Andy Warhol | johnozed

Well I took today off from work, yet every now and then I’m checking email and voicemail. I gave them enough notice, that I was taking today off and I haven’t heard from everyone so I’m hoping no news is good news. That’s the work front. Here in Hoboken today, it’s bright and sunny with a cool breeze every now and then. I’ve been puttering around the apartment, getting things ready to sell.

I just came up from the basement where I found that Julio was right. He mentioned previously that a lot of my things are ruined from water and the damp. As I was going through some boxes I’ve noticed notebooks with my writings faded or washed away or covered in black mold. Records, books, photographs all ruined. I’m disappointed and regretful but there’s nothing I could do about it now.

Books that were autographed by Andy Warhol have now wound up in the garbage can as well as a book autographed by Brian Eno. It was the price I paid, living on the top floor of a five story walk up and when I moved in that rainy weekend 6 years ago, I moved enough things up those stairs along with Bill, William and Chaz, and was so exhausted that I started leaving things in the basement, not taking into consideration that nature would have it’s way.

And nature sure did have it’s way. I hadn’t seen these books or records in years and figured they might have been up here somewhere, but they weren’t. So it’s Hello Bin from David Bowie books, Beatle books, Warhol autographs, all gone forever. Disappointed in it all, not crying though. It’s my own fault. Procrastinate for 6 years and something was bound to happen.

Let this be a lesson to you. Or me.

In any event I’m still putting out some decent items tomorrow and if they don’t sell, well I don’t think I’ll be lugging those up to the fifth floor. Either they make it to the curb, or placed in the basement, this time not on the floor though. At least I know I’ve met Andy Warhol and Brian Eno so the books, while they would have been nice to keep, are just material things and easily discarded. I would have more than likely tried to sell them on eBay somewhere down the line.

They should make it to the trash tonight instead. The Metal Box PiL collectible is now rusted and warped, and Chris Stamey stares at me from the garbage can with his cold, dead eyes. I called up Julio and asked if he had any heavy duty garbage bags. He asked why and I told him that he was right about my things being ruined. He of course, maintained the ‘I told you so’ stance, asking what did I expect after leaving my shit down there for 6 years?

I told him I had hope. He asked if I was an atheist, and if so what the hell was I doing ‘hoping’, equating a belief in hope with a belief in a deity. Whats done is done. I saw Stine and Alexander outside and had a nice little chat. No pictures today. Maybe tomorrow. All I can do is laugh about the destroyed books and records as I have no one to blame but myself.

Last night Bill and I watched an entertaining biography on Elton John: Me, Myself and I. It was pretty funny and well done. I showed Bill my Elton John scrapbook from the 1970’s, which contained the ticket stub for my first concert. Madison Square Garden, Elton John August 12, 1976 $9.50. I don’t know why I have this 30 year old scrapbook. I was definitely into Elton John, that’s for sure.

I bet that Chaz has several scrapbooks about T Rex from his youth, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he is constantly updating it.

Showtime tomorrow! Have to put up some signs for the gate sale later.

Wow, I am so tired. I walked around the city a bit today. Not in one direction, but rather zig zagging all over Chelsea, checking out various galleries. The day started out ok. Last night was ok. I watched The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson’s latest. I liked it more than The Life Aquatic, but not as much as Rushmore, and definitely not as much as The Royal Tenenbaums. Then I watched Bill Maher who was just so so. I enjoy watching him with someone else. If not I get easily distracted or annoyed with Bill Maher’s smarmyness. Went to bed after that, with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.

Woke up and did my Saturday thing, which I also did yesterday. Called up the parents to be, Julio and Stine and asked if they wanted anything from the store. A bagel for Stine was all they needed. I splurged and bought the New York Post for Julio. Had a nice breakfast, did laundry and then sat around the apartment, trying to think of something to do. Thought about going to Burlington Coat Factory, just to see if they had anything new since they redid something and occasionally I can find City of London Ties for $9.99 whereas in the city they’re about $30.00 and up. I also thought about heading into the city to check out some galleries.

I decided to walk up to Washington Street and let fate decide. If there was a bus heading into the city I’d take it, otherwise I’d just walk up to Burlington. That was the plan but what actually happened was I waited for a bus for about a half hour. Just wanted to get out of Hoboken. Don’t get me wrong, I do love Hoboken, but for culture you more or less have to cross the Hudson River, which isn’t so bad. I walked down Ninth Avenue once I got out of the bus terminal. It was more crowded than usual due to the Auto Show at the Javits Center. It’s supposed to be Green themed, as in eco-friendly this year, but I don’t know anything about cars, making it a good thing that I don’t drive.

I made it to Chelsea, retracing my steps from the last time I was there which was January I think. I was underwhelmed by most everything I saw. Nothing reached out and grabbed me, and nothing really made me laugh which I think is the best art out there. Eventually I did find some good art at various galleries, but the majority of what I saw was really boring. Stumbled into an exhibition of Jasper John’s drawings which was fun and also some early Andy Warhol drawings, mainly drawings of men, and one or two of someone sucking a cock which was charming. The gallery area of Chelsea wasn’t too crowded, due to the Easter weekend. Never was a big holiday to me. I did make a joke about the holiday though, and here it is.

Easter is when Jesus comes out of his tomb and if he sees his shadow then it’s six more weeks of Lent.

I like it, it’s mine and it’s funny. I was tuckered out after all the art. A image I saw in a few galleries was of bathtubs. Is there a plumbers movement in the art world afoot? That would be interesting perhaps, or maybe not since it was a rather mediocre day for the galleries today. Walked back to the Path train where it was crowded. They weren’t letting people on or off the train due to the police closing in on some criminal activity at the 33rd Street station. After a few minutes they let people on and off and I stood pressed against the wall as it filled up at every station. Made it back to Hoboken after leaving a few hours earlier. Stopped off at Mision Burrito and now I’m tired and sated.

And here are quite a few pics of the art that I saw today (and liked). Enjoy.