A Place for My Stuff

Another "30 Day Song Challenge" Indulgence

The 30 Days are already over, but I'll throw in a few more of these.  Go here if you don't know what I'm talking about.

"A song that describes you"?  Well I suppose I should go for something about clutter or being a pack rat, but nothing comes to mind right now.  A different song that does come to mind though is "Bananas" by Deep Purple.  Besides earning the nickname "Bananas" due in part to the "Banana" episodes I did for my radio show, I especially like the lyrics "Don't help me, I'll help myself" and "Now my life is richer than rich, 'cause I studied mathematics".

 

Next on the list is "a song that you used to love but now hate".  I guess that would include songs that I used to like, but heard them so many times that I got sick of them.  Pretty much anything from Metallica's self-titled album comes to mind.  I was already sick of it entering college in 1993, and EVERY person in my dorm either had that CD or had a room mate who had the CD.  And the damn thing got played every day.  I will go so far as to say that it is the most overplayed heavy metal album of all time.  I'm not even going to bother posting a clip here.

Then there's "A song that you hear often on the radio".  Well, I listen to Sirius XM radio these days, not FM/AM.  I find this song showing up a lot on the stations I listen to:

 

And finally (for this installment anyway) "A song that you wish you heard on the radio".  If there was a song I wanted to hear, then chances are good that I've already long since bought the album and can listen to it whenever I want.  Though as Alice Cooper pointed out, classic rock stations seem to select from the same 100 songs.  It's nice to get into the deeper tracks.  In fact, there's one XM radio station specifically built on this idea.  How about...ANY song from The Residents?

 

Stuff on your Keychain

Here's a little exercise you can do yourself.  Go get your keychain.  Look at each key on it.  Can you say which lock each key is for?  Or are there some whose purpose escapes you?  Are there some that you need, but perhaps don't have to carry around with you every day?

And how many of these damn bar-code mini cards do you have?

I remember getting rid of a number of these at some point.  Now I realize that I no longer use the ones I have today.

• Shaws?  I no longer go there since I moved.
• Here's another card for the pharmacy based on the insurance plan I'm no longer on.
• Hollywood video?  Oh yeah, that's right.  There used to be these places called video rental stores where you could rent movies and games.  I used to go there before I found RedBox machines, never mind the price of some new DVDs going to $5.
• Borders?  This was good when there was more of them around where I live, and I actually was on their membership plan.  But at some point I faced the fact that I still have stacks of books that I've purchased but haven't gotten around to reading.  I've been trying to cut down on frivolous book spending anyway, for the sake of saving money.
• Staples?  OK, fine, we'll keep this.  One little card can't hurt.

Feeding the Fireplace

"But I've never worried about fame or fortune or power or wealth. As long as I just have the simple things in life. Like sitting in front of the fireplace with a copy of War and Peace. A book like that will feed a fire for half an hour."
- Emo Philips

Some time ago I bought a shredder, and put it to good use.  My wife however had so much stuff to shred that eventually she gave up and just stuck it in a trash bag.  I added more to it as the months piled on.  We both added more stuff.  Until finally, we had an entire trash bag of stuff we wanted to shred.

Actually, we had another idean in mind all along.  New Hampshire is a major vacation state for most New Englanders, and there are lots of motels that additionally have cabins you can rent.  So we used the shredables as a good excuse to go to one of our favorite cabin complexes for the weekend, namely to use its fireplace.

On a side note, I find it strange that lighting a fire is one of humankind's oldest technologies, and yet here in the 21st century it's difficult finding a place where you can light a fire without getting in trouble.  Most beaches and parks won't allow it.  Most homes don't have a fireplace.  Fortunately, there are still wooden cabins!

The concept of "Guilty Pleasure"

So the next song in the list of the 30 Day Song Challenge is to give an example of a song that's a "guilty pleasure".

