Version 2.046

After work today, I went to Germantown to get some pieces framed. I don't recall ever having anything of significance framed in the U.S. at a real framer, but I had seen this store, which after the pandemic had written on the window "This too shall pass," and I immediately knew that that would be the place for me to have several items that I had collected over the years framed, the reason being that I, too, have "This too shall pass on my Skype status at work.

The total bill was over $2100 and that was after they gave me a discount, but I believe the work will be well worth it, plus I am not planning on having anything else framed--well, I suppose I could have Moon Taxi's autographed poster done, but I have not decided on it, yet.

The young man who helped me with my things was very nice and I liked his input. He asked me about my house and the type of light I had and I showed him a few pictures of my space in order to inform his suggestions. In one of the pieces, he gave me several mats to choose from to frame a nude piece that I had and I chose the one that had a texture that most resembled human skin. When I told him that, he asked me if I was an artist.

I am not an artist; all I do is visit museums and buy books. Then he asked me what kind of books I liked. Personal essays, short stories, and poetry, I replied. I am not a great reader, I read very slowly and I tend to think a lot about what I read, so it is time and energy-consuming, but I did not explain this part to him.

The owner, who is a woman, was also there and happened to take over the conversation with me. She asked me how I had learned about them and it was because they are in the same mall that Trader Joe's is. She was happy to see me probably because I spent quite a bit of money, but I have been collecting these things for over 20 years, so it's really not that much money if you think about the time component.

She told me that they usually have people come in an give talks about artists, so when I go pick up my order, in about 2-3 weeks, I am supposed to sign their guest-book, so that I can receive their announcements via their mailing list. I think that would be a really interesting program and something right up my alley...