My obsession

cheese dog

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time. It’s about one of my obsessions- finding faces in food. I even started a flickr group about it.

For those of you who see faces in everything— in the shower tile, the cottage cheese ceiling, the clouds-this is not much of a stretch. I think we all have the capacity to see this stuff, but as adults we just aren’t used to paying attention.

It all started with cheese dog (pictured above) the St. Bernard I found in my gorgonzola one night at a dinner party. I gasped when I saw him, and proceeded to pass him around the dinner table to all of the guests who let out shrieks of recognition and excitement. You’d have thought we saw the virgin Mary!

orchid oracle

Next came the orchid oracle. Do you see the monk bowing inside the flower? Ready to give you all of life’s answers? Go ahead. Ask him something.

Here is my growing collection of sad bananas, grouchy lemons, animals found in my meals and other curiosities. It is something I am irrationally excited about.

sad banana

grouchy lemons

tortilla wolf, passed along by a friend of mine

chicken dog

A moment of parental pride for me at the dinner table recently:
Me: Hey Ben, do you see the whale in my meat?
Ben: (peering over) Yep! and there’s a shark in your salad.

There totally was.
And I swear I flushed with pride.

p.s. Matt found the dog pictured above on his plate last night. What kind of dog is that?

31 Comments

  1. Sandra
    Posted September 6, 2011 at 6:13 pm | Permalink

    Hound or a spaniel I think ?

  2. Posted September 6, 2011 at 6:41 pm | Permalink

    It sort of looks like Falcor, the dragon-dog from the Neverending story!

    I’m totally with you, I see faces and people and animals everywhere. I may have to set up a flickr account just so I can join the group.

  3. Posted September 6, 2011 at 6:59 pm | Permalink

    First it was hearts. Then it was faces and hearts. Now it’s faces and hearts and butterflies. So I totally get it! I was in the middle of writing a blog post about the hearts, btw, when I stopped to go online as I do every time I’m supposed to be writing something or being productive somewhere, when I saw your faces and puppies, then I had to add a couple to your group…xo

  4. Posted September 6, 2011 at 7:24 pm | Permalink

    I see both a newborn spaniel and a very wet yellow lab.
    I love that Ben is seeing the world with eyes so similar to yours.
    What fun you all must have when you eat together!

  5. Paige
    Posted September 6, 2011 at 8:10 pm | Permalink

    I think’s it’s a shar-pei!!!

  6. Posted September 6, 2011 at 8:16 pm | Permalink

    It kind of looks like one of those wrinkly dogs!

    I find hearts. And I find all sorts of things in clouds and trees and shadows and puddles – and I find fairies and angels in some of my photos. It is such fun!

  7. Posted September 6, 2011 at 8:39 pm | Permalink

    That chicken dog is crazy. I want to take him home and make him my pet. Thanks for giving me something to look at while I’m eating.

  8. Katherine
    Posted September 6, 2011 at 9:20 pm | Permalink

    My guess is beagle hound or a spaniel of some kind.

  9. Trish
    Posted September 7, 2011 at 12:36 am | Permalink

    A golden lab i.e.; Marley and Me who is lying on a wooden floor in front of a fire place….

  10. Susie
    Posted September 7, 2011 at 12:42 am | Permalink

    Aww, I love this!! It’s right up my alley. Me and my boyfriend also see stuff in everything. Last summer we were walking back to my apartment and I was annoyed at him for something. He looks down at the sidewalk and said “God, even the sidewalk is frowning at me!” And sure enough the sidewalk had a cracked frown-face in it. Too cute – couldn’t be mad at him anymore!
    I love Matt’s chicken dog – it looks like a hound to me.
    Adore this post – thanks again for the smiles!!

  11. christie
    Posted September 7, 2011 at 5:10 am | Permalink

    hee hee ha ha! laughing loudly in this tiny house this evening. i am going to have to open my eyes and see the wonders all about…what a great lesson for me to end the day. tomorrow, the world will be seen with some new eyes! i think this is just what i needed! thanks andrea ?