Honestly, that term has never been part of my vocabularly.  The concept just makes no sense to me.  I have never, ever, taken any shame in the things that I like.  This has especially been the case with regard to music.  Are there people who are really ashamed to be caught by their friends or their family listening to a certain piece of music?  Really?  Sorry, but that just strikes me as pathetic.  If I like something, then I really don't give a shit if you don't, and if I don't like something, I avoid listening to it.  I guess this attitude of mine is more foreign than I thought.

I most certainly listen to music that would repulse certain demographics of people.  No matter what your age or your clique, I'm sure you'll find something in my music collection that makes you gag, whether it's my complete Journey collection, The Residents, the few hip-hop tracks I've purchased, or something else.  But these are not "guilty" pleasures for me because, again, I have no shame in liking what I like.  So I simply can't give an example this time around.

This brings us to the next item in the list, "A song that no one would expect you to love".  OK, well that makes a little more sense.  Here's a band I suppose people who haven't listened to my radio show but did read my previous post, might assume I wouldn't love:

  

Blue Screen Blues

This time around, I'd like to talk about digital stuff.  A few weeks ago I was having problems with my computer.  I kept getting the BSOD.

Eventually I was having issues just booting up.  Did I immediately give up and take it down to Best Buy to let strangers rummage around through my computer and charge me an arm and a leg for it?  Hell no.  I called some friends, got some ideas, and finally resolved the problem by unplugging my second internal hard drive which I added a couple of years ago.  A few weeks ago, the drive I mapped to it would occasionally not appear under "My Computer" until I rebooted.  I also bought a third, external hard drive to back up everything, which I did.  Though that included an annoying back-up program which started to signal the time these BSOD episodes started happening.  The latest news is that I can reboot, but I can't get that second internal drive to work.  This is still something I'm investigating.

Regardless of what is causing this, and whether or not that second hdd of mine is still working at all, I can at least say this: thank goodness I already got around to backing up my stuff!  I can at least go to sleep every night knowing that not every photo, document, and music file I'd been saving over the last so many years is unrecoverable. 

And if you're one of those self-righteous Apple owners who think that things like this could never happen to your precious Mac, guess again.  Macs CAN crash.  I know, because I've seen it happen with the Mac laptop I own.  Yes, I own both computers with Windows XP and others with Mac OS X.  I also just added Ubuntu to another one. (Yes, folks, there are more than two choices for operating systems!)  Macs can also get viruses.  The reality is that no OS is perfect.  Just as grease monkeys, off-roaders, and soccer moms are not going to drive the same car, you just need to pick the one that best lets you do the things you want to do.

More importantly, I once again quote the IT guy at a previous workplace of mine: "Every hard drive will eventually die.  It's just a matter of when."  So I'll throw out this question once again.  When it comes to your digital stuff, would it be gone if your computer was stolen?  Something to think about.

And having said all that, let's turn once again to the self-indulgent 30 Day Song Challenge.  Next up, "A song from a band you hate".  Well, it would be simple enough to put up a clip here from Creed, so I'll go one further.

 

Oh, OK, OK.  Here you go.  A real song.

 

On a related note, it fills me with such grim delight that Hair Nation has replaced Pearl Jam Radio on the XM radio station.  Granted both channels existed before and still exist now, and they were just changing the station numbers around to make everything consistent with Sirius radio.  But still, I love the idea of some Pearl Jam fanatic tuning to their beloved XM radio station and hearing Dokken.  Just as I love the idea that these asshole grunge fans I had to put up with in the '90s now have kids who play "Guitar Hero" and have developed a love for 80s hard rock, a love that fueled all the more by the fact that it's music their parents hate.  Heh heh heh.

Hoarder, or Just Unsanitary?

It seems that hoarding has gotten much more attention in the past year or two than it has before.  It's one of the latest hysterias.  Even South Park made it the topic of an episode of theirs.  I started this blog before any of that.  And now I have to wonder if people are throwing this term around too loosely.

I don't pretend to know the full story behind this following piece, but I do have to wonder if this person was actually a hoarder, or just too thoughtless to collect and take out the trash one week.

