Memphis-based photographer Haley Morris-Cafiero's series "Wait Watchers," ongoing since 2013, comprises photographs of herself in public places, capturing others' expressions in reaction to looking at her as they pass. She sets up her shots with a visible, self-timed camera, usually on a tripod, and proceeds to do normal activities. Apparent looks of disgust from people while looking at her are frequently seen in the results.  

One such example happened in Times Square, New York City. A man standing behind Morris-Cafiero made a face at her from behind her, as a friend of his grabbed a picture of him. That was part of her inspiration for the project.

The photographer said in an article at Salon,

"I do not know what the strangers are thinking when they look at me. But there is a Henri Cartier-Bresson moment when my action aligns with the composition, the shutter and their gaze that has a critical or questioning element. Even though they are in front of a camera, they feel they have anonymity because they are crossing behind me.

And I don’t get hurt when I look at the images. I feel like I am reversing the gaze back on to them to reveal their gaze. I’m fine with who I am and don’t need anyone’s approval to live my life. I only get angry when I hear someone comment about my weight and the image does not reflect the criticism. That’s frustrating: when I didn’t get the shot.

But since the project started getting media attention, I’ve received hundreds of emails from people thanking me. There are so many people in the world who feel they have the right – no, the obligation — to criticize someone for the way they look, and to be that recipient of those insults can feel so lonely. I got an email from a 15-year-old girl in Belgium who said my images made her “feel better and not care about what others think and live my life.” That made me proud. As for what the images mean, viewers may interpret the images as they see fit. I’m just trying to start a conversation."

See more of Morris-Cafiero's images at her website and on Instagram and Twitter. 

Via Viral Nova | Images: Haley Morris-Cafiero

The way in which a book begins is important, in that it's indicative of the author's style as well as setting the tone for the entire piece of writing. It's like a walking in a front door; the way it is crafted can lend insight as to the treasures (or lack thereof) within. 

Here are a few opening sentences of beloved science fiction books. See if you recognize any of them. Then visit this i09 article to see the books from which they came, as well as to read more examples. If your favorite sci-fi book opening sentences are not included in the article, tell us what they are in comments.

1) "Physicist Leonardo Vetra smelled burning flesh, and he knew it was his own." 

2) "The five small craft passed from shadow, emerging with the suddenness of coins thrown into sunlight."

3) "He woke, and remembered dying."

Image: Wikipedia 

German photographer Julia Christe's series "Freestyle" captures dogs in mid-air while jumping. The result is these adorable photographs of the various canines, agog, legs jumbled and hair flying. If only my dogs had been included in the series; my inability to get them to stop jumping on people could have finally paid off. 

See all the photos in Christe's series, as well as the rest of her portfolio, at her website.  

Via Laughing Squid | Images: Julia Christe 

Have you ever been in IKEA so long that you thought about setting up camp there, sleeping on their beds and living on meatballs? If so, you're not alone. A twelve-year-old Chinese boy who ran away from home was found nearly a week later, having spent much of his time living in an IKEA store. 

Peng Yijian was in hot water with his mom for not completing his math homework, so he left home and moved around, spending a good deal of time in IKEA. The boy lived off of free food samples from Shanghai supermarkets, and it has been speculated that he slept on an IKEA display bed.

Before he was found, police asked his mother where Peng liked to go in town. She told them IKEA, among other places. The boy was eventually found roaming the ground floor of the Swedish retailer. 

Read more at NY Daily News.  

Via Uproxx | Image: Wikipedia

When we last checked in with TurboRoo, the Chihuahua born with two legs, he was a tiny puppy who had just been fitted with his first set of wheels. He was being cared for by the staff at The Downtown Veterinarian in Indianapolis.

Now this little guy has been adopted by his former foster parents and has become the self-assured, adorable young adult dog of six months shown here. With his sporty set of 3-D printed wheels, TurboRoo has no problem keeping up, as evidenced in the photo below, in which he confidently greets other dogs. TurboRoo appropriately lives in Speedway, Indiana with his two brothers, Braxton the Puggle and Navin the kitten.

Keep up with Turbo's fast-rolling pace on Instagram and Facebook.

The first two facts in this list of fifteen bits of trivia about The Little Mermaid have to do with the color palette of the film:

1) "The color is intentionally muted and overcast in the opening scene on Eric's ship. The directors wanted to save the bright colors for the sea." It's a trick that's been used in variation since The Wizard of Oz, and it never fails.

2) "The blue-green hue of Ariel's tail was specifically mixed for the movie by the Disney paint lab. They named it 'Ariel.'" Naturally.

