Microexpression Madness

When I looked at my hits this morning, I noticed something was up. I had 878 page loads yesterday, and 396 unique visitors — about three to four times what is normal. And it is continuing on today.

What sparked the increased readership? My interest is piqued.

It appears there is a fascination with “microexpressions” in the Google search engine, and a few other search engines, and it is putting people here (on my blog).

I don’t see any external links bringing people here so I can only assume there is a newspaper article, radio show or a television show in the last two days that discussed microexpressions.

If you are coming here for microexpressions — clue me in on what generated such buzz. Of course, Paul Ekman, the guru of microexpressions is always fascinating.

What am I missing?

Perhaps Donny Deutsch featured Dr. Mark Frank yesterday on The Big Idea? Just a guess. Dr. Mark Frank, Dr. O’Sullivan and Dr. Ekman are colleagues.

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Nate Berkus

Nate Berkus: Do you know him?

He is an interior designer in Chicago whom Oprah Winfrey has embraced and featured on her show time-and-time again.

He is someone I would call a positive person.

He is one of those people whose true emotions are written all over his face and in his body language. It’s so over-abundant, it’s undeniable.

He is a deep, caring and kind soul — and an exceptionally trustworthy individual to all those who know him and know him well. I would venture to say that Nate values family and has a very close relationship with his immediate family. They mean the world to Nate! I could see Nate sharing Sunday dinner with his family (mother, father, brothers/sisters) weekly — when time permits.

I would gather to say he is also a fiercely loyal friend and companion when he knows you are devoted to him, and you are honest and forthright.

Nate prides himself on his honesty, trustworthiness and moral character — and he looks for people in his life who value similar relationships.

Nate knows who he is to the core, and if he could tell us — he’d tell us he likes who he is. He has found himself in life, for the most part. He knows his passions, his limitations, his fears and his dreams.

Nate works hard to overcome the obstacles life has given him and does so with a positive attitude. He stays courageous for those he loves yet he isn’t shy to show his doubts and insecurities when they arise. Nate doesn’t bottle up his emotions. He owns them, feels them and accepts them as part of being human.

I would also bet that Nate treats everyone he meets with the utmost respect, compassion and caring. Nate is a very empathetic person — who realizes just because he has a good life — doesn’t mean that he is more deserving that anyone else — which is rare for those of celebrity form. I would venture to say that Nate is a giving man, donating to those less fortunate then himself.

Nate also hits me as a very open-minded guy — open to new experiences — but he doesn’t hit me as the type of guy who would jump out of a perfectly good airplane for fun. He hits me as the type to take risks, but is not over-the-top risks. Now, if someone Nate loved begged him to jump from an airplane because it was their dream, that is not to say that Nate wouldn’t consider doing it to fulfill the dream of someone he loved. He would… he’d give it serious thought.

Nate is someone I would trust implicitly with my life, hands-down without question — without ever getting to know him.

Nate is a special guy. I would be so honored to meet him and to call him my friend.

P.S. I don’t know if the MySpace page was created by Nate — but I suspect it was. The music chosen on that page is a great reflection of his personality.

Murder of Christa Worthington

Last night, 48 Hours profiled the case of Christa Worthington. Did you catch it by chance?

I am completely confident the jury convicted the right man when they convicted the garbage man, Christopher McCowen, of the crime and sentenced him to life. All the other potential suspects profiled by 48 Hours prior to the court case appeared to be honest when they spoke. But I never got to see McCowen speak until after the verdict– so I watched closely. Was he being unfairly convicted as his defense attorney said?

When McCowen’s addressed the court for the first time at his sentencing hearing, his choice of words were quite interesting and very telling.

He said:

This case here, is a very horrendous case. I feel sorry for the victim’s family, her daughter, and her. I have never meant for this to ever take place. All I can say is that I am soh…I’m an innocent man in this case…and that’s all I got to say.

When McCowen said, “I have never meant for this to ever take place,” my eyebrows raised. What? If you have nothing to do with this, why would you even say this?

Then as he went on he said, “All I can say is that I’m soh…I’m an innocent man in this case.” This was fascinating and the transcript from 48 Hours doesn’t show his slip of the tongue but it was there and it is important. I will swear that McCowen almost said “All I can say is that I’m sorry” but he realized it just in time!!

While I wouldn’t say this is conclusive proof that he is lying, it sure does hint towards it. Add that to his DNA match and combine that with the fact that all the other known people close to Christa appeared to be honest –and I think it points to an obvious answer and justice served.

Regardless, it’s sad to see so many lives ruined by such a senseless crime.