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Regarding my refined taste in art

I am an educated person with substantial thoughts so I’m not quite sure why it is there’s this big river of cheese running right down the middle of my taste in art. It hasn’t always been this way. The first painting I ever fell in love with, the first image that really moved me was this one by Goya:

I was five. (Around that time apparently I was also quite a gourmand.) But then the years were long and my attention span short and I took this cheese detour which I pretty much recovered from until I was walking the other day and fell in love with this, hanging in a store window:

To be honest, I couldn’t get this arresting image out of my mind! I spent a few days thinking about it and then woke up one morning full of promise and excitement not unlike the level of promise and excitement you feel when you have a new crush or plan to allow yourself to eat something you normally deprive yourself of. Or is that just me? Anyway, I set out to procure the painting/poster/print thing but lo and behold it wasn’t in the window anymore. It had been moved inside and wasn’t for sale, it was part of the store’s Easter display. They offered to sell it to me for $15 though. I held up my little paddle and clutched my pearls. Then I coughed daintily into my handkerchief. Then I told them I’d think about it and maybe come back.

The reason I began to doubt whether I wanted to bring this adorableness into my home is that there is a very specific kind of person who fills their home with this crap and it’s someone who pretends to be nice but if you dare mess with their thimble collection they will cut you. Also they have a lot of porcelain and cats and they probably keep the porcelain in a glass cabinet so the cats won’t knock it over. And they like the porcelain and cats more than they like human beings, which is actually ok since I’m on the fence regarding humans, but I guess I just don’t want to tip over into frigid-uptight-bitch-who-loves-cute-rabbits territory. You know?

But why is it that cute images like this are universally beloved by THAT kind of person? Because I don’t think that’s the kind of person I am.

So that’s why the painting is still in the store and I’m polishing my thimble collection with a brand new old rag.


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12 Responses to Regarding my refined taste in art

  1. Jaqob Jackson March 27, 2010 at 3:53 pm #

    You’re being far too hard on yourself and trying to stuff yourself in a box because you like adorable/cute images. Its OK to like these things. You aren’t someone else.

  2. mistygg March 27, 2010 at 3:56 pm #

    Gourmand A person that likes to eat and drink. Some cheese and snails.

  3. Joseph Smith March 27, 2010 at 5:29 pm #

    Your right Jaqob, she should think out-of-the-box and either phone you again or me. That ought to get my ears-boxed.

  4. antdude March 27, 2010 at 5:33 pm #

    Does this have anything to do with the Shiba pups going off to their new homes? An end of one thing, the beginning of another?

  5. Joe March 27, 2010 at 5:49 pm #

    You should go back and buy it! How often do you come across something that moves you so much? I’m the same way whenever I see the painting of those dogs playing poker — I WANT IT!

    Seriously, about art stuff, when I was growing up my Aunt Lu (Lucy) filled her house with little Hummel figurines like this one: http://z.about.com/d/collectibles/1/0/e/-/2/Hummel753.jpg

    She had hundreds of them and they were all over the place. I thought they were cute, but one or two would have been more than enough for me. And can you imagine how often she must have had to dust them all? Ugh! But that was her thing and it made her happy.

    So I say go back and get it. And I mean right now, young lady!

  6. Jaqob Jackson March 27, 2010 at 11:53 pm #

    You're being far too hard on yourself and trying to stuff yourself in a box because you like adorable/cute images. Its OK to like these things. You aren't someone else.

  7. Misty Gilbert March 27, 2010 at 11:56 pm #

    Gourmand A person that likes to eat and drink. Some cheese and snails.

  8. Joe March 28, 2010 at 1:49 am #

    You should go back and buy it! How often do you come across something that moves you so much? I'm the same way whenever I see the painting of those dogs playing poker — I WANT IT!

    Seriously, about art stuff, when I was growing up my Aunt Lu (Lucy) filled her house with little Hummel figurines like this one: http://z.about.com/d/collectibles/1/0/e/-/2/Hum

    She had hundreds of them and they were all over the place. I thought they were cute, but one or two would have been more than enough for me. And can you imagine how often she must have had to dust them all? Ugh! But that was her thing and it made her happy.

    So I say go back and get it. And I mean right now, young lady!

  9. aNonymous March 28, 2010 at 1:04 am #

    “My favorite artwork by Goya is Saturn Devouring His son. I study it like how Cameron Frye analyzed A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte……”

  10. dennis March 28, 2010 at 3:32 am #

    I know what you mean about being on the fence regarding humans. Humanity would be wonderful if it were not for all the people. While those images may be universally loved by THAT kind of person, that are not only liked by that kind of person. Sorta like designer clothes are liked by stick thin models, but ordinary people can like them too.

  11. aNonymous March 28, 2010 at 9:04 am #

    “My favorite artwork by Goya is Saturn Devouring His son. I study it like how Cameron Frye analyzed A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte……”

  12. dennis March 28, 2010 at 11:32 am #

    I know what you mean about being on the fence regarding humans. Humanity would be wonderful if it were not for all the people. While those images may be universally loved by THAT kind of person, that are not only liked by that kind of person. Sorta like designer clothes are liked by stick thin models, but ordinary people can like them too.

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