Day 25

'Neanderthal' Pencil and Charcoal on Brown Paper

Decided to stray a bit from the norm today again by working outside the sketch book that I've been using thus far for the drawings. In this case using brown paper, pencil and charcoal to sketch the skull of a Neanderthal (Homo Neanderthalensis) who was thought to have been around in Europe until about 30,000 years ago, again it is an object I photographed previously in the Ulster Museum.

The reason for drawing this skull at this point was due to the whole notion of a 'Neanderthal' however rather than making reference to an extinct human species or sub species, I am instead alluding to a Neanderthal as a person who is crude, boorish or slow-witted. Also for clarification I use the term Neanderthal not to suggest that these people are by any means unintelligent, instead I allude to those types of people that make even the simplest of tasks taxing, not even because they are actually by any standards of below average intelligence. Instead it's because they have played up to their perceived inadequacy for so long it acts as an excuse to have someone else spoon feed them information and hold their hand through the most primitive activity, which in truth requires nothing more than basic common sense. I'm sure if you think back it's difficult to think of many days where you have failed to come across someone who fits the aforementioned description. I understand that there are plenty of people, who are for want of a better way to describe it quite clearly simple, however these people have many other redeeming qualities and are usually very endearing. To clarify things more I'll outline the type of people that I am thinking of... They are those loud obnoxious people that you hear talking on their phone on the bus that for some reason seem to think that by putting the phone up to your ear it creates a sound proof bubble that enables no one else to hear them regaling their BFF of that weekends sordid exploits... I don't care how cracker, beezer or belter they were I don't really need to know in that much detail. They are those types of people who for one reason or another need to have the last word in any conversation even if they aren't directly involved... did I say last word? word in this case is to eloquent a way to describe the noise that comes from their sound holes. Instead it's more of an obtrusive hum, deafening buzz or an ear-piercing shrillness that angers you so much you could vomit through your nostrils. They are the type of people that will say or do something so ridiculously offensive or intrusive that it noticeably causes the people it's directed at to feel uncomfortable, not only this but they are then incapable of apologising as they have no understanding of how it could be deemed so... instead they use the same typical defence mechanism of, ' lighten up, you know I'm only joking'. They are the type of people that have no consideration or ability to empathise with their fellow man, rather it's a case that they force their way through life with a moronic, misplaced bravado that they mistake for confidence. All the while attempting to highlight their affability through the impetuous buffoonery that they have mistaken for a sense of humour. The worst possible thing about these types of people is that they seem to be drawn to each other, which only facilitates their idiocy and allows it to continue and spread like some sort of plague... soon enough you find small huddles of these people cackling like hyenas every where you go. Is then understandable to conceive that  not everyone has managed to fully evolve yet? or is it insensitive of me to even suggest that the actual Neanderthal men that existed over 30,000 years ago be likened to the idiots of today?