Crush...Yiff...Destroy!

Michael Hirtes · Vociferator Joined: 04 Aug 2003 Posts: 660

Just coming back from exile (I told Jerry C. the reasons why, and I think Mitch might have pieced together the reason too) just long enough to post this and bugger off again.:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/xianjaguar/39952.html

My first introduction to furry living was a place in Garden Grove which I will
not name. I first went there in 1998 for a meeting. Meg went with me. The place
was very cluttered with tons of knick-knacks, bric-a-brac, books, used computer
parts, trash, stuffed animals, etc....laying or stacked all over. On top of this
was a healthy layer of dust...I don't think anyone ever dusted there. The carpet
was stained in various places, very dirty, and smelled. The bathroom wasn't too
bad. They *were* out of toilet paper though. This led me to snoop under the
bathroom sink, in the cabinets, to look for more. Stuffed under, on one shelf,
was a dirty pair of men's underwear. The brief kind. I also found the needed
toilet paper in another section of the cabinet...yaay.

But that underwear.....it stayed in the house, in the exact same spot, in the
exact same formation, never moving, for SEVEN YEARS. Meg and I know. We would
check whenever we were over at the house for various functions throughout the
years. During the Clinton admiminstration, that underwear was there. It was
there while everyone was arguing about pregnant chads during the 2000 election.
It was there through all the various earthquakes, the monster snowstorms, and
the bad midwest floods. That underwear saw history. The house never did get much
cleaner....it's inhabited mostly by men, and an occasional woman or two. I've
since stopped going to that particular house...mostly because I've become
somewhat of a loner as of late, and not hanging out with people.

Anonymous · Vociferator Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Posts: 766

*cocks a boom-stick*
Boy, I thought I tolds ya to stay outa these parts!

Interesting description though... WHERE'S THE DAMN VIDEO :<

ZenZhu · Needs to get out more Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 897

What is it with furries/otaku/geeks in general and lining the walls with knick knacks? I had my stint where my computer table and nearby shelves were lined with figures of various kinds.. Star Wars figures, assorted ones I just thought were neat, dragons, candles, etc. I'll grant, there's something about the hutch of a computer table that just invites one to put all kinds of junk on it.

As one grows up a bit more and starts taking better care of one's surroundings, however, it is quickly learned that if you have all of this miniscule crap on your shelves, you have to remove all of it to clean. If you're inclined to at least periodically dust (being allergic to dust provides excellent inspiration), that turns an otherwise straightforward task into a seemingly insurmountable chore. You have to remove everything from large hurricane lanterns to matchbox cars from your shelves, wipe it down, and then replace everything to where it was.

It doesn't take more than a couple of even semi-annual dustings to demonstrate that this is a major pain in the ass. It's at this point where the men are separated from the boys... housekeepingwise, at least. The attitude of "less is more" quickly reveals its value, and those congregations of figures and other goodies start to thin out. It's last call at the recreation of Mos Eisley spaceport. You don't have to go home, Luke, but you can't stay here.

The other alternative is, of course, to take the Merlino approach and just not bother moving any of it for cleaning. At most, you can take a Swiffer duster and wipe between all of the crap, if you're so inclined.

At present, I still keep "sillies" on my desk, but it's limited to what can fit on top of and in front of my monitor. The collection consists basically of a figure of Rurouni Kenshin, Kaoru from the same series, some lady in a kimono from Sakura wars, an Inuyasha figure, and one of Mai from Fatal Fury along the top. I could cram more up there, but I try to keep even my clutter to a kind of sparse conglomeration. Below the monitor are "kimono girls" from Love Hina, Felicia from Darkstalkers, some figures from Onegai Teacher, and Rikimaru and Ayame from the Tenchu games. As I pick up gashapon I think are neat, the clutter rises and falls. I try to rotate my figures, though, rather than simply packing them away for good.

