"catching' up with picasso

For just a few weeks, Richmond is home to quite the collection of Picasso's art. Now, i am not one to frequent art galleries nor do i study art history in my spare time but some things you just have to do. so i went. in conversation with my companion for the day i compared it to seeing the rolling stones. i am certainly not a fan of their music but that is no reason why i shouldnt experience what is said to be a legendary show at least one time. if i thought otherwise, i would have missed out on how bad-ass elton john was in concert. so yeah, i went. for the most part i walked slowly while scratching my head and feeling ever so confused. ocassionally one of these completely abstract and totally bizarre paintings would stop me in my tracks. i felt a little stupid just standing there trying to figure out what it was about it that pulled me in. thats when it hit me again.... just like music. i dont love every song that any artist has written. i skip tracks on a cd all the time. when i finally land on one that i love.... i can sing every word, tap along to every tiny detail of the beat and i play it over and over and over and over and over. to top it off, i rarely know what the artist was trying to convey. i just love the piece. that opened me up to the idea that maybe i have been missing out on something special. maybe some pale still life of a two apples on a plate... on a pitcher, can really mean a whole lot more to me than i ever expected. it was a good lesson in being open to new ideas and perspectives.

here is one that i really wanted to take home with me.





so after i learned that lesson, i took a class in exterminating unjustified inhibitions. i played catch. now i would first like to straighten out one thing. i am not athletic. chances are i have not played catch in 20 years. when a woman who keeps a baseball mitt in her car asks an athletically handicapped man to play catch, you best bet that he has some apprehensions. in addition to that... i have a further handicap. i throw AND catch with my left hand. so the problem here is either i 1)repeatedly take the glove off and put it back on in order to comfortably play, 2)play with no glove and have a bruised palm the next day or 3) suck it up and try to throw with my right arm. well, like any proud non-directions-asking-"dont worry about me, i got it"-club-toting male... i sucked it up. i learned quite quickly that i throw with the wrong hand just fine. that made me feel really good. while that is great and a lesson learned.... thats not my lesson. my lesson.... i figured that no matter what, no matter which hand i used to throw, i was going to look like a tard-o. up until the very second that i threw the ball, i knew i was just going to humiliate myself. well, when her glove caught the ball and there was no laughter, i was a wiser person. i knew right then that you just cant let your inhibitions rule your life. sometimes you have to do the hokey pokey or talk baby talk or wear a stupid hat to enjoy life. today, i just had to play catch, with the wrong hand.

combined life lessons: surprises are everywhere... except where you already are. go live.

Battery powered life.

Most of us are pretty annoyed when the battery dies in our cell phones. We act like its the end of the world. Well, what if it was? My buddy Jarrod knows how to answer that.

 

check out the super awesome shirt that i got at a benefit that was held for him...




this is a good time to be alive. this is a good time to stay alive. if you arent an organ donor, become one. NOW.