On "Doing" and the fight to do it

first things first. I am not a fan of protesting. I think that if you feel strongly enough, you should try and create solutions to problems, not just groan about how terrible the situation is. Now, the disparity is still there, it always will be, but I have seen many "help wanted" signs on doors. But on that same note, I had trouble finding a job for a hot minute, and i have a clean background with no felonies and am well educated. It isn't as easy for others with a few strikes against them. But I am not in their shoes, I don't know if they can't find work. Just last night, on the news there was a carpet cleaning crew who was be raided by the news reporter about "does your employer know you are a felon?" and "would you want somebody like that in your home?". So, I imagine that some people don't really want to allow certain types to make money... I guess some people really do want to keep others down.

Vincent van Gogh's fame may owe as much to a legendary act of self-harm, as it does to his self-portraits. But, 119 years after his death, the tortured post-Impressionist's bloody ear is at the centre of a new controversy, after two historians suggested that the painter did not hack off his own lobe but was attacked by his friend, the French artist Paul Gauguin.

According to official versions, the disturbed Dutch painter cut off his ear with a razor after a row with Gauguin in 1888. Bleeding heavily, Van Gogh then walked to a brothel and presented the severed ear to an astonished prostitute called Rachel before going home to sleep in a blood-drenched bed.

But two German art historians, who have spent 10 years reviewing the police investigations, witness accounts and the artists' letters, argue that Gauguin, a fencing ace, most likely sliced off the ear with his sword during a fight, and the two artists agreed to hush up the truth.

In Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence, published in Germany, Hamburg-based academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans argue that the official version of events, based largely on Gauguin's accounts, contain inconsistencies and that both artists hinted that the truth was more complex.

Van Gogh and Gauguin's troubled friendship was legendary. In 1888, Van Gogh persuaded him to come to Arles in the south of France to live with him in the Yellow House he had set up as a "studio of the south". They spent the autumn painting together before things soured. Just before Christmas, they fell out. Van Gogh, seized by an attack of a metabolic disease became aggressive and was apparently crushed when Gauguin said he was leaving for good.

Kaufmann told the Guardian: "Near the brothel, about 300 metres from the Yellow House, there was a final encounter between them: Vincent might have attacked him, Gauguin wanted to defend himself and to get rid of this 'madman'. He drew his weapon, made some movement in the direction of Vincent and by that cut off his left ear." Kaufmann said it was not clear if it was an accident or an aimed hit.

While curators at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam stand by the theory of self-mutilation, Kaufmann argues that Van Gogh dropped hints in letters to his brother, Theo, once commenting : "Luckily Gauguin ... is not yet armed with machine guns and other dangerous war weapons."

7 months later

thank you ann. Truly, thank you. You have been so important in my life, and I can't imagine where I would be without you. Although I will never see you again in this life, your presence remains. I think of you often, more often than I do of many others who have passed away. You were very important to me. I never knew how important I was to you when you were alive, it was not until your memorial, 20 days after you sent me this email, that I learned how I was almost celebrity status in your life. I never knew I mattered so much, people I never even knew existed were saying things like "now I can put a face to a name" or "Ann was always telling me so much about you." I wish I could have more time with you, but I know exactly what you would say if you heard me say that, that I am a busy man, and you know I was always there when you needed me.
I am glad that before you passed away you got to see that Page and I had rekindled our friendship, and that Page was able to tell you she was pregnant. I am also glad that you got to meet Josh, and that you liked him so much. Your opinion matters to me.
Also, I want to tell you that the photo of you from your younger years is one of two identical copies. I have one and your sister has the other. I have not framed it yet, but I will soon-- I promise.
I miss you very much,
Kevin.

--I never knew I mattered so much


-----Original Message-----
From: Ann Rankin [mailto:portsails@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 7:49 PM
To: Kevin Duchon
Subject: Nana's desk is yours....

Dear Kevin, The ships are going to a nautical museum outside of Washington, D.C. Nana's desk is yours, free and clear, though. I spoke with Moira, tonight. No one in the family wants it. No one will fight you over it. It belongs to you. Go get it, anytime after this weekend. -- All my love, Ann