"I think being a woman is like being Irish." — Iris Murdoch

Emma's school organized this day at the museum.  We had to drag her kicking and screaming (almost), and we got into this little group for "Visual Strategies."  I had no idea what it was going to be at all, but we went to look at a painting of a couple dancing and everybody, adults and children, pointed out things that they noticed about the painting.  It was this Renoir, and I thought it was pretty simple, but one person pointed out these cigarette butts on the ground, which I hadn't seen, and Nelson noticed that some of the people were formally dressed and others casually, and this woman was tipping her chair forward to talk to this man, and all sorts of interesting details.  Emma got very interested.

Then we went to look at a Dutch painting, I forget the artist, and there was this odd scene, and we never knew what it was all about, but everyone was saying, see those people in the corner?  why are there three candles on the floor? and so on.  It was fascinating.

Afterward one of the women guiding the thing said to me, "It's great that your daughter had so much to contribute," and I said, "Yes, especially since she so didn't want to be here!"  Which surprised the woman, but she said, "If we had stood there and lectured, she would have been bored out of her mind.  This technique gets ppl involved."

Lunch also helped to engage her interest.