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The earliest memory I have is from September 30, 1960 – I was just three days away from turning four years old.

My family lived in Omaha, Nebraska, and on this particular evening, I can remember RACING down the street to a neighbor’s house – and I mean I was sprinting at full speed.

Just prior to my mad dash, I’d been playing outside, and I remember wondering where all the other kids were.  It was like a ghost town with no one else around.  Suddenly, it dawned on me. A new animated television show was to premiere that night, and everyone had been invited to one particular kid’s house to watch it.  This was unheard of at the time  – a cartoon playing at night!  I couldn’t miss it!
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I took off running, and fortunately, I made it in the nick of time.  I recall cramming onto the jam-packed floor of the living room to watch the debut of “The Flintstones.”

AN ASIDE:  Can you believe I’m two months away from turning – are you ready for this?  – seventy-years old.  I know, I know – I don’t look a day over sixty-nine, right?  As a kid, I can remember how ancient I would be at the turn of the century – and now I’m twenty-six years beyond that!  Tempus fugit!

Back to the Stone Age & my youth. I have one other distinct memory from the Flintstones. I can remember an episode where Fred views a painting, grimaces a bit, and then says, “Well, I don't know what the artist got for painting that picture, but if you ask me, he should've got life.”

​LOL.  I thought that was so funny!

I Google-searched the line last night.  It’s from season four episode, episode sixteen, “Bedrock Hillbillies”  Evidently Fred is appraising a portrait of a Hatrock ancestor, and he insults the artwork right in front of the family.

AN ASIDE:  When I ran my search on that bit of dialogue, I learned this trivia about the Flintstone’s ancestry:  Fred’s paternal side of the family originally came from the prehistoric state of Arkanstone where they had been engaged in a feud similar to the Hatfield–McCoy feud. The feud began when one of Fred’s ancestors mocked a Hatrock family portrait, quipping, “I don’t know what the artist got for that painting, but he should’ve gotten life!” The feud is finally ended in this particular episode, “Bedrock Hillbillies,” when Fred helps rescue Pebbles and a Hatrock baby, only to have it all start up again when Fred cracks the same joke as his ancestor.

The portrait that Fred criticizes, by the way, was that of Mona Hatrock, the great-great-grandmother and matriarch of the hillbilly Hatrock family. The specific artist who painted the portrait of Mona is never named in the episode, the show only refers to the creator anonymously as a "famous artist".
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I do believe, though, that Fred Flintstone was much too critical about the work. He didn't seem to grasp the painting's novel qualities, which include the subject's enigmatic expression, the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism. 

Ohhh, let’s pump the brakes here a minute –

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I didn’t mean all of that about the paining of Mona Hatrock.  I must have had a senior moment and inadvertently slipped into describing Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, and the most parodied work of art in the world” – and speaking of parodies, check out my version Mona Dickinson below. 

AN ASIDE:  I was today-years-old when it dawned on me that the name “Mona” was bestowed on the Hatrock matriarch as a deliberate artistic reference.  LOL – I’m that sharp-witted!
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So how would you rate the three Monas so far?  Great? Good? Bad?  

​What if I threw in Mona Brady?  Would you moan “Mona, Mona, Mona”?

How about a Mona Lisa Simpson? Mona Leia?  Mona Liza?

So where am I going with all of this?  Well, remember that Fred Flintstone quip about the painting of Mona Hatrock?  While I was in Boston, in addition to my time in the Dickinson Room at the Houghton Library, I also visited the Museum of Bad Art, and I researched -- yes, you got it -- BAD ART. 

AN ASIDE:  Is there really such a thing as “bad art”? 

Evidently, it's complicated!  Take a look at this essay, HERE.   It begins with this: 

"Google ‘bad art’ and the results are delightful. You’ll find scores of well-intentioned but dreadfully poor paintings. Misshapen pets, family members with alarmingly detailed teeth, the unavoidable sonic fan art, and somewhat inexplicably, many, many Michael Jacksons. While often ugly, with discomforting proportions and ruinous rendering, there’s something compelling about terrible art. There’s often a strange energy, a vitality that overwhelms the artist’s lack of skill. Most people who are bad at painting just avoid putting brush to canvas, but the muses seem to bless the bad artist who paints anyway."

Below:  While I was in Boston, I visited MOBA, the Museum of Bad Art, and yes, it's true -- it's inside the Dorchester Brewery, and yes, they sell beer there, and yes, I did some intensive research -- so don't give me any guff about it.  If it's one thing bad art goes with, it's beer -- and the more beer one drinks the gooder the bad art gets!  Believe me, I know.

I will share much of my extensive research from the Museum of Bad Art in tomorrow's post.  This will allow you to prepare ahead of time properly (you will need to have on hand an amble supply of beer and sturdy chair).  For now I will conclude this morning with a preview of some my research, shown below; however, think of this preview like a solar eclipse:  Do not look directly at the bad art.  Staring directly at it can cause permanent eye damage like retinopathy, central vision loss, and retinal burns.  Consider wearing specialized eye protection for optimal viewing.

More pics and stories are on my travelogue, "Dial 'Em' for Emily," HERE. 

More posts from my trip are here:

07.28.2026: NOT YOUR GARDEN VARIETY, CLICK HERE. 
07.27.2026: THE TROUBLES WITH EMILY, CLICK HERE. 
07.26.2026: THE MAN WHO BLOGGED TOO MUCH, CLICK HERE. 
07.25.2026:  STRANGE TURNS ON A TRAIN, CLICK HERE. 
07.24.2026:  HOW SWEETEST IT IS, CLICK HERE. 
07.23.2026:  A DATE WITH DESTINY, CLICK HERE.
07.22.2026:  THIS – IS THE BLOG POST – ​THE SUNSET WASHES, CLICK HERE.
07.21.2026:  DOUBLE ETERNITY, CLICK HERE. 
07.20.2026:  THE ORACLE WORE A WHITE DRESS -- PART DEUX, CLICK HERE.
07.19.2026:  ALL THINGS MATTER, CLICK HERE. 
07.18.2026:  INTRODUCTORY PLOG POST ABOUT "DIAL 'EM' FOR EMILY," CLICK HERE.