Continuing my latest 'sweeps month' (May, 2013), here (as promised) is the second of two 'photo-ops' taken at "Pawpet Megaplex 2003" - Florida's own furry convention (held, at the time, in Orlando).

This is a picture of my good friend Ruben 'Rags' Rodriguez at his concession in the 'Artist's Alley' section of said con. His 'fursona' is that of a raccoon (which is why he sometimes nicknames himself 'Ragscoon').

I first got to know him at some conventions in the northeast - during the early 1990s - when we both lived up north ('Rags' in New England, and moi in New York). We were reunited in the mid-1990s, when he moved down to Fort Lauderdale, FL (with his parents and siblings). Together, we'd get to hang out with Funimal, Skunkworks, MistaBlista, and other anthroartists during some weekends of each year.

He would eventually find a girlfriend, move out of his home, relocate to Lake Park, FL, get married, and have children (forcing him to give up a majority of his pets, including dogs, cats, and ferrets). In the last decade, Ruben had decided to return to New England with his family - moving to central Massachusetts. I have not heard from him since then (but if anybody out there knows of his whereabouts, I'd appreciate it if you would inform me, so I can contact him again)...

Of course, I wouldn't mention 'Rags' without telling you about his talents as an anthroartist/cartoonist. You can check out a small sampling of his art in his VCL site (despite the fact that his last name was misspelled Rodirguez) by going to http://us.vclart.net/vcl/Artists/Ru.....1-by-date.html

During "MP2003", Ruben was nice enough to render a sketch of a fattened version of his raccoon 'fursona' in my black-covered 'fat furry' sketch book, which you can still see at http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1880729/

Watch for another 'photo-op' in my "FA" site, coming up later during 'sweeps month' (and after June 1, 2013, you can go to the 'scraps' section of my site to see all of my 'photo-ops' - instead of in my "FA" gallery)!