[ArtStream]

Visited Quartzsite, AZ this year. It is the Snowbird capital of the US they say.
I inquired to all the small business and vendors as to the state of business this year, non-scientific at best.

Business down 50% as opposed to 2006/7, was the consensus.

Most business owners are not placing restock orders for the coming 2008/9 season. Lots of vendors say they are not returning next season.


Artists are hurting as you can imagine. Many artists are being offered loans by the show promoters in order to afford gas to just get to the promoters next show.
Kind of reminds me of the company store scam.


For the first time in 10 years, I'm being pleaded with by second tear art show promoters to exhibit with them just to fill empty spots caused by artist bailing out due to poor or no sales and expensive fuel. (even after paying in-full with no refunds, using the "throwing good money after bad" principle

Craft shows are a different matter, the under 25 dollar "made in China" buy and sell items hawked by "so called artists" sell as fast as these charlatans can important the junk.
Many of these fish mongers are thriving.

Myself, I just went solar, added a cat heater and some fans. Looking to add a 60 gal water tank and an Aux fuel tank to my Tow Vehicle. My daily driver is my Yahama 225cc motorcycle which resides in my TV, and gets 75mpg.

I decided in 2007, that 2008 might be a good year to step back from the art show circuit and reflect. That decision turned out to be a good one for me.

Recently, I met a newly graduated doctorate student traveling cross-country on motorcycle.
He was struggling to set-up his tent in the trailer park I was over-nighting in.

I offered some help and we struck up a conversation.

Gene, is an exchange student from Hong Kong. Just earned his Doctorate in finance from a top collage. His dream as a boy, was to study here in the U.S., settle down and get a job here in the U.S., and travel across the United States on a motorcycle.

He got his degree, is traveling cross-country , but is leaving the US to settle down and get a job, Gene cannot find a job here, while Asia and the middle East are throwing money at him left and right, even offering him a home for free!

He also said that he is one of the last generations seeking an education here in the United States.

He asked me if he could be candid about his take on the future of the U.S. from an outsiders prospective.


He shared with me the sentiment of his collage professors and fellow students, the opinions of his friends and relatives back in Hong Kong, as well as his own.

At times it was hard for me to believe he was actually talking about the United States.


His take on the state and direction of the U.S. is only his own opinion of course, and I thanked him for his candor.


Each and everyone of us has his or her's own opinion, I have mine, you have yours.


Did I mention I'm fully solar now and looking for a tribe.

Michael