  12. Posted September 7, 2011 at 5:37 am | Permalink

    the chicken dog is absolutely a golden retriever. it might be the reincarnation of my childhood dog simon. he really loved chicken. this cracked me up.

  13. Shosh
    Posted September 7, 2011 at 5:38 am | Permalink

    The grouchy lemons made me smile.
    I see faces in the water hose attachments that are all over the city…

  14. Amie aka MammaLoves
    Posted September 7, 2011 at 4:06 pm | Permalink

    Oh now I’m going to be looking for faces and animals everywhere! Thank you for the new vision!!

  15. Posted September 7, 2011 at 4:54 pm | Permalink

    i so needed this today. awesome. i love you. ben is so your son.

  16. Lene
    Posted September 7, 2011 at 4:58 pm | Permalink

    This is so funny ?
    And I agree, the dog is totally the dog from A never ending story!!!

  17. elizabeth
    Posted September 8, 2011 at 1:30 am | Permalink

    This post just made me smile…..thank you!

  18. cath
    Posted September 8, 2011 at 4:00 am | Permalink

    Well, this is just the greatest post ever.
    Now I know we are all i this together!

  19. Lexi
    Posted September 8, 2011 at 7:27 am | Permalink

    LOVE THIS! You all are just fantastic. This completely made my week : ) Thanks!

  20. Jenn S
    Posted September 8, 2011 at 9:11 pm | Permalink

    i think the dog looks a lot like a cocker spaniel!

  21. Joy
    Posted September 8, 2011 at 9:20 pm | Permalink

    Those are amazing. I can see I will never eat before looking again.

  22. Posted September 9, 2011 at 7:28 pm | Permalink

    Love this post. I tend to find more faces in an even weirder spot: wall texture. For some reason I always seem to spot faces and figures in the texture applied to walls before paint. I know- bizarre. ?

  23. Gemma
    Posted September 9, 2011 at 10:12 pm | Permalink

    Golden Retriever!

    Thank you for totally validating my obsession with seeing faces and animals and aliens and …. creatures just about everywhere! I swear I saw a reptilian alien face in the bathroom floor at work yesterday. He looked kinda world-weary and sad. I almost asked him where he was visiting from. ?

  24. Posted September 10, 2011 at 4:08 am | Permalink

    this is hilarious. I love grouchy lemons!
    xo
    *c

  25. Posted September 11, 2011 at 4:02 am | Permalink

    It’s a weimeranner…and I have no idea how to spell that word. ?

  26. keri bernstein
    Posted September 14, 2011 at 1:26 am | Permalink

    That’s clearly a hound dog, Andrea. And he’s scratching fleas for sure! As for the lemon that is off to the side alone, it is so sad I can feel it’s pain!

  27. Ellen Coker
    Posted September 14, 2011 at 3:52 am | Permalink

    This was such a joy filled post. I so enjoyed reading about your observations of the faces that everyday life presents. Ben has a terrific mother-she honors her observations and this opens his heart to his own discoveries.

    Just tonight I learned about your blog and classes from Brené. Thank you.

  28. Posted September 16, 2011 at 9:15 pm | Permalink

    You do know that I am after reading this post I am now going to be seeing food animals in my dreams. Thankyouverymuch.

  29. Bhupali
    Posted September 17, 2011 at 2:56 am | Permalink

    Loved your post! You might find this book interesting: Focus: Found Faces: Your World, Your Images (Hardcover) Lark Books. Should be fun ?

  30. Posted October 29, 2011 at 3:57 am | Permalink

    Ha! The lemons made me laugh out loud. What funny faces they have!

  31. Donna
    Posted February 15, 2013 at 7:37 am | Permalink

    Andrea,

    I came to your blog in order to send a picture of your “make a wish” tree to a friend and ended up here. So I’ll send this page on to another friend who was photographing faces in sidewalks.

    I wonder if you have the same experience with sound? When it’s quiet in the house, our dishwasher whispers gregorian chants.

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  1. […] been reading this blog for a while (or follow me on Instagram) you also know that I see faces in my food as well. I guess this is my thing. One of my […]

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