"Mister, you look like..."

I don't know what it is, but my students are all really ready to compare me to other people.  "Oh mister you look like..." "He looks like..."  Here are some examples of celebrities I seem to appear similar to: Dirk Nowitzki, Prince William, that guy from Coldplay (Chris Martin), Napoleon Dynamite, Ken (like Barbie's...friend, the Ken doll), and a Ralph Lauren model.  Some of these comparisons I encourage (the Ralph Lauren one and the Prince William relation especially), others I mock (I dressed as Ken for Halloween), and still others annoy and shock me (Napoleon Dynamite).

I'm sure this is done for many reasons.  The joy and game of the comparison.  The joke which can then be passed from student to student.  But also, as part of it.  I believe there is a connection to a larger world by relating those one sees every day to celebrities from the entertainment sphere.  There is almost a connection to that other world.

The most important part is just to have fun with it.  I think I did this pretty well when a student asked, "can I call you Dirk Nowitzki," to which I replied, "only if I can call you Darko Milicic."