A few of years ago, art galleries in Chelsea decided that Thursday would be the official night for opening receptions. Maybe they all got together and made a pledge, maybe all the gallerists’ biorhythms got synched-up do to their close proximity, maybe they all just wanted to get away for the weekend. But whatever the reason was, it’s now official—Thursday is the night. Bad news for me, because I almost always teach on Thursday nights and find myself constantly bummed that I was unable to attend so-and-so’s opening.

But I was able to go to some openings a few weeks ago and here is what they looked like:

Most of the galleries pictured run along 27th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues—that’s the cool place for galleries to be these days.

One of the galleries pictured is John Connelly Presents. John Connelly Presents has a real thing for Grolsch:

They serve Grolsch Beer at all their openings. I find myself desperate for a Grolsch every time I’ve set foot into JCP. It’s madness. And it’s not even a particularly good beer. But what it lacks in taste, it makes up for in design—the very satisfying metal and ceramic clasping cap makes drinking a delight. And I’m sure I crave it so much because the people at John Connelly love to hoard over their Grolsch, passing it out to a few chosen people at irregular intervals.

But last time I was at John Connelly Presents I was able to get a Grolsch.

If you don’t know Rob Lathan, you should. He’s a very weird dude.

He’s also one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. Plus he’s hysterical. So basically, if you were to walk into a bar and notice Rob Lathan sitting at an empty table, it would be a very good idea to sit down next to him and share a drink.

Just in case that ever happens, here’s a picture you can use use to identify him:

The image is taken from the neighborhoodies website, which sells the official “ROB!” t-shirt based on a prank he helped facilitate for the popular group, Improv Everywhere.

My Rob Lathan t-shirt just arrived today and it looks like this:

There are many things that I like about my Rob Tee (the color, the fact that it has Rob Lathan’s face on it, the flattering cut.) But there are some things that I don’t like that I will now put to you in list form:

1. Rob’s face is too small.
2. The “navy”-colored ink looks black.
3. Some of the details around the ears, nose, and under the mouth have been lost in the printing.

But still, even with all its faults, I love my Rob Lathan T-Shirt.

And I love Rob Lathan.