Hot date!

There were two art shows at the Philadelphia Museum of Art this year that we wanted to see, and the cost of the two shows was more than the cost of annual memberships, so we bought memberships to the Museum this year. We saw the Picasso show a few months ago, and today we went in for the Late Renoir show.

And y'know what? We're really not fans of late Renoir.

In his later years, he went for rosier colors, rounder figures, and softer edges. Now, they may be great paintings, but I really felt like, “It's been done. This has been done before.” And it may be that it's been done because Renoir was the one who did it; nonetheless: cup of tea, it's just not my.

(I'm reminded of a remark by one of my prof's when I was in college, and Easy Rider came up at the college film festival. And it felt like every 60's cliché was in there... and the prof said that Easy Rider was the movie that led to them all being clichés. If it was true, it still didn't change the fact that the movie felt like it was full of clichés at the time I saw it.)

There was a nifty self-portrait from, I think, 1899, which was uncharacteristic of the other work; it had the hard edges of the older man's face, and the intense look that my drawing teacher called, “the self-portrait stare” (you do see it in a lot of self-portraits). It's the look that a person gets when he or she is trying to get the details and arrange the space on the paper while drawing. That was cool... but it was also the only one.

It does make one feel just that bit of a snob to not like a show that is so well produced and publicized, though. And every time I see that membership card in my wallet, I feel like such a regular arts patron, already!

After the show, we walked (just under a mile) to the Reading Terminal Market, where we ALWAYS eat when we're in Philly. The market is full of great food; we've never eaten at the same place twice, and we're never been disappointed. If you're in Philadelphia, do the Reading; 12^th & Arch Streets.

Then we went towards South Street to drop in at Hats in the Belfry (I liked the Belfry Safari Henry, but the one they had in my ridiculously large size had a mangled ribbon) and the Kosciuszko National Memorial, because my wife is a Revolutionary War buff. "Buff" doesn't really describe it; try "screaming yellow nutball".

Traffic was evil in Philadelphia today. I think it was the retribution of the universe for my taking a day off during the same week that my coworker took her vacation. Miserere mei, already.

We had a great time. My wife is a great date.