Have you ever picked up take-out or a bakery dessert and passed it off as your own cooking? Or shoved all your clutter into a closet right before guests arrive so they think you spent hours cleaning? Or sprayed febreeze on your jeans after a night out in a smoky bar (even though those don’t seem to exist in Wisconsin anymore). Odds are, you’ve taken one of the above short cuts. And why wouldn’t you, it saved you a lot of time and the end result was the same: delicious food, a clean house for guests, or nice smelling pants. Unless your guests peek in your trash or closets, they won’t know you faked it. With writing, there are no such shortcuts; no secret methods to fake the hard work.
This weekend I attended an event at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It involved fancy dresses, sky high stilettos, valet parking, an important cause, wine, cheese, and the best macaroons I’ve ever eaten (after inquiring, I discovered the chefs-in-training at WCTC made them – kudos to you all). Spectacular people watching presented itself at every turn and my cohorts for the evening personified fun.
It was a can’t miss opportunity to flesh out a scene between Lou and Al at the art museum. Perhaps naively, I expected we’d be allowed to wander the museum proper, where my friends and I could view the art and make witty comments inspired by a shared sense of freedom (we all had children safely at home with sitters) and delicious wine. Alas, there was no meandering, no witty repartee over modern art. We were only allowed in the beautiful Quadracci Pavillion.
Don’t get me wrong, I had fun and the Calatrava addition is a remarkable work of art, but there were only two pieces of visible art in the Calatrava; the Chihuly glass sculpture (which I adore and would love a mini-version – I wonder if they make one), and the Calder mobile hanging above the entrance (floating red, white, and black circles – very modern in its simplicity). I admit, there may have been a few scattered paintings I didn’t notice, there was delicious free food to be eaten, so my attention wandered easily.
Pictures from www.mam.org
Last week, I had visions I would return from my evening of revelry, sit at my computer and spew out pages of witty dialogue between Lou and Al during their museum scene inspired by real-life comments. I wanted an easy way to create realistic dialogue. In other words, I wanted to fake the hard work, the real research. I’ve even tried viewing many popular pieces on the museum’s website, hoping to garner some inspiration without leaving my desk chair.
It is very clear to me now that I need to take my tookus to the art museum with notebook and pen in hand. I can’t fake walking through the halls and capturing the first gut reaction to a painting without actually doing it. It has been a few years since I’ve seen the collections, so I can’t rely on my memory alone (which falters with each passing day – nobody tells you having children destroys your memory).
So, dear reader, that is my task; I need to get to the art museum for note taking and joke making. I cannot fake it; I must do the leg work. No amount of febreeze or high quality take out can help me.
How about you? Where do you take short cuts? What do you try to fake? Does it work?
April 11 Page Total = 104
