Hello:
I was born in 1969 and I grew up in Adrian, Michigan. My father used to own a reputable furniture store near Adrian, and I used to work there on weekends and for a while when I dropped out of college. I always found the used furniture section of the store to be far more interesting than the new products section. I dropped out of Michigan State because I didn’t like the people. I also started to DJ at parties and didn’t care too much about getting up early for classes. My mother is a nurse. I had an older brother who died of leukemia when he was young. I have a vague notion of he and I watching TV together. I don’t remember much more. I must have been three or four. I got arrested for stealing at the local thrift store when I was seventeen, and knew it was time to leave Michigan. My parents could have given up on my ass but they didn’t. They are good Midwestern people.
I got my first name from my Father’s mother who was Greek. It was apparently her father’s name. I have never been to Greece, but would really like to.
I arrived in New York City in the early 90s after living in Seattle (4 months), Austin (not sure how long) and Boston (1 year). I was going to go back to college in Boston (BU) but suffered a broken leg in a dumb car accident which really messed things up because I was in a cast for three months with no insurance. I moved to NYC then because a friend of mine from Michigan lived there. I had all kinds of jobs when I first moved to NYC. I was an apartment painter, a waiter, and a bookstore clerk. I attempted a brief sojourn as a limo driver but couldn’t stand the hours and people’s attitudes. All these things were better than being a janitor in Boston however.
I have always been interested in collections of all kinds, and utterly respected anyone who was good at it. I believe that there are people who have a certain aptitude for finding things. It’s not even so much a level of awareness, but a zen state of mind. It’s a state of no mind actually, where all your faculties are open. I’ve tried to hold onto collections of my own, but lost a lot after moving in the early 90s. New York has some really amazing collections of things, but it’s so hard to start your own here and survive with no money. You’re really reduced to picking garbage.
That’s about it,
X. F. Pine