Read the remaining thirteen facts about The Little Mermaid here. 

Image: Disney.com 

San Marino | Image: reddit.com

If you're looking for picturesque places to add to your list of travel destinations, check out this collection of thirty-eight incredible photos. While there are a number of countries represented, Italy features prominently, which is no surprise. It's certainly a country in which one steps from one beautiful setting into another.

Have you been to any of these places? If so, did the beauty of the spot as a whole live up to that of these photographs? 

See all 38 scenic areas here.  

Jiufan, Taiwan | Image: reddit.com

Bled, Slovenia | Image: reddit.com

Halstatt, Austria | Image: reddit.com 

Italian architect and illustrator Federico Babina's "Archilife" series pairs famous actors with architectural masterpieces by Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto and others. Babina (featured previously at Neatorama) was inspired to create the series after studying architectural photographs and finding them "aseptic, clean and neutral." Babina further explained, 

"The architecture is represented in a lonely estrangement from any disturbance of vision and all that belongs to our reality, it is cleaned and stripped of all context's traces. I often enjoy imagining what life would be like in these static images." 

Imagine he did, by way of illustration. Visit his website to see more of his work. 

Via Juxtapoz | Images: Federico Babina 

These early burlesque dancers were actresses in American musical theater, of which burlesque was a crowd-pleasing type. Burlesque shows became popular in England in the 1830s, with its popularity spreading to the United States about ten years later. American burlesque featured comedic sketches that included sexually suggestive dialogue and women in sexy costumes. This tradition, with the addition of striptease, continued in the U.S. until the 1930s, when legal crackdowns put a stop to it. 

Read this article for a history of burlesque. 

Images: Dr. Charles H. McCaghy Collection 

These fun web comics by Tango employ simple drawings to serve up visual humor. He has a Tumblr under the name of Shanghai Tango. It's definitely worth a visit to see more of his work. He has a witty take on the forms and contours we encounter in life, and how they can be combined, as well as dissected, thus transformed. 

Via Laughing Squid | Images: Tango

Redditor Dr_Martin_V_Nostrand submitted a post to Reddit about his high school friend Terry Bell, who posed as his own identical twin brother for a yearbook picture, netting him two side-by-side spots in his yearbook. Dr_Martin_V_Nostrand explained,

“He took a second photo on the secondary day for yearbook photos. Wore different clothes, wrote Jerry instead of Terry. They don’t cross check the photo names with the enrollment records at my school apparently.”

I wonder what future profession Mr. Bell will choose in which to exercise these skills of creativity, audacity and deception?

Read more about Bell's prank here. 

John Cleese

It's always nice for fans to know that the celebrities they are fond of enough to write to genuinely appreciate their support. This collection of reponses to fan letters received by famous people (and one cartoon character) are examples of celebrities who went the extra mile to be gracious and make a fan feel special. While many famous people receive such a large volume of mail that they can't possibly read and respond to it all, it doesn't hurt to have hired personnel keeping tabs on that sort of thing. 

See seven more celebrity fan mail responses here. 

Kurt Vonnegut

                   Steve Martin

Artist John Bisbee's 30-year career of using nails as an art medium was inspired by an experience he had while in college. Bisbee was exploring an abandoned house to see what materials he could repurpose, when he knocked over a bucket of rusted nails and found that they had fused together in the shape of the container. Since then, he's used nails to make sculpture, including the fabulous works of art seen here.

Bisbee said in an interview, “A nail, like a line, can and will do almost anything. What can’t you draw with a line? The nail is just my line.”

Read an interview with the artist at American Craft (page 40) and visit his website to see additional works. 

Via Colossal | Images: John Bisbee 

On November 1, a margay at Bioparque M’Bopicuá in Uruguay gave birth to the adorable kitten seen in these photos. Typical gestation is approximately eighty days and most often results in a single birth. 

The margay is a small cat native to an area ranging from southern Mexico to northern South America east of the Andes. Kittens weigh a mere three to six ounces. Adult margays are only six to nine pounds and approximately thirty inches long.

Sadly, the species is listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List, due to loss of habitat and illegal hunting.

Read more about margays at Zooborns.  

Images Credit: Montes del Plata/Bioparque M’Bopicuá

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In this animated American Horror Story and Toy Story mashup, Buzz Lightyear is more than a little uncomfortable with the latest toy turnover, and he shares his discomfort with Woody. Poor Buzz. I know how you feel, buddy. -Via Laughing Squid