A Place for My Stuff

Legends of Mad Maggie

When you get your drivers license but you're still too young to drink, you try finding good hang-out spots.  That means places where you can loiter without being harassed.  A place to meet and pick up other singles.  That last aspect was all the more important when you went to an all-male high school.  Though I suppose that even for those who didn't, it was good to not have to deal with the gossip and drama that comes along with dating within their high school classmate population. 

When I was 17, one of those major places for my friends and I was Mad Maggie's billiard parlor.  The old location is gone, but apparently they're still around. They have a website.

How did I find out about the new site?  By searching the web for "Mad Maggie's"?  No, by curiously searching for blocks of text in this item I found.  At first I thought it was one of those parental consent forms, because at some point they established a policy that anybody under 18 needed to get their parents to sign one.  But no, it was just a little fictional tale:

Apparently I've had this thing buried for 20 years.  But I did notice that the only two copies of this found on the web both had some misspellings.  And "1990s" was changed to "1900s".  Regardless, I don't see why they're still advertising it that way in 2010.

I have plenty of fond and not-so-fond memories from there.  One of the creepier stories that comes to mind is the story of Phil.  In fact, it didn't seem as creepy at the time as it does now.  Around this time, I was going through one of those near-the-end-of-the-relationship feuds with my girlfriend at the time.  It was the first time I had been with somebody for over a year.  But quite honestly, I wasn't ready to settle down for the rest of my life with this women, at my age of 16.  So I suggested an open relationship.  She was devastated.  At least at first, that is.  She was dating others before I was.  And Mad Maggies was an awkward intersection for the three of us.

Who did this girl of 16 date?  A guy who was 24.  Balding.  Living with his mother.  In a trailer park.  And on top of that, he wanted to kill me.  Was it because I was still with the girl he was dating?  No, it was because I allegedly made him screw up in a Foosball tournament.  All I remember is seeing Phil downstairs in the Foosball room, playing a game with somebody, and me saying hello to him.  At some point the ball flew out, and he picked it up while saying something along the lines of "Go talk to [name of that girlfriend], I think she'll have something to say."  I don't know if those were the exact words, but it wasn't angry, and it was sort of a "Yeah, hi, sorry but I'm busy.  Bye." kind of line.  The next day though, the girl tells me that I screwed him up when he was in a tournament, even though he told me 3 times that he was in a tournament, and now he wants to kill me.

Was there any truth to the story?  Who knows.  I was getting all of the information second hand.  At the time it sure screamed "lawsuit" though if Mr. Trailer Trash laid a hand on me.  I did however get as much info as I could on the guy.  I dug up whatever dirt and other information I could from whoever I could get.  I remember this because along with the Mad Maggie's flyer, I also found my notes on him.  In the end he just faded away and I don't think I ever saw him again.  But boy, he sure was one hell of a creepy douchebag from everything I read.

I finally threw all of this out with the rest of the clutter.  But I did enjoy the pleasant reminder that I'm in my 30s and haven't had to go through any of that high school dating drama BS.  Who knows what more amusing relics of that era I'll turn up.  I should listen to Warrant the next time I find something like that.

Tragic Tales of Tape and Floss

Some realms just become "clutter magnets".  The junk just seems to accumulate there.  A tool chest is a good example of this.  Let's just look at two examples from the infamous "Why do I still have this?" category.

I honestly don't know how hold this masking tape is.  It could very well have been from my parents' original home, and purchased when I was in high school.  I really don't know.  What I did know, is that when I tried taking off a piece, it tore off into the shape of Nevada.  So I tried again.  And again.  And again.  "But surely," I thought, "with a roll of tape this big, I must be able to get at least half of the tape off in full pieces, right?"  No such luck. 

You might think rolls of tape like this are too big or too full to throw away.  Or at least that's the mentality of a pack rat.  But they're not.  Into the trash you go, Mr. Tape.  You're dryer than...well, you just think some old female celebrity, whoever comes to mind for you first.  And now think of a part of her anatomy.  There, I didn't say it.  But you just thought it!

