Face Recognition – It’s a Talent That I Always Have Possessed

Ok. Ten points to the first person who can tell me which movie I stole part of my post title from. Moving along…

See, there’s this thing about me that’s kind of quirky and sort of fun and just a little crazy all at the same time. If I’ve seen your face once I can recognize you again. In person, on t.v. or on someone’s camera phone. Or perhaps even from the profile pic on your blog (hmmmm….) I mean it. If I’ve seen you once and I see you again, I know it.

During the last holiday season we were in a mall in my hometown having lunch with my mother in the food court and I knew I recognized a woman at one of the tables next to us. She was about my age and had her husband and kids with her. Turns out her sister was in my grade at my high school and that she was just a couple of years younger than me but also went to my high school. My mother was mad that she didn’t recognize her (the woman has lived in her neighborhood for 32 years. she knows everyone). Well Mom, you just don’t have the mad skillz that I do, SOR-RY!

Tim freaks out ALL. THE. TIME at how quickly I can recognize actors and actresses in movies for what they have been in before. They may have different hair color and gained or lost 20 pounds. I still know their face. I can be overheard saying things akin to this a lot, “Oh, she used to be Margot on As The World Turns.” (this actress was in Independence Day). Or, “Oh he was the not so nice father of Beth on The Guiding Light!” (and now you know which channel of soaps my mom watched when I was a kid!)

So, all this leads up to my latest “it-only-took-nano-seconds-for-me-to-recognize-him” story.

Last Thursday (a week ago) we had a guest speaker at my Mom’s club meeting. He was a nutritionist and health professional from a local fitness center. His name was Derek Southers and he had a good presentation that focused on what we shouldn’t eat at our age (carbs at night! AHHH!) and other diet tips.

Then on Friday night the hubs and I watched a movie called Idiocracy (very funny but sad take on the way the human race may be headed) and before he could finish his first sentence I recognized Derek in the short little bit that he had in the movie. It only took a quick surfing trip over to imdb.com to confirm (and convince the hubs) that I was right. Oh Yeah, score another one for Elaine. Tim couldn’t believe it. He’s like, “Uh what… Uh how… Uh who?” Ok so maybe it’s not THAT amazing, I mean I did listen to the guy talk for 30 minutes. But still, how crazy is it that the guy who did our presentation was in the movie we watched the next night?

So tell me, do you have any quirks like this? Inquiring minds want to know!