Saturday 3 January 2009

MoMa and my growing discontent with society.

Today I went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa).

Let me first set the scene though. I was not in a good mood. Last night I went out drinking with Nathan, and English guy I met in the hostel. I had a good time with him at a nearby bar, but I was still in the foul mood I've been in since New Year's Eve. After returning to the hostel, I got on the internet and said a lot of drunk angry shit to a few people.

I should never drink when I'm in a bad mood.

Anyway, I woke up feeling fine physically, but still angry as hell at the world, and even angrier at myself for some of the things I said last night. And for a few other reasons which we won't get into here.

So, it was with this mindset that I headed to MoMa. I left at about 10.30 in the morning and arrived to find a huge line outside the building. This didn't surprise me. Lines are a fact of life here. It didn't take long to get in though, which was a welcome change. Once I got inside, I managed to power through the whole place in only a couple of hours. Usually museums and art galleries are an all day thing for me, but not today. I'll explain why in a moment.

MoMa was okay. Just okay. I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as The Met. I was a bit bummed because the Vincent Van Gogh section was sold out for the day. I really have taken a liking to Van Gogh lately. Actually seeing those works for real is incredible. Photos can't do them justice. I was also disappointed to find that The Persistence of Memory was out on loan. Two anticipated highlights were knocked out already.

So I saw some art and all that. Took a few pictures. But after only about 15 minutes in there I started getting edgy. There was just so many people, bumping into each other, getting in the way. Pausing in doorways, not keeping right, not paying attention. I think I've reached my breaking point with crowds. I hurried from floor to floor, just wanting to get things over with before I started punching people's kids. It was that bad.

I love this city, but I can't do this tourist shit anymore. Shoulder-to-shoulder crowds are killing me.

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