The other upshot to this is, if you're the kind of guy who is still a kid at heart and has no qualms visiting Toys R Us for your own purposes or crusing Ebay for gashapon, it makes you really assess what you want. There are lots of things I find surfing Ebay under "anime" that are really neat. But, in the interest of keeping my little areas of allowed clutter to a minimum, I stop and ask myself if I really want whatever goodie I've just found. The deciding factor is if I think it's something that will stay on display, or if it's something I'll put out because I think it's neat.. but in a few months simply decide it's taking up space and toss it in a box for storage. The payoff is that you not only keep clutter down, but your frivolous spending is cut as well.

Maybe it's having the experience of losing most of your stuff to a fire, too, but I have no qualms with getting rid of things. I recently sold about 50 CDs. That's often a hard thing to do. You wonder if you might get hit with a wave of nostalgia and want to dig those treasures back up. But, really.. if you just get so desperate to listen to Rick Springfield's "Hard to Hold," then you can always go buy it again for about a nickel. Chances are, you won't ever get a bug to listen to half of that stuff... or ever really want to put that Shrek dragon back out... so why keep it? Like I said, I think that outlook comes partly with being forced by a fire to throw away many of the things you cherished. I know it's awful.. but, as long as no one is ever hurt or killed.. I think everyone could stand to have the liberating experience of having a home wiped out just once in their life. Or, to be less destructive.. be forced to get rid of at least half of your stuff like they do on that Clean Sweep show on.. I think TLC.

So, I know what it's like to be a geek and surround yourself with useless miniscule junk. But, I just can't fathom the degree to which it occurs in the furry houses I've seen pictures of. I mean, we're talking shelves put in to make space for this stuff... anthro figures, animal figurines, and stuffed animals. I cringe whenever I see a huge collection of plushies crammed into some kind of Gund orgy in the backgrounds of some of these pictures. Can you imagine how much dust those things are probably packing? If you so much as fart near them, you'll probably kick up a cloud that will make your room look like London in the wee hours of a foggy morning. To make matters worse for geeks in the midwest and southeast.. it's said that something like 75% of all households in those areas have brown recluse spiders living in them. Those plushie forts have got to be a pretty inviting home for them.

The houses I've seen in photos look very much like the houses I've been in of elderly widows. There are piles from the floor to the ceiling of National Geographics, Time, People, and other periodicals. The shelves are adorned with almost every possession this person has had since childhood.... glasses, vases, bowls, figurines..... and the furniture is so packed together that you can barely walk.

I remember hearing someone talking about how, with the widows, it's often attempt to close up the space in their home. Unable to adjust to being without their spouse, they clutter the house up, subconsciously attempting to make it feel smaller and not so empty, now that their loved one is gone. I have to wonder if with geeks and furries, there aren't similar things going on.

Okay, I can understand your average geek who gets so focused on tweaking his system that cables and boards and cans of soda are the inevitable aftermath of an intense geek session. In dorms and apartments... or even houses where guys have banded together on the rent or mortgage... I can understand that many of them are away from home for the first time.. or into their first few years of freedom.. and haven't really developed any serious housekeeping skills, as it was all done for them at home. But, the clutter with bookshelves lined soley with Battlestar Galactica memerobilia...... Jaffa blocks to the ceiling, stuffed with plushies and beanies..... it just baffles me. Maybe, like the widows trying to escape feeling their loss by surrouding themselves with likenesses of living things... geeks/otaku/furries/etc. are trying to fill some void with possessions... the plushies don't just fill a void in their room.. they fill a void in their lives.

Quantum Coyote · Prattler Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 143

ZenZhu Wrote:

... the plushies don't just fill a void in their room.. they fill a void in their lives.

If I was worth millions I would hire somebody like James Earl Jones or Leonard Nemoy to recite your posts for me =)

Anonymous · Vociferator Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Posts: 766

My room has 4 'things' in or around it. 1) Kuroneko-sama on my monitor. 2) Old K-6 motherboard that's unusable due to a resistor breaking off. 3) Autographed Bugs Bunny picture (Got it from the Make a Wish foundation thing, I was with an ex-leukemia patient friend) 4) A big yellow wall mount with an old British cartoon portraying "To hell with conformity!" Which in itself makes it semi-conformist, ironic, no?

