"Jolie-laide" - How could I forget that!
I was in French Immersion in public school, and I have forgotten all my French...

One friend of mine is absolutely gorgeous, but he has too much character in his face to be considered "beautiful" and he could be ugly if the character he shows wasn't so wonderful. I tease him and call him "ugly-gorgeous" but he has never really understood what I meant by it. (He takes it as an insult, poor man!)

Now I can explain that as a result of being Artiste, I view beauty differently than most of our culture. That he is "ugly-beautiful" and that it is good.

According to most of this culture, I am beautiful. Unfortunately, some of my women friends do not understand that they are beautiful too, and they start worrying that I will steal their boyfriends. And people do not realize that I am not healthy, just because I am skinny. It is painful to be considered beautiful sometimes.

On a lighter note, someone at orchestra called me "ugly" once, and I was very insulted! She was actually serious, and said that since I wasn't blond and blue eyed I was ugly. (!!!)
I was sick at the time, and dressed in grungy work clothes, but I just turned to her with body attitude that said "I am the most beautiful woman in the world, I know it, you know it" and she just *stared* at me. She couldn't believe the difference! (Ha!)

Beauty *is* attitude. It is fluidity. It is heart that shows and glows outward for all to see.
It is intelligence, and strength, and health, radiant.

For the list:
'Fat' women with good bones. Baked Bean Mush. (Looks really ugly and tastes sooooo good!) Newborns. Faces of old people who have lived their lives, and come to terms with themselves. Sharpei, Chow and Shih Tzu dogs. Folk stories that make you think. Certain discords in music. Minor, "ethnic" and modal keys, which have more interesting possibilities for interaction between chords over time.

Peter, thank you for starting this thread!

~*sirepseh*~