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DC Metro peoples, yet another. Okay, folks, Declutterfest 3 is a go for this weekend. And now, we enter the Office, where the good stuff lives! As before, it’s SOP: Saturday; anytime after noon. I provide pizza, beer, Coke, and water (BYOB otherwise), and you bring two boxes: one for me, and one for you). (I’ll probably also hit Staples and get 4-8 boxes this week anyway.) We go through my stuff (books, games, computer equipment, comics/graphic novels), and you take what you want. Every 3 to 8 books is 3 to 8 less books going to a good home than I have to deal with in my eventual “estate sale” of books. NOTE: There is a lot of dust and two cats, so plan accordingly if you are allergic. I’d really like there to be at least 4 people here, to maximize people getting cool stuff. Lemme know if you’re game. Tags: 240 dollars worth of puddin', books, buck, dc-metro, food, improvement, mental health
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DC Metro area people, swing by! So, come over to chadu’s Deluxe Apartment in the Sky-y-y and do more sorting of books and stuff! People are welcome to take anything I don’t want to keep. Festivities begin at noon and will last until they’re done. Ping me on email for the address and parking info. As before, I will provide pizza and beer/Coke/water (any other beverages, please BYOB). However, there’s a twist this time: please bring 2 boxes — file/bankers box or U-Haul Small boxes are fine; anything stackable. One’s for me, one’s for you (if you want anything). The goal for this Declutterfest is to sort my staging area/living room: I’m overrun with already packed boxes that need to be stacked somewhere to free up the space. This includes both my keeper boxes and the get-rid-of boxes. (Again, you’re welcome to sort through the GRO boxes before we sort and stack.) Also, there’s still 2 bookcases of fresh books to sort through, and a crapload of DVDs. So, let me know if you’re interested in free books, comics, objets d’art, and other mysteries! Thanks! Tags: 240 dollars worth of puddin', books, cartoons, comics, covet, dc-metro, gaming, improvement, movies, philosophy
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Declutterfest Weekend #1 was really effective. Got a bunch of stuff sorted, lots of useful stuff taken to be used by others, furniture rearranged to aid cleaning, and even a little cash into the “Chadu is SCREWED” fund. (Also, a special pile of “stuff to keep” and “stuff to keep to sell” that I need to sort this week.) All in all, four three-foot stacks of books sorted, gifted, and collected into boxes. Will make it easier for folks to look through for stuff that they want, and the eventual estate sale I plan on pursuing for my library. Also cuddles and flirtation with interesting/attractive people. (Yay!) Good weekend. Really good weekend. Since even in the best possible scenario for my future, earliest for moving is mid-January 2014, I think I’ll have Declutterfests biweekly henceforth. The hookah, lava lamp, Cuisinart, and kitchen aid mixer are gone or claimed, but I still have Hulk hands, artwork, a bunch of comics and RPGs, and a metric fuckton of books. But, now I have room to stage stuff. And room to clean. I’m still in dire straits, still, but signs are good! If you’re in the DC area, take a look right here in a couple weeks for Declutterfest #2! Tags: books, comics, dc-metro, gah, improvement, mental health, vitamin u, wtf?
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Friends: I am cleaning my Alexandria, VA, apartment this weekend for an upcoming inspection, but also (hopefully) for my move back to SW PA. It’s easier for me to clean if someone else is there, even if they don’t do anything. Just someone to talk to and joke with. So, I need to shed myself of a lot of STUFF, both ways, and that includes a whole heaping helping bunch of books (I’m talking thousands). Science fiction, usual fiction, biography, history, reference volumes, comic books, game books, criticism, mythology and fairy tales, lots of stuff. (Bring a box or bag.) Most important is to shed them, but if you find any value in whatever you find, a few pennies would help my considerably scary bottom line for November. Your choice; no worries — more important to get this stuff out. Plus, I have various objets d’art, dead computer equipment, and DVDs that could be of interest. Then again, if you’re just into vacuuming or mopping, swing by. I’ll get pizza, soda, and beer. (Maybe wine, if there are some that prefer such.) Contact me at chadu AT yahoo PERIOD com, if you’re interested. If not, cool. It’s all good. Just wanted to offer. Tags: books, dc-metro, gah, improvement, vitamin u, wtf?
