Art for Lunch's Sake

I'm blogging from the Bridgeport Library in downtown Bridgeport, NY. Linda and two of her fellow library board members were unwilling to chance the dangers of Rte. 31 or Kirkville Rd. to attend the meeting in the 'Port on their own, so I got to drive.

A thought for a little extra holiday cash: Get yourself tasered. Borrow a couple of kids and a van, drive out to Salina and go 50 in 45 MPH zone. You can earn as much as 75 G's. Be sure to wear old clothes because you're probably going to have to wiggle around on the road for a little bit.

We went into the Everson Museum today to see the acclaimed "Turner to Cezanne" exhibit. Just as we got there, 4 buses from Caz. High School dumped out their denizens. You may remember that these are the same kids who tried to give me Swine Flu at the football game back in October. I'm not ashamed to say I was feeling a little paranoid.

I chose to put aside my neurosis, and we entered the museum. For most of the first section of the exhibit, the "Turner" part, we were swept along on a sea of Caz. kids. I did notice as we were tossed, like flotsam and jetsam, past his display, that Turner was famed for his maritime painting. Eventually, the crowd calmed as the kids began taking notes and such, and we were able to take only partially obscured looks at the work of many of the greatest European artists of the 19th century. We saw Monet and his brother Manet; Renoir and the American James Whistler. The end of the display, as the title suggested, featured two by Cezanne.

The exhibit was really wonderful as a way of seeing the work of so many Masters at the same time. The museum guides told us that people had come from Canada and all over the Northeast for the exhibit. The guides/security folk were excellent by the way, and when I broke the unposted 12 inch rule by allowing my little finger to point from a distance of 9 inches at a painting, I was summarily chided by a guide about as old as the shoes I had on.

Then we went to Coleman's for a lovely lunch. As we drove back to Chittenango, I silently asked myself a question. If I was looking for two friends with whom to spend a weekend, would I choose Turner and Cezanne?. . . or Turner and Hooch?