ZenZhu · Needs to get out more Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 897

Our apartment has a severe shortage of storage space. Unfortunately, my wife is also a pack rat who tends to put things down rather than away, so it's a frequent struggle to balance her clutter with wish to have more Zen-like decor. The apartment is decently decorated with scrolls and prints and such. But, it's still nothing like all that clutter and junk you see in photos of "Furry Homes and Gardens."

How about Carl Sagan for my posts?

"Billions and billions of plushies."

Although, I like the idea of Nimoy. He did a nice reading once of... hmm.. I think it was "Whales Weep Not." I'm also fond of Rene Auberjonois.

Donotsue · Vociferator Joined: 17 Jan 2004 Posts: 310

I don't hoard figures... just some of the nicest uns... some were donated... and some are souveniers... And the miscellanious cards add to the toyshop.
They stay out of the way on the video shelves.. Guarding my preciousssss-es...and are easy enuff to dust every 2 or 3 weeks...
Here's just a tiny section of the shelf.

Most vids are 10 years old and still work fine.. Careful use causes no wrinkles... But I have given in to DVDs already... for shame.

Kadius · Vociferator Joined: 10 Feb 2004 Posts: 370

I used to be a particularly sloppy person. Heck, when I was 12 or 13 I used to have so much stuff under my bed that I even put a light down there to see stuff, like a huge junk drawer. But now I just have two drawers in the entire house for my junk. I have no collections besides my CDs. Right now, I have a coaster, a controller for roms, CDRs and my walkman beside my computer. That's it.

I've never once let my surroundings get 'unsanitary'. As in 'Hey, what's that smell?' 'Wow that's alot of mold' 'Where are these gnats coming from?' or 'Hey, I've never seen a bug like that before.. oh look, there's dozens of them!'

I think I would run out of Merlino's house screaming.

M0us3_Zero · Venter Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 278

Well, I got my 3 self-built Gundam models, and a robot from Patlabor. I also have 4 figurines. Asuka from Evangelion, Nuku Nuku, and Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo.

*shrug* That's about it.

The rest of my room is full of books.

Yeah, that sums it up.

Anonymous · Vociferator Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Posts: 766

Don't forget the demonic scroll written on human flesh. :>

creature · Venter Joined: 06 Nov 2003 Posts: 221

I sware, it must be my metro side showing, but I have to go through my stuff once every six months and throw things out that I just don't need. Hell, I'm in the process of selling off my comic collection right now because I haven't even really touched them in forever, much less read them.

I also hate a dirty bathroom or kitchen. I've left friends' houses to go to the bathroom someplace else. "I'll be back in a bit. I gotta take a shit at the Shell station."

creature · Venter Joined: 06 Nov 2003 Posts: 221

What is it with furries/otaku/geeks in general and lining the walls with knick knacks? I had my stint where my computer table and nearby shelves were lined with figures of various kinds.. Star Wars figures, assorted ones I just thought were neat, dragons, candles, etc. I'll grant, there's something about the hutch of a computer table that just invites one to put all kinds of junk on it.

I have a nor former roommate that I'm sure suffered from disposophobia (generic name is Collier Brothers Syndrome). He just had/has tons of crap. He called it his horde, I called it a health hazzard. I sware, when I finally kicked him out (he had had a job in nearly 9 months and hadn't paid anything towards rent in 4 or 5 months) it took me nearly a month of cleaning just to get rid of the dust. I used several different carpet cleaners on his room just to get the smell of depression out (I love that. It just says it all.) of the carpet. It's just sad. Otherwise intelligent people are that screwed up.

Anonymous · Vociferator Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Posts: 766

Ya, I swear in the past tense too.

Rankin · Needs to get out more Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 891

Ya, I swear in the past tense too.

