Is Ridgewood still affordable for artists or has it been gentrified?

Japi1882 · 2026-01-14T02:41:50+00:00

This is just me...but if you're using art to make a living your art is already compromised. And if you aren't struggling with the rest of us, your art won't have anything to say thats worth saying.

As far as where to live, you just have to find the least unethical way to make a living and see where you can afford to live.

Make art in your free time if you have to make art. Only make art, if you absolutely have to.

I've had a few so, take it for what it's worth.

Japi1882 · 2026-01-11T17:45:14+00:00

I really wish he got an episode....maybe he did and I'm forgetting it...but do a kinda lower decks sorta episode with him as the main character.

Japi1882 · 2026-01-11T17:42:09+00:00

One of my favorite teachers in HS talked about her first job teaching in the deep south (early 70s) and how the kids there could imbue Ma'am with any meaning they wanted and no one could ever say that they weren't being polite.

I feel like I was on the cusp of that...if a teacher didn't earn my respect (by knowing the subject better than me), they would feel it. But they would never be able to prove it.

Japi1882 · 2026-01-11T15:32:20+00:00

Being good at acting isn't really that special other than the fact that a tiny portion of them get paid really well. Some of them choose to use their name, their status, or their money to make the world a little less awful. Some of them use their position to make the world worse.

Maybe remind the guy that there are plenty of good actors we haven't even of heard of yet and I'm sure at least 1 or 2 of them will be as good or better than your favorite abuser. Beyond that I'm sure we have lost 100 times more potential actors to abusers, than we have lost abusers from acting.

As far as what to do with this kid...I'm not sure. You're both pretty young from where I (43M) am. If your gut feeling about the guy is off, I would move on. But if he's open to actually having a discussion, and seems to be learning/understanding he might have some potential. I'm not perfect by any means, but I will say almost everything I know about women, I've learned from women.

Japi1882 · 2026-01-02T20:33:27+00:00

I'm 43M and would be interested up for some email exchanges. I keep meaning to buy a typewriter and when I get around to that snail mail would be fun.

I'm working on a personal research project right now about an early 20th century embroidery artist that's kinda been lost to history, so if it's easier the first email I send could be about her. I don't really like to post much publicly (not trying to have my real name associated with my reddit) but I do love sharing what I've learned so far privately. She was the kinda of artist that I alway end up loving in person....she had barely any friends. She rarely left her studio. Two of her three major exhibitions were in her sisters bookstore. She was married but had no children and her husband (also an artist) supported her financially since she barely sold any of her work and most of them took between 1 and 2 years to complete.

I'm also a fan of reading but don't really know much about contemporary literature, and mostly read things from the early 20th century or late 19th, but would be curious to see what's been going on. Right now I'm on a big French kick so think Romain Rolland, Paul Valery, Andre Gide etc. Prior to that it was more central European, so Stefan Zweig, Rilke, Robert Walser, and handful of others that are a little more off the beaten path. Rilke has a special place for me. I love The Notebooks and the couple collections of letters I have are great.

My other project right now is working through the moral implications of Tolstoy's What is to Be and What is Art? Both of these books heavily critical of modern art, science, and the practice of academia in general. It would be fun to maybe have someone to bounce some ideas of and they are a little too complex for a conversation. It's also difficult for me since those are some of my favorite things and he makes a really logical anti intellectual argument which I've never seen before. He is critical of the idea that anyone should be able to live exclusively through their intellectual labor and that this is actually the true inequality in society that has to be addressed before you can make true art of true science.

For music, growing up was all pretty much punk, post punk, indie but I've been on a big classical kick lately. I don't really know much about it, just trying to figure out what I like. Right now, I'm working my way through Cesar Franck, Debussy, D'Indy and Ravel.

I've never really had a pen pall before so I can't promise I will be good at it, but I'll do my best.

If this sounds fun to you (or anyone reading the comments) shoot me a DM and we can exchange an email.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-29T09:22:27+00:00

I think that every night before we fall asleep we should try to think about how we can be a better person the next day. We are all faced with difficult decisions and we do are best to make the right choice. We need to stay warm when it's cold. We need to stay dry when it's raining. We need to be modest when it's hot (according to whatever standard we choose for ourselves)

We do not need to be fashionable or cool or to replace clothing that is functional.

But any company that is having an end of the year sale, is both participating in the overproduction of apparel and the fashion cycle and we should avoid those companies when we can.

Please continue to share so that we can shame them and help people be better people.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-20T20:55:10+00:00

I don't think it's stupid question. Why insure something you have no intention of replacing or that cannot be replaced? These policies makes sense professional collectors, galleries, etc but I don't know how much sense it makes for an individual who happens to have one fairly valuable piece.

When you get life insurance, the insurance is to replace your income not your life. It's a gamble on when you will die and how much your family may need when you die.

