Nevermind laughter; hypnotism is contagious.
The last time I caught myself really struck by another museum-goer was a few months ago, at the MET in New York. There was someone in standing so still in front of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s The Triumph of Marius that I myself was stuck in a competing stupor.
Her motionless concentration was as beautiful as the museum’s own four-corned majesty. Her name was Amanda and she was at the museum doing research for her latest novel.
Months had passed and echoes from our random encounter remained as vivid as ever. To quench our curiosity, we decided to track Amanda down, ask her a few questions about who she really is, in order to trade in our ephemeral hypnosis for a more permanent attraction.
