Archive for 2009
December 21 2009: Hallway Clutter
Filed under Friends & Life with 15 Comments
This is a hallway in my house that leads from the bedrooms/bathroom to the kitchen. It has been like this for six months – and everything there belongs to my female housemate. In that time, she has made no attempt whatsoever to clear her personal belongings out of what should be a communal hallway, and other people in the house are forced to go the long way around to the kitchen, going through the living room and dining room. Regular hints from both my male housemate (whose family owns the house) and myself haven’t worked at all.
Now imagine that clutter in a bedroom. What you’re now thinking of is her bedroom. She has to literally climb over bags and boxes of things in order to get into bed. I had to strong-arm her in order to get her to throw out six months worth of old newspapers that were nearly waist-height. Did she want to keep the newspapers? Yes. Did I have to bully her to get her to throw them out? Yes. Was I justified? Yes. Combined with the dozen or so oil burners and candles scattered around her room, it was simply an unnecessary fire hazard. Could she clear out three year old magazines and other unnecessary papers that are also a fire hazard? Yes. Will she? No.
Is it that she needs all her possessions? She hasn’t touched it or even looked at anything in the hallway in six months, so one would presume not. Is it a time issue – does she simply not have the time to clear it up? Clearly not – she works hospitality (primarily weekends), but is free throughout the week. Watching television for six or seven hours each day does take up a lot of time, and I guess watching daytime soap operas is serious business.
Now this is the first time I’ve ever lived in a share house, but logic would dictate that though she might also be paying rent, a standard rule of house-sharing should be that one’s activities and actions should not hinder other people’s living spaces and lifestyle. Communal areas should be kept communal. You can do whatever you want with your own space/bedroom (within reason, e.g. fire and other hazards should be removed), but communal areas should be kept in a live-able and usable state by all members of the household. That hallway doesn’t fit the criteria.
So, when I buy her organisational stuff for Christmas? Sure, it might be blunt and somewhat of an insult, but if it acts as a kick up the pants and gets her to get her act together and recognise that it is socially unacceptable to hinder other people’s living space, then I really don’t give a shit. It was either that or my other house mate cracking the shits and asking her to leave and find somewhere else to live within two weeks (which he was on the verge of, and could still possibly do if she doesn’t get the message). Between either insulting her, or kicking her out to find another share house…lesser of two evils. She can deal with it.
I could have, of course, bought her things she would probably like a lot more. I could have bought cosmetics or body stuff (soaps, lotions, etc.). I could have bought candles, essential oils, oil burners. I could have bought clothes or accessories. But when she already has that many material possessions (and buys more of the same junk every week though she’s always complaining that she doesn’t have enough money and that it’s a struggle to get the $100 rent together each week), I don’t feel sympathetic enough to contribute to that level of mindless consumerism.
December 20 2009: QOTW: Gift-giving
Filed under Life & Q.O.T.W. with 21 Comments
It’s no secret that I’m not particularly into the Christmas spirit. My family have never celebrated Christmas, and I’ve never really understood the concept of gift exchanges – why not just all agree to buy yourself the thing you want most, rather than have gifts that you don’t want given to you by others? I think the same of birthday presents – I’d much rather get money so I can buy my own large present, rather than have lots of little things given to me.
This year however, marks the first Christmas I’ve spent away from family, with two house mates who believe firmly in the concept of gift-giving, a fancy Christmas lunch, etc. Because I knew that they’d buy me presents, I kind of felt obligated to buy them presents as well. So, in the practical and logical way that I do things, I bought:
- For my female housemate: Organisational things. A shoe rack you can hang over a door, hanging organisers for wardrobes, etc. Her room is a pigsty (by anyone’s standards, not just my own anal standards!), and I thought it would come in handy for her to be able to organise at least some of her possessions.
- For my male housemate: Jumpers and scarves – he’s heading to Italy for three weeks in January, and has no winter clothes. He wears Tshirts and shorts year-round in Australia, but that’s really not an option for a European winter, so I bought him some warm clothes to wear over there.
Dylan tells me that I’ve misunderstood the whole concept of Christmas gift giving. He claims that Christmas gifts needn’t have to be about practicality and whether or not the recipient will use it, but that it’s about something thoughtful and personal, something frivolous that will put a smile on the person’s face. To teach me a lesson about what a “true” Christmas is about, he’s already claimed that he’s going to wake me up at 5am to open presents, then take me out for “experiences” all day. I have no idea what these “experiences” are going to be, because he won’t even tell me what I should wear for the day to ensure that I’m appropriately dressed for the activities.
Anyway, point is, I personally think that a practical gift is more likely to give long-term happiness to the recipient. Sure, a gag gift might give you a few laughs on the day, but after that it’s probably just going to go in a drawer and be forgotten about. A practical gift like the two I got however, will give ongoing benefits to the recipients!
Question of the Week: What kind of gift giver are you? Do you aim for practicality, or do you get anything that will put a smile on the recipient’s face?
December 16 2009: Fanlistings For Adoption
Filed under Online with 2 Comments
I own four fanlistings, and to tell you the truth, I’ve simply outgrown the whole concept. All four were wishlisters at the time, but I simply don’t have the passion to run them now. I can add members, but I don’t care enough to actually revamp them, add information, or whatever. I do have some remnant of affection for them still though, so would like to see them go to someone with: a) real passion for the subject, b) experience in handling fanlistings, c) experience in transferring Bellabuffs to other fanlisting management scripts as I can’t help you there!
The fanlistings are:
People Miscellany: Language: ChineseMusicians (Male): Jay Chou (Zhou Jie Lun)- Musicians (Male): Wang Leehom
Musicians (Bands/Groups): Spice Girls
If you would like to adopt any of the above, please either leave a comment here, or email me at acchamanda at gmail dot com. It would be beneficial to include: a) Links to either fanlistings you currently own, or sites you run; and b) An explanation of why you actually want the fanlisting. There is no closing date on applications, though it also isn’t a case of first come first served. I’ll know when the right person applies, and will offer them the fanlisting and remove it from this post when it happens.
In other site-related news, I’ve just renewed this domain for another three years, so you’re all stuck with me until at least 2013. Huzzah!