Pictured here is the Hindu deity Ganesh, (the remover of obstacles) already well-known to anyone who's dropped by Uncle Jer's as well as billions of people around the world who haven't yet had the pleasure. Anyway, over the years countless Ganesh statues and prints and carvings have come and gone here, gracing us temporarily with their charm and mirth before moving on to more permanent homes.Soon after this particular one arrived I realized it had cast a special spell over me unlike its forebears. I slowed every time I walked past it, my eyes lingered lustily, train of thought derailed. Finally, I had to admit to myself, "That Ganesh is kind of sexy."
The resemblance to Venus de Milo helped explain some of this feeling. But there was something else, something less deified, something a little more flesh and bone.
One night, after a Tom Collins (gin, sweet & sour, splash of soda), the second half of the puzzle revealed itself to me: it's the belly of Tony Soprano, a tumescent force of nature, both protective and destructive with its own gravitational pull.
I was uncomfortable with the connection at first, but the way Ganesh just lets his belly out there, so lazy yet self-assured, kept it alive. And though the ends and means are different, Tony was nothing if not a Remover of Obstacles. And it's not like no blood was ever spilled in the Mahabharata.
Well, the mystery is unlocked, the thrill is gone, my marriage is safe but maybe I've over-shared. Ah, well, I guess that's why they made the internet.