And now we come to the floss.  I bought this when I moved into my old place some 8 years ago.  "200 yards!  I'll be set for YEARS!"  Or so I thought.  You see, in my old place, my sink was right next to the shower, and the only thing separating the two besides the tub itself, was a shower curtain.  I had this floss on the side of the sink.  Sure enough, a lady I was dating at the time somehow managed to move the curtain and have it fall into the shower, into a pool of soap-scummy shower water.

Well, I sure as hell wasn't going to put anything from this particular spool into my mouth again.  But with 200 yards (minus whatever I used in the week before it took a high dive into sludge city), my pack rat mentality kicked in.  "Surely," I thought, "I can use this for some kind of rope or twine."  After seeing it in my toolbox for years, I finally realized "No, I'm NOT going to end up using it for some purpose like that.  Besides, who'd want to hang a picture with something waxy and mint-scented?"  Into the trash you finally go, with your even older friend Mr. Tape.

Old living room, before moving out

Moving out of my own place, I was desperately going through stuff to pack or pitch.  Here's what my living room looked like AFTER I was able to clear out the furniture and whatever was left in my bedroom.

Yep, I realized I still had a loooong way to go.

We're Stars! Ronnie James Dio Tribute.

My friend Big Jim was a close and personal friend of Ronnie James Dio.  In fact, it was all thanks to Jim that I got to meet Ronnie for the first time in 1996, and many times after that.  Jim plays in a couple of different bands in the New Haven area.  When I found out his band was doing an all-Dio set, and that his band and the others were going to get together to do the song Stars, I knew I had to drive down through 2 states to see the show.

What's "Stars" all about?  Well let me explain.

Back in the 1980s, there were lots of enormous one-time pop groups thrown together to record a song for some sort of charity.  There was USA For Africa, Band Aid, Artists United Against Apartheid, etc.  There was also a heavy metal one called Hear n' Aid, organized by Ronnie James Dio.  It featured members of Dio, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Dokken, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Queensrÿche, Blue Öyster Cult, Vanilla Fudge, Y&T, Journey, W.A.S.P., Night Ranger, Iron Maiden, and a few more that I'm sure I'm forgetting.  The song they recorded was called "Stars".

So now fast forward to 2010.  Big Jim and a whole host of other local musicians perform "Stars" as part of a Ronnie James Tribute night.  Frankly, I was impressed.  It's really hard to get over a dozen musicians on one stage all properly mixed, let alone have them all doing the song OK.  But somebody managed to get it on video and upload it.

 

 

Here's an article on the event.

And no, I have no idea what the deal is with the kid in the wheelchair at center stage.

Flash Oldies but Goodies

Try not to comprehend these too deeply.

Viking Kittens

G & S

Lobster Magnet!

And one that SHOULD have been a classic:

Schlöshd Beer

(And yes, note the category for this blog post is "comedy", not "clutter".)

Use a Camera to Help See Your Clutter Trouble Spots

This article/blog entry offers a simple piece of advice that might help with clutter. To quote the article:

If you feel like you clean up but never really get rid of clutter perhaps you need a perspective shift. Use a still or video camera to record your spaces and get a fresh look at things. It's all too easy to become desensitized to the clutter in your home and office. [...] I realized that the camera's eye was picking up clutter my eyes were simply moving past! So I scrutinized the tape, marched back to those rooms and really went through the stuff, making firm decisions and tossing several items.

I've certainly taken conscious photos of my clutter before.  My blog is full of hundreds of examples.  But I haven't tried this exact technique of taking big photos or long video, and then examining them.  It's something I'll keep in mind.

