WELL. WE DID IT. WE DID THE THING
We drove for about 7 1/2 hours through lightning storms and torrential rain but arrived safe and alive and kinda tired - packing the small car with all my stuff was a bit of a mission but somehow we actually managed it by playing storage tetris until it was all in. all the heads i'd made were just staring out of the back window for the whole trip lmao
I come here and it's -1C with snow on the Rimutaka ranges and it's a far cry from hangin out in my room in a t-shirt up in Auckland let me tell u

beyond FA's downtime i've just been doing nothing (that downtime was nothin but trouble because I know theres many people out there with dead or archaic email addresses... if I hadn't tracked down the email I used for neopets reasons, I'd be in a pit of despair right now too. lucky break)
i'm in a financial limbo right now, nothing coming in and also nothing going out, so I'm taking the opportunity to go on an 'art vacation' - I'm dissatisfied with where my art is at right now and I want to improve, so I'm going to be doing a welter of personal art and scribbles and things in an effort to gain More Skills
So, commissions won't be open during this time! I was tempted to take on experimental type things but I'd prefer to mess around on my own terms than have someone's hopes and dreams and money riding on it
Most of the things I produce won't even be saved, they'll be scrawled out and then deleted, or at least won't be uploaded anywhere, so don't getcha hopes up on seeing anything from me for a lil while. Maybe a week. shouldn't be too long.

After that, and here's the important bit:
I'll open commissions one last time before I'll be raising my rates to $25USD/hr.
When I move to the next new place (i'm in this one for about four months) it's highly likely that it will be more expensive than my last and therefore I need both a substantial buffer and a substantial livable income.
Because it's a price raise, I want to make sure that I'm delivering your money's worth, hence the skill upgrade!

so. hopefully you all got back in to FA without too many issues (I suggest updating your email if you were a dumb like me and havent changed in 7 years or w/e) and I'll see you all later!