Coincidences and Art

Happy Bastille Day! Well, actually, since it's technically the 15th, Happy (my) Birthday!
In light of the fact that I was reminiscing in the last post - how weird is this? On July 15, 1999, the dean of the law school called me and told me I could study in Ireland for a semester. Cowboy took me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. We went to Crawdaddy Bayou - this funky cajun restaurant with a bayou setting - complete with fake crocodiles in a swamp-like area. During dinner, I told Cowboy that I was going to Ireland. Today, July 14, 2006, Cowboy and I went to lunch and I saw the same dean of the law school. I mentioned to Cowboy that he was the dean who was in charge of my Ireland trip. Then, hours later on the way home, I saw a guy wearing a Crawdaddy Bayou t-shirt! This restaurant has been gone for years, now. Creepy, huh?

On a lighter note, I went with a friend to the Art Institute. They have expanded and free hours on Thursday and Friday nights. It was great! We went around 7, and it was not crowded at all. We saw the exhibit Drawings in Dialogue, which is one woman's collections of drawings and prints. The collection filled 13 galleries and included Degas, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet among MANY others. It was very interesting. My friend also took me through the contemporary galleries. I have to admit, I usually visit certain galleries (artists including the Impressionists and the Americans), which don't include the particular contemporary galleries we visited. I was glad we went. She was quite the tour guide.
You may be interested to know that American Gothic, which was on loan for quite some time, is now back on display - and I'm pretty sure it has a new, bigger frame which makes the painting seem bigger than it is.