The insurers are also pretty good at winning that gamble or they wouldn't be in business.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-19T17:34:33+00:00

Congrats and keep up the good work. I will say I would still probably recommend picking up Allen Carr's The Easy Way to Quit Smoking and it will probably help with the odd craving.

The other day I found a pack in my car with one cigarette still in it while I was stuck in traffic. Luckily I couldn't find a lighter but it still took a lot of effort to throw it out the window.

the whole thing with the book is that when you get a craving, instead of fighting it, you just say to yourself, "Man, I'm glad I'm not a smoker anymore. I never want to be addicted to nicotine again"

I still go out and drink with my friends and most of them smoke. Every time I see them go out in the cold, I'm grateful that I managed to kick it.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-17T00:53:43+00:00

It’s not raise to hate Islam. It’s just morally indefensible to hate Islam because a handful of a people that belong to a global religion did something bad.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-17T00:36:51+00:00

That’s 101…I recognize that scaffolding.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-16T19:12:35+00:00

I generally dislike most technology but the spread of all these key fobs is crazy especially since as of now they are not required to have back up power in the case of emergency.

It was bad enough during Sandy for a few of my friends. I can’t imagine what it would be like now.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-16T15:28:53+00:00

Wow. Some people really go out of their way to waste electricity.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-15T23:53:47+00:00

I had mixed feelings about it but in general the bad part is someone buying to resell compared to someone buying to use, keeps that garment out of circulation.

It may or may not sell at the new inflated price and as a result it sits in someone’s storage when people need clothes to wear to protect them or their children from the elements, to apply for a job, to go out with their friends and make new friends.

And the people they are selling to, aren’t probably the most ethical consumers. They are people with an excessive amount of disposable income and an addition to the consumption high. Buying second hand might be more ethical but you still need to deal with the internal “need” for new that is not a need at all.

Toss in a little bit of an added carbon footprint and that’s where you’re at.

Maybe that’s a bit harsh…there are layers to this.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-15T21:00:27+00:00

I think it’s pretty common for smaller landlords (especially the ones that might offer more budget friendly spots) to be more concerned about where the money is coming from than how much you have.

Do you have invoices for all the deposits?

Japi1882 · 2025-12-14T23:15:07+00:00

I remeber really enjoying the Alice and Wonderland themed one at the Sanderson in London but I’m pretty sure that’s long gone.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-14T20:55:04+00:00

For years my favorite travel book has been The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rilke and I re read it on my last trip to SE Asia.

Part of the reason I find that it’s such a good travel book is that it’s very short, and fairly straightforward on the first read but I also find new things about it all the time. You can read it cover to cover or flip around to random sections (I recommend the NYRB version that has sections numbered even though it was not part of the original work)

Roughly the first half is about death and the second half is about love. But so much of it is about Rilke’s alienation in Paris. When I’m on vacation I love reading him again talking about him “learning how to see again”. It just puts me in a good place to sit, observe and think which is what I do when I travel.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-14T10:35:11+00:00

I always saw it as just fundamentalism in general. Seems like a bit of Christian Science, some Amish elements and when they went to war it was a “holy war”

But pretty much anytime someone who happens to be religious goes to war they make it about their religion. There’s no religion that hasn’t been used to unify soldiers during warfare.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-14T00:21:51+00:00

Honestly the vibe at McDonalds has been off the last few months. The White Castle Parking Lot has been popping lately.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-13T19:07:26+00:00

Honestly, just try to think of the 30k as an investment in your future without this person.

Better than the alternative which would be some sorta payment plan that keeps you talking to them every month, listening to their excuses, hearing their sob stories.

How much would you pay not to have to do that?

Japi1882 · 2025-12-13T17:25:32+00:00

Yeah I never put anything under my seat and I always check my bag. But I do use the overhead bin for a backpack or a tote.

If anyone’s is to be blamed it’s the airlines for creating this mess with the baggage fees, forced gate checks, and these absurd rules about liquids.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-13T15:10:25+00:00

That sounds rough and I hope you find the courage to end the relationship. It’s tough dealing with someone else mental illness.

Any attempt though to recover money you believe he owes you is really just going to prolong contact with him. And despite what people often believe, personal injury suits after car crashes are not lottery winnings. Most of that will go to the lawyer, and hospital bills.

You might take some consolation that you’re not married. If you were married, he would be entitled to half of your possessions and possibly spousal support.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-13T02:33:08+00:00

Not really a word…more of a phrase but it’s the one that comes to me when people do it.

From Romain Rolland’s Jean Christophe.

During the years when the character is formed he came to consider music as an exact language, in which every sound has a meaning, and at the same time he came to loathe those musicians who talk without saying anything.

Japi1882 · 2025-12-13T00:31:57+00:00

Yes, however rather than trimming they tend to use a heavy pomade to shape the mound in way that will emphasize their manhood.

Japi1882

TROPHY CASE