don't actually just say "cheese"

the not-smile smile

i'm sure everybody has been met with the question "what do you first notice in someone of the opposite sex?" for me, that answer is their smile and eyes. i pay attention to everybody's smiles because they are so telling of how the person feels at any given time. typically people look great when they're smiling, right? because it shows a happiness or lightness in their demeanor at the time. but my point to this specific blog post is that people should look better when they're smiling than when they aren't smiling. 

too many times i've seen guys "smile" in a picture and it looks like the photo above. i cannot understand this. that is not the image of happiness, fellas. i can't describe that type of face to be anything other than "yikes!" as in "yikes! i probably shouldn't have gotten into that cake before we sang Happy Birthday," or "yikes! that cat is about to pounce on me and scratch my face up." well lemme tell you, if that's your "smiling" face, then i say let the cat have at it! i'm only kidding, of course. but why oh whyyyyyy do you guys do this? it's awkward and not in the slightest bit attractive. telling you to say "cheese" is only a saying. nobody really wants you to say "cheese" with such an exaggerated horizontal pulling of the sides of your mouth. but if that's your method, then at least be happy about the cheese, mmkay? otherwise you may as well just sit there stern faced because it's likely going to be more attractive than that mess you see above.