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[dangerpants]

This girl I know is naming her boy Dawnathon Ace.
Whaaa?

Does she not like children??

Actually, she's changed it now... To Connor. But the middle name is worse... I can't remember it off the top of my head, though.

She really wants the doctors to be wrong about the sex of the baby, so she keeps insisting that it could still be a girl... And that she wants to name it Meladne or something.

[CeeGBee]

For her own good, as soon as possible after the child is born (so as to avoid any possible
injury to said blameless munchkin), but before any legal naming-documentation can be filed,
you and about ten friends need to subject her to one full day of treatment such as would
befall a funny-named kid in elementary school.   

[yosmark]

About the names shit, naming them in a weird way will atract some of the girls that are into art (happened to me).

Only problem is half the people with the problem would need an explanation of who Dali is!

I'm going to choose not to believe that. Please do not persuade me otherwise. I try not to be too disappointed by the general public.

If you lived where I live you would be trapped in a never ending spiral of disappointment. They hung prints of some Warhol paintings up at my daughter's preschool. The kids really dig the vibrant colours in his work. One of the mother's had absolutely no idea who Andy Warhol was. She had apparently never even heard the name, a couple of the other mums had heard the name but had no idea who he was. How the fuck is this even possible???

So I am fairly certain that if the troglodytes around here have never even heard of Warhol there is a very good chance they have never heard of Dali either.

This is kinda what I meant about sometimes it feels like you have to fit into that artsy, intellectual niche around here.
In some peoples worlds' Dali and Warhol are not on their radar screens and never will be.
They dont know, they never needed to know, it has never been essential in their lives to know.  
Especially among the working class population.  I know that is generalizing but I believe it to be mostly true.
Among all of my friends and family, there are maybe 3 or 4 people  I can think of that would know who they are.
And I would hardly call the rest troglodytes. (well, maybe a few..)

I was a knowledge nazi once, then i just realized most of the people don´t need to have the same interests than me even people who is with me in the engineering school doesn´t know a shit about Fermat or Schröedinge (Until we studied him on chemistry).  The main point of this is to tell you that there are no prototypes of people around there, well there are some people like "us" that know about that shit, you just don´t have to be a knowledge nazi (i did that and wasn´t funny, i got angry every five minutes, so i decided to quit that nazi thing).

As for nazi is just a way to express something don´t take it personal.

[Shakti]

I'm gonna all philosophical and shit again and say, you know, there are people in our lives we connect with about art, or work, or food, or....

It's important to connect...not with everyone, but enough.  So don't cut people off at the knees for petty shit, but don't be a slut, either.  Even someone who doesn't know Warhol or Dali or the Dolls may have something to contribute to the richness of your life.  There's a balance.  Everyone's job in this life is to find theirs.

[85283-071]

True, and I don't think anyone is suggesting any individual is void of a soul or unable to contribute to the world in some way or another... even artistically. Still, in the larger context of a community, we can rather accurately use such markers as a barometer of cultural exposure. There are things we commonly in communities so far removed from awareness of those basic cultural icons. The reality is grim enough to lament the ignorance. The politics are enough to cause upset and draw ire.

[RatsRGods]

I'm gonna all philosophical and shit again and say, you know, there are people in our lives we connect with about art, or work, or food, or....

It's important to connect...not with everyone, but enough.  So don't cut people off at the knees for petty shit, but don't be a slut, either.  Even someone who doesn't know Warhol or Dali or the Dolls may have something to contribute to the richness of your life.  There's a balance.  Everyone's job in this life is to find theirs.

 

A knowledge slut?  Or a slutty slut? 
Did it just go over my head?

[Shakti]

I guess slut = indiscriminate.  Knowledge, culture, sex, whatever.  Snobbery can prevent you from knowing good people or experiencing worthwhile things, so an open mind is important.  But an open mind is not the same as an indiscriminating one.  Moderation in all things (especially moderation!).

[RatsRGods]

Gotcha! 

[preferpencil]

There is a discrepancy here. Knowledge of Warhol of Dali or even...lordy, folks, the Vice President's name...a vast populous is Not familiar with these people. Does that make them stupid? NO. But intelligence --or having quick wits-- has nothing to do with education, and at least in this country --the quality of education varies greatly between the classes (economics), as well as other cultural deviations.

Art, as a class, didn't provide information on Artists until college. Even there, it was an elective.(in my experience)

I don't know what I am saying anymore except that even though it's easy to become stunned that someone may not know, for instance, what the Vice President's name is, it is no reflection on whether the person is smaurt.

