• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
My Big Fat Cuban Family

My Big Fat Cuban Family

Recipes · Blog · Shop

  • Meet Marta
    • Media Mentions
  • Lifestyle
    • Cuban-American Life
    • My Big, Fat, Cuban Family
  • Entertainment
    • Disney
    • Marvel
    • Television
    • Concerts
    • Books
    • Theatre
  • Celebrate
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Cuban Christmas
    • Mother’s Day
    • Movie Nights
    • Summer Nights
  • Recipes
    • Cuban Recipes With Pictures
    • Family Favorites
    • My Cook Book
  • Shop
    • Cuban Foods Poster
    • Cuban T-Shirts
    • Costa Rican Foods Poster
    • Honduran Foods Poster
    • Puerto Rican Foods Poster
    • Salvadoran Foods Poster
    • Scottish Foods Poster
    • Customize Your Own
    • Cuban Goodies In Your Mailbox
  • Contact
    • Advertise
  • Archives

Good Enough

September 8, 2009 By Marta Darby 12 Comments

A few short years ago, you would not have found me in many pictures.

In fact, aside from Christmas card photos or group photos, you'd be hard pressed to find me in any of our family events. I have always been more comfortable behind the camera documenting everyone else's lives. Besides, we People Of The Round Face are not the most photogenic, but that's not important right now.

A few short years ago, I would not even be sharing my life so openly or candidly or so…publicly.

My children's first steps, first teeth, first foods, first bath, first days of school – all photographed and catalogued and annotated in albums. My firsts, or any other part of my own life for that matter (as the youngest of six kids from a Cuban refugee family), not so much.

I don't know when it happened exactly. I think it was after my dad passed away and I was looking fondly at old photos of him. My dad was not particularly handsome, but I remember thinking as I looked at photos of him that he had great skin and a pleasant face and I was sad that I did not know more about the details of his life.

I realized then that I had actually been a bit selfish in my self-consciousness. By not including photos of myself and sharing my own story, I was doing my kids a disservice.

And so, in spite of my un-photogenic-ness (<—that should totally be a word), I go ahead and post my photos on my blog for all the cyber-world to see (sometimes too often? =D) and I tell my own stories with a certain amount of abandon. 

So what if I'm not beautiful or particularly photogenic.

Like my dad, I've got great skin and a pleasant face. And that's good enough, don't you think?

Grainy me  

You might also like:

Self-Portrait Tuesdays. The Real Thing. Look at your life through Heaven’s eyes Happy Father’s Day! My Mom is 101

Filed Under: Cuban-American Life Tagged With: self portrait tuesday, spt

Previous Post: « Cuban in the USA – Hey! That’s me!
Next Post: How Many Cuban Girls Does it Take to Get ONE Photo? »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Angela Garcia says

    September 8, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    As one well versed in the Code of the People of the Round Face (and in my case, double chins), I can understand completely always preferring to stand behind the camera instead of posing in front of one. I also have recently let myself be photographed more frequently (although I always delete the ones I take myself at arms length…there is no way I can take a decent photo that way!). Even worse are the ones from the webcam on my Mac…YUCK! Slowly, I have learned which is my “good” side, and that a well placed tilt of the head works wonders, not to mention dim lighting and having lots of kids standing in front of me. Funny, my kids usually love how I look in pictures (but sometimes even they will tell me “Mom, delete that one!”) and that seems to make it all worth while. I cherish every photo I find of me with my mother, who passed away 3 years ago, and I know I got my aversion to cameras from her. But I also got my wide eyes and dimpled chin from her…funny thing is my kids pointed out how much I look like her. Makes it a bit easier to stand and strike a pose now and then!

    Reply
  2. Suzy says

    September 8, 2009 at 5:02 pm

    And this is why people love you…

    Reply
  3. marielle says

    September 8, 2009 at 6:54 pm

    Definitely understand. We moms tend to suffer from this the most. I was the same way until someone who had lost her mom also lamented not having more pictures of her no matter what the mom looked like. I then thought of my own mom (still alive, young and kicking) and how I enjoy having pictures of her from all of her life stages and vowed to make my husband get acquainted with my camera.

