Peanut Butter in the Blinds???

October 6, 2003 11:06 AM

Ever Lose Your Security Deposit Because Of A Room-Mate?Well then damagedeposit.com has the contest for you. The site is run by Adrian Crook, who is authoring a book entitled "Damage Deposit: Stories from the Roommate Realm", and needs some fodder for it. So if you currently have or have had a horrid roommate or two, and can put together a few thousand words, and could use $500, then this is the contest for you.
posted by djspicerack (9 comments total)

This looks interesting. I've already referred a friend whose roommate burned their house down last week.
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:09 AM on October 6, 2003

Does 'wife' count as a roommate? ;-P

Anyway, I always viewed the security deposit as the surcharge for living the lifestyle of one's choice. Holes from mounting shelves, water damage from huge urns of potted plants, pretty paint on the walls rather than that drab white (semi-gloss in the bath, gloss in the kitchen), strange fade marks in the cheap carpet from where throw rugs and other long-term fixtures prevented the sun from fading it evenly...

You get the picture.
posted by mischief at 11:42 AM on October 6, 2003

Oh boy, if only I knew living with the World's Filthiest People for two years could make me money. I'm opening Word as we speak.
posted by Zosia Blue at 12:42 PM on October 6, 2003

Does anyone else think this is a great way to write a book? Come up with a topic, ask for submissions, BOOM, half the work is done. It can't be new, it's just the first time I'm putting it together.
posted by o2b at 1:52 PM on October 6, 2003

Better call the networks - I smell a potential reality series!
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:34 PM on October 6, 2003

Gee - how about "did you ever (naively) neglect legal protocol and then get taken to court and sued for thousands of dollar in damages because you were the only one on the lease (which everyone else bailed out on), the "slumlord - holes in the wall and leaky roof" lease which you didn't think was worth the paper it was written on because of the landlord's absurd lack of maintenance on the building....and yet you were the only one whom the law could find (and blame) because you were the most responsible one, the only one who actually had a job"? - well, then, now that you ask......
posted by troutfishing at 7:14 PM on October 6, 2003

How about the "did you ever diligently make certain that both names were on the lease even though your roommate was your fiance, only to find that after she'd skipped out (with eight months left on the lease, and immediately before you took a pay cut at work) with your shit and hundreds of dollars of unpaid bills the landlords could simple decide that it was easier to go after you than her" stories? I am convinced that a landlord could find a way to legally roast your first-born child for his Fourth of July barbecue if he were so inclined. Fucking renters' rights my fucking ass.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 9:46 PM on October 6, 2003

He died with a felafel in his hand. Funny, touching and most importantly, already written.
It has also been made into a film.
posted by asok at 2:09 AM on October 7, 2003

Check John Birmingham reading from the book. RealPlayer
'the trails of fat, white maggots trooping from the kitchen to our bedrooms did illicit a response...'
posted by asok at 2:14 AM on October 7, 2003