i like art

Since I had no work for about a week, I wandered about Columbus aimlessly because sitting at home with nothing to do is, unsurprisingly, boring. On the way home from the social security office (I lost my card…again), I noticed that the Columbus Museum of Art has banners up stating that admission was free for July and August thanks to a grant. Well, it was August 29th, and I figured I should probably shuffle my way on in.

The museum wasn’t really set up the way I’m used to with museums. The first floor is pretty much dedicated to family exhibits. The second floor was more my speed, particularly the Big Room o’ Renaissance Paintings. there was a room devoted to Picasso and his contemporaries, but I’m just not that big a fan of his. Although one painting was rather grand – Two Figures and a Cat. Cats are such jerks.

I wish I could wax poetic about art, because I really do enjoy it. Alas, I’m a more casual observer in the field now that I’m not trying to be an artist myself. I thoroughly enjoy Renaissance paintings and I can’t even properly articulate why beyond, “They’re pretty.” Maybe I was a Renaissance painter once upon a time. Or maybe I was in love with one. In any case, I like art and I don’t really have to explain why.

new haunt

Considering I had a LOT of time to kill when I was without a laptop, I took care of a few errands in the meantime. I applied for (and just received!) my replacement replacement social security card. I sort of cleaned my room and promptly messed it back up. I visited the art museum. And I got a library card. The card is probably the most exciting to me, obviously. I didn’t want to visit any of the branch locations for my first trip, and so I made my way to the main library.

It’s gorgeous. Just look at it. It looks more like a museum than a library. They have self check-out nooks. And part of the second floor is dedicated to Columbus history. My first trip there, I had to cut short because I still don’t know how to eat properly and was feeling crummy. The second trip, however, I spent about four hours roaming around. I’ll definitely be bumming around this library more often. I’m mostly just glad I have somewhere to go to get the hell out of the house.

what is love

My laptop died. I will curse Dell until I’m on my deathbed, because the company’s product has gone way, way downhill. I was assured that HP’s computers have seen plenty of improvement, and since it fit my (very, very small) budget, I went ahead and dropped the money on a new laptop. Getting the old one repaired would have been around $300, and why bother when I can get a brand new machine for just a bit more? And so, here I am, new laptop running and ready to rock and roll.

But that has nothing to do with this post; I just wanted to complain. This is really about love, and family, and the warm fuzzies you get from both. Sometimes. If you’re lucky. And I’m apparently a fairly lucky person. I kvetch about family and whatnot often, but honestly, they’re good people, and they’re at arm’s length by my own lack of effort. I don’t know how to interact with them, and so I just don’t. In my defense, I don’t know how to interact with anyone. I have a few family members that I’m closer to than others because they’re closer to my age, but that’s about it.

Semi-recently, I’ve made a very lame effort to change that. Death kind of kicked me in the face and made me slightly more aware of my mortality and the mortality of others. (Sidebar: I say slightly because I was a very, very weird child and would often contemplate death/sit in a corner and cry because someday my mom wouldn’t be around anymore and it could happen at literally any moment. Good job, creepy prophetic childhood self.) I tried to call people more, but admittedly, I failed kind of hard.

But alas! I’m trying again. My trip to Memphis made me miss these nutty people, and I started to think about how the kids in my generation in the family aren’t nearly as close as those that come before us. It made me a little sad and I wondered if it was just my family or families across the country. A brief conversation with Kat makes it seem somewhat standard nowadays, which is depressing. And so, I’m going to try to not fall away from my family. Let’s see how long I can keep this up.

PS The wedding was very nice. And as a bonus, here’s a video of my uncle and his new wife. My (former) Shamone people should get a kick out of it, at least.

PPS My dress looked pretty great but I didn’t get a shot with the shoes because wow, they hurt. This is what happens when I stop wearing heels for a year.