“While everyone was talking, I wandered back over to the tofu pig. It looked real, unless you got up really close to it. Then you could see: It was very much not. Up close, you could see how the artist molded the tofu, and the places where there were cracks in the pigskin. You could even see the finger indentations where he’d tried to massage the tofu flat. It was like when you approach a woman whom you think is beautiful and you see the caked-on blush and mascara, and you realize what you are seeing isn’t her; it’s her vanity. You’re seeing her attempt at beauty, and it’s the opposite of beauty you’re looking at.”
Rafe, at the Mountain Luau Surprise Party his parents throw him in Boulder, Colo., staring at the tofu pig on a spit. From Openly Straight.