I feel as though i've been neglecting you, which I HAVE been, but midterms have gotten me SO mental, that I cant do anything besides fight with one person in particular, and study....and let me tell you...studying and fighting do NOT mix well together.....But I digress.....
For HNT, since I didnt do one last week, and I injured my webcam from dropping it on the floor, I decided to show you a piece of my soul....a passion for causing calamity wherever I go.....So for HNT, I decided to show you a part of myself that very few know exist.....my stupidity.
For those of who dont know what that is, It's Monet's Spring In Giverny, 1890. And my absolute most favorite Monet picture of all time. I dont know what it is about impressionism....but it reminds me of sitting in a car, when its raining, no wipers, looking out at the world through wet windows....But I love it. Anyway.....on with the story.
Go back, 10 or so months. I'm working in MA, at a facility where the kids havent really been all that exposed to "culture" of this sort, so in an attempt to get them interested, we take them to a wonderful art museum, in the middle of nowhere, with loads of originals. Id never been before, and had no clue what I was in store for.....but when I walked into one of the display rooms, my heart skipped a beat, when I saw this painting....An original of my absolute favorite...this is the luckiest day of my life....
I'm transfixed. The kids are talking to me and asking why I love it so much...i'm speechless. But I manage to say, "its amazing to me, that when Monet put a paintbrush on canvas, this is what came out"....I'm really in awe, and I cant believe how beautiful it is in person. The rest of the group is elsewhere in the room, and i'm all alone with this masterpiece.....and it's So beautiful....that I want to just reach out and touch it...I just want to put my finger on this amazing piece of work, becuase i cant believe it's really there, in front of me.....
And so I touched it....And it shook a little........
And then, the alarms went off.....
And then, the lights went off.....
And then, the springloaded doors slammed shut.......
And then the security guards all came running, and opened the doors, and saw the kids standing too close to a picture, and went right over to them, and said that they had set off the alarms becuase they were standing too close, as they were sensored for heat, wind, and movement.
And I just stood there.....staring, at these kids getting in shit for something I had stupidly done.....and I never said a word......
Happy HNT everyone.....LOL!!!!
40 comments:
Oh my gosh that is sooooo funny!!! I can't believe how sensitive the alarms are. But, then again, I know you were taught from a young age to look and not touch, so shame on you. But, that is great. I can't blame ya. He he he.
Stupid question from me: what is HNT?
That, children, is a lesson in how life isn't fair.
S. Subs - The alarms are extremely sensitive...i had no idea. And I never applied the look but dont touch theory to my life....hence all the chaos.
Bleph - HNT = Half Nekkid Thursday
Hernesto - You may very well be right...i never thought of it from their perspective.....Most of them hated it to being with anyway...they were so bored....and the alarms added a little excitement to their day
Trib - how does it make life not fair??? LOL
Monet is my favorite. One day I will see an original, one day . . .
Monet is seriously one of my favorite artists of all time. One of my most loved of his pieces is "La Palais Contarine." There's just something very romantic about his work. When I go to the museum...I am amazed at being able to see his brush strokes...to know at one time he was standing looking at the painting as I was. Crazy.
Funny story by the way.
You let them blame the mentally challenegd kids????? We oughta give you some shit over that.
That is a beautiful piece of art. The colors are such that you cant decide whether it is autumn or spring.
Yrautca - they arent mentall challenged...they were mostly conduct kids...but all of them had some sort of mental illness....
I remember you called to tell me this story and i laughed so hard. Then you told my mom when you were down and she almost died laughing too. Have you not seen the Thomas Crown Affair? And shame on you for letting the poor kids take the blame.....
You know, i'm getting lectured....LOL, and I expected it...it's the ONLY reason I didnt put the name of the art museum in the post...LOL Just incase one of you were CRAZY....and decided it would be a good idea to call them...
blame the kids
always blame the kids
they'll do the same when they're older too
but probably because you did it to them
cool story though, i love your stories
Hernesto - I deleted your comment because NO ONE will ever talk about other people like that on my blog...that fucking pisses me off...
They were gang kids, not special needs....and if you EVER use that "R" word on this blog again, you will never be welcome to post ever again here.
PP, I know you were expecting me to flip out the most over this, but I don't need to bother, you are going to hell for what you've done - so why should I get involved?
