Fascination Will Always Be A Part Of Me

Fascination Will Always Be A Part Of Me

I’ve been asked several times about what I think is my best feature. I have to say that I honestly don’t know. The best part of me is probably on the inside, manifesting itself only in the darkest of hours, when I think I’m alone in the world—the little child that still believes in magic, wonder, and unending hope.

But people have found fascination with various physical parts of me. My mother, from day one, was in love with my eyebrows. My eyebrows. She would trace her finger along the line of one, from the inside to the outside, smoothing the arch of hair as though to paint it in. She would compare my eyebrows to those of Brooke Shields, and she’d gush about how perfect they were.

My mother was also fascinated with my skin and hands. Kines, kines, she’d say in Tagalog, while smoothing her hands along my upper arms. Soft, soft. Then she’d hold my hands in hers and admire the shape of my fingers for a long, long time. She bade me take care of them because I had such pretty hands.

In the seventh grade, I hung out at the pool with my girl friends, and the boys they invited were crass enough to rate us in our bathing suits. I actually got a 10 for my derriere, which baffled me because I didn’t much like the shape of it.

In the eighth grade, I could not stop staring at my friend’s new boyfriend Eric. He remarked to my friend later that I had eyes like a cat’s… huge, dark, and ever so watchful.

A boy named Mike in my ninth grade drama class was once actually stunned by my teeth. My teeth. The entire drama class was on a field trip to see a play at the university, and riding the bus in the twilight dark, it seemed only natural to joke with my friends and have a good time. Mike, however, swore that every time I smiled or laughed, my teeth would flash white in the darkness and light up our little area of the bus. It embarrassed me because I always thought that my teeth were too big, so I ended up keeping my lips closed tightly that night out of self-consciousness.

In my junior and senior years, it was the hair. Romeo, who sat behind me in Chemistry, would stand behind me during lab and breathe in the scent of my hair. They smelled like strawberries, he said, but what he was actually smelling was my cheap shampoo and conditioner. That same year, hairdressers and close friends would croon over my hair, saying how thick and how soft it was, how healthy and how long. Why didn’t I leave it down more often? they would ask, and I would tell them it was a pain in the butt. I trim my own hair these days, so I never have to hear that sort of thing any more, but my hair has definitely been a fascination for many people.

In the cheersquad—both in high school and in college—the other girls would remark on my legs. Legs, they called me, because whenever I did a Russian jump, that was all anyone noticed. It always seemed odd to me because I always thought of my legs as stick thin and straight as a toothpick, my bony knees the only curve on those lines. My mother, too, always liked my legs, most especially because her own legs are just little bit knock-kneed.

In my second year at college, one of the tenors in my singing group could not stop staring at a vein in my neck. He said himself that he was fascinated by it and wanted to trace it, and all I wanted was for it to go away.

These days, for the man who feeds the lady of the house, one of the cutest parts on me is my pair of feet. Monkey feet, he calls them, because I can pick things up with my toes, though I’d rather think of them as dexterous. There are other parts that he thinks are worth mentioning, but really, this is already far too much talk about my various body parts.

Now I wonder about other people’s parts. Speak up, you. What is your best feature?

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14 thoughts on “Fascination Will Always Be A Part Of Me

  1. Umm… I get maximum compliments for my deep brown eyes, my dimples and smile, my complexion/skin.

    A lot of people adore my wavy-curly hair, but in all honesty, it’s a pain. I have always craved lank straight hair like yours, so whenever people say they like my curls, I give them a disbelieving look.

    IMHO, April, one of your best features is your warm and lovable nature. Of course, I agree with the physical attributes listed above, but the reason I said your best feature was your nature is because the first time we chatted, I had no idea what you looked like. Yet, I warmed to you instantly.

    Your inner aura shines through. 🙂

  2. I think my best feature is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Lord of the Rings (widescreen DVD version). hee

  3. my sense of humor. yes, definitely my sense of humor. no, wait, maybe it’s my feet. i have great feet. no, i’m small…people like my "petiteness". no, i’ll go with the first one – my sense of humor. btw, you’ve got a great sense of humor too.

  4. oops. changed my mind – it’s my DECISIVENESS that i like best. yeah, that’s it. maybe.

  5. As strange as it may seem, my favorite feature that I posess is my head…. I went bald at about 21, and have always received compliments on it, and that I was so lucky that I was bald???? Oh well, I guess that is making lemonade out of lemons.

  6. Aww, Minnie! 🙂 I felt the same way about you when we first chatted. And if you like, how about we trade hair for a while? 😉

    Dave, not your eyes?!

    Nikki, LOL! Then mine is Shrek. 😉

    And thank you, Pam! LOL. At last, I know of someone even less decisive than me. Hee!

    Broch! That is a mighty fine full glass of sweet lemonade. Bald men are sexy (Patrick Stewart, yes, yes, yes); I thought you knew that.

  7. lol, Nikki. Good one. 😉

    Pam: I used to be indecisive, too. Now I am not so sure.

  8. When I get any (all-too-infrequent) compliements from the ladies, they always mention my long eyelashes. "Oooh, your lashes are just gorgeous!" Yes, I suppose, but they fall into my eyes and make me almost crash my bicycle at really bad moments… And I generally get these comments from married women and/or lesbians. Haven’t figured out what that might mean…

  9. Tim, ALL ladies love long lashes on a guy. It’s a fact of life. 🙂

    I know what you mean about them falling in your eyes though! I get mine in my eyes all the time, and I periodically pull on them with my fingers to get any loose ones so that it doesn’t happen.

  10. April – I thought I was the only person who did that to her eyelashes! I used to wear contacts, too, so it would really hurt when one fell in my eye.

    I don’t know what my best feature is, but I like my eyes, and I have nice eyebrows, and my legs aren’t bad.

    And yes, I do like Dave’s eyebrows, but I like all his features. 😉

  11. Natalie, are you kidding? The eyelash thing is a must-do! I pull on my eyelashes at least once daily, and I always, always, always have a few come out. Funny, though, there are always more.

    Hee! I like all of Dave’s features, too: The Manly Tips, The Freakwatcher’s Textbook, his Anagram Interviews, his Anagram Cartoons, etc., etc….

  12. do you really got dexterous toes april? can you elaborate more about it? i know i can pick pens with my toes. but thats about the thickest object i can handle.lol. am i dexterous enough? i know of one girl who can pinch using her toes. have you ever done that too?

  13. hi april, i am interested in your feet, how many inches long are your feet and how many inches long are your toes, whats the thickest thing you can pick up with your toes?

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