and I figure one of the beauties of the internet is we can all suffer together.
I am a sucker for Christmas, though, even if it is Boxing Day to my birthday. My mother’s mum was born on Christmas Day, and that was a real rip-off. Grandpa Bertie always gave her a cheque for her birthday but she did all the finances and was careful to the point of frugality [but cui bono, eh, ed?], so never cashed them or spent the money. Aware of this, he tended to write bigger and bigger cheques, it being the thought that counts.
I am all for tangible presents, lest anyone [hubby] misinterpret the above. However, I am getting keenly aware of the quantity of “stuff” in my house. I have a brother possessed of a large supply of will-power, and he has me, through osmosis not badgering [thank you, very much, xty], on two missions at once. The first I may have mentioned: throw out one thing a day. Whether it is an old sock, a child or a chesterfield, the result over time is astonishing, even providing room for a granny and a returning child [if you count a commode chair in the kitchen as a second bathroom, ed. [Hey, nose out of it, xty. [I would love to, ed.]]]
The second dastardly scheme he has now mentioned is being paper negative on a daily basis. Easy at first, because we still get telephone books. Now I have actually had to resort to more functional efforts, and have taken one of the last, nastiest, piles of paper from my desk and am taming it on the living-room floor, trying to reverse the tide before the mailman [whom we love, because he brings Mouse biscuits, instead of running away, bills undelivered … hey wait …] can deliver the equivalent of a redwood to our mailbox. The recycle bin sits hungry nearby.
There are now two corners to the den, if you count the intersection of two book-cases as a corner. And I am the proud owner of a deluxe duster, bought by offspring #3 and a pal yesterday as they froze with the dog on her truncated walk. To confess it is my first real duster would be too revealing, so let’s just say I am in awe with the way it snuck in-between books and shelves! I have seen one in action, in my own house, as without my trusty occasional side-kick and paid cleaning mentor, we would have drowned in dog fur, if not worse, long ago. He explained it all to me, a challenged human, long ago. Knock down the dust, vacuum it up, and then mop. Oh, and start at the top. He makes it sound and look so easy, that I get him to show me again and again how to do it …
These two rules, getting your son to walk the dog and your friend to clean your house [stop dreaming, ed.], I mean jettisoning an object a day and reversing the tide of paper, are going to be especially important over the next few weeks. I think granny, hubby and the dog should all start really picking up their game …
Other brother also [there seems to be a theme here, ed. [I can ban you, you know, xty.]] once gave me a book by the ‘Fly Lady’, who has a number of rules to help impose order on the disorderly. I follow two of her rules to this day, pretty much. The first is to keep your sink clean. It is amazing how much else flows from this simple edict. The other is to bite of bits of large tasks in small chunks, even to the extent of using a timer [or album]. She then said something about putting on your shoes and drying your dishes, and I seem to have tuned out ….
You would think from all of this that my house is clean, or how could I be so unabashed as to dish out advice? Hubris.
But I also hope I am reaching out to the other challenged people out there, sharing my new found success with the new mantra, which is making room for my newfoundland success to make a nest in the den when she gets home.
Great stuff, Xty. I’ve been trying out that “toss one thing a day” strategy myself since you mentioned it recently. It makes a lot of sense, and has a natural appeal to the naturally lazy. How hard can it be to toss one thing a day? If once a year I vowed to toss 365 things, that would be a huge ugly job that would never get done. But one thing a day? What? Can’t drag yourself away from the idiot box (years ago that was the TV, now it’s the internet) for two lousy minutes? That’s pathetic.
One little gimmick I’ve become pretty good at is never allowing dirty cups, bowls, dishes of any kind, sit in the living room. I annoy my family greatly with this. We seldom eat at the kitchen table anymore, mostly nestling into our usual spots in the living room with a cup or a bowl. So, my family now calls me the Cup Nazi. So be it. A dirty dish might sit by the sink until Ragnarok, but not in the living room. Odin has spoken.
Meanwhile, Frigga cracks a Mona Lisa-esque smile. Baby steps, she’s thinking. Baby steps.
Rick Santelli is yelling on the boob toob again. I just call him Rantelli now. Just thought I’d get that out of the way before I get to the post I had in mind.
Josh Brown has a great post up this morning, entitled “Can You Get Investment Knowledge from Twitter?”
It really applies to the whole internet, tv, newsletters, everything, and he makes that point in the piece. A few choice paragraphs below:
“I try to pay attention when smart people are talking or even arguing over a topic about which I want to learn more.
