(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

Can you tell after this morning I was a little blogged out?

I was supposed to go on a field trip today, but decided it wasn't worth the CTA fare and effort. I stayed in, prepped RFM for tomorrow, and cleaned the kitchen. Every damn summer I get fruit flies no matter how clean I keep the place, and usually they show up right around the time I'm expecting guests. You know who never gets fruit flies, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure there are dirty dishes in his living room from when I was living there? R. Maybe it's because there's never fruit in the flat.

It's cool though, my last guests taught me how to make a fruit fly trap from an empty Coke bottle and a banana.

I've spent most of the evening working my way backwards through a compilation that I was linked to of the best magazine articles of the 20th and 21st centuries. I've skipped the "best ever" for now and gone by era instead: I waded through the rather brief "Best since 2010" list and gave the "Best of the 00s" list a look, and I'm actually shocked at how many of these articles I've read. I'm not someone who subscribes to magazines or actively seeks them out online; the only reason I read ARTNews is that it happens to come free to my desk. It's not like I have anything against magazines, but I expected to have read precisely zero off this list, and it turns out I've read quite a few.

Especially the Vanity Fair article from 2001 about Furries, which was my introduction to the culture and also what triggered the realisation that a) a friend of mine was one and b) rather more startlingly, they had drawn art of me as a fur -- I just thought the art was a kind of off-the-wall gift. I wasn't terribly bothered by my friend being a Furry, because that was really just a name to put on her passion for stuffed cats and I was already dealing with other friends who had way more intense kinks requiring much more mental adaptation on my part. (What, you thought I learned about D/s from sex ed?)

I'm not sure where "involuntarily furified" falls in the scale of social boundaries, but I won't lie: I still have the art and it makes me vaguely uncomfortable to look at it.

Mind you, I do make a kickass lion.

Comments

[rdprice29.livejournal.com]

So...I'm going to be selfish and ask WHAT TRAP??? Because those damn bugs are the bane of my existence! I've done the little cup of wine with a drop of dishwashing soaP in it, which kinda works, but not very well. Link or description of this trap pretty please?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

You cut off the top of the bottle just below where it stops curving. (Use a 2-liter). Then you fill the bottom of the bottle with chopped banana. Turn the top over (make sure the screw-on lid is removed) and fit it into the bottle upside-down. There's a good image here:

http://tipnut.com/projectpics/wasp-trap.jpg

Tape around the "seam". Put it near where the fruit flies are, and make sure the area around it is clear of food particles or grease.

The dish-soap trap never worked for me, but I've used these for ages and they work a treat. When it's caught a bunch of flies, get a large plastic bag, put it over the top, tape it down to seal it, and then throw the whole thing out.

[rdprice29.livejournal.com]

OMG, I love you even more now. ;) not just for me, but my parents do a compost *bowl* that my dad's not all that prompt at taking out, and their kitchen is absolutely, completely, disgustingly *infested*!!!

Thanks for the info, this is awesome!

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I have to say, if it's a choice between the compost bowl and the trap, they will probably choose the compost bowl. You may need to have them keep it outside for a few weeks until the flies get under control. You need to make sure the bananas are the most enticing and easy-to-access thing in the kitchen. :D

[iamshadow.livejournal.com]

You need a soft drink bottle with some small holes poked in it, with a little bit of sugar water at the bottom. Sit it or hang it near the problem area. They get in, and then can't get out.

[iamshadow.livejournal.com]

Re: fruit flies - they don't like the dark. So, if you keep your fruitbowl covered with a tea towel or something, they should back off. Also, hang your washcloths up to dry rather than letting them sit crumpled, and check that your sink is draining properly. They like humidity.

About that fruit fly trap - they do like bananas, but it doesn't have to be a banana. Bananas can get a bit stinky after a while, especially if they're over ripe. A bit of sugar water should do the trick just as well, and it won't get rank.


Hey, it doesn't have to be about sex. Maybe she just thought you'd like the joke. I doubt she was trying to creep you. She'd probably be embarrassed if she thought she had.

