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Has It Been Three Years?

It astounds me how long it has been since my last entry, and people are still reading this blog and posting comments. Despite not blogging for three years, Bugged Out still gets more hits than my other blogs/sites combined. Makes one realize how serious an issue bed bugs are to so many of you out there.

How has my life changed in this time? I left New York City and moved to Manchester, New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. The FSP is an organization with the mission of attracting 20,000 supporters of freedom and limited government to move to New Hampshire to seek a freer way of life. FSP participants, or Free Staters, use various labels to describe themselves: libertarian, constitutionalist, anarchist, voluntaryist, etc. They all find a way to make their lives freer, whether it be through political action, civil disobedience or civic involvement.

One thing I've learned from my past bedbug experience is that bedbugs will change your life in ways you'll never expect. I still have nightmares about bedbugs, and it's been seven years since I had them. I guess I can thank the bedbugs for making me into a libertarian. As a former liberal who believed the government would always be there to help, I was relieved when news broke out that Councilwoman Gale Brewer introduced a bill into the City Council that would help New Yorkers suffering from bedbugs and even prevent the spread of these creatures to other unsuspecting New Yorkers. There was even talk about a citywide bedbug task force. Unfortunately, the only thing that was really accomplished was getting the Councilwoman's name in the local media, since bedbugs were a hot new issue in the Big Apple at the time and introducing any legislation related to bedbugs would be sure to get some press.

Poll Results

A few of my polls have closed so I figured I'd put up the results before deleting them.

What have you parted with in the last 12 months due to bed bugs?
Of the 48 people who responded to this poll:

Sense of security: 75%
Sanity: 72%
Mattress: 52%
Bed frame, including headboard: 33%
Other furniture: 31%
Couch: 20%
Apartment: 20%
Friends: 20%
Significant other: 4%
Job/job prospects: 4%

If you have seen bed bugs on the train or bus, where have you seen them?
Of the nine people who responded to this poll:

I don't live in New York City but have seen them on my local transit system: 44%
Queens: 22%
The Bronx: 11%
Metro North: 11%
Yellow taxi: 11%

If you can think of one thing that bed bugs most smell like, what would that thing be?
Of the 31 people who responded to this poll:

Rotten blood: 25%
Rotten eggs and testicles: 16%
Musk (like an animal in heat): 16%
Coriander: 12%
Rust: 12%
Rubbing alcohol: 12%
Other: 3% (Those who chose Other offered their comments in the Nov. 2007 "Sniff, Sniff" entry
and said they smell like nothing, rotting flesh and dirty gym socks.)

These were far more fun than they were scientific, so thanks for participating, and please join in on Bugged Out's other polls.

Bugged Out Is Moving On...

...the new location is www.buggedout.org

Thanks for the free blog, Blogger. It's been real. But I'm moseying on down to my own domain and WordPress and dropping the blogspot from the name.

Because so many sites have linked to bedbugsnyc.blogspot.com, this site will remain as it is, but this post will serve as the final update.

Art Through Pain Spring 2009 has received its first entry!

Later.

"Art Through Pain" Spring 2009

I know it's been quite a while since I blogged, and I apologize for that. In the last two months, I have:

• Moved out with M from my apartment in Queens and all the packing involved
  
• Moved to a bigger apartment in the Bronx and all the unpacking involved
  
• Got more steady work (a lot more)
• Had no Internet connection for about a month as I waited for Verizon to transfer my connection to my new apartment
  
• Begun to start my own catering business with M, purchasing supplies, designing the website myself and dealing with all the government paperwork

But let me get to the point...

I am holding the first semi-annual Art Through Pain contest from now until June 1, 2009. I will only allow submissions that express one's bed bug experience.

The categories for artwork are as follows:

1. Written word (essays, poetry, short fiction)
   
2. Visual (photography, painting, sketches, photos of sculptures, graphic design)
   
3. Video...nothing more than five minutes. You can upload it onto Youtube and send me the link. (sketch comedy, short film, dancing)
4. Music..Follows the same rules as video submissions (original music or parodies of existing songs with a bed bug theme.

Winners in each of these categories will receive a prize. Due to my current budget and the fact I poured my entire tax return into this apartment, I can only afford $25 for each winner. Each winner will receive a $25 gift card for whatever they want. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, calling cards, Applebee's, etc. Just tell me which one you want and provide me with an address to send it to. If you live in New York City, you can also request a $25 Metrocard.

Once the four winners are determined a second contest after June will consist of those four winning entries to win the grand prize, which is....
another $25 gift card or Metrocard.

