Don't Get Cross With Me

When I get cross, I get slightly angry, put a little edge in my voice. With me, "gettin' cross" is a momentary mood. When people get cross with me, it's not so momentary.  I'm usually causin' some kinda shit somewhere.  Homer seems a little more than slightly angry.  Sorta like me and my dad.  I was a lot like Bart, with a sissy edge.

When I'm not gettin' cross, I'm collecting crosses and using them in my interior design work.  Below are two examples.

Bar Les Freres

My dressing room

The cross is an old symbol. Due to the simplicity of the design (two crossing lines), cross-shapes appear from deep prehistory as far back as petroglyphs in European cult caves.  Use of the cross as a Christian symbol may be as early as the 1st century, and is certain for the 3rd century.  A wide variety of cross symbols were introduced for the purpose of heraldry beginning in the age of the Crusades. 

In contemporary Christianity, the cross is a symbol of the atonement and reminds Christians of God's love in sacrificing his own son for humanity. It represents Jesus' victory over sin and death, since it is believed that through his death and resurrection he conquered death itself.

Below are some crosses from my personal collection.

^{Base of an altar candle holder.  Bronze, circa 1900.} 

^{Tramp art, circa 1940.  Made from small wooden 1/2 inch pegs glued together.  Quite architectural.  Notice the dude in the background, perhaps doing some soul-searching.}

 

Folk art cross from country church in Mississippi, circa 1940s. Love this piece.

Below are some crosses available in my shop. 

Needlework cross in great folk art frame, late 19th century. 

"I don't care if it rains or freezes, long as I got my plastic Jesus sittin' on the dashboard of my car."  That's what this is, folks.  A dashboard Jesus, circa 1950s.

Collection of jewelry.

DOUBLE-CROSSED!

Double cross is a phrase meaning to deceive by double-dealing.  It has also been suggested that the term was inspired by the practice of 18th-century British thief taker and criminal Jonathan Wild, who kept a ledger of his transactions and is said to have placed two crosses by the names of persons who had cheated him in some way. This folk etymology is almost certainly incorrect, but there is documentary evidence that the term did exist in the 19th century.

Signing off.  Dotting my t's and crossing my i's.

Tennessee Ernie Ford, "The Old Rugged Cross"