Wait! Where has Essy been??

> If it weren't already obvious, this year has kinda been a bit of a shitfest as far as productivity goes. I've been clawing at a queue that's been sitting around since October of last year that, if I'm honest with myself, should have been finished in April after I sorted out the issues with my computer. Of course, that wasn't the whole picture, though at the time I hadn't realized just how badly my mental heath was being impacted by my now ex-partner that I was living with. While I was trying my best to work though things, I repeatedly found myself stalling and creatively burning out within a few days of starting to work on my queue again. This is the *major reason* I've been so absent from public spaces and struggling with working consistently at things. I've been lucky that I've had the finances to support myself this year, but I cannot afford to lean on those savings for any longer.


> The good thing about all of this is: it's over now! Without going into too much detail, a few months ago things between me and my ex kind of came to a head. They had repeatedly missed their portion of rent throughout the year and lost multiple jobs over the course of the past few years. In March they had lost their job again and found a new one at the start of May. Money issues combined with pre-existing relationship issues and their new job were the prefect storm for them to begin cheating and was the groundwork for me needing to get them out of my life.

> It's been a few months since things ended, and I've had a wonderful vacation with  Taluthus down in Australia for a full month (more on that below~). I just got back home a few days ago. After the past few years of chaos and the mounting tensions with my ex for the first half of this year, this vacation was *badly* needed. I have a new resolve to get my work and personal life sorted out.

> The bad news is: As of right now I have been left to pay bills in excess of $2400/mo almost entirely on my own. Obviously, this isn't sustainable with my current workflow and prices. I desperately need to find a new roommate, but my house is currently in no condition for someone new to live here, and I will need to spend the next month or more simply cleaning and reorganizing. (So uh, if anyone is looking for a roommate in Denver, CO in the next few months and don't mind a house with 6 cats, please hmu... >.<)

And the important stuff here!

> I need to clear out owed work.I have been doing my best to keep track of all commissions that have already been paid for, but some folks may have slipped through the cracks of disorganization. Please message me if you have paid for a commission in the past year and haven't heard from me!

> From there, my pricing system will be changing to an hourly rate of $30usd/hr. This should hopefully be less complicated for both commissioners and myself than multiple quality tiers and commission types and extra additional charges for alts on images or other add-ons. This of course means my fully rendered pieces will be jumping in price somewhat significantly, as I usually spend 8-12 hours or more on those. This change is almost entirely due to being left as the sole rent payer of my apartment. Without doing this, my work would be impossible to do without consistently being several hundred $$ behind on bills.

> As soon as I'm done with my existing queue of owed work, I will be opening commissions using this new model. I have a few folks I am currently trialing this payment method with, and some adjustments may be made before public commission openings are made, so keep an eye out for that! I will also be rewriting my TOS (it's been a few years since the first draft) and making a new commission form and trello board, which will come with their own announcement as soon as they are done.

> Thank you guys so much for your support and patience this year! I'm really looking forwards to finishing up my owed stuff and starting work on some personal projects with friends, which I am very eager to share with you all! Here's to hoping I can finish 2022 much stronger than it started!




Derg rambling about his trip to Australia below

> So, I've been dating  Taluthus for almost 2 years now, and we were able to meet each other in person for the first time at the start of this year! He flew over to America for a while in March, and then in August I was able to fly to Australia and live with him for a full month! It was probably one of the best times of my life, we went out to do a whole bunch of stuff and it was really nice to not worry about anything back at home for a few weeks. I got to meet a lot of people in his real life and also got to meet up with a friend for a few days, too. The trip was originally supposed to only last 3 weeks, but we ended up extending it another 2 weeks, as my flights back home needed to be rescheduled midway through. This was more than fine with both of us of course, as I had already been considering extending my stay. That meant I had a week to myself as well, and I took that opportunity to get some work done!

> Of note, while I was down there Tal took me on a drive through the country and a few local small towns near his place, as well as to go pet kangaroos and koalas, I was able to walk to the beach and did that a few times, we did some laser tag and even went bowling with his family. The kangaroos were adorable and delightful and I got to feed a whole bunch of them. I was so enthralled by the critters I insisted we go back to the reserve on the last day so I could pet them again. It was kinda funny because I was so delighted by them and Tal stood by watching, being wholly disillusioned with the roos. I also went to a tree-climb obstacle course with Tal and my friend Kali as well! Tal was able to power through a lot of that and Kali and I were left kind of struggling. It was super physically intensive but a LOT of fun. While Tal was out on his work week towards the last half of the trip, I was even able to go to a fresh seafood restaurant with his parents and try some really delicious fish I'd never had before! I also got plenty of opportunity to eat lots of fresh oysters that were huge. (Tal hates seafood, so I was left to go on all my fresh seafood adventures alone, lol.) We even managed to squeeze in an overnight camping trip at a nearby nature reservation on one of the last days. It was super nice to go on a hike as the sun went down and then snuggle up in the tent for the night. Even if the night of sleeping itself wasn't the best... x3

> The best part for me though, was driving into the outback and going to an opal mining town called Andamooka. We went and spent a few hours looking through mine tailings and finding little bits of raw opal! Which doesn't sound like much, but we found some super pretty rocks that I brought home with me. We also got to meet up with one of the people who lives in town and she gave us a tour of the town and told us about the history of the place and a lot of information about how opal forms as well as different kinds of opal. It ended up being a super pleasant and friendly afternoon, and I got to learn a lot about my favorite gemstone. I also got to meet a really cool stonemason artist who had carved and assembled an entire tiger out of sandstone! It was especially special because it was close to Tal's work, and he hates it out there, yet he still drove me out to his desert workplace so I could go digging through rocks. I desperately want to go back there again and spend a whole day looking for opals.

> It was really nice being able to get out and do something nearly every day and experience what its like to live in another country, even one that on the surface still feels a lot like home. There were sushi restaurants all over the place, and had a much wider variety of types available than I was used to seeing in Colorado. The most striking thing to me was that it was actually a bit harder for me to cook for myself, since I wasn't as familiar with the grocery stores there and things I took for granted in Colorado were a LOT harder to find (like coffee creamer... and corn tortillas. And deli turkey.) I also got to try some kangaroo meat as well! It was super tasty, and I definitely like it better than steak.... it's a shame I can't get it here in America for as cheap as I can find it in Australian supermarkets.

> Now that I'm home I find myself missing it and Tal a lot than I expected. I know for sure I'm going to be making plans to go back as soon as I can, probably for a longer stay this time, too. There's a lot I still didn't quite get to experience and I just genuinely enjoyed being around and living with him.



> tl;dr : I had a super fun time and I miss Australia and Tal and I desperately miss it and want to go back. ;o;