Buy shit - buy S-Ware?

The New Meat · Vociferator Joined: 03 Jun 2003 Posts: 466

I'm a failure as a nerd. The only thing on my wall is some sort of old-timey pseudo-lesbian undertoney Chinese cigarette poster.

Shmorky · Venter Joined: 22 Nov 2003 Posts: 220

fucking disgusting. I don't think that house was inhabited mostly by men. I think it was inhabited mostly by repulsive blobs.

Most vids are 10 years old and still work fine.. Careful use causes no wrinkles... But I have given in to DVDs already... for shame.

Oh this is nerd chat now? Well I'm personally running out of places to put my NES collection.

Paul · Venter Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 297

Hirtes' post just confirms once more all my worst prejudices about furry fanboys (already confirmed once by his own earlier report from Merlinoland). I can live with a little dust in the corners, but filth like that... ugh. I would have run screaming from that house.

As for the nerd chat, I must be the odd man out here. I don't own a single figurine or other purely decorative object, and the walls are bare. I like the zen-like lack of visual noise.

Ya, I swear in the past tense too.

Say, Mitch, how about adding pointless grammar policing to the list of bannable offenses?

Strychnine Velcro · Qualificator Joined: 05 Oct 2004 Posts: 23

I sware, it must be my metro side showing, but I have to go through my stuff once every six months and throw things out that I just don't need.

It feels good to throw out the stuff you don't need, and you don't realise the psychological impact of clutter until you've got rid of it. The only problem is being completely honest with yourself over what to fling, as it's all too easy to keep pretending that you'll definitely need x, y and z and might as well put them back in the same place they've sat, unused, for the past 10 years just in case. It's like a reversal of the hunter-gatherer satisfaction.

Be careful not to use this logic with stuff that other people might have an emotional attachment to. I helped my mum de-clutter her house three years ago and took the junk to a car boot sale for a bit of spare cash. Unfortunately I accidentally sold something which had emotional value to her. :oops: She went on and on for weeks about how it'd been in the family for years yada yada yada.. I learned an important lesson that day - it might well look useless, old, dirty or smelly to your eyes, but it could easily be someone's gran. Heed my words.

m_estrugo · Venter Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Posts: 222

Well, ummm... I tend to clutterness. And I've even got some of the little room I have devoted to a collection.

I've got a junkyard on my bookshelf!

mouse · Needs to get out more Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 817

As for the nerd chat, I must be the odd man out here. I don't own a single figurine or other purely decorative object, and the walls are bare. I like the zen-like lack of visual noise.

Heh, thats the way I am at work. Especially when i share a cube with someone who has 50 picturs of thier family and all kinds of other shit everywhere. I prefer the blank gray walls. People never know which desk is mine because it looks like no one uses it.

Of course my room looks like a fucking pipe bomb went off. Beer bottles and spilt ashtrays, piles of CDs, records, books, magazines and paper. Car parts even.

Walmart a few years ago after Halloween was selling off holiday stuff so I bought a bunch of these really cheaply made black felt covered plastic rats and I was going to just put them randomly all over my room. Now there are 3 and they all in a group on my shelf with some other rodent-stuff.

Oh well, I dont trust people who are too neat... Makes me think they got something to hide. Ill be over at some guys house and its real well kept, not even dust anywhere and Ill start wondering how many dead bodies are meticulously wrapped and stashed in the wall behind the couch where Im sitting. At least with the slob guy the human arm bone is poking out from under the recliner, you know who you're hanging out with up-front.

Quantum Coyote · Prattler Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 143

Dammit Donotsue, it goes Yakko, Wakko, then Dot, not 'Wakko, Dot, Yakko', thats perverse!

Dogthing · Vociferator Joined: 26 Oct 2003 Posts: 307

Oh this is nerd chat now? Well I'm personally running out of places to put my NES collection.
PICTURES

christ

edit: I want those tiny toons dvds donotsue :(

Shmorky · Venter Joined: 22 Nov 2003 Posts: 220

christ

I have 290 carts so far, but I'd never ACTIVELY try to get all 750+. Most of them are cheap and used and just picked up from wherever I find them. Really, most of them are 2-3 bucks.