    Reply
  4. jana says

    September 8, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    I too am a member of the round face club….and I just love this post!

    Reply
  5. Michele Caridad says

    September 9, 2009 at 6:12 am

    I TOO HATE TAKING PICTURES! (OF MYSELF THAT IS!) my sister is the patient phtographer and i (ms. photography minor) also hide behing the camera all too often! and i think Self-Portrait Tues. will help me get out of that! 😀

    Reply
  6. Mica says

    September 9, 2009 at 11:12 am

    Marta, you have more than a pleasant face, a warm loving heart and a smile that lights up the planet.Thanks for sharing mi amiguita…
    xoxo
    Mica
    p.s. founding member of round-face club

    Reply
  7. Kiki Bacaro says

    September 9, 2009 at 11:27 am

    Yeah, I never used to come out in pictures until my oldest daughter gave me “the guilt trip” that one day I would be gone and my grandkids, great grandkids wouldn’t know who I was…blah, blah, blah. Can’t imagine where she got those “guilt trip” skills from…lalalalaI got the Varadero sign yesterday, Thanks again!

    Reply
  8. Lori says

    September 9, 2009 at 2:32 pm

    Marta,You are beautiful. I too am “photo-phobic”. My kids pray that I will grow out of this soon. It makes for a more horrid photo don’t you think? It is a lesson we can teach our children: to focus on the best part (heart) :-). Kudos to you and thanks for the encouragement.
    Lori

    Reply
  9. Marta M. Darby says

    September 9, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    Wow, people. I’m a overwhelmed by your graciousness. Thank you!I hope this makes you think about handing over that camera more often. =D
    Besos,
    Marta

    Reply
  10. [email protected] says

    September 10, 2009 at 9:09 am

    I love this blog. It made me cry b/c my mom won’t really take photos either… makes me sad b/c of my kids…Going to make her read this! BTW, you ARE beautiful.

    Reply
  11. class factotum says

    September 13, 2009 at 8:30 am

    I hate photos of myself. I have no children, so can comfortably stay behind the camera instead of in front of it. 🙂

    Reply
  12. Bronx Air Conditioners says

    March 23, 2010 at 4:56 am

    Your face is as good as your thoughts Marta. you are absolutely a beautiful women from my point of view. so don’t concentrate to others.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

TRY SUPER SMOOTH CAFE LA LLAVE ESPRESSO

Cafe La Llave

My Cuban T-Shirt Designs

“Cuban T-Shirts

Subscribe to MBFCF Newsletter!

Never miss a post! Sign up with your email address to receive recipes, news and updates right in your inbox!

Cuban Foods Poster

“Cuba

Cuban Coffee Poster

“Cuba

Cuban Desserts Poster

“Cuba poster - Cuban desserts subway art print

Get Snacking On California Strawberries!

California Strawberries

Most Recent Posts

  • Best Places That Will Ship Cuban Food To Your Door
    December 15, 2020
  • My Big Fat Cuban Family Christmas Gift Guide 2020
    December 3, 2020
  • My Needs Are Simple: The Verizon CareSmart Watch
    December 3, 2020
  • The Quest for Authentic Chimichurri – Cocina Knows
    November 30, 2020
  • Hogwarts Halloween
    October 30, 2020

Cuban Recipes Cookbook

Cuban recipes with pictures cookbook from My Big Fat Cuban Family

Abuela Mami

Abuela Mami Gifts

Cuban Food Market

Cuban Food Market

Follow Me on Instagram

Follow Marta on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: No posts found.

Follow Marta On Social

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

FEATURED POSTS

  • Best Places That Will Ship Cuban Food To Your Door
    December 15, 2020
  • My Big Fat Cuban Family Christmas Gift Guide 2020
    December 3, 2020
  • It’s Cuban Christmas Crema De Vie Time!
    December 7, 2017
  • My Big Fat Cuban Cooking Playlist
    November 21, 2016
  • Crema de Vie (Cuban Egg Nog) Recipe
    July 27, 2016

Blog Archives

Footer

Meet Marta

Marta Verdes Darby is a Cuban-American food blogger in South Orange County.

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Sign Up For My Newsletter

September 2009
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« Aug   Oct »

Copyright © 2021 my big fat cuban family