Things Overhead

Last weekend, Victoria and I had some much needed down time. We kicked off the weekend going to Bennigans to suck down some tasty beverages from the alcohol family of beverages and to chomp on food of the fried, crispy, artery-clogging variety. Then we headed across the street to the Art Institute. The Art Institute has a tremendous summer program. Thursday and Friday evenings are FREE from 5-9. Look, I'm not in college anymore, but I still can definitely appreciate a freeday at a Chicago museum. So, in we went. After perusing the pottery, some of which was 4,000 old and still seemingly in perfect shape (talk about a family heirloom), we headed up to the Impressionist wing. Even though we have both seen it many, many times, the exhibit can't be beat. Especially Caillebote's Rainy Day in Paris and Seurat's Saturday in the Park, both of which would cover more than an entire wall at the Cullom abode.

But the highlight of the day was the crazy things we overhead. In particular, Victoria heard one fellow commenting on the 16th Century European paintings. The man told his family that the painting was done in 1550. Then he marvelled, "Where did they get their paint," as if questioning the authenticity of the date on the painting. Yes, it is sad but true: there were no Home Depots present in Renaissance Europe, but methinks paint had been around for quite some time (after all, we had just seen 4,000 year old pottery with paint on it).