a visit with Vincent

My co-worker and I took a trip to a museum to see a Van Gogh display, and to hear an author speak on his biography of Vincent.

Horton can be found guarding the place

It was very well attended; he was to talk an hour. The president of the museum spoke first - she gushed too much and went on too long; it cut into his speaking time. Then, she introduced a woman who introduced the author - it was all a bit much. 

They insisted that he save ten minutes at the end for questions, which means he ended up speaking only forty five minutes. We both would have stayed another hour or two gladly, had he been allowed to keep talking. That was too bad.

can't be original, 'cause it wouldn't be in English, would it?

About the book: it isn't new. It was published in 2011, and they were even on 60 Minutes back then - I saw the episode. The biggest excitement about this book is their theory that Vincent didn't shoot himself, as is generally believed. At least, they feel that the evidence doesn't support it. It was some kind of accident but he didn't "tell" on anyone. A few years ago I inter-library loaned the book. When it came, all nine hundred pages of it, it was just too much to get involved in, so I sent it back. 

his brother

Afterward we went upstairs to see the exhibit. It was well done, extremely imaginative; it will be great for kids with lots of crazy inter-active things. 

try your hand at drawing a sunflower

Why didn't I take more photos? I should have. Here I am, sitting at the Cafe Terrace at Night.

Isn't that cool? But this is even better - 

my friend actually sitting in the bedroom at Arles - she could have lain on that bed, if she'd liked. They did a great job with it, didn't they?

part of the studio

Anyway, this man was so so interesting that we decided we should make the effort to read the book, so I ended up buying it. It may take me a year to read, and that will be fine if so. 

When we passed through the museum to leave, we ran into him, so I grabbed his hand and told him we would have gladly stayed to hear more and were sorry his talk was too short. I said this not for his benefit, but for the museum person who was with him. Maybe I should email them, too. 

Afterward, we had a tasty lunch and when we got back to town, stopped at a local and very popular bakery in the hope that we could get a piece of a fancy cake they'd advertised for that day - and wouldn't you know, there was one fat slice left! We finished it off, and both agreed it had been a very good day.