Voting for your favorite entry (sorry, you can only pick one) will be available after June 1.

You can send your artistic expressions to artthrupain@buggedout.org

Good luck, and have fun!

Bed Bugs (Short Fiction)

I decided to get the ball rolling on the whole art through pain thing that I'm trying to do over here, so I'm sharing a short story I wrote inspired by my experience with bed bugs. Please offer any feedback in the comments area.

Bed Bugs
By Bugged Out

I lie in bed, reading a book. The warm night air wraps around me like a fuzzy blanket as I peacefully turn the pages. The light buzz from my tabletop fan is the only thing that breaks the silence on an otherwise unusually tranquil night. Suddenly, in the corner of my eye I see a scurrying dot, taking a casual evening stroll on the tiled linoleum. I twist my upper body in reaction and fix my vision on the dot. A bed bug.

Despite the cozy dimensions of my bedroom I still have a hard time chasing the tiny beast. I slam the toe of the sneaker three or four times where the bed bug is, but it continues to flee after each attempt. It climbs up the wall and slips behind a large piece of furniture. I crouch nearby, waiting for the intruder to come out from behind. I remain still and listen, as if waiting to hear tiny footsteps but my tense, nervous breath is the only sound I hear. That, and the tiny red bumps on my legs and arms that itch so badly they almost seem to make a noise of their own.

If I were a Cherokee in colonial North America or a Bushman in the Kalahari, this position would be appropriate for hunting an enormous, ferocious wild animal like a bison or lion. But here I am, a slightly freaked out New Yorker crouching in an apartment in Queens, pledging death to a weightless creature no bigger than the nail on my smallest finger. Despite its tiny stature, their presence brings on a psychological attack most of us cannot stand. At least roaches run away from you; with bed bugs, it’s you they’re running after. A hunter that waits for its prey to sleep before sitting down to a supple blood meal. The itching, the sleepless nights, the itching, the antiseptic scrubbing rituals, the itching, the fear of friends and family finding out, the itching, the throwing out of furniture…did I mention the itching?

My knees grow weary from being in this position, so with no sight of the beast I stand up and consider the hunt a lost cause. I return to my bed and to my book only to see five minutes later another bed bug, or perhaps the same one from before. I spring into action and on this attempt, successfully slay the tiny beast. I lift up my sneaker to see the tiny corpse flattened and pressed into the treads of the rubber soles. I warily prepare a wad of toilet paper, half-afraid the insect may come back to life and extract its revenge upon me. Allow me to better explain the source of this fear.

Sometimes, when hit with an object such as a sneaker, you find the beast’s seemingly lifeless body underneath, as still as a spot on the floor. Confident in your success, you turn to grab a tissue to pick up the corpse. In that fraction of time in which your attention is turned elsewhere, the bed bug “comes back to life” and scurries away. Although the insect may have simply been stunned by the blow and not killed at all, it is this illusion of immortality and/or invincibility that, along with the whole blood sucking thing, strikes fear into the hearts of so many humans.

Though this beast is now nothing more than a hairy brownish-black paste stuck to my sneaker, the fear of its possible immortality is still present. The hairs inside my nostrils stand on end as I smell its distinctive musk. I’m not sure whether it is a pleasant aroma or a foul odor; the scent’s instant association with bed bugs has already turned my stomach a bit. I quickly scrape the remains off with the tissue and rush to the toilet to flush it all down. My paranoia wouldn’t let me throw it in the trash and risk it coming back to life, crawling out of the trash can and seeking revenge.

It’s encounters like these that truly make me question the superiority of the human species. How great can humans be if our confidence and sense of security can be blown away not by an attack but by the mere presence of a creature, on average no bigger than a fingernail? Dogs and cats, which we consider to be lower than ourselves would never panic at the sight of a bed bug. Even a well-fed pet would lick its lips in delightful anticipation of trapping any insect in its jaws and enjoying a light snack. Ironically these are the same animals we allow to lick our faces.
All these thoughts about bed bugs have caused me to forget all about my sordid little murder mystery. I climb back into bed and resume flipping through the pages of my book. Suddenly, I feel something crawling up my leg. In reflex I jump and wildly fling my leg from side to side. The beast flies off and onto the floor, fleeing faster than most bed bugs I’ve seen in a long time.

Grabbing my trusty sneaker, I slide off the bed and give chase. But it’s too fast for me, slipping into an air vent. My paranoia blazes outside the realm of logic. Could the beast I assassinated earlier have swam back up the pipes to my toilet and charged towards my bedroom, vengeance in mind? I soon shake off the fear, give up and resume once more to my book. A few seconds later I feel the faint weight of tiny legs on my left thigh.

