One of my favorite things about living so close to NYC is the easy access to great art and art institutions. It also happens to be one of the few perks that I've been very, very good about taking advantage of. I've been a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) since 2001 and tend to go at least once a month. I'd planned on letting that membership lapse, though, in order to become a member of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) when it reopened this month.

Today I finished early at a client site and decided to make the short walk over to the Met. I had planned on taking a quick look at the Gilbert Stuart exhibit. Well, I never made it to the exhibit. Instead I got caught in some goofy exhibits of European decorative arts. It was fascinating and, not surprisingly, these were galleries that I've never been through before. For those of you who have never been, the Met has over two million square feet of gallery space. Seriously. I've been probably more than fifty times. I still have vast areas that I haven't explored.

I got ready to head back out into the beautiful autumn evening and I felt a heavy heart. I seriously couldn't bear the thought of having to think about an admission charge everytime I wanted to visit the Met on a whim. So I turned around and went back to the membership table. Eighty-five dollars later I was re-enrolled for another year and, I might add, much happier for it.

MoMA opens tomorrow. Crazy lines will last late into the night for the celebration that includes free admission. Starting Sunday, though, it'll be $20 per ticket. Not for members, though. My $75 there will be very, very well spent. I'm already counting the days and marking the films (also also free) that I'll queue up for.

So starts the promise for another great winter for Mike Wolf, art phag.