[source]

NASHVILLE, TENN. – A Nashville condominium owner likely will be forced out of an upscale high-rise after losing a lawsuit that claimed she was hoarding and living in filth.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has upheld a judge's decision to order the condo sold and the proceeds used to pay $116,000 in legal fees to the Windsor Towers homeowner's association.

The 59-year-old condo owner, Stacy Harris, says she is not a hoarder.

The case originated when neighbors complained of a foul smell and escalated into condo managers pushing Harris to have it cleaned.

Workers at the condo testified the odor made them gag, while court records show waste from the unit filled a commercial-sized trash bin three times.

The case went to court after the smell persisted and Harris refused to allow another cleaning.

"Come out of that house with your clutter raised!"

Local news:

"The Arlington Police Department in partnership with the Arlington Health and Human Services Department has been awarded a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH.) This first ever hoarding grant awarded to a police department in the Commonwealth will support a Hoarding Response Team.

The police department and the health and human services department have experienced a marked increase in the number of residents suffering from compulsive hoarding and acquiring disorders. These individuals increase risks of homelessness, suffering a medical emergency, or self-harm due to inadequate access or coordination of services."

Read more here:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/arlington/news/x1471445939/Arlington-police-awarded-state-hoarding-grant#ixzz1LXDbkrU5

...and make of THAT what you will!

More of that shamelessly self-indulgent "song challenge"

The next installment of the (so-called) 30 Day Song Challenge:

"A song that you know all the words to".  Well there are plenty to choose from here, especially after doing karaoke and singing in bands before.  Here's one I made an effort to know cold:

 

What I find funny about this song is that so many would hear me perform it and love it, but have no clue what the song was about.  Then when I told them, they usually felt embarrassed.  A "Hook" is musical term for a catchy part of a song that gets repeated.  If you pay attention to the lyrics, you'll see that the actually message of the song is "This song doesn't really mean anything; it's just catchy."

Next is "A song that you can dance to".  Well, I think you can "dance" to just about any song, even if it's not meant for that.  I started dancing when I was in college, and still a teetotaler.  After sitting on the couch through a few parties I realized "If I'm going to get laid, I'm either going to have to start drinking or dancing.  And drinking costs money and makes you puke."  I came to realize that dancing essentially just comes down to 1) moving in rhythm to the song, and 2) not looking like a complete idiot while doing so.

In any case, here's the first song that popped in my mind.  Love this themed performance too.  The song kicks in at around 30 seconds.

 

Next, "A song that makes you fall asleep".  I'd have to say just about any song from Steely Dan or Donald Fagen. It's not that I terribly dislike them.  But something about their style just makes me want to fall asleep.  Beavis and Butthead would concur:

 

And finally, "A song from your favorite band".  Well that's pretty easy.  I'll pick the one from them that really caught my ear and eventually made me a fan.

 

Hey, I can close my bureau draws!

It was time again for a de-cluttering of the wardrobe.  This is just one of those de-cluttering jobs that isn't a one-time event.  It's something that just about everybody has to do once in a while, whether it's once a year or once every 5 years.

When your bureaus are bulging, it doesn't mean you need a new bureau.  It means it's time to get rid of the stuff that you're barely wearing.  Or at the very least, get it out of the bureau and into some kind of a box for later.  I reached the point where I had stacks of clean clothes next to my bureau, so it was certainly the time to go through this stuff.

I live in a climate with four seasons, so it's not unusual to have a box for seasonal clothes.  Of course, if you can get rid of it completely, so much the better.  Once I moved all but one or two sweaters and sweatshirts into a seasonal box, and got rid of the extra "bad" shirts I mentioned last time, my bottom drawer was practically empty.  I similarly moved other shirts I don't wear into either a put-away box or in the bag for the thrift store.

I managed to fill a trashbag for the Salvation Army.  Also found a beat-up pair of shoes I knew I wouldn't be wearing again.

"Do you want a receipt?" they asked.  I ended up declining.  The last time I did this, I thought I would be getting tax write-offs for my donations.  But even after saving all of those receipts, I found out in the end that it still wasn't nearly enough to be worth putting on the tax forms.  So this time around, I didn't bother.