I think I wouldn't mind a bit of anthropomorphic art of myself. Though I have no idea what someone would choose to art me as. I don't know that I have any qualities that lend themselves to furification.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

My most recent Fruit Fly Incident was in some half-rotted sweet potatoes at the back of my pantry, which only gets light for about 5 minutes total when the door is opened to get things out. Throwing out the offending root vegetables and an afternoon of swatting took care of them, but it does cast doubt on the 'don't like the dark' theory. One or two of them would fly out when the door was opened (that's how I found out where they were) but I didn't know the extent of the infestation until I nudged the squishy yam and sent them buzzing.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I don't actually have a fruit bowl...just kind of a hook for hanging bananas on :D And no washcloths. It's partly I think that the door between my kitchen and the tree outside is not terribly thoroughly sealed.

As for the furry thing -- no, it's not always about sex, and even when it is I could care less. Except that with her, it was, and having that applied to me without my permission or even after-the-fact knowledge was a little hinkey.

[skelody.livejournal.com]

Yeahhhh if mainstream media can't get mainstream fandom right half the time, I doubt they'd be much more reliable for its fringer corners. I'm given to understand that it isn't necessarily tied to sex or kink, either, so.

Do fruit fly traps work on regular old houseflies?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

No -- being a Furry isn't necessarily linked to any sexual kink, though it can be, and with her it was, hence the unsettlement. I don't actually have a problem with Furry sexuality, even, except when it's applied to me without asking me (OR informing me after the fact).

I don't think fruit fly traps work on house flies but there are traps for houseflies that operate on the same theory. I'd google around for one that's effective.

[ysabet.livejournal.com]

I'm dealing with them (fruit flies, not guests) right now too; hate the damn things. Gonna google your fruit-fly trap right after I post this reply, because they have GOT to go.

And the day they teach about D/s in Sex Ed, pigs will fly in circles around the moon. I've been anthromorphisized as a ferret several times myself, me. **points to icon** That one was commissioned, though.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I described it in comments -- google will give it to you but they'll give you weirdly complicated versions. Really all you need is chopped banana in the bottom of a 2-liter that's had the lid removed and the top cut off and inverted.

[fullofowls.livejournal.com]

am I an awful person if your discomfort at being "involuntarily furified" makes me ROAR WITH LAUGHTER?

because it does.

AHAHAHAHA sorry *wipes away tears of hilarity*

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

IT'S A TINY BIT STARTLING THAT'S ALL. :D

[karadin.livejournal.com]

this almost almost makes me want to be involuntarily furified, but not really.

[dreamwaffles.livejournal.com]

Huh. I use balsamic vinegar in a bowl, myself; fruit flies can't seem to resist it.

In my dorm a few years ago, there were some people who didn't clean, and we had a *dreadful* infestation.

I exterminated them.

But this spring I got pantry moths in my dorm room. FML. But now I've moved out.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

The vinegar trick worked not at all for me; they wouldn't go near it. Same with jam and dish soap.

[dreamwaffles.livejournal.com]

Weird. They were all over my balsamic vinegar. Maybe slightly different strains of Drosophila?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Or different vinegars :D

[swordage]

I've never really understood the terror most people have regarding furries. No, it's not necessarily sexual, any more than a straight woman drawing a man would be sexual. If you look badass as a lion, you look badass as a lion, and that's pretty freaking cool. I'd suggest going back to thinking of it as an off-the-wall gift, because that is likely all it was intended as.

The fruit fly trap is pure genius. D: Any tips on ants, He Of The Domestic Knowledge?

[lots42.livejournal.com]

I think much of the 'thing' is 'let's poke the furries and watch them dance'.

Stupid trolls.

[keestone.livejournal.com]

Ants: Cinnamon is like kryptonite to ants. Cloves work too. Sprinkle a good line in and around any entry points and trails. If you don't get the entry point covered they will detour.

[swordage]

Oooh! I will be trying this today, oh yes indeed. Thank you!

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I should have elaborated, because I just got a torrent of "it's not necessarily sexual!" comments -- while I'm aware of that, I came to figure out that it was, in fact, a kink with her in specific. And I have no problem with furry as a kink, either, but when it's applied to me without my knowledge I get a little...unsettled.

[swordage]

Ahhh, yes, I can see how that would be more alarming. Thank you for elaborating!

[eldarwannabe.livejournal.com]

Huh, you learned about these things through articles?

Fandom, every last kink I know of. And ironically enough, everything I know about gay sex. And a great deal about straight sex. (You learn to spot the biologically impossible ones after a while, just by comparing them to the ones that make sense.)

