book ignorance compared to hers.

Mark then says he has nothing but love for Bill the Cat, but not Miley.  Alright, enough with the fucking Miley talk!

Then another one of his friends makes an especially tender declaration of love for Bill the Cat calling him “…pure, beautiful and refreshing.”  Excellent.

What are you gonna do with a bunch of Bill-eulogizing men who have paired you up with Miley in their comments and then proceed to stroke their own superior love of a political cartoon cat?

You change your profile picture that makes people compare you to someone they have nothing but contempt for and you go play “We Can’t Stop”, the version Miley sings with The Roots on the Jimmy Fallon show, because it’s a fantastic song:

We Can’t Stop with Miley and The Roots

And because listening to it makes me happy.