We are trying to decide where to hang our pictures and posters and various other decorations. The first question, as far as I see it, is “For which look are you aiming?” You could choose the sparse, open spaces style of an art gallery (work with me here) or you can stuff the walls full of frames of the artifacts of a life well lived.
If I could afford the frames I’d fill the walls with pictures and programs and all manner of souvenirs. You’d never need to paint if you never moved the frames. There would be no poses, but every piece would have a long story. Think of the old restaurant filled with black and white shots. Someone knows all of those details. If you caught them on the right day they’d probably share them all.
We’re not doing that, obviously, but I’m planting the idea. Maybe after a few more years my argument will be a bit more refined. Until then we are assigning wall space for the already collected diplomas, souvenirs signs, posters, portraits and scenery shots.
There are stacks lingering about the house, and we showed a few of the pieces to company this afternoon. Jeremy Henderson brought his family over for a visit. His daughter is getting ready for kindergarten. She’s a little pistol, terrifying the cat, leading tours of our house, getting into everything and mortifying her mother, but entertaining us endlessly.
Until she said we were like grandparents. We are old, don’t have kids, but have a cat.
Also, we learned, there are consequences. Not sure what those might be, or whether she was talking to the non-grandparents or the terrified kitty. I was too busy pretending to be a doddering old man.
So we made jokes about that for the rest of the day. And taking citracal. Larry King told me I should. Now to find Nancy Grace on cable … oh, terrific. They have a graphic that reads, and I quote: “Breaking News: Outrage.” So there it is, cable news has come full circle, able to now generate faux shock at themselves for magnifying faux controversy.
The story was, I believe, about Lindsay Lohan. I’m outraged already.
