Mixed signals?

[vakkotaur]

There were several comments on the last post suggesting "curious" which sort of fits. altivo's comment about it being typical Groat "quizzical" inspired me to go look through the West Corner of the Park archives and see if I could find a similar image. I found many images that seem to confirm kellogs2066's comment on mouth shape and head angle for that. So curious, at least in the "what, the fuse is lit?!" sense is out.

I found some other images that show the mouth closed, but never in such a smile. It is interesting that I didn't find that particular expression in any of the WCotP cartoons. The signals do seem to be mixed, going by WCotP reference(s).

kellogs2066's comment that the icon seemed to convey something along the lines of "thoughtfulness, contemplativeness and optimism" works with something Jay said last night, that it was sort of a "Hrmm..." Perhaps it's a "Hrmm... that might just work" sort of expression? That sort of fits into tkwolf's "brain rebooting" comment as well. It's perhaps the look one might have when after trying to solve some problem for some time, one finally manages to look at it a different way and see a possible solution. It also seems to fit into the feeling I had that it was sort of somewhere in a double-take. If you recall the scene in the Pinky and the Brain cartoon When Mice Ruled the Earth where Pinky asked the Brain about the time machine, "Will it also roast marshmallows?" and just as the Brain is about to clobber Pinky, he has a sudden realization and, surprised himself, answers, "Actually, it might." ... well that sort of catching oneself off-guard, but in a good or at least not bad way, might be what the icon conveys.