This Economy Crap Really Sucks

[justin_nyc]

I guess I've been kind of spoiled, but I didn't see this one coming. Brian's always indulging me and making me feel secure with our lifestyle.

Reality has now splashed me in the face. Via LJ no less. Gotta love it.

Comments

[jans_intentions]

I think it was the only way he could tell you.

[justin_nyc]

I guess it's better than finding out he terminated our lease without telling me ahead of time.

I know this is killing him.

[jans_intentions]

Yes, I could feel it.

Possibly you could rent out the apartment fully furnished, but I don't know the financial situation so...

Take care of him, Justin.

[justin_nyc]

The TO apartment was always supposed to be temporary. I just didn't think it would be THIS temporary.

[justin_nyc]

We never call it that, you know. But yeah, I guess it could be worse. The thing is, we OWN the PA real estate. We lease in TO.

[lady_jane]

I'm so sorry, Justin, about the TO stuff, but I think you need to just follow Brian's lead on this one. I'm interested in how younger people will react to the recession - you've never seen one of these before, have you? At least, not up close and personal. When I first graduated college ('88), there were NO JOBS. Not until the 90s, when things started to pick up. And that recession doesn't even touch this one.

I know you invested a lot in your TO home, but you have a home in Pittsburgh and it's better than most have - I just found an affordable studio in a nice neighborhood in Bklyn, and feeling pretty damn lucky to have that. Brian needs you to make this as easy as you can for him, so follow his lead. I have a feeling he'd be better with the apt because he seriously loves watching your career grow.

[justin_nyc]

I don't have much of a choice other than to follow his lead. No, I've never really experienced a recession before. I mean, in college, especially my freshman year, I was broke and experienced the especially unpleasant and bitter experience of not having a way to make enough money to support myself

[justinlovesart]

I know you'll get all defensive, thinking I'm implicitly criticising Brian, but here I go anyway. It's obvious that something's got to give, and having to choose between the apartment and the gallery in TO is not even a choice, the apartment must go.

But if it comes to losing also the gallery, I've got a question for both of you: do you still need both Britin and the loft in Pittsburgh? Is the gallery in TO important to you and your work, or just a bonus? Because if it's important, I'd think of all possible alternatives before giving it up.

[justin_nyc]

You're right. The apartment must go because it's actually expendable. We didn't get it for my business; we chose it when I was living there temporarily to help with Gus and Lindsay. Ironically, it's also more expensive. Much.

I get a kick out of you voyeurs with this Britin thing. I called it that ONCE. Maybe twice. And not in years. Still, to answer your questions, the WVA is really our home now. It's amazing and has rooms for Gus and Peter. It would be devastating to give it up. If we didn't work in downtown Pittsburgh, we could probably manage without the loft, or at least I could. But the drive from WVA to PA would get extremely wearing on a daily basis. It's less than an hour without traffic, but there usually is plenty of traffic

[furriboots]

I told Brian this same thing. I think you might want to hold on to the gallery in Toronto. We are not getting hit as hard as you in this economic down turn. Canada is supposed to weather this slump better than the rest of the G-8 since our banking system is much more conservative. We have noticed a slow down in the real estate market but there is still a steady if slower stream of sales, purchases and mortgages and I hope that it will pick up a bit more in the spring.

[justin_nyc]

As long as Brian can afford to pay my rent there, I do not want to give it up. I'm going to explore showcasing some other artists and see what that yields.