I try to keep up with the most interesting trends by tapping into the nerve center of where these things actually originate.
What I’m not doing is following traders into stock ideas and paying attention to their exits, entries, track records, boasts and brags, hissy fits, bitchfights or posturing.
The traders and investors whom I follow are the guys and gals talking about their craft, about process and best practices and lessons learned. They are rock stars, adding value every day, and I’m sure I’m getting more from them than they’re getting from me on the stream. I learn something new every week, especially from StockTwits where the real players are.
I’m not paying much attention to the traders who claim to be crushing the market each day or offering stock tips for a price. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a free country. And I’m free to not believe in magic.”
Our friend who has recently completed all his papers to become a financial analyst keeps emphasizing that “we do not need home runs”, and that is what the gurus always promise – a quick, easy way. A quick easy way to lose your shirt.
I enjoy your links greatly – keeping calm is very important in so many areas of life.
Good point about trying to throw out 365 things in one day! And it is so easy to let things creep into the house. I am relieved to hear that you no longer sit down at the table for meals. Especially with mum in the house it has been bowls in the living-room, as we work our way back through Jeeves and Wooster. Could be much worse.
And a belated happy birthday to Mr Dude Stacker. Great to be getting old, as I emailed a pal the other day. It sucks, but it beats the alternative.
And yes, my story about my neighbour was my argument for government, at least to protect property boundaries. I am a communist when it comes to defending private property, how’s that for an interesting paradox in life.
I’m feeling just a tad uneasy on this blog. I am quite comfortable being an organized pack rat. I hope you all don’t think less of me because of it. If I run out of room I reorganize or just plain get creative- if the bookshelf looks full, I guarantee there is always room for another book. It’s a proven fact that a bibliophile can never be a neatnik. After continued harangues from significant, I reduced my stack by 200+ on eBay last year and it didn’t even make a dent. Before the internet, I used to send away for booklets, brochures, and pamphlets that filled several large file cabinets. Ephemera? Not in my world. Hey I got burned as a kid. My Mom always counselled a clean room means throwing away last year’s baseball cards. Could’ve been at least a thousandaire several times over if I had saved them all.
In addition to the bookcases pictured, there are 37 more shelves of varying size or form, the uniting characteristic being that they are all overflowing. And the overflow has consumed 9 large boxes.
I might have to make a separate post about albums, cassettes, cd’s, vhs tapes, and dvd’s.
Oh yeah, grandchildren’s toys………….
This is the sort of thing I love to read these days. Yup, Quant Nerd I am. I think it’s an INTJ thing. Beyond my control.
A Horse Race Between Tactical Asset Allocation Models – An Update
How could I forget to mention newspapers, magazines, and catalogs? I have the first 20 years of The Mother Earth News in binders.
I did my “toss one thing” today. I threw out 10 years worth of Richard Maybury’s Early Warning Report (in a binder). And some gold miner annual reports from 2001. Yup, those can go.
An excellent 25 minutes with Barry Ritholtz, posted today. I had already decided to post this before he got to a mention of gold in the last couple of minutes.
Those are really sweet bookcases. We have a couple, but without the glass. There is one left that was in my mum’s residence and I am going to have to arm wrestle my big brother for it. It has long been my theory that reading is the downfall when it comes to cleanliness. But I did finally bag up a bunch of books from Lisa’s teenhood, because the diabetes folks phoned and said they were doing a pick up on December 28th. Little do they know what I have in store for them. The last boxes in the den were from my mum’s funny farm and contained books. Some like old Modesty Blaise’s we have copies of – sometimes multiples because of emptying mum’s house too. And then the cottage … we actually had a book burning there, and went through a bunch of novels with two basic rules: if we laughed out loud in the first paragraph it was saved and if breasts were mentioned in the first paragraph it was immolated.
10 years’ worth of old newsletters – now that must have felt good!
Fed tapers. Stocks back near the highs. Bonds and gold jump around, then back to flat. Somewhere, another permabear just jumped out of a window.
The remainders are rewriting their posts, saying “Of course, I knew it. This proves that now we’re REALLY doomed. I was right all along. And I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!”
How about a tune? This one’s been stuck in my head lately. I like this version. Could those kids be any cuter?
Xty posts a Xmas song she doesn’t like, EO posts one he does like, so what should I do?
Answer, post my fave and then a bad version of it.
there’s a surprise at the end
I was going to post this one. Xty said “breasts” and my mind began to wander. But I pulled it together and got all mature and stuff.
