Sorry for the delay folks, but lots happening here. I realize I’ve been cryptic about what’s going on, so now I’ll fill those in that have been worrying about me and why I am getting rid of my stuff. I began posting about this here on my blog here (one), here (two) and here (three). I hope people will continue to consider taking some of these things off my hands. For instance:

This is the Sony TRV-900 DV Cam I was talking about from my last entry of Stuff! For $250, here’s what it comes with…

everything. Plus, I’m throwing in almost two full 10-Packs of little tapes to record on; I only used four. Each of these tapes have 90 minutes of recording time. They are all individually sealed so you can see that they’re new and have never been opened.

I purchased this video camera in this not-so-perfect cosmetic condition because I really wanted one that worked perfectly at a price I could afford. I know it looks worn, but trust me, this handycam is in excellent mechanical condition. I also invested another $200+ into it having it serviced so that it would work accurately during a year-long project/short movie I made. It comes with this great bag too:

All right, so, everyone knows about my depression. I haven’t been secretive about that. Well when it rains, it pours. One of many other things I have been dealing with lately, that both mjp and I have been dealing with, is the fact that the crossbeams in the vaulted ceiling of our living room are pulling out of the walls. In fact, our roof is collapsing. We rent the house where we live. We’ve lived here over 10 years now, and over time we’ve watched the top of the ceiling slowly split apart at the peak. There are two 8 x 8 inch crossbeams that have been moving along with it as well. However, it began moving a lot, like 3/4 of an inch! And this happened suddenly in August. We figured there must’ve been some kind of shift in the foundation.

A few weeks later, our landlord got someone to build temporary braces under the beams so they wouldn’t fall on us. She had various builders, contractors, framers and handymen come to the house to look at the situation and give her bids, about six or seven, over the course of four months. Some made arrangements to come here and then didn’t even show up, or came late or never even called to tell me a window when they might show up, etc. None of them knew why they were coming and none of them looked at the foundation except the last guy after I insisted. He was the only actual licensed contractor and one of only two that brought a level, let alone a tape measure. One guy stole mjp’s tape measure, one he’s had since he was a kid.

Anyway, I could write an even longer thing, but I’m really trying not to. This has all been going on since August remember.

Then, as sudden as the beams moved, we were told that construction would start “sometime” after the first of the year. We received this news on December 7th, but told we needed to move all our shit from the living room (this is the main part of our house, mind you) into the back of the house immediately. Workers were going to put plastic up over the doorways into our kitchen, dining room and hallway for a few months while we lived next to a construction zone (like my nerves aren’t frayed enough). So we said, wait a minute. We wanted to see what our rights were. Well I guess we didn’t check fast enough because Wednesday she stuck a notice to the door, another notice to the gate to our yard and yet another notice she taped to my car’s passenger-side window that we needed to leave for good in 60 days. I mean, we figured it would probably come to that anyway–that we were going to have to leave, just not in a hurry and not on these unfriendly terms. And, we have never done anything wrong. Never once have we paid rent late either. I guess this is all her idea of wishing us “happy holidays.” It’s super hard not to mention this, but my mind boggles and my heart aches because, aside from always being a nice person and like a friend over the years, she’s also a mental health professional.

“Funny” because, before December, I was considering taking a step out. Taking a break. Reassessing life and checking in somewhere to get some help because I’ve really just been at the end of my rope. I’d been trying to find a good place to go that wasn’t disgusting but would still take my insurance. That all came to a halt and now I’ve had to hold my shit together and keep my head above water. One good thing about our landlady is that she has not raised our rent in 10 years. That’s really amazing, right? Yeah, well now looking for rentals, it’s quite a shock. Reality hits that there’s just no way we can get any large house with a big garage that I can convert into a studio like I did here. I have to downsize, and I mean I can’t make paintings like I have anymore, nor frankly do I even want to anymore. Maybe I’d like to just work on paper because I’m fucking exhausted. So I sold my big studio easel this past week.

So, that’s a little bit of what’s happening here. I’d fill you in on everything, but I think that’s enough.

It’s true that I am also giving things away as well as selling them, but I don’t have time to hang out with each person that wants to buy or take things away. I am really sorry, but I just don’t have it in me right now. Maybe we can do the rain check thing? Please email me to make arrangements on anything you want–let’s make a deal; you can pick stuff up and we can have a quick hug and maybe a coffee. I have a great coffee machine which I won’t ever sell. I mean we’ll use it to make coffee.

Some other stuff I have around here to get rid of is/are: a simple drawing table–one of those old school types, a Cannon G3 PowerShot digital camera with all the manuals and software, art supplies, clothes, art (both by local artists, and by me), picture frames, blank canvases, maybe some furniture too. Anyone remember this 1940s milk-painted table I used inside of my tent installation for Exodus?

It’s a very unusual design and folds up: both sides are leafed to drop down.

And please see the other blog entries for the other tables. I am going to try to get everything up on Craigslist this weekend if I get the time. But the Craigslist people…I’m not so sure they have the option of picking out a free artwork from this collection with their purchases.

And Happy Holidays to you all. I mean it.