But I'm curious. How old is he? How recently married? How good does she look? Is he dorky? Which direction does his seat normally face in relation to the picture? Who would normally walk by the office? How many of those people are female and how attractive are they? What are their positions? Is he relatively senior or junior to the people around him?
He's probably about as old as I am (30ish - man, it hurts to say that). I would guess he's been married at least a couple of years, as they just had their first child. She's no supermodel, but she's definitely pretty. He's probably no more dorky than your average lawyer around this place (which I suppose is pretty dorky, given the emphasis on recruiting people with good grades, etc.). His back faces the window, so his desk faces the door of the office (which is, obviously, opposite the window). The picture is on the left wall, so he wouldn't really see it while sitting at his desk. However, anyone walking by (not including a lot women, alas) would see it is his door was open. Everyone in the immediate vicinity is another lawyer or an assistant.
So what conclusions do you draw? Other than that he's completely nuts?
Just, please, don't post about how painful it is to be thirtyish. Unless you're talking about the pains of being so unwise and inexperienced. Please. Some of us might dodder even more, and, you know, strangely, you might eventually feel that way yourself. Trust you, you won't prefer the alternative.
Kids these days!
My conclusion is, though, that most likely the guy is crazy about his wife and bragging, and also not as well socialized as I, of course, famously are. Is. Can be. Uz. Was.
Tha izzle fo'shizzle, yo. That's a large picture. It's a photograph, right, not a painting? Either way, you have to go out of your way to get that made, so this is some serious effort. Maybe he could just get her made into some Warholesque wallpaper.
Well, it could either be like the trophy heads hunters mount on their den walls, or it could be like all the likenesses of Saddam that were all over Iraq.
I guess I can't ask that many questions and not say anything. I asked because something that big, which, as fontana points out, took real work to produce is, for want of a better phrase, an instance of compensatory demonstrativeness; I was wondering what was being compensated for. I still don't know. But...
There are some disturbing possibilities if this is something produced after they had the kid. But given the office layout you describe and the dearth of women there, I'd have to guess that this is something internal to their marriage.
There's the possibility that she mentioned something as a joke and he stupidly roped himself into carrying it out. Not too likely. It may be something he's doing to quell her insecurities. But she's pretty and he's a dorky lawyer, so that's not very likely either. Here's my guess (rank speculation complete with prediction): she's pretty, he's a dorky lawyer, so he's the insecure one. He figures (being a guy), that if he really really loves her, then she has to love him too. What would you call that? Osmotic reciprocation? Boomerang projection? Dunno. In any event, let's cut to the chase. The kid complicates matters (logistically, if in no other way) but she's cheating on him in five years, max.
Yikes. If my husband did this (and he wouldn't, I hasten to add) I would seriously consider divorce. Or at least a restraining order.
Posted by Invisible Adjunct | Link to this comment | 09-24-03 4:59 PM
Her wedding dress? Oh my.
But I'm curious. How old is he? How recently married? How good does she look? Is he dorky? Which direction does his seat normally face in relation to the picture? Who would normally walk by the office? How many of those people are female and how attractive are they? What are their positions? Is he relatively senior or junior to the people around him?
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-24-03 5:12 PM
What are you, some kind of anthropologist?
He's probably about as old as I am (30ish - man, it hurts to say that). I would guess he's been married at least a couple of years, as they just had their first child. She's no supermodel, but she's definitely pretty. He's probably no more dorky than your average lawyer around this place (which I suppose is pretty dorky, given the emphasis on recruiting people with good grades, etc.). His back faces the window, so his desk faces the door of the office (which is, obviously, opposite the window). The picture is on the left wall, so he wouldn't really see it while sitting at his desk. However, anyone walking by (not including a lot women, alas) would see it is his door was open. Everyone in the immediate vicinity is another lawyer or an assistant.
So what conclusions do you draw? Other than that he's completely nuts?
Posted by unf | Link to this comment | 09-24-03 5:37 PM
Could be worse. Could be a 42" picture of himself. In a wedding dress.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 09-24-03 5:50 PM
I have to agree, Unf, that this is... different.
Just, please, don't post about how painful it is to be thirtyish. Unless you're talking about the pains of being so unwise and inexperienced. Please. Some of us might dodder even more, and, you know, strangely, you might eventually feel that way yourself. Trust you, you won't prefer the alternative.
Kids these days!
My conclusion is, though, that most likely the guy is crazy about his wife and bragging, and also not as well socialized as I, of course, famously are. Is. Can be. Uz. Was.
Iz.
Posted by Gary Farber | Link to this comment | 09-24-03 6:19 PM
Tha izzle fo'shizzle, yo. That's a large picture. It's a photograph, right, not a painting? Either way, you have to go out of your way to get that made, so this is some serious effort. Maybe he could just get her made into some Warholesque wallpaper.
Posted by fontana labs | Link to this comment | 09-24-03 8:41 PM
Well, it could either be like the trophy heads hunters mount on their den walls, or it could be like all the likenesses of Saddam that were all over Iraq.
I guess that isn't much of a choice, is it?
Posted by Tripp | Link to this comment | 09-25-03 10:20 AM
I guess I can't ask that many questions and not say anything. I asked because something that big, which, as fontana points out, took real work to produce is, for want of a better phrase, an instance of compensatory demonstrativeness; I was wondering what was being compensated for. I still don't know. But...
There are some disturbing possibilities if this is something produced after they had the kid. But given the office layout you describe and the dearth of women there, I'd have to guess that this is something internal to their marriage.
There's the possibility that she mentioned something as a joke and he stupidly roped himself into carrying it out. Not too likely. It may be something he's doing to quell her insecurities. But she's pretty and he's a dorky lawyer, so that's not very likely either. Here's my guess (rank speculation complete with prediction): she's pretty, he's a dorky lawyer, so he's the insecure one. He figures (being a guy), that if he really really loves her, then she has to love him too. What would you call that? Osmotic reciprocation? Boomerang projection? Dunno. In any event, let's cut to the chase. The kid complicates matters (logistically, if in no other way) but she's cheating on him in five years, max.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-25-03 5:20 PM