Culture sneaking in

I had two awesome arts experiences in the last month or so...
The first was something I'd been looking forward to for a few years, listening to David Sedaris speak. His stories are funny in print, but listening to him and watching him tell them in real time, unedited, with giggling and audience interaction was tremendously fun and exciting. The theater was sold out - a recently remodeled theater in the heart of downtown that I had never noticed in my 3 years here. Copley Hall, nestled right in with Horton Plaza. Might need to take the theater tour one of these days.
And the second art experience was a suggestion from my sister, who wanted to go to the SF MOMA over thanksgiving holiday. While I'm generally not one for modern art, this was the last weekend of the Richard Avedon exhibit, which was well a trip to the city. He's known for portaits and did fashion shoots in the 50s and 60s which got him off the ground. One of the most moving rooms was filled with larger than lifesize portraits of people taken in the late 80's and early 90's who were regular people in the US West. Several carneys, an oil worker, a drifter, a twelve-year old. They all have thier mouths closed and are serious. I wanted to breathe for them. Lift their burden somehow. The fashion models looked perfect of course, but a lot of the impact of the portraits is the honesty and faults (wrinkles, sun spots, exhaustion) present in the subjects' faces.
I'm probably not ready for that much honesty, but will attempt a few minutes of seriousness when taking holiday photos this weekend.