A co-worker invited me to this wine & art thingy that was happening in town. Tempted though I was to bail at the last minute, I did not. I thought the change of pace was something I needed & gave me the opportunity to hang out one on one with someone I don't really hang out with much. So I scrubbed up nice like because I wasn't too sure how people would be dressed at this thing. It IS Humboldt County though so I didn't "dress up"--not the way I would feel obligated to dress if I were in SF or Chicago or somewhere. I wasn't wearing sweats though either. Anyway, got a glass of wine & settled in a chair. This guy's presentation started & essentially, he discussed the composition of a few pieces of art he had on slides & then demonstrated how the composition worked. It was interesting for a number of reasons. 1. I am & will always be envious of people who noticeably have a passion for something or someone; a thing that has been lacking in my life for a very long time. It is an energy that I very much enjoy observing. 2. I got a kick out of listening to the artist talk about painting & evaluating art & hitting that point that many artists hit when they're talking about doing what they love & why they believe the art is art...that place where the process becomes ineffable & only body language, facial expression, that goofy glow is the only thing that speaks to what is so wonderful about the artful world that they've created for themselves. 3. The artist pointed out the lines of composition in each of the slides he chose for the presentation. After the 3rd or so slide, I began to see the mathematics in it & suddenly became a lot more interested in what he was talking about it. Soon, I was mentally slapping graphs, well maybe not quite graphs but weird quadrants or something, on each painting & making the lines to frame sections of the pictures in my mind. I identified how one object would bleed into another to give the picture a fluidity. At one point, we were looking at a slide & after having decided what I thought the focal point of the painting was, I asked the artist where it was. The place that he identified was actually the last place that my eyes went to. I was reminded that while I can appreciate art in my own rather limited & narrow way, it (art appreciation) probably isn't my forte. It seems to me, sometimes, that an artist or lover of art approaches a piece from an emotional standpoint. I think that I tend to look at a piece of art & try to put words to what I am seeing & then move toward attaching some sort of emotion to the words that I come up with. So I guess I'm sort of assbackwards about it, in that sense. Anyway, it was interesting & thought provoking. I think I owe my co-worker.

We ducked out about 3/4ths of the way thru the presentation, during a wine break for the artist. We hit up an Italian restaurant where I had a fairly decent gnocchi & a bottle of beer. The downside of my preference for one on one interactions with people is that unless I am out with someone who is comfortable being silent, I usually come home feeling like I said too much, disclosed too much about what is in my head, that sort of thing. Does matter what the other person's perception is. If I feel like I've shared too many thoughts, it's hard for me not to feel silly when all is said & done. Tonight is no exception. But at some point tonight...or maybe tomorrow morning, I will go to sleep & hopefully forget most of what I said.