Obviously I am overdoing this. Nothing seems to please me. This was my third visit to the textile museum in Lowell. It’s a fascinating place, very well done. But it was empty, on Sunday afternoon. Renee and I were the only visitors. There were no guards, only the man at the admissions desk. Many of the exhibits have motion-activated sound. It was very spooky walking around and listening to voices, looms and spinning wheels from nowhere. Even so, I hope they survive; I’d like to go back again some day.

Yesterday I went to visit the newly-reopened Morgan Library where I may never return. They spent a lot of money to create a noisy, flashy space that totally ruins the ambiance the library was noted for. There is a large entry area (prepared for lots of visitors), a dining room, a cafe so noisy you could not hold a conversation with your dining partner, a gift shop, very prominent elevators and stairs, two new small gallery spaces and a reading room not generally open to the public. Mr. Morgan’s library and study and the older galleries are tucked away in corners you could easily miss. I guess you can call me grumpy, fat old artist.