Your Story, My Curse, 2006, image courtesy of Grey Art Gallery


There was this one occasion in which I made a pizza.  My ingredients included  dough, pizza
sauce,  and cheese .  My wife asked, "What kind of pizza are you making"?  I shook my head.  The kids all asked me, "What kind of pizza are you making Daddy"?  Again I shook my head. Frustrated, I explained, "You can see all the ingredients here upon the table.  What kind of pizza do you think I am making"?

"You don't have to get upset about it", my wife snapped back.

"Look, these are all the ingredients the Major gave me. No vegetables for color, no meat for substance and no spices for inspiration. How the hell does he expect me to create a masterpiece from these simple ingredient"?

"Woah, woah!  You don't want the police creating a profile to solve a murder". My wife bitterly exclaimed.

I felt a tiny tug on my right pocket. My littlest fellow looked up at me with a worried look, "Daddy can I have your persimmon to have some cheese".

Inspiration is not something you are given, it's something you recognize in everyday life.  We are surrounded by masterpieces, but because we are always in a rush we look to the exits, the next turn off, our chance in the passing lane and  sometimes never take the opportunity to see the beauty that surrounds the simplest things.