Do we really SEE what we see?

I was working in the darkroom, or the 'lab' as I like to call it today. I had just finished shooting several roles of TRI-X, a film manufactured by the Kodak Company (yes, film is still alive). This is a black and white stock, and I started to look at my images as they developed. Yes, indeed -- the smell was good, it smelt well. I had taken several shots of my friend Kimoko wearing a furry shawl. The images, while definitely artistic, featured some minor nudity. Nothing gross at all folks, nothing gross. One of her nipples had been exposed. I thought to myself -- why does god paint parts of us different shades? It got the wheels inside my head turning. I thought 'while this photo is black and white, what if I added some color -- of my own? I took out a box of photocrayons and started adding a vibrant ruby red to different areas, such as the lips -- a part of the body that is quite unique. The end result was a unique, totally original and inspiring peice that fused black and white class, with touches of color -- splashes if you will. Just think, what if god was one of us? Thats how I felt. As artists, we have a responsibility to challange oneselves to push oneselves into deeper and more intense areas. What if I ran into Mark Twain today? I would ask him 'hey buddy, how is Tom Sawyer?" He would get it, but everyone around us would be confused. This is because you aren't cultured people. Tom Sawyer is from a book Twain wrote called 'Huck Fin', very rad indeed. I'm suprised how many of yo out there don't understand common literature. So, if you want to put down your Starbuck$ drinks and McDonald$ soda pops for one minute, maybe you can discover a little lost treasure called ... life. Yah heard?