Gogh for Broke
Hello.
This is a true story. Above is a painting by Vincent Van Gogh, called “Portrait of Dr. Rey.” After insanely cutting off part of his left ear in December, 1888, Vincent was taken to the hospital of Arles and placed in the care of Dr. Felix Rey, who was a 23-year old intern. Dr. Rey would later become a renowned expert in the treatment of cholera and tuberculosis.
Dr. Rey was a fine man and a caring physician. He recognized Vincent’s emotional difficulties, and did his best to calm his patient’s torments. In 1889, a year before his suicide, a grateful Vincent gave the doctor the portrait as a gift. Rey thought it was ugly and for years used it to block a hole in his backyard chicken coop. He eventually sold it for roughly $200 in modern money.
This is Dr. Rey.
As you can see, Vincent captured him pretty well, and definitely got the hair right, though for some reason turned him into Fu Manchu. Van Gogh was a genius so we cannot question this; he saw something we did not. That is the nature of art. The painted portrait would likely sell for $40 million today.
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Today’s Weekend Gene Pool challenge:
What is the stupidest mistake you’ve ever made? The funnier the better. Send your stuff here.
And today’s two Gene Pool Gene polls:
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There is no point in naming a cat because it won't come when you call it anyways.
Dogs are best named based on their personalities or accomplishments. We once had a dog named Minerva, named for the goddess of wisdom because she was so stupid, she would chase cars, dive head first between the front wheels, and go limp, allowing herself be spun beneath that car until she was thrown out the back and would emerge from the road, unable to walk a straight line, shaking her road rash tattered head until she fell down in the middle of the road. Oddly enough, she died at about age 16 from cancer.
Cats don't need to be named, really, since they don't answer to a name, anyway. We once had a pair of cats named Mr Cat and Miss Kitty because he never really felt like we were on a first name basis with them. They had first names (he was Waylon and she was Willie, names they were given by the person who gave them to us) but no one called them that because doing so elicited no response at all.