{"id":1424,"date":"2023-10-24T22:37:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T05:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lauragrey.com\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2023-11-07T17:43:45","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T01:43:45","slug":"im-a-creep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/?p=1424","title":{"rendered":"I&#8217;m a Creep"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Radiohead - Creep\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XFkzRNyygfk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">I was talking with my daughter the other day about something I enjoyed that was a little creepy, and we laughed about that creepiness. I&#8217;ve always thought of myself as someone who doesn&#8217;t really DO creepy\u2014I detest horror and zombies and vampires and gore. I loathe scaring people. I hate practical jokes and nasty surprises and causing people fear. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">But then it dawned on me that I love <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XFkzRNyygfk\"><em>The Twilight Zone<\/em><\/a>, which I think of more as a source of slightly chilling campiness than creepiness. When I received a box set of every <em>Twilight Zone<\/em> episode as a Christmas gift a few years ago, I actually burst into tears, I found it such a touching and generous gesture. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">I thought a little further about what constitutes creepiness and I realized that I love <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/85761077\">cemeteries<\/a>, which I see as beautiful memorials to lost love. I seek them out in my travels and I have hundreds of photographs of headstones. Indeed, on the walls of my home hang several small casts of particularly lovely elements from <a href=\"http:\/\/gravestonegirls.com\/\">New England&#8217;s grave markers<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">Hmm.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">I followed this train of thought a bit further down the track, and I had to admit to myself that I get a kick out of hiding weird disembodied hands and arms from antique baby dolls in my houseplants. I see them not as frightening but as absurd and laughable when they&#8217;re stuck randomly in nonsensical places. I also love them because I collect hand-related art\u2014it reminds me of creativity and connecting with people and holding out one&#8217;s hand to others. To me, those creepy little hands are actually a mental shorthand for being willing to lead people toward something funnier, less expected, better. I don&#8217;t assemble them into horrific tableaux; I use them to accessorize my home and inspire me to stay close to those I love, to beauty, to my muses. My creepy baby hands also keep me from taking myself too seriously. They remind me to stay goofy, which I think is vital to staying human.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">Then came the epiphany: Creepy people never think of themselves as creepy<\/span><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">Uh-oh.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"eqs26-0-0\">It turns out that I&#8217;m a creep. I&#8217;m a weirdo. But I&#8217;ll bet I&#8217;m the perkiest little creep you know.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was talking with my daughter the other day about something I enjoyed that was a little creepy, and we laughed about that creepiness. I&#8217;ve always thought of myself as someone who doesn&#8217;t really DO creepy\u2014I detest horror and zombies and vampires and gore. I loathe scaring people. I hate practical jokes and nasty surprises &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/?p=1424\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">I&#8217;m a Creep<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,27,24,29],"tags":[798,1100,1099,1098,205,1102,1101,1096,1097,204],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1424"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1432,"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions\/1432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragrey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}