When I was a kid and my mother told us we had to wait a 1/2 an hour after eating before we could go swimming, I thought she was the only Mom who did that. I was rather deflated when I saw on 20/20 that this was one of the"10 Biggest Myths That Endure." According to Jon Stossel, every mother did it.
When my father would come out on the porch at 10 of 6 every night in the summer, and do a long low two-toned whistle, summoning all us five kids home, I thought he was the only father on the planet who did that. It didn't occur to me that one of his friend's fathers did it when he grew up, and probably a lot of other dads too.
I thought we were the only family in America in which the kids had to ask at dinner's end: "May I please be excused?" and fold their napkin. (I also thought no one else had napkin rings.) I thought my mother was the only one who scrubbed the floor on her hands and knees instead of using a mop. (She said they just "push the dirt around.") I thought for sure we were the only family in which glass cups were used to put the tea bags while awaiting reuse. I was literally shocked when my friend Claudia told me they did exactly the same thing, and had the same cups I somehow thought existed exclusively in our cupboard. I also thought we were the only family who used "the mudroom" to describe where we took off our wet or dirty boots.
Of course I thought I was the only boy in the planet who had strange stirrings when he watch Robert Conrad in the "Wild Wild West," and certainly the only one ever who fantasized about being bound, gagged and kidnapped. (As an adult, I discovered it is a veritable industry, with many a porn magazine or video devoted exclusively to just that fantasy.)
I could cite a few more esoteric examples of things that did make our family one of the quirkier on the block, but after reading enough David Sedaris, I realized that American suburbia was a very big umbrella indeed, shading all sort of bizarre secrets and cultural back histories, not to mention a budding homosexual in practically every house.
It's been rather wounding to my exceptionalist fantasies to discover there is indeed, nothing new under the sun. In prison, and in AA, there's always someone who can top you, or worse, did exactly the same thing. This is one of my biggest character defects. A desire to be uniquely unique, first among equals, extra-special, and recognized as such by you.
So it gives me particular pleasure to be pretty damn sure that no one has ever combined Eakins, Whistler, Watteau and Wyeth in one picture before. I can't help it. I NEED to find something that no one has done so far.
MCO 2008
(Los Angeles) Today in Little Armenia, writer and Hy-Art creator Marc O. succeeded in creating something new under the sun. Mr. O, reknown for his Hy-Art creations, combined the works of Eakins, Whistler, Watteau, and Wyeth into a singular work of light and shadow with a distinctive erotic presence.
In a rare interview, Mr. O said, "I wanted to be uniquely unique in my vision."
An observer at the gallery featuring the work noted, "I like the interesting perspective, the juxtaposition of subjects, but I wish that he had included Robert Conrad wearing that tight little suit."