The obsession with the self-portrait….  I’ve noticed it  especially among kids who are the same age as my children, but occasionally adults, too.  So, for the heck of it, I decided to try this experiment.  I have taken self-portraits before, but honestly these were for business purposes, taken with my professional equipment.  So, in my office one afternoon, on a fair “hair day” I pulled out my small point and shoot camera and starting shooting away.  What I found was that I became increasingly critical of my appearance in every picture – I don’t like my eye in this one, my smile is crooked, my neck looks funny here, etc.  The more I took, the less satisfied I was.  I finally settled on this picture, which I didn’t think was too bad.  I finally wondered, perhaps this obsession with pictures is the ongoing quest for the “perfect picture.”  One with the perfect smile, the perfect make-up, the perfect hair, the perfect clothing….  all in an imperfect world.  Therefore, the quest will continue and most likely we continue to “settle” until the next photo op.  Maybe the next picture will be perfect.