It's our educational system. Almost everything that is wrong in this country starts with our educational system, and we mostly (not always) choose to ignore radical steps in making economic equality between schools attainable. That is only the first step, because then one has to decide what subjects are "requirements" and which ones are not -----I bet in here, we Are mostly "artsy-fartsy" ---but that is not true of everyone.
I had a friend who bought Dali prints in college and put them everywhere but didn't know a thing about Dali. Which, btw, wasn't he in love with a Spanish Fascist? (dirty dirty dirty LIE! aha aha)

[Rob]

I've never had an art class in my life, and I have known of Dali and Warhol since I was 14.  It's not about intelligence, but it is about awareness.  Smart or not, people must be aware of what's going on around them.

Hell, I've known who the Vice President was since I was 11.

[85283-071]

... and it's little consolation to know that an ignorant person is actually smart, when it is cultural ignorance that is impeding our growth as a society.

I didn't learn about Dali or Warhol in art class either. Rob and I are both part of the blue-collar professional world. There artists are part of pop culture. We're not even talking Matisse and Renoir.

I agree, a person can be unaware of the identity of the President of the United States and still be smart, but a culture compprised of such individuals cannot be. That is the reason we react as we do.

[Pope Totalfrog]

I agree, a person can be unaware of the identity of the President of the United States and still be smart, but a culture comprised of such individuals cannot be. That is the reason we react as we do.

Damn straight.

[preferpencil]

hey! hey!

yo, dudes and dames.

i wasn't Condoning ignorance. i was simply stating that ignorance unfortunately Does exist all over the place, including in this country.

you can't (in fairness) attack me for pointing out something simple and obvious. I Do Not Like Ignorance. About artists or anything else -- I don't like my Own Ignorance in areas like Nature, etc. It Is what everyone should be fighting against ----

I can't help but remember the standard joke here: Are ignorance and apathy the worst things in the world? Answer: I don't know and I don't care.

Now that was an OLD JOKE. But it points directly back to what I said. That our educational system is fucked, and that is OUR responsibility. (i can't help but HOPE that forums like this are places to fight ignorance, yes?)

I think it was Twain that said wherever they pull a school down, they may as well build a jail. Of course this isn't true to the Individual, but there are reasons why people make this generalization.

I agree with all of you...so take your pecker out of my ear so I can hear the news. 

[RatsRGods]

I often wonder what separates me from my cousins/family
We grew up in the same environment, attended the same schools, had the same opportunity.
In typical outcast fashion, I was the nerdy one that liked "headbanger music" and was always reading. and being weird or whatever.  
I am not trying to toot my own horn b/c I have a intellectual inferiority complex myself.
Especially around these here parts.  "Is this post going to be the final post when all the shadowboxers exile me into dummyland?"
But in comparison to my family you would think I was Stephen Hawking.

There are members of my family that dont know how to write out a check or have basic living skills to take care of themselves.  Let alone basic knowledge about the world.
But I am sure they all know who Tila Tequila is.
It is both sad and infuriating.

I just dont know why I went in another direction.
Is it something inborn?  I just dont know.
I know it sounds like I think I am 'better than' but if one doesnt have a choice, does it really mean anything?

I don't like my Own Ignorance in areas like Nature, etc.

Oh man, I sometimes get really worked up and angry because I dont know---- EVERYTHING.
I really beat myself up when I do not understand something. 
I was reading about some theory Einstein had and I could not understand it.  And I whining to my boyfriend at the time "Waaah,  why am I so stupid??"
And he was like "Um, why are you comparing yourself to Einstein?"

I am so crazy .  I have this standard for myself that I feel like I should be able to give ,at the very least, a brief summary on EVERY subject in the world!
But my brain is very limited.
And sometimes (i.e. a lot of times)  I fill my down time with porno and celebrity gossip.

[Pope Totalfrog]

I often wonder what separates me from my cousins/family
We grew up in the same environment, attended the same schools, had the same opportunity.
In typical outcast fashion, I was the nerdy one that liked "headbanger music" and was always reading. and being weird or whatever. 
I am not trying to toot my own horn b/c I have a intellectual inferiority complex myself.
Especially around these here parts.  "Is this post going to be the final post when all the shadowboxers exile me into dummyland?"
But in comparison to my family you would think I was Stephen Hawking.

I know exactly how you feel. My entire extended family (exluding my grand parents because they are rad) still treat me like a freak because I don't look and sound like them. One of my sisters, who was raised in the exact same way as I was is just like them - in my immediate family she is the freak. She hates art and literature, she only reads gossip mags, isn't really into music and she follows all of the latest fashion trends. We let her hang around to make up the numbers  .

BTW - You strike me as a very intelligent person - stop being so down on yourself.