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2003-09-29 - 11:10 p.m.

Well! Seth left today, about the same time when I left for work. This past weekend was full of shennanigans, and it was nice to have the company of someone who enjoys mine around here for a change. I discovered that 4 days of Seth is about 2 days too many, however, and thus was just as happy to see him go as I was happy to see him when he arrived. There's a part of me that thinks I should feel bad for that.

The trip we took down to Savannah was great fun. I did something very important while in Savannah. It was something financially irresponsible but responsible when considering the soul. I bought a piece of original artwork from one of my favorite artists, whose name is Chuck Hamilton. He has a gallery in Savannah, and every time I go to Savannah I try to make it to his store, to look at his paintings. I made sure to take Seth in to the store to view them, and the lady in there talked to us extensively about his pictures, as she is a big fan of his as well. I had no intention on purchasing a painting of his, but a painting of Eve caught my eye. The title is "Eve, right before God gets pissed off" and it is a picture of a woman crouching and pareing an apple. The colors! And as I get older, the more fond I become of Eve. I kept staring at it. The price tag was $990. It still hadn't entered into my mind that I could actually purchase it. After all, I'm trying very hard to pay OFF my credit card, not put more money on it. The lady noticed I was staring at it and she said she could lower the price. I didn't say anything. She said she could go as low as $750. I said, "Oh really?" Suddenly it occured to me that I really COULD buy this painting. This may be a regular occurance for some or most people, but for me, I never think about spending that kind of money on art. This artist on the other hand, I have a real fondness for. Only $750? For a good sized original? I realized also that of all the things to spend money on, art is something I've never regretted. I looked at Seth and I looked at the lady and I smiled, and said "Sold!" I figure I won't be in this area for too much longer, and I can find a job when I get out of the army and work off the $750 then. The lady's response was surprising. She hugged me! She was genuinely excited that I was buying this painting! She was all smiles. And so was I! I also purchased a print of his that I've had my eye on for a few months, entitled "Summer Drink." His paintings are so beautiful.

The next morning, before we left Savannah, I made sure to go back to the same gallery and look at his paintings again. The artist himself was actually there! I had met him on a previous trip, but he didn't remember me, which didn't bother me since I'm sure he meets tons of people. I went over and started talking to him a bit, and he mentioned something about buying paintings, to which I replied that one painting was enough since I had bought one yesterday. He asked me which one and I told him "Eve" and his eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "YOU bought EVE! Oh I'm so excited!" And HE gave me a hug! He said he was happy that I purchased it and not someone who was buying it for its future value, because he said he thinks that's one of his best paintings and he likes the idea of it being somewhere where it will be appreciated. We talked for about half an hour. Such a vibrant man! One of the things he told me about was that he knows there's a million pictures of Eve in the world, but he decided to do one more, and the model he had was very interactive in posing, so he can't take complete credit for it. He said that our generation is a little more open, but his generation still considered sex to be a sin, which is part of what makes it so fun, and Eve is a big part of that feeling. He also said that that Eve really had no way of knowing what she was doing was wrong before she ate the apple, which is something that is so obvious, and yet we're never taught it. She hadn't eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil yet... how could she have possibly known that it was "bad"? Right, God specifically told them not to, but without the knowledge of good and evil, is there any way to tell that what the serpent had to say about the matter was any better or worse than what God said? This new found knowledge for me makes the painting so much more beautiful in my eyes. I never used to be much of a feminist, but as I get older, I'm starting to notice the little inequalities I used to either ignore or was completely oblivious to before. And they're starting to piss me off. Perhaps another reason I was drawn to this painting? Perhaps.

It is hanging in my apartment now, and a strange side effect is that the colors in the picture really make this green carpeting in my apartment look GREAT. I know, I know, art has nothing to do with matching the furniture. And I certainly wasn't thinking about the carpeting in my apartment that I'll only be living in for another 2 months when I decided to buy it. I just thought it was interesting that something in this world could make this carpeting look so good. It really adds a lot to my apartment, and my life in general. I'm so pleased I bought it. This decision has made an extremely positive impact on me. Chuck Hamilton invited me to the preshow on November 7th, before the 'Sin and Sensuality' show on November 8th, which I am particularly excited about. A preshow! I probably wouldn't be so excited about this if I didn't feel so passionately about the artist. I can think of very few artists I've liked so much, to include such classic artists as Salvador Dali and Van Gogh. SO to attend a preshow for someone whose art I admire as much as Dali's is extremely tantalizing.

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