On to another art museum horror story ... One of my parents friends worked in a museum years ago in Florence, it was an art museum and she was a docent. Docents aren't really there to keep people in line, they give tours and tell people about the paintings. Anyway, one day she is standing beside a Jackson Pollock painting - you know Jackson Pollock used massive amounts of paint in his works, the dried paint is just dripping off of the canvases - well this guy walks up and reaches out and snaps off a protruding piece of paint. She turns around and says excuse me, or something, and the guy, who had probably just done it on impulse, holds out the piece of paint to her as if he's trying to give it back, as if that somehow takes away the damage he'd done to this painting.
I asked what she did about it, and she seemed to think that not much had happened to the guy. If I had been standing there, I would have tackled the guy and taken him down to the ground and stood with my shoe on his neck until my supervisor got there. But that's just me. Perhaps nothing would have happened to him afterwards, but he'd have the memory of my foot on his neck to remind him not to do it again.
I have a lot of these kinds of stories, when people find out I work in a museum, often they just blurt out stories of awful things they've done in museums. I don't know if they think I'll find it amusing, which I don't or if they want it to be some kind of confessional.
Jenny - OH god, At least I never broke a piece of the Monet painting off for myself...LOL!!! That's HORRIBLE! I always loved how authoritative you were at the museum....It was very entertaining to watch people get in shit for touching the pieces.
I remember you told me about the time when you had the egyptian pieces there, and that one boy was....was it climbing on, or sitting on, that statue right at the beginning of the exhibit? Anyway, I laughed....
My favourite one at the museum was the woman who was convinced that her dead husband's soul resided in the statue of King Tut. She came in more than once and climbed up onto the big stand and touched or hugged the statue. All the other staff were intimidated by her. So one day she comes in on a day when I was there and I saw her doing it, so I told her flat out to stop it or I'd have her ejected. I call the supervisor and then I just followed her around. It was and incredibly crowded day. So when she realized that I was watching her and following her, she flipped out and started screaming in my face. So my supervisor walks in and sees me standing there looking very relaxed and this nut-case throwing a temper tantrum and he just put his arm around her and walked her out. I saw that strange woman shaking the bells collecting money for the Salvation Army the next Christmas at Yonge and Bloor station. It's a very small world and the lunatics really get around in it.
I'd like to point out that I'm also really nice to the nice museum visitors who aren't trying to steal or wreck anything. We had some incredibly valuable Egyptian jewelry that had alarms on it that were incredibly sensitive to touch and that would go off if you had any sort of electrical device near them. So people's cell phones would set them off, and pace makers. If you have a heart condition, the last thing you need is a loud alarm going off while you are trying to have a peaceful visit to a museum, but anyway. So one day it's crowded and this older lady was standing right up to a case that was especially sensitive, and she wasn't doing anything, she had her hands behind her back even, and the alarm goes off. Well, she looked mortified, shocked and then embarrassed. So I walked over to her and grabbed her by the arm and really loudly said (it didn't matter at this point everyone was staring anyway) "I knew you were trouble the moment you walked in here! Put your hands behing your back, you're coming with me! I can spot a jewel theif a mile away! Trouble-maker!" all the while shaking my finger at her. Of course, everyone bursts out laughing including the woman. Anyway, a few minutes later when everyone had gone back to looking at stuff, she came back to me and thanked me for not embarrassing her. I just thought I was being funny.
Anyway, the point is, I'm tough on vandals, but I'm not an ogre.
Oh, and I was the one who deleted that post, technical difficulties.
As the poor ex-gangster kids stood there while the alarm rang throught the building and the security came, was it all too familiar to them? And as they realized that they were framed, I bet they had a tear coming down their cheeks. Once again, the WHITE "haves", have put down the inner-city's "have nots". So, where is the difference between Canadian and American social-justice???
Love,
Waynegrow
Oh Hernesto, wait until Ash sees what you've written, when she's done with you, you'll be sorry you even thought the R word.
And yes that deleted post was, once again, me.
Hernesto.....They were not special needs...they had mental illness, and were conduct disorder. In NO way does that specify a learning disability...
Dont USE that word on my Blog. That is your LAST warning....
You know, part of the reason that I LEFT the states was because of attitudes and words that I find to be completely ignorant, and disrespectful. I dont LIKE those words....We dont USE them in Canada, it is unbelievably UN P.C.
Jenny doesnt this remind you of the entire "Dot, NOT Feather" argument that I was in??? UGH.....This is a CANADIAN blog....and we will adhere to canadian "niceities" on here. If you want to use those words, go use them on your own blog.