There is even a facebook group. (https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2371587509)

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Well, I learned about furries through articles. I already knew several, actually, I just didn't know what they did had a name or cultural values assigned to it.

[lots42.livejournal.com]

List of things Sam has been ambushed by addendum:

Parades.
The furry fandom.
And apparently Google and bad luck ate the image of me as an Alaskan Husky. It was the awesome.

[lokifan]

Yeesh, I would be a bit weirded out too, finding that out after the fact. But then my roommate had this really creepy and misogynist guy send her a badly-edited-in-Paint photo of her as a fox. Which in retrospect, sort of hilarious, but definitely much weirder knowing he's a furry! Although I'm sure your friend wasn't at all creepy in the way this guy was.

And a bespectacled (?) blond lion does sound awesome.

[kallaneboi.livejournal.com]

Fucking fruit flies. You let *one* tangerine go bad and WHAM fruit fly convention in the kitchen. And the bathroom. They like homemade soap, too, just FYI.

[luxanebulis.livejournal.com]

I ended up in Pittsburgh this weekend, the site of Anthrocon, where furries amass once a year. There are some elaborate costumes there...

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I should totally send you a pitcher plant to help with the fruit flies. Swear, it's the only thing that works, even if you make a fruit fly trap.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

A pitcher plant, huh? I'll have to look into that. I would like some more green around the place...

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I have a North American version that works really, really well. He's a happy little plant.

Google "My Carnivore" and get them to send you a couple. They're the cheapest source for the neatest plants.

[minkrose]

Do any of these eat ants? Because I would love that.

(I know the cinnamon trick except we didn't realise there would BE ants here and they are seriously settled in; I think it's too late. The landlord thinks it's no big deal. I think they're carpenter ants, not food ants, which you'd think would make him worry but apparently not.)

[firynze.livejournal.com]

The only one I know of that eats ants is a Venus flytrap - you need something bigger and more active than a pitcher plant.

Cinnamon, mint oil, and chalk work okay to deter ants, but once you've GOT them, I recommend poison baits or possibly diatomaceous earth, which is safer for use around pets and/or kids.

[minkrose]

Interesting. We may have to look into the Venus flytrap - should be fun to have, even if it's not totally effective. I assume we'd have to feed it if it didn't find enough insects to eat on its own?

We haven't got kids or pets currently.
We've got some poison baits; we started with those since we already had a box when we moved in and the ants have pointedly ignored them. I've watched them climb on the outside like a jungle gym. I think we might need different poison for carpenter ants, so I'm going to ask at the local hardware store. I'm pretty sure my mother has diatomaceous earth for her gardening, so I could pick that up tonight.

But thank you, this helps a lot. Most of my pest-avoidance training is in conjunction with libraries, which is focused on prevention, so I'm kind of lost once you have the pests.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Yep - you can actually buy freeze-dried insects to feed them if you don't have enough "ambient food."

The semi-open liquid baits seem to work the best for the big, scary ants. I go through this every spring and autumn, and the liquid baits work fastest once you notice the little bastards around.

[minkrose]

I've never been part of the furry community in any capacity, but having the nickname of Mink has gotten me into some massively uncomfortable conversations, especially at cons. People assume, and then I'm stuck waiting for my panel while this poor fellow describes the entire narrative arc of his favorite furry comic to me. *headdesk*

They're always nice people, but I'm just not interested and it's never quite solid enough of a conversation (since it's a harshly judged community, so it's very subtext-y) for me to declare "I am not a furry!" Awkward. And not a problem I really expected to have, honestly. But I think I'm getting better at navigating the waters.

[fer-de-lance.livejournal.com]

Heh.

When I was younger (as in, erm, 14-16ish), I had an RP account that was set up as a fantasy creature.

I got a lot of interesting IMs from strangers whose profiles said they were foxes or dragons or whatnot, and even became chatfriends with one for several months; it never occurred to me that they thought my RP account was a PERSONAL account, and were looking for furries to RP with!

Quite a revelation when I finally found out about furry fandom (not till my 20s) and belatedly put two and two together! :D Luckily, they were either the nonsexual sort or else they had the sense to pick up on my age fast, because I don't remember anything inappropriate ever being said to me. (Aside from, y'know, randomly IMing me to ask if I was really a [fantasy creature] and did I want to chat with them?)