ZenZhu · Needs to get out more Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 897

Oh this is nerd chat now? Well I'm personally running out of places to put my NES collection.

You live at GameStop?

Video games are one of the areas where I really strictly self-enforce clutter control. I periodically go through the ones I have and really assess if I'm ever going to play them again. Usually, by the time I've amassed three non-keepers, it's time to trade them in for credit towards my next purchase. That's one reason I abandoned PC games (and the insipid struggle to stay upgraded enough to keep up with them), since I can trade PS2 games in for credit towards others. Not too long ago, I had purchased Onimusha 3. It was new enough that I combined it with the original Gungrave game and a Chinese copy of the first Gungrave DVD (prior to the US release) and was able to buy a brand-new copy of the then recently-released Way of the Samurai 2 for $1.50. If my game stack gets about 6 or 7 high, it's time to trade some in. The only one I've kept to-date is Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven. Jet Li's Rise to Honor will probably be sticking around, too.

It feels good to throw out the stuff you don't need, and you don't realise the psychological impact of clutter until you've got rid of it. The only problem is being completely honest with yourself over what to fling, as it's all too easy to keep pretending that you'll definitely need x, y and z and might as well put them back in the same place they've sat, unused, for the past 10 years just in case. It's like a reversal of the hunter-gatherer satisfaction.

But.... but..... I don't know what that 12-volt adapter used to go to... but I might need it for something else some day. And, hey, you never, ever know when you're going to need another 6-ft length of phone cord! Hey.. those batteries still have half of their juice left! Don't toss those!

Anonymous · Vociferator Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Posts: 766

I liked it better when it was Funcoland, so you KNEW which stores would somehow screw you over on a simple game purchase.

Jerry Collins · Venter Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 210

You should of seen the place when Larry Corson invited me out there some years ago....as to my own dump...most of my possions were from church/am-vets thrift stores,gifts from friends,or dumpster diving..hey,I'm a cheap bastard,and I hate seeing stuff go to waste..I was a recycler long before it was a trend.(icky to some of you,but one ,must do with"make do sometimes(Jerry)

creature · Venter Joined: 06 Nov 2003 Posts: 221

Who wants to bet this house will be shown on TCL or Discovery in a couple years, having been abandoned in place and the locals want to have it rehabbed?

Donotsue · Vociferator Joined: 17 Jan 2004 Posts: 310

Sally Hillier, BBC news! -I'm reporting live from the notorious Helter Skiltaire, where a mass fursuit suicide took place...

"We're not talking ancient tribesmen paying homage to animal spirits. We're talking a modern man who's turned himself into something no one at the old folks' home
is going to want to see during the sponge bath."

Dogthing · Vociferator Joined: 26 Oct 2003 Posts: 307

I have 290 carts so far, but I'd never ACTIVELY try to get all 750+. Most of them are cheap and used and just picked up from wherever I find them. Really, most of them are 2-3 bucks.

For 2-3 bucks, do they still work alright? Shit, If I had a working NES I'd spend at least a few hours a day playing through all of the ones I remember falling in love with.

Quantum Coyote · Prattler Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 143

Who wants to bet this house will be shown on TCL or Discovery in a couple years, having been abandoned in place and the locals want to have it rehabbed?

I think we're looking at a superfund site here. That is IF the army doesn't hear the whole story. In that case several large containment structures will have to be build under and around the villa. I'm estimating a 20k-30k year half life for this spooge.

Genghis · Venter Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Posts: 233

Damnit, you guys have made me want to drag my spectrum out of its space on the top of my wardrobe and see which of the tapes still work.

How To Be A Complete Bastard is beckoning to me.

Computolio · Vociferator Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Posts: 462

I FUCKING LOSE

I also need more shelves.