I react the same way I did before, shaking myself wildly as if in a seizure. I look frantically at my immediate surroundings, but the beast is nowhere to be found. As soon as I calm myself and lie back down, I feel three more bed bugs on my back, making me jump. I try to shake off and kill the beasts, but they, too have vanished.

It’s then I realize I am being attacked by the one creature more menacing than a bed bug. The imaginary bed bug, born in a nest of sheer paranoia. With my biological alarm system set on high sensitivity, my senses are plagued by the onslaught of countless imaginary bed bugs, crawling on any given part of my body at any time.

I spend the next half hour sweeping up and down my torso, legs, arms and even my privates with my hands, “feeling” the beasts’ presence. Although the book is right in front of me, I don’t think I’ve read more than a page since my first bed bug sighting. Convinced that no more reading will be done tonight, I put the book aside and force myself to go to sleep. This only fans the flame of paranoia that burns inside. The absence of bright light leaves me vulnerable to those bed bugs I cannot see.

The imaginary bed bugs continue to invade me, but now in multitudes. I feel dozens of them in my hair, legs, arms and the rest of my body. They crawl on me, and I jump up, toss and turn wildly. I keep telling myself that these attacks are simply a figment of my imagination, with little success as my paranoia rages on.

Suddenly I jump out of my sleep and to my horror, I find myself covered with bed bugs. So many atop my body they must crawl on each other just to move around. My sight is impaired due to the bed bugs that squeeze in and out of the tiny space between my eyeballs and their sockets. They lay nests in my eyes, and millions of babies hatch, born trapped between my lens and retina. My body throbs with the pricks of hundreds of simultaneous bed bug bites, their sharp little beaks piercing through my insides.

I’m getting some imaginary bed bugs right now just writing this.

I try to scream, but my mouth is crammed with bed bugs. My tongue cannot even move, my mouth is so packed with beasts. The bed bugs find their way into every orifice in my body, even in the tiny slit at the end of my penis. I try to breathe, but my lungs are filled with them. I can feel babies being born down there as my lungs burn from lack of oxygen. The beasts crawl up my anus; I can feel them exploring my small intestine and stomach. I can only pray that the stomach acid dissolves them.

I feel the beasts swimming inside me. My brain, devoid of oxygen, breaks down. Everything goes black. Just before I die I feel the bed bugs tearing through my flesh before finally bursting through to the surface. Bloodstained beats spill out of my chest and stomach through the enormous crimson gash.

I wake up from the nightmare, flinging my body into an upright position, hyperventilating and eyes bulging. The imaginary bed bugs are still there. I shake my legs and arms at their touch before turning on the light. I pick up the remote and aim it at the TV set. Maybe a little 24-hour cable news will put me at ease.

Just nothing involving bed bugs.

Copyright 2009 Bugged Out

Art Through Pain

Dear Reader,

I've decided to shift the focus of Bugged Out to serving as a venue where anyone, but New Yorkers especially, can relate their bed bug experiences creatively. All the things that Bugged Out has been up to now will remain but the major focus will be on what I call, "Art Through Pain".

Why art? you might ask.

Like I've said before, there are already quite a few New York bed bug blogs that do a great job of covering bed bug legislation, tips, personal accounts, etc. I feel that artistic expression is an aspect of New York's bed bug infestation that I do not see being addressed elsewhere.

As a professional writer, novice illustrator and lover of percussion instruments, I fully agree with the idea that the arts can be a therapeutic outlet for people going through troubling and even traumatic events, and bed bug infestations count as both. From now on, Bugged Out will be gladly accepting submissions of bed bug-related artwork at artthrupain@buggedout.org.

A word on copyright: Though Bugged Out does support anonymity, all artwork will have to come with the name of its creator who I will assume is the copyright holder of the work unless I am informed otherwise. Contrary to what some may believe, copyright law protects works that are displayed on the Internet, so let's keep that in mind as we enjoy some of the art we may see on this blog in the future.

What would I love to see on Bugged Out?

• photography
• poetry
• short fiction
• (photos of) paintings
• graphic design
• essays
• (photos of) sculptures
• original music
• sketch comedy
• a short film (horror, maybe?)
  
• performing arts (acting, dancing)

In an effort to encourage artistic submissions, I will be holding a art contest later this month. Where I come from the term "bugged out" is used to describe losing one's cool in response to a very bad situation. I figured it's only appropriate that Bugged Out shows something created by people to express just how bugged out they are by their bed bug problems.