I'm Kind of in Love

Yes, you did read that title correctly, but no, this is not a Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch sort of moment. Though the object of my affections is indeed a woman, things could never work out between us, seeing as she died in 1842 and spoke no English. Yes, that's right, I refer to Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, the most famous female painter of the 18th century.

I love her work, and have done so for many years. I wouldn't say I'm her biggest fan (because I'm not an art expert, and I haven't memorized every detail of her life), but I think that we would have gotten along rather well, had we ever met and overcome the language barrier (I'll forgive her for marrying someone else, she can't be blamed for never meeting me). The reason for this sense of shared sensibilities is that Elisabeth (I've decided that she and I are on first-name terms), more than any other painter I've ever seen, paints women as they are, not as most men want to see them. 

A New Philanthropy?

This morning, I was delighted to read that Frank McCourt has agreed to sell the Dodgers. This is wonderful news for Dodgers fans, as McCourt was frankly an awful owner. ESPN even wrote an article declaring this to be a major victory for fans. Now the bidding begins, and I'm curious to see who buys my beloved Dodgers.

To be fair, I haven't followed baseball as much in recent years, mostly because I've been unable to make it out to Dodgers' stadium for a game for about 4 years now. Baseball is, in my opinion, a sport that suffers greatly when not seen live. But that's not the point I want to make.