I’ve been moving into a new apartment for the last few weeks.  Tomorrow marks the last day of the month, meaning it is the last day I can spend in my old (far inferior) apartment.  The move has been wonderful.  The new apartment is just head and shoulders better than the last.  I’m in good company, I feel creative and I have a lot of space — and a fireplace! 

It’s also only a block from my old place.  So a lot of the moving has been by hand, carrying a box here and a box there.  It’s a two minute walk and I get a little exercise out of it so what the hell.

The best part about the area I live in (North Hollywood) is the free items left on the sidewalk.  When I was younger, I would probably run from objects left on the sidewalk.  To me, they were always property of poor people or maybe the homeless.  Of course, in my hometown, most everything outside is covered in meth residue.  In North Hollywood, filled with mostly young and healthy people, stuff on the street is just extra baggage that didn’t fit in the U-Haul.  Or, as I can attest to, the mover was probably just too tired to actually lift one more damn couch.  Or maybe they upgraded to something nicer.  The table my roomies and I just found isn’t fantastic but it sure isn’t terrible.  Doesn’t even smell bad.  Same goes for the stool I’m sitting on. 

I still buy things, of course.  Like the handy little bed lamp I bought at Ikea yesterday.  And I probably wouldn’t sleep on a free bed, or rest on a free couch, unless it was literally given to me.   But finding something for free is such a rush.  Even with a sign stating it’s free, I feel like a crook when I carry the object down the street.  As if some Dateline reporter will emerge from behind a corner and ask me what the hell I’m doing.  So far no stings.  Just free furntiture.  Not a lot, but nice odds and ends.

Living on my own has taught me a lot.  More than just how to pay bills and make apointinments.  I’ve learned that not all free things are disgusting. 

A lot are, but not all.

Of course, if this stool bursts open tonight and I’m swallowed whole by cockroaches, please notify my loved ones.