I travel often for work and make a point of visiting museums in the cities I stay in. Most major urban centers have decent museums. The Art Institute of Chicago is very impressive, in fact Chicago is a great town for museums period. It also depends on what you want to see. The San Fransisco art museum has Kienholz tableaux which are rare, and Houston has the Surrealist museum as well as the Rothko chapel. New Orleans has the Ogden which displays a terrific outsider art collection and St Petersburg Fla (if I remember correctly) is home to the Salvador Dali Museum which is a feast for the psyche if that's your thing. Wow, now that I'm thinking about it I'd love to go on a national museum visiting vacation. That's something worth getting a piggy bank for. 

I watched "the Edge of Love" today. It is a biopic of English poet Dylan Thomas and depicts him as a very unlikable fellow. There is a messy if sometimes functional love triangle between him his wife and a second woman. The acting is very good -cinematography is excellent. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Poor politicians have to contend with the 24 hr news cycle and the reporters who fill it. Its a mistake to think anyone can make it into national politics and truly keep their hands clean. On a local level politicians must deal face to face with their constituents on a daily basis so there's a better chance of them behaving but not by much. Constant surveillance might even be causing them behave a little better than in the past.

I ended up thriving in the profession I always wanted to practice. Except for a brief period when I wanted to be a history professor my interests never faltered. Its satisfying but at the same time I wonder if I may have closed myself off to a facination left unconsidered.

Spank him.

Wow I could really get into this one. Each era has its masters; over time I've found late 20th century painting to be the most relevant to me- notably Francis Bacon/Soutine/Lucien Frued/Rauschenburg....I can't seem to get my teeth into minimalists or neoplasticists though; I like activity and texture too much. As for classical painters Goya is terrirfying in best possible sense. I also appreciate Rembrandt/El Grecco and Velasquez. Choosing a favorite painting -its impossible; there seems to be one for every mood or state of mind.