Member-only story
Arguing Over Ugly
And trying to make beautiful women smile
Glen and Martin were walking down Main Street towards each other. After meeting up they shook hands then Glen pointed towards a bench in front of a barber shop, “You got time to sit and chat for a while?”
“Sure.”
The two old men walked over to the bench and sat; Glen to the left and Martin to the right.
“So Marty, I haven’t seen ya in a couple of months. Whatchya been up to?”
“Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Just living. You?”
“Yeah… me, too. Oh, but guess what? I started painting again. I’ve been working on the painting for like six weeks — and I’ve still got a ways to go. But it kind of feels good to work on a painting again, even if I know it’s never gonna sell. I don’t care anymore. It’s just a way to pass the time now.”
Martin had seen Glen’s paintings and did not care for them. Glen’s technique was to take a photograph of something he liked then try to recreate it exactly with paint on a canvas. Martin figured that if one wants a picture of something one should take a photo of it but if one wants to create something then they should paint something from their imagination.
“I’m painting an old airplane I saw sitting next to an old barn over in Steubenville. The…
