We seem to have somewhat similar tastes in reading - Boneshaker is highly placed on my to-read list at the moment.
Also, I recently got around to reading China Miéville's King Rat and Perdido Street Station (and just picked up the The Scar from the library this week), and very much agree with the comment you made about him some while back - really, really good writer but really, really depressing.
It occurred to me while reading PSS that you could make a drinking game out of Miéville's writing style - one drink for every metaphorical reference to death, rot, disease or bodily wastes, two for every literal, non-metaphorical reference. If you are still conscious after a chapter or two, you weren't paying close enough attention to the text.
On the moth thing - I hate food moths almost as much as clothing moths. But they are at least slightly less of a headache to get rid of. You just need to get a bunch of mason jars and other similar containers (which can be found in bulk at Canadian Tire etc.), and stick all your grains, flours, cereals and anything else similar into them (in the process, dumping anything you find that's already infested). Once all their food sources are sealed away in airtight containers, they starve.
Best thing about it: you only ever have to do it once (the go-through-all-your-cupboards part, anyway), and then just get in the habit of keeping stuff that way, saving any jars you come across that seem like a useful size for putting future stuff in. I still keep pretty much everything in my kitchen cupboards in jars, after having a moth infestation in the kitchen several years ago. It's also good for deterring other forms of kitchen wildlife, like cockroaches, and keeps stuff a little fresher.
And really, once you've spent a day sorting through bulk bags full of rice and flour and what not that are crawling with larva, the site of anything like that NOT in a bugproof jar will probably squick you for years to come, which makes the habit easier to maintain. Sometimes mental trauma is actually useful.
no subject
Also, I recently got around to reading China Miéville's King Rat and Perdido Street Station (and just picked up the The Scar from the library this week), and very much agree with the comment you made about him some while back - really, really good writer but really, really depressing.
It occurred to me while reading PSS that you could make a drinking game out of Miéville's writing style - one drink for every metaphorical reference to death, rot, disease or bodily wastes, two for every literal, non-metaphorical reference. If you are still conscious after a chapter or two, you weren't paying close enough attention to the text.
On the moth thing - I hate food moths almost as much as clothing moths. But they are at least slightly less of a headache to get rid of. You just need to get a bunch of mason jars and other similar containers (which can be found in bulk at Canadian Tire etc.), and stick all your grains, flours, cereals and anything else similar into them (in the process, dumping anything you find that's already infested). Once all their food sources are sealed away in airtight containers, they starve.
Best thing about it: you only ever have to do it once (the go-through-all-your-cupboards part, anyway), and then just get in the habit of keeping stuff that way, saving any jars you come across that seem like a useful size for putting future stuff in. I still keep pretty much everything in my kitchen cupboards in jars, after having a moth infestation in the kitchen several years ago. It's also good for deterring other forms of kitchen wildlife, like cockroaches, and keeps stuff a little fresher.
And really, once you've spent a day sorting through bulk bags full of rice and flour and what not that are crawling with larva, the site of anything like that NOT in a bugproof jar will probably squick you for years to come, which makes the habit easier to maintain. Sometimes mental trauma is actually useful.