Barb Rogers on "Clutter Addiction"

I just found this short article on "Clutter Addiction":
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barb-rogers/clutter-addiction_b_667848.html

It was written by Barb Rogers, who also authored the book Clutter Junkie No More.  I haven't read the book, but it apparently takes the 12-step approach.  As you regular readers of this blog know, I've already talked about 12-step programs before and my experience with them.  In short, I'm not an advocate of the 12-step program.  Maybe it works for some people, but it's hardly the only option out there.

I agree with some parts of the article, and disagree with some other parts.  I disagree with the author's claim that "clutter addicts use their addiction to avoid reality".  That's quite over-simplified, and it doesn't even apply to all clutterers.  You can claim that people doing just about anything you dislike is an act of them "avoiding reality".  But I won't go into detail here.  I do agree that some people get caught up in buying new things for the "high" of it, only to have the feeling pass and the item just adds to the ever-growing pile.  I used to do this a lot with books and DVDs, especially.  Fortunately though I was able to recognize these clutter sources for myself and severely cut down on them.  I can honestly say that I'm much better at saying "You know, I don't really need that" and putting stuff back on the shelf at the store, than I was 2 years ago.  And I didn't need a "higher power" for it.

Anyway, this is after all a blog about clutter so I'm not opposed to mentioning different views on the topic.  Enjoy the article.  Or don't.

Confronting Packrats: The Wrong Way, and the Effective Way

Here's something I've mentioned before, but it's worth mentioning again.  Let me set the new scene.

A few days ago I overheard a co-worker of mine complaining about his wife and her stuff.  Apparently, she has many big boxes of stuff that had been moved from the year before, and have yet to be opened.  It was the same old story I've heard before: one spouse is a packrat, the other isn't.  And the one that isn't thinks that making threats and ultimatums will actually do something.  He said, "I told her, if she doesn't have all this stuff moved out by this weekend, I'm throwin' it out myself."  I turned to him and said, "Are you ASKING for a divorce?"

My point, as I explained to him, was this: making ultimatums is unlikely to get the problem solved.

Am I trying to defend this packrat whom I have never met?  No.  She has a problem, whether it's just an isolated incident blocking her hallway, or a more general problem of always keeping too much stuff, and she should do something about it.  And he's stuck with living with this unwanted stuff in the same home, which isn't fair for him.  Again, my point is that of all the ways of helping a packrat with their cluttering problem, some ways work but some ways do not and might even backfire.  This was a case of the latter.

As with any sort of compulsive behavioral problem, it's hard to understand the situation if you don't have it yourself, and thus make the mistake of oversimplify the solutions.  What may seem like the most logical solution to YOU, is not necessarily going to work for THEM.  Mind you, I'm not knocking logic.  Hell, I have a Master's Degree in mathematics, so trust me when I say I'm no enemy of logic.  But you have to realize that people like hoarders do NOT cognitively think in the same way as your average Joe does when it comes to these objects.  That's why they're hoarders in the first place!

I often bring up alcoholism as an analogy.  Let's say you have a friend who's an alcoholic.  She has a bottle of Jack Daniel's in her hand.  Logically, somebody might look at that and think "Ah-ha, that's the source of her problem, right there in her hand.  So if I reach down and take it away, the problem will be solved."  Yeah, right.  Ever try to take a drink away from a drunk?  They don't get sober.  They get violent.  They'll find ways to sneak in more booze.  Likewise, packrats will naturally get defensive (or worse) when you try to take their stuff or move it without their permission.  They will just hate you, and may just end up getting more stuff which inevitably winds up in the space you just cleared.

I've written examples of "do"s and "don'ts" in the following past two blog entries:

• "How NOT to address a pack rat"
• "How to [hopefully] address a pack rat"

It will be interesting if my co-worker has new stories on Monday...

Got Mites?

As if there weren't enough cluttery things in the home to worry about!  Check out these pics:

"Creepy crawlies: Amazing Scanning Electron Microscope pictures of insects and spiders".

You may just have a bunch of these lurking in your bed.  The moral of the story: change your sheets.  That means more than just once a year.

Speaking of dust mites, see my earlier blog post about dust.