INK SPOTS AND VIOLINS

By Dan Miller
March 4, 2008

There are few things more maddening than ruining something you really like.

Exhibit #1... the brand new dress shirt in the photo.
Close examination will reveal what happened when I stuck an open ink pen into the pocket.
And, of course, I did it the very first time I ever wore the shirt.
You can also probably detect the smeared, failed efforts to remove the ink.

I confess, this has happened many times before.
And I always seem to do it with the most indelible inks known to mankind, and usually just prior to an important interview or meeting.

When I came home with this latest spot, I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of my wife Karen, ever so slightly rolling her eyes.
Sadly, she's grown accustomed to these ink spots.

In fact, I've now assembled an impressive collection of new shirts with big, ugly permanent ink stains in the front pocket.
If these pocket spots ever come into vogue, I'll no doubt be featured on the fashion runways of Milan and Paris.

Now, for a moment, consider what violin virtuoso David Garrett experienced a couple of months ago.

Garrett... a 27 year old former child prodigy... was leaving Barbican Hall in London following a concert on December 27th.
Suddenly he tripped and fell, backwards, down a flight of concrete steps.
Draped over his shoulder at the time was a violin case containing his favorite violin.
When he opened the case, to his horror, the instrument inside was crushed, probably beyond repair.

And this wasn't just any violin.
It was a G.B. Guadagnini violin, built in 1772.
Garrett had purchased the instrument in 2003 for a cool $ 1,000,000.

Wow!
A million dollar violin, shattered by one simple misstep.

Well, that should do it.
Now, when certain people read this, I think this whole ink-stained shirt fiasco will fall into its proper perspective.

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