Some Junk is Treasure...

Here's some photos I made in Greg's Antiques on Decatur Street in New Orleans. Greg's is a cool place that brings in antique furniture from Belgium, France and Germany. He also has old windows, door frames and wrought iron. Geneva bought some dishes there once. I make pictures of his junky stuff. 

Greg's a place that will make you dream of having a house with a small front yard bordered by rusting ancient iron fencing with old furniture inside and funky stained glass windows. I think maybe my house was like that once but I don't need a fence, I am too fat to sit in old chairs and am really pleased with cool clean lines of the energy efficient double pane windows that were installed a couple of years ago when I could still reap the tax benefit rewards of being a good responsible old hippie and saving the Earth. 

I went in Greg's a few years ago and there was a guy set up in his courtyard with a lot of broken unplayable (a humbling moment, I couldn't id some of the items he had) brass instruments. It was during Jazz Fest time. (People ask me all the time are you going to jazz fest? It starts this week and no not this year.) What the junk instrument seller man told me was that when tourist comes to town for Jazz fest they see old horns decorating cafes and clubs in New Orleans and when they see him selling his wares at Greg's they think, "hey I'll buy one and hang on the wall at my house." Make it look like New Orleans. He makes a living doing this and I bet he's setting up shop somewhere today in the French Quarter. 

Now I am not making fun of people hanging old horns on the wall. I do the same thing except the horns I hang on my wall are ones I broke myself. The broken instrument man probably tells his mom "I do use my music degree. I am making a living off music." I am not making fun of him either because when people say "Mudbelly you sure play good tonight" if I really feel like my playing was good and not too junky I tell them "you know, in antique times I almost got a music degree."