And the World Keeps On Spinning

It has now been a week since the break in and I'm still reluctant to leave my house. Of course, I have to - I have to go to work, I have to walk Max, I have to go to the store, I have to go to the gym. (That last one might seem odd to those who don't understand my total commitment to my workout regime, but, yes, it is necessary!)

I've heard nothing from the police about the case and, I suspect that even though I was able to present them with a traceable piece of evidence in the form of a dropped pager, I doubt if the lead was followed up on. It makes too much sense.

So, in the meantime, I make sure all of my doors are always locked and I've taken to hiding certain objects in unlikely places...just in case.

Of course, I had to spend quite a bit of time away from the house this weekend because it was the Columbia Festival of the Arts and the Boone County Art Show - the Big Event of Columbia cultural life. The festival itself is your basic tents and pavilions with mass produced "art by the yard" and pottery stands and open mike poetry readings and funnel cakes and sidewalk drawing, etc. and etc and etc. The Boone County Art Show, on the other hand is a two day exhibition of up to two works by local artists, both professional and amateur. There is usually quite a variety of work on display in the bank where the exhibition is held. And that was certainly the case this time around.

I entered an acrylic painting (photo to be added to my website soon) and an ink drawing. Neither work garnered any remarks to my knowledge. The top prize was taken by a worthy piece (a woman's corset made completely of glass) yet, many works that received prizes and the nebulous "Honorable Mention" seemed poorly executed and conceptually trite. Sour grapes? Maybe. But there were many, many works that I would have chosen over mine to have received recognition that got none. To me it seems a case of the politics of aesthetics.

But, there's no rest for the wicked. I have three paintings to finish by this coming Thursday and I must take down the show at the Columbia Realtors Association offices and install eight works at the Boone County Hospital. And then I have to have three more works done by the next weekend for an AIDS benefit.

So, by virtue of the fact that my life continues in spite of last week's violation, I leave my house regularly. I leave my home basically defenseless to the ravages of people that care only for themselves and do not see the emotional damage that they do by raping someone else's property. The world continues to spin and my mind and its perceptions continue to develop. Soon, perhaps, I will look back at a recent event in my life and wonder "who was that man, that boy, that experienced that? Why did he react that way? Is there hope for him?"