IT'S A DOOZEY

Here's our deal: if I want to visit an art museum, then we must also schedule a car museum visit. I wanted to go to the Toledo Art Museum because they have a Corot I had not seen. He wanted to go to the Auburn/Cord/Deusenburg Museum in Auburn, Indiana.

We had an enjoyable time at the Auburn/Cord/Duesenburg Museum; I learned that "It's a doozey" saying originated from the reaction to the beautiful Duesenberg car in the 1930s!

When we went to the Toledo museum, Gerald was thrilled to see a work by Frank Stella. He bought a print of the painting which cost $24.99. Little did he realize that the print was 38.5 inches X 26.5 inches. He was outraged by the cost of the frames listed at the museum and "harrumphed" that he could get one cheaper "around home"! When he looked for frames around home, he couldn't find a "ready-made" frame in the size needed. The largest ready-made frames were 36"! He went to Michael's, Hobby Lobby and other places to get estimates of having a frame made. The cheapest he could find was $199.00! I had had frames custom-made for my Corot prints and they were made of cherry wood. Gerald asked, "HOW much did those cost?" I told him I couldn't remember because I'd had them done in the 1970s.

Thus, his Stella print stood, rolled up, in a corner of the bedroom for a couple of years! One day, at his niece Gina's home, I admired the frame on a huge picture in her living room. She asked, "Would you like to have that picture?" I protested that I couldn't take the picture. She continued, "I hate it. Jason brought it home from work and since we didn't have anything for over the couch, I put it there!" Knowing that she liked Monet, I countered with, "What if I find you a Monet print to go there?" She said that I didn't need to do that.

I called Gerald in from outside and said, "Gina says we can have this god-awful painting." He looked bewildered and I said, "The frame--the frame!" [I admit I said it in a Herve Villechaize imitation!]

So, for less than $100.00 I was able to purchase TWO Monet prints already in decent frames to put on Gina's wall and Gerald got a frame for his Stella print, which now graces our family room wall. I HATE the print, but Gerald LOVES it, so that is all that matters, since every other art work is my choice. We have nicknamed the print "It's A Doozey"!

The Stella painting is named "Lac Laronge 4" from his Saskatchewan Series. It sold at Sotheby's for $800,000 in 2007.

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My ONLY Herve Villechaize joke: Herve Villechaize wanted to do something philanthropic and he came up with an idea to make resort hotels to cater to little people. Everything in them would be scaled-to-size for little people and the best thing would be that the the little people could vacation there free-of-charge.

He called them STAY-FREE MINI PADS!