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http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/297858_So_This_Just_Happened-_BalconySo, I was sitting on my balcony: smoking, drinking beer, and reading Diego Gambetta’s Codes of the Underworld, when I hear someone yelling. It’s my neighbor, two apartments over. She’s been locked out of her apartment, stuck on her balcony. Can I help her? Sure. First, I go down the hall and see if her front door is open. No dice. Locked. Second, I go down to the concierge to get the rental agent on duty to get the master key to open my neighbor’s door. That works — but the chain is on. Third, I attempt to slip the chain through various means (with the rental agent there), to no avail. I suggest we call the super on duty to bring up some bolt-cutters. Fourth, super on duty shows up without bolt-cutters. He decides it’s best to try to break the chain through main force. He gives it 2 or 3 tries with no joy. Fifth, I suggest he go get some bolt-cutters and I’ll try to break the chain while he’s gone. He agrees. Sixth, never underestimate a fat man with a knowledge of physics. One shoulder-slam, and the chain was broke. The engineer hadn’t taken two steps away yet. “You’re strong,” he said. “Not really,” I replied. Seventh, neighbor is rescued from her balcony — the problem is that the locking mechanism on her sliding door was totally broken, and was usually set as unlocked. This time, it shifted to locked. So, all is well, neighbor is rescued, and I feel a little bit like a superhero. Weirdest thing to happen to me in a month. Tags: batman, improvement, mental health, philosophy, reference, vitamin u, wtf?
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BSA National: Your recent statement has perverted every single thing I believed Scouts were about. Let's examine BSA National's opinions on gay and/or atheist Scouts in light of the Scout Law. A Scout is: Trustworthy: Excluding former Scouts that happen to be gay or atheist obviates trust. Loyal: Excluding former Scouts that happen to be gay or atheist makes a mockery of loyalty. Helpful: Exclusion is helpful, how?! Friendly: BSA National is the opposite of friendly to our gay and atheist Scouts. Courteous: Announcing their annoyance and lack of brotherhood with gay Scouts is the opposite of courtesy. Kind: You have to be fucking kidding me. Obedient: Oh, and here's the rub, BSA National. There's being obedient to your dictates, or being obedient to the actual Scout Law. You lose. Cheerful: Not applicable. Thrifty: Not applicable. Brave: Those Eagles who have returned their medals/badges are brave as hell. Those who retain them to beat the heck out of you from inside, no less so. The only ones not brave here, BSA National, is *you*. Clean: Not applicable. Reverent: I interpret this as a respect for religious beliefs, even if they are not my own. Thus, I am reverent when a Buddhist or a Methodist or a Muslim or a Quaker evinces religious belief. That encompasses the possibility of rejection of any belief. Any atheist, who respects the beliefs of someone they deal with (even if they think those beliefs are misguided) is okay in my book. To sum up: It is my belief that Scouting makes better men than you, BSA National. Better than the organization's stated opinions. Better than your fear and your idiocy. Chad Underkoffler, Eagle Scout 1987, Troop 1305, ATC Tags: fact, improvement, reference
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So, I just started reading Jeff VanderMeer's Booklife, and when I started into the section called "The Discovery Process" I was hit by a welter of thoughts all at once. Let me try to untangle them here for my own purposes, and if any of you have insights or comments, please -- feel free! ( cut to save your flist!Collapse )So, that's what's churning around in my headguts at the moment. I must say, though, that something about these hypotheses feels right. And I'm a great believer in going with these sorts of feelings. Any insights, comments, or anecdotes you have to share would be very welcome! Tags: improvement, mental health, philosophy, reference, writing
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I am about half-way through Jim Butcher's (that's  jimbutcher) First Lord's Fury, which is I believe the last book in his Codex Alera series. I resisted reading the CA for awhile, since the "pimpery" in the endpages of some of the Dresden Files books rubbed me the wrong way. Becuase I'm an often contrary cuss. This was a mistake. Codex Alera is really, really good. And FLF is the best so far: apocalypse and awesome. (For more on awesome, see below.) Last night, after I set down the book to prep something to eat, I had a Dresden-relevant thought: 1. The DF series ends with a capstone trilogy that will, in all likelihood, be a big ol' apocalypse. 2. FLF is, as noted above, rockin' the house. 3. FLF is Jim practicing for the capstone DF trilogy. (And an associated 4., Jim's setting the bar for himself pretty high, if #3 is true.)
Now, onto the awesome. Four of my favorite current authors are Jim Butcher, Steve Brust (lj user="skzbrust">), Scott Lynch ( scott_lynch), and Arturo Perez-Reverte -- who are all writing long series that fantastically hit my joy, whose volumes I snap up as soon as possible, and read as only an obsessive can. In cogitating about Dresden Files/Codex, Vlad Taltos/Khaavren Romances, the Gentleman Bastards Sequence, and the Captain Alatriste books, I have learned some lessons for my own fiction writing (which I hope to resume Real Soon Now, after current projects are cleared off the sched): A. Bring the awesome -- both awesome-good (badass moments; best thing that could happen) and awesome-bad (badass moments; worst thing that could happen).
B. Increment awesome dial +1.
C. Goto A.That's a little flip, but not untrue. In comparing and contrasting with the last several stories I've tried to write, I've discovered one of my particular problems: I am not starting the awesome dial at 0 or 1 -- I'm starting it, at minimum, around 8. Even if this one goes to 11, there's not much room to grow... which is why most of my fiction writing efforts peter out after 2 to 4 chapters.(headdesk) So thank you, Gentleman (Author) Bastards, for the lesson. Tags: 240 dollars worth of puddin', books, dresden, improvement, sf&f, writing
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