So, Mr. RandBall and I have varying interests. The first time I met his father, he asked me a simple question, "So, you're a sports fan?" and I had a simple answer, "No, not really." Aghast, Michael's father looked from son to future daughter-in-law, not knowing what to say. RandBall jumped in, "It's kind-of nice, actually. I can come home and talk about something other than sports." My favorite story from RandBall's business travel was when he went to the East Coast to cover a tournament. (In my version of the story, the teams and the sport in question are too minor to mention. :) During his off-time, RandBall went to the local art museum, to take in come culture. Upon returning to his hotel, and finding his colleagues gathered in the hotel bar, watching a game on TV over some brews, they asked, "Where've you been?" "The art museum," he plainly responded. The other men were surprised (and probably poked fun at him.)
Well, I'm proud of RandBall. Culture; whether it be art, music, theatre, or culture with respect to community; fraternizing with other cultural groups, tasting the cuisine of other cultures, or simply reflecting on the cultural differences of any place you visit in comparison to home... this is what makes travel worthwhile. Yes, sometimes RandBall travels for work-related purposes, but I'm happy to know that he will take the time, if possible, to get to know the cities he's visiting.
Now, there's also the aspect of the Deaf Community, a cultural group I've become involved with in my studies to become a Sign Language interpreter. Now, RandBall has attended a few Deaf Community events with me, and each time, he struggles to understand those around him, and often will use my services as an interpreter, to express himself. After the first outing of this kind, I was surprised at RandBall's willingness to be surrounded by people whose language he didn't understand. Diplomatically, he responded, "Well, when you come out to one of my work events, everyone talks about sports, and you don't know what they're talking about. This is pretty much the same thing- so I can tough it out for you." *Sigh!* I'm not sure where I found this gem of a man, but I'm thankful for him.
The Seurat painting pictured above is from the Art Institute of Chicago. RandBall and I contemplated this exact painting years ago (We were just like in the picture, but blonder.)
Where would we be if RandBall had no interest in the arts and culture? Well, it would've been a tough battle... and I don't know whether we'd be married now. Luckily, there was no ultimatum that I be baptized as a sports fan prior to our union. Though I continue waver between believing that sports are a capitalist venture, and believing that "It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game," RandBall tends to enjoy my naive comments about the industry. Many a time, RandBall has responded to one of my quips with, "I'm going to include that in my blog," or "I can't wait to tell Taco you said that!!" And, to tell you the truth- I've found this is my role... to comment on the industry as an outsider, that the "insiders" can contemplate why something is the way it is. Is that not what art does? Good art challenges it's listeners, viewers, readers, etc. No, I suppose you can't take the art out of an artist. So, maybe it follows that you can't take the sport out of a fan. So, I might as well be creative with my sports fanatic husband... as long as he takes me to a museum or the theatre every now and then... or humors me by coming to another Deaf Community event. Now that's teamwork!
Photo courtesy of www.gallagher.com
2 comments:
Ahh, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. Known mostly thanks to Ferris Bueller, but magical nonetheless. First time I saw it in person, my wife and I did the exact same thing. Sitting on that bench, commenting on the patience and persistence it must've taken Seurat to complete a work of that size in pointillism. Then, after you look closer, you notice the border. The idea of a border done in pointillism, after he completed the mammoth painting is beyond me.
That being said, I totally understand from where you are coming. My wife is not much of a sports fan, aside from English football during the World Cup and European Championships (mainly due to her Anglophile tendencies) and hockey (to release rage). I brought those into her life, and she brought the study of stained glass, gothic architecture and art into mine. Openness breeds intimacy.
Yes- true, true. And the painting is more interesting when you learn that this was a place that men took their mistresses, and that there is symbolism (a French pun) connected to the monkey in the foreground. This was not only a piece of detail driven art, it was also fraught with social commentary.
For more info: http://webexhibits.org/colorart/jatte.html
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