Notes From My Journal

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Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t 

“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” – Pope John Paul II

My reverence for personal freedom above almost every other social value prompts me to be suspicious of any law or regulation that limits individual liberty.

Thus, I much prefer Florida’s response to the COVID epidemic over New York’s. (And in terms of keeping COVID-caused deaths to a minimum, as I’ve pointed out several times, Florida has done as well as, or better than, the states that imposed Draconian measures.)

Likewise, I don’t like the idea of vaccine passports.

But sometimes, in our daily lives, we make decisions that do not entirely correspond to our grandest ideas and intellectual orientations. I’m not talking about hypocrisy (although a good topic) but compromise.

Here’s the dilemma:

For a year now, the monthly meetings of my book club (The Mules) have been conducted via Zoom.

It’s been an okay experience. But we would all prefer to get back to having the meetings at my Cigar Club, where I served food and drink and where, after the meeting, some could linger for a smoke.

I am happy to get back to hosting the meetings. But today, I received a note from our unofficial president suggesting that I should make the in-person meetings at the Cigar Club open only to members that have been vaccinated.

Hmm…

We are about 15 people, of which 9 are my age (70s), a few are in their 60s, and a few are younger. About half of the old guys have “comorbidity” issues – and they are all about taking every possible precaution. So if I don’t impose a vaccination requirement, they won’t feel comfortable if they decide to come.

Meanwhile, two of the younger guys are anti-vaxxers. So if I do impose a vaccination requirement, they won’t be able to come and will have to decide whether or not to attend on Zoom.

What should I do?

And who am I to force them to make these “choices”?

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Worth Considering

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To Buy or Not to Buy: Suzanne and I Compare Notes on 7 Paintings by Denis Nunez  

One of the fun things I like about collecting art with a partner is that you get to know one another’s preferences – generally and with respect to particular artists.

When Suzanne Snider and I are buying pieces of the most important modernist artists for our permanent collection, our preferences are almost always in total alignment. That’s because we have spent so many years studying these artists and their work that we know exactly what sort of images best represent them at various stages of their development.

It’s not so easy when choosing work by contemporary artists. These are living artists, few of whom have reached a level where they are traded by the large, international auction houses and collected by major international museums. In other words, there is no uniformity of opinion as to whose fame will endure and which of their styles and periods will be considered their best.

But that doesn’t stop us from forming our own opinions and having debates about the pros and cons of individual pieces.

Yesterday morning, Suzanne sent me 7 recently available pieces by Denis Nunez, a contemporary Nicaraguan artist that we’ve been keeping an eye on.

Rather than tell her, I asked her to guess which ones I liked (and might want to bid on) and which one I hated.

Here are the 7 pieces. (See if you agree with my favorites.)

Suzanne thought I would like #1, #2, #5, and #6. And knowing that I hate semi-abstract representations of attractive women, she guessed that I would hate #7.

She was very close. I liked #1, #2, and #6. And, yes, I hated #7.

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Postscript

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Is this racism?

If you’ve played competitive half-court basketball, you’ll know, as this guy does, that it is not. The problem is that some guys are wimps and sore losers.

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