Offensive?

I was going to post my first, in a trio of scribblings I call "The Bubble Bath Essays" today, but something came up. That post must be delayed in favor of a more pressing issue.

What came up was a call from my darling daughter Jane. Here she is. Look at that big smile. So beautiful!

At the time Jane called she was sitting next to her husband in a car as they sped down the freeway somewhere in Idaho. As we all know, that stretch of road can be mighty boring, so she thought it would be a good time to give me some blogging advice.

Jane: "Mom, what were you thinking when you posted that picture of your Thanksgiving plate all dished up? Why did you use that picture?"

Me: "It was a comparable, you know, a perfect example in contrast to what others had on their plates."

Jane: "Oh my gosh Mom, did you even look at the picture before you posted it? Didn't you see that gross piece of turkey hanging off the left side of your plate?"

Me: "You mean that juicy piece of dark meat?"

Jane: "It looked so disgusting! I started having the gag reflex when I saw it. I was so grossed out! I am NOT coming to your blog any more if I have to keep looking at it!"

That made me pause and think. Jane makes up roughly one fifth of my readership. She and her siblings and the rest of the family are my target audience. What if she never comes back? Should I bend to this kind of pressure? I have to admit she has some clout.

Jane: "Can't you just put up the picture from last year's dinner instead? It's much prettier. You really shouldn't put disgusting looking things on your blog."

Me: "But Jane, that would be kind of like deceiving the public wouldn't it?"

Jane: "Listen Mom, it is basically the same exact food. The same exact food, except the picture would be much prettier."

By now I was laughing so hard it was getting hard to breath. Jane was laughing just as hard. I sure love my Jane. She comes up with very practical solutions to problems. And she is very opposed to grossness of any kind.

I know I am new to blogging, but I have already deduced that there is a bit of glossing things over that goes on in the blogging world. Kind of a putting your best foot forward approach to things. I can not say that any of that is wrong, but personally, I am more for accurate reporting. You know, telling it like it is. Exposing my life and thoughts in all their imperfection.

And so now I ask you.... Were you horribly and terribly disgusted by this?

Here is a close up of the offending piece of meat just in case you couldn't see it well enough in the other picture.

And an even closer view, so you can get a really, really good look.

Are you still standing? Has your gag reflex been engaged? Do you feel like you are never coming back here?

Or would you rather see this - Jane's perfect plate from last year?

So here is my pressing issue: Is it more important to refrain from grossing people out, or is it more important to be absolutely accurate? It is a difficult moral dilemma. Let me know what you think.