With the continued lack of pictorial updates, I figure that it's only fair if I at least provide a journal every now and again to assure folks that I'm still alive and well.

Work is still the biggest thing I've got going on right now, and it's brought me a level of stability I've not had for a very long time. Oddly enough, the better and more stable the job situation gets, the more I seem to worry about it. It's as if I'm expecting the rug to be pulled out from under me at any moment. I suppose that's a natural response considering how much bad luck and how many missteps I've had in my life, so I try and keep it in check.

Despite not having a terribly active social life, I don't seem to have a problem keeping myself busy. I find that I struggle to find enough hours in the day (or night) to do all the little project with which I surround myself. I have a model that still needs painting (and a bunch more still in storage), a few statues that also need touching up. I need to set up an appointment to get my eyes checked/buy new eyeglasses, get the slide on my 1911 recut so I can swap out to a new set of sights, finish several gigs worth of texture projects I've been working on and organize them into a bundle I can post to Skyrim Nexus - and of course, finish the stacks of sketches and other drawing projects that I've surrounded myself with.
My muse is fitful - and apparently has ADHD in a big way.

I've also been trying to organize some trips to various scenic locals for myself and some of my coworkers/friends. We talk a lot about going to places like Tombstone, AZ, The Apache Death Caves, the Titan Missile Museum and/or Las Vegas, but we never seem to actually do it. I think it mostly just comes down to setting a date and keeping email threads going so that it doesn't get forgotten.

I've been following the updates regarding the new Jurassic Park movie, Jurassic World, and I can comfortably say that I am willing to give the movie a chance, despite all that I've seen and heard thus far.
When I attended ComiCon last year, I spoke with a gentleman who had worked as a designer for the film, and in his words, the movie "isn't worth seeing". He confirmed many of my fears regarding the film being a special-effects smorgasbord with no actual flavour, as well as the revelation of the "Diabolus rex" (now renamed "Indominus rex" ), and that the main character would have a "commando squad" of tame Velociraptors. None of these gave me much hope for the movie being anything more than a shallow "re-imagining" of a classic movie and my spirits sank.
Since then, I've gleaned more information from official and not-so-official sources, and my pessimism has been slightly assuaged, but I'm still leaning towards the negative. The original composition of the I-rex' DNA as including cuttlefish and viper parts has been either retconned or the rumour officially dispelled. Now it's an amalgam of Carnotaurus, Majungasaurus, Rugops and Giganotosaurus - all theropods from the Late Cretaceous, but existing in wildly different areas of the world.
The "Dino commandos" have also been confirmed, so we're likely to see some Dino-on-Dino combat again, but considering how that was handled in JPIII, that doesn't put me at ease. I still question Chris Pratt as a casting choice, but at this stage, I'm just happy that what they've shown of the Dinosaurs themselves thus far look like what they did in the first film. Accurate or not to reality, it at least helps the film's continuity.
Overall, my feelings are 60 to 40 with 60% leaning toward "won't like" and 40% toward "fun for a watch".

In any case, that's where I am at the moment (after some rambling). Still in very good standing, though I could use someone to help me get my ashes hauled.
ComiCon is coming up again, and I plan on wearing my Jurassic Park Security Officer outfit again. It was a hit last year (possibly even getting me into the procure for this year) and I look forward to rocking it again.