Ughh Jesus Christ Hernesto....as if these people don't have enough issues without you calling them the "r" word. I find it terribly offensive & derogatory. If you are American which i have no idea if you are then I can't fault you for that as they are way behind the times and i know Americans still use that terminology. Corin when Tim worked in Mass. he came back and said the Mental R. Society payed his wages or something...all of our mouths dropped to the floor...he's like don't shoot the messenger that's what they still call it over there.
Did any of you see Oprah when she had that gentleman and his father on at the end of the show. His parents were told when he was born to put him in an asylum and basically throw him away as he could not speak and was immoble. They did not, they've worked with him and now he lives independantly and can speak using a computer. His dad runs Triathalons with him strapped to the bike, in a floaty boat etc...that is when the gentleman feels most free. It was an amazing story :)
this is a prime example of Western BS hipocracy. so we can't use a certain word to describe people who aren't even present, but it's ok that you blamed your mistake on them and probably scarred them for life?
....As a matter of fact, it was the group with 2 other teachers. And they were standing really close. When the alarm went off again later on that day from someone else standing too close, they were there to witness it, and they didnt care anymore.
Besides I told them all later, and they got a big kick out of it...and they made fun of me days later...Traumatized. No. Besides, out of the 10 kids that were there in the group, 9 had already been to prison, 4 of which went for murder, and the others for assault and drugs....I HARDLY think setting the alarm off at a museum traumatized them.
During World War II the way these people were rehabilitated in Russia is by paying their misdeeds with their blood, in the penalty batallions. They were the first line of defense and usually come out with heavy losses. Why can't we do the same with these individuals in Iraq??? Only a few really get rehabilitated, but they will serve their patriotic purpose for the goodness of the Nation and upon return their rights will be fully restored.
Love,
Waynegrow
Phoowee!
And it all started so innocently.
Just goes to prove that art promotes violence and disorder. It should be banned, honestly.
tsk tsk.
Anyway. I was just going to mention that you should visit Cheezy & take a peek at his blurb about his visit to Paris.
http://ezycheezy.blogspot.com/
So where is Canada anyway?
Marcus - LOL!!! Art promotes violence! LOL You're priceless.
HA HA HA HA HA!!! That is so funny. That is exactly what I would have done. I know exactly what you mean about just wanting to touch for a moment that pice of history.
That is such an incredible story, I think I'd die if it hapened to me!
The one jennifer mentioned about the king tut statue too... Weird!
Hernesto, I know what you mean about the R-word but there are plenty of words in the dictionary that are real words but ones that many people consider offensive and therefore shouldn't really be used. Thinking of the N-word here...
As PP say, it's her blog! :-)
as i've been titled the "spelling nazi" by a certain person i feel the need to comment on the use of the "r-word"
although i agree that the afore-mentioned term is a valid word and is in common use for certain things, including firemens suits, i feel that the derogatory overtones relating to the children in question lead to it being an inappropriate term. there are reasons why people feel uncomtfortable about using certain words and i feel that it is justified that when you are around them, even in cyberspace, that you should respect their choices and if they should ask you to refrain from saying or doing certain things then you should do that.
i've said my peace (and no i'm not keen on the word a nazi due to the implications relating back to the arian race and ethnic cleansing, but i know that it was being used in jest and therefore i'm ok with it)
and yes i know i mis-spelled piece with peace, but i fear that you might not get the irony in it so i'm explaining that i'm calling an end to this argument and leading into the ensuing peace
Thank you Stef!
Actually Hernesto, Smart Ass...I didnt add ONE link to this page. I gave someone my password and they did it for me. I dont know how to add things, or take them out. I know NOTHING of reading HTML.
When I want something added, I ask him to do it for me. I have NO clue what you're even talking about....what picutre, where???
Hernesto, explain to me the ways in which George Bush and Goebbels differ.
Waynegrow, I don't know how you managed to get away under the wire there with nobody taking you up on your comment about taking children with mental illnesses and forcing them to die so the US can control all of the world's oil. But I think that's the most offensive thing I've ever heard in my whole life. I'd rather hear someone chant the R-word, as offensive as I find it, over and over forever than ever hear anything like what you said ever again!
Ash and PP, did either of you ever see that stamp that Dan-boy had that was from the US, I'm not sure how old, but the caption said "R------- Children Can Be Helped"!
Also, I used to work at a consultancy which did a lot of work for Australian companies and we had one account with the New South Wales Spastic Association. Everytime we had a meeting about that account in our Toronto office, all the Canadians would always whisper the name with their hand over their mouth or just call it by the initials. The one Australian couldn't figure out why none of us could say it.
