The Myth of Magnetism

People say I have a certain personal magnetism. But that's not the point of the post.

The point of the post is this: I find myself in possession of one of these bad boys...



Its a Rolex Milgauss (75th Anniversary Special Edition). Please don't think less of me. If you take a moment and read a modest blog post by some watch guy named Nicholas here, you will likely make a smile. Plus there are some lovely photos of the thing.

Regarding the thing itself, I would say this: I didn't buy it. Nor, it should be noted, did I steal it.

This presumes that the prices you charge for some of your paintings are not, de facto, stealing?
Yes it does.
Okay.

But there it is, nicely on my wrist. Glowing in its own little way like something out of the Green Lantern movie (I would suggest quickly scrolling down to the post titled, I think, "I'll have a Tanqueray martini with four olives" or something like that).

My boy Nicholas, the watch guy, offers this: "You have a bit the feeling to wear a traffic light on the wrist, with all these colors..."

Interesting syntax. Where do we think Nicholas is from?
Dunno. Albany, maybe.

Anyway, there it is and it does make me smile. The best thing about it is the green crystal. Which is a visual thing, granted, but I'm a painter. And what is that whole business if not visual? The worst thing about it is the curious lightening bolt second hand. I'm still not used to that.

But the real reason for having a watch like this has to do with this whole Milgauss business, which means it contains an internal antimagnetic shield that allows it to keep good, clean time even when exposed to up to 1,000 gauss. Which is a measurement of magnetic energy, as I understand it.

I had a Timex a while back and it just quit on me one day while I was painting. I can assure you that no $50 Timex has an antimagnetic shield. And the painting I was working on (and have now finished and shipped) was pumping out some kind of serious radiation...



So the choice of a replacement watch became a no-brainer. Man, I do like that painting. At one point it looked like this...



Which was not as good. Which is why I changed it.

When you changed it, were you wearing a hat made out of tin foil?
You mean to protect myself from the radiation?
Yes.
No.