Saint Louis again! That town gives me so much inspiration. Old beautiful buildings built in the 20s and 30s, abandoned and growing the most pleasing patinas. I traveled with a friend who could not see the appeal of an old run-down building. He thought they should be torn down. I shuddered at the comment and set into a lecture about how his kind is the downfall of America. He simply laughed and looked at me cock-eyed. I miss living in cities. Going to St Louis made me a little sad about buying a house in the country.

There was a show at the StL Art Museum which had a room full of Terry Winters paintings and drawings. Winters was one of my favorite artists back when I was in college, but I must say I was a little disappointed in the work. They did not have the layers of paint that I associate with his stuff. There were some other pieces by different painters whose work was interesting. The show made me miss having museums nearby. It was funny to look around at art with my friend because he just didn't know any of the work. I pointed out Miros, Klees, Modiglianis, Mondrian, Diebenkorn, Lichtenstein, Hartley - he knew none of them. I showed him a Pollock and he was excited about recognizing his work; he said he had "seen the movie". I had to spend several minutes trying to convince him that it was the real thing. I don't know who is more geeky, me because I know all the work, or him because he knows none of it.