Jacob Berendes writes:
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HBML grand opening / grand closing

"There should have been savage, elaborately choreographed violence in jeweled underground cities, uncomfortable stretches of full-frontal nudity, an Agatha Christie-style murder subplot aboard the cramped compartments of the moleship. A few musical numbers wouldn't have killed anybody, perhaps sung by passing upside-down volcanoes, or the lonely Virgil itself." --sam macpheeters

hello all.

this wednesday april 1st after a long vacation, HBML junk shoppe will open it's doors once again to begin its last few hours of operations forever. wednesday from 4pm until 9pm i will be there trying to get rid of absolutely everything in the store. except for the t-shirts, everything will be priced "whatever", no offer (of money for goods) will be denied, and all proceeds will go towards stone soup community center, which recently suffered a huge fire (see http://tiny.cc/APZvM). anything that isn't grabbed will become a problem for me, so please come pick it up and if you can, donate to stone soup, which rules, and a fire also rules but also, it sucks.

HBML lasted almost 3 years, which is 2 years and 10 months longer than i had anticipated. if you have a good story about or commentary on HBML, please send it to me for a wrap-up book. also pictures or drawings. no eulogies or well-wishes. "do not funeral".

this saturday from 12 to 6 we will have a silk screen day that will
also be a fundraiser for stone soup. i don't yet know what the image will be. another silk screen day the following saturday, which will be the total close-out, clean the walls, dumpster run, sweep-up.

i'm still too close to it to write up a half-decent conclusion, and
truth be told, i'm ending because i'm more than a little exhausted, to a degree that a vacation will not fix. but i will say this: we opened HBML in june of 2006. in the time since i've met a lot of great people, i've made some really dumb stuff, i've said some outrageous things on the border of truth. at no point did i ever make or have any money whatsoever, and lots of people still think my name is mike leslie. our rent was $400 a month and our business model was always fucked. we were never open for more than 20 hours a week. i never had a second job. maybe some people were inspired in some way, but really, all i heard was a lot of talk. nonetheless, i would do it again. i realize that the store will be missed, but i need to do other things with my life right now.

if you had items on consignment to the store, we will do our best to get your goods back to you unless told otherwise. also, if you ever put anything on consignment with us, we might have money for you that will also be sent along (unless told otherwise).

to reiterate:
wednesday 4/1/08 4pm until 9pm shop stupid
saturday 4/4/08 12 to 6 silk screen benefit for stone soup
(everything gets thrown away)
saturday 4/11/08 silk screen day

whoever has the best idea for how to use the space at 420 pleasant st (matched with $800 for first and last month) gets it.

FTL DIYLAMF

jacob berendes
HBML
420 pleasant st worcester ma
hbml.org

please reword and repost.

ALSO, i'm gearing up for the next big project and this time i'm doing the casting first-- currently seeking wealthy dowagers, eccentric patrons, people who bring me food, also-ran poets, doddering octogenarians in massive purple spectacles, model/bodyguards, bullyable accountants, long island trannies, twittering nymphs, long-suffering publishers, a jimmy olson, a watson, a clifford, a marmaduke, a howard huge, an amelia bedelia, several interns. in general i'm looking for people who will look radiant in a baggy sweater in a ceramics studio in the documentary about my life in 30 years. no phonies. moneyed phonies OK.

ps- in re: "lots of talk": prove me wrong!