And I can understand your side...I really can. I think most of your comments are fun, and harmless...and if that george bush thing REALLY means that i'll get rid of it.... I had no clue. Really.
I see that you stuck around...i even added you to my list of links. Why cant we jsut get along??? LOL
Hernesto,
1) What the heck does STFU mean?
2) Don't call me stupid.
3) If Waynegrow wasn't talking about PP's kids, then what "individuals" was he talking about?
4) I hadn't looked at the Bush/Goebells link, but it seems to me if they are comparing Bush to the Nazis then it's perfectly reasonable, and if you can't come up with any arguement for why it's not a reasonable arguement then, don't just lash out at me.
Hernesto,
I know we'd all like to imagine that Hitler was an anomaly, some sort of evil that will only exist once ever in the entire history of the universe. The point is that under the right conditions, something like that could happen again. Take for example the genocide that went on in Rwanda 10 years ago, or the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan at this very moment. I'm not suggesting, that this makes the Holocaust any less horrible. I'd have to say that the day I visited the Dachau concentration camp was the saddest of my whole life. By comparing Bush to a Nazi (and I'd like to reiterate, that I'm not talking about the Goebells link - because I haven't seen it) I'm just reminding everyone that we should always remain vigilant that something like the Holocaust never ever happen again. When Hitler was elected he was just a politician with an incredibly right wing party and some extreme ideas. When he invaded Poland, the rest of the world got nervous, but they didn't do anything because they thought that he would stop at that, and after all, it wasn't them being invaded. By the time he really got his war machine going, it was too late and they all got invaded. People didn't even realize the full extent of the death toll from the Holocaust until later. I don't quibble with the numbers, a huge number of Jews, homosexuals, communists, Catholics, (I could go on and on) died.
My point is that Bush has already invaded two countries, and he's got plans for more, probably Iran or Syria. Sure, they are far away, it's not our problem, I'm unlikely to end up with a flourescent tube up my ass like those prisonners in Abu Graib prison, for now, but what if he decides that my country should be 4th or 5th or 10th on his list - Hitler invaded Austria. Canada's relationship with the US is very similar to Austria's relationship to Germany, it could happen, and if it did, after my comments here, I bet I'd be the first one who'd get the light bulb treatment, with some dirty shorts on my head.
Seriously though, I'm not belittling the Holocaust, I'm just saying, while we'd all like to believe that it was an isolated incident, humans are capable of doing such things, even in the present day. And, even if Bush doesn't commit a mass murder, isn't invading a bunch of countries who never did anything to you, a bad enough thing, that we should all stand up and say stop? I think so.
I think in the memory of such horrible terrible acts as the Holocaust, we should all remain vigilant that it never happen again, and that our leaders not do things in our names that are wrong. Considering how strongly you feel about the Holocaust (as I do too) it would seem to follow that you wouldn't want to be the voter who elected and supported the next meglomaniacal crack pot to try to take over the world.
I know that all the drama on this blog has been stressing PP out, Hernesto, I wasn't trying to insult you when I was expressing my anti-Bush sentiments, it's just my strongly held opinion. And I was really insulted when you called me stupid. If it's not too forward, I'd like to ask for an apology.
Oh Jenny - I'm not stressed out over it, I'm more stressed about what micheal did. Fucking idiot. That and of course my next midterm.
I'm not even getting involeved in your conversation.....you guys know much more about this stuff, and have stronger views that I ever will....
But I do have to say, that in jenny's response, no where was she rude, or offensive, or undiplomatic. I think that her response was extremely fair, and well stated. And I agree, I think you do owe her an apology for calling her stupid. There will be no name calling here.
Hernesto,
Just because I don't agree with you, I'm not calling you stupid, but you won't extend me the same courtesy, in fact, after I've pointed out that you hurt my feelings the first time, you responded by calling me stupid again.
I don't think I can talk to you any more until you apologize for what you've said. I'm trying to be reasonable, you aren't.
Hernesto - I agree....PLEASE dont call people names on this blog. Its rude, and judgemental...just because you dont agree with jenny's point of view doesnt mean that it's stupid, it's just different than yours.....be fair.
She never called you stupid....even if she thinks that you are. *I dont know if she thinks that, that was me just making reference*
bloody hell
some of the comments on here are starting to look like posts in their own right
there is a time and place for these things and i don't really think PP's blog is really the place for in
Hernesto, in the past you were trying so hard to get into PP's knickers...but i think any chance of that happening has been obliterated now
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