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I went to see an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of art on Vermeer, and one of his most famous paintings, The Milkmaid, which has not been in New York City since the World Fair of 1939. This time, the painting was brought to New York City to commemerate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage to what is now New York City. The painting, I also learned, is beloved by Americans and Dutch alike, which would explain the large crowds.

I went last night to the Langston Hughes seminar at Macaulay, and I was expecting a seminar on Langston Hughes. However, the performer, Dave M, an actor who has acted in productions of Othello and The Taming of the Shrew, recited various Langston Hughes poems from memory, doing voices of everything from a hep cat to a melancholy old man, and even using props such as a newspaper, a sheet of paper, and a table and chair. He also pantomimed some objects such as cigarettes and shining shoes.

I can't front, Camera Lucida is one of the most frustrating books I've ever read. I understand most of Barthes' points, such as how he notices minute details in photos that are meant to emphasize something on a much large scale. For example, in a photo by Lewis Hine of two retarded children in an institution (1924), rather than focus on the children's disfigurements, he focuses on the boy's huge Danton collar and the girl's finger bondage. This much I can understand, but why must he explain everything in such an excruciating manner?! Maybe I'm just an impatient reader.