Oops, blew it now tho.
More cuteness, quickly!
Great. Now I’ve discovered a whole new area of time wasters. “Dog on field” videos.
glad to see someone picked up the poo, speaking of which, I just encountered a name- Allen P. Slickpoo in the dedication page of a book I’m reading. Curiosity got the better of me, so I had to Google that name . Turns out he was a Nez Perce and that there is also a town in Idaho of the name Slickpoo. No reference to how that town’s name came about. But I did find info on Mr Slickpoo who had passed away just last month.
http://lmtribune.com/obituaries/article_8a78d76c-6913-5aac-8cbb-e2f3205817a0.html
I seems he lead an interesting and productive life, coauthor of two books among his many accomplishments.
From the obit “Allen was co-author for two books, “Noon NiMiiPu” and “NiMiPuu TitWahTit.””
Xty- would you keep the first book and throw the second one out?
I think if the first paragraph made you laugh and contained breasts, it would have been given primo shelf space, so we would have had to keep the pair, so to speak.
Barry Rithotz hit another one out of the park this morning. I hope a copy of it lands in Turd’s mailbox.
Why Do So Many People Hate QE?
Mrs. O is at a funeral today for her best childhood friend’s kid brother.
51 years old. Heart attack. Think about it.
Ritholtz’s post today has comments in two places, at Bloomberg (lots) and at BR’s actual Big Picture blog( few). I love this little exchange at the Big Picture blog:
it comes down to protecting ones ego. they cannot admit they were wrong. anyone whose advice led to losses was wrong, and is STILL WRONG. the broken clock analogy applies here too. these egotistical ‘jackasses’, and they are just that if they still are publicly pumping the same tired bullshit, have been wrong for almost three years already. and the crazy and hateful rhetoric coming out of these bitter losers now will sully precious metals as an investment class for even longer after the turn. besides, this doomsday stuff isn’t exactly the latest fashion either. anyone remember Howard Ruff?
i have admitted i was wrong, even if it means that yes, i’ll only admit that i underestimated the power of the FED and the corporatocracy to keep the charade going. i have apologized to my friends and family that have suffered real, and painful losses because of my advice. it will never make them whole, but it is the first step on the road to forgiveness. it helps me sleep at night too. helps.
what i have not done is blame anyone else for my own personal losses. i sought confirmation for my investment decisions and i certainly found it. just another one of life’s lessons, and man, i have found they do not come cheaply.
all that said, i still believe in the precious metals, and in the eventual demise of paper money (again). but just that it probably ain’t happening tomorrow.
Ah yes, the “Ruff Times”. A pioneer among fearmongers, already a fixture in the field during my very earliest awareness.
He wrote the book on the fearmonger biz. Everybody else is just ripoff artist.
besides all the money that these guys looking out for your own good helped you lose, the other kick in the nuts is that it just isn’t much fun sitting around everyday waiting for nuclear armagedon. now i’m not betting against that, just because i’m frigging done betting on anything. 🙂 but everyday that i sit on my ass trembling is another day of my life wasted. like everything else in this short life, there is a trade off between being the proverbial grasshopper, or ant. or maybe i will rephrase that and say its the quality, not the quantity of your days on this planet that count. hey, that wasn’t a bad rant. how the hell do you spell armageddon anyway?
edit: oh, Armageddon is capitalized.
after all i did miss the boob talk above. 🙂
This is cool, what kind of guitar is that?
I’ll see your ?guitar and raise you a snake bass
i won, i won, i won!
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/20-iconic-guitars-20120523/bo-diddleys-cigar-box-0156710
I thought that’s what it looked like.
i found a new song that i like, and it’s even less than 50 years old. i think.
Yeah it’s a little more uptempo but still reminiscent of 40+ years ago.
why must art be sorted and packaged. it seems like music starts off as “popular”, then becomes “pop”, and some years down the road gets put in a category so that you can find it again when you are feeling nostalgic. i read somewhere that Led Zeppelin was the first band that was called heavy metal. i think they are just considered classic rock now? i don’t care, i might be wrong, so i’m not going to look it up.
Bo Diddley reminded me of Lonnie Mack, but I hadn’t heard much of his old new stuff, because when that came out i was digging guys like this…
btw… i went through a big CCR phase too. i’m usually 20 years behind on music, twenty years ahead of everything else. i need to try really hard to be right now, and it’s been a problem for me. i’m not kidding at all! we need 44 here to help me make sense of things.
Handing it off to Pete