Aerak was a HUUUUUGE sweetie and coordinated with Unico and Shadow to bring Clover ( She used to be my bun bun a while back for those who don't remember... )

I've been feeling rather stressed out lately, and it was soooo awesome having Shadow, Uni, and Clover come over. I felt really happy. I miss having her around, but I know it's what is best for her. I was still in pain, but... It didn't matter very much. I got to lay down and pet the bun bun. She was hoppin and twitchin about :D She's a sweet bun.

I just want to thank you guys for bringing her here to spend some time with me. You guys really made my night a whole lot better. <3

As some of you know, I've been having a lot of health issues the past several years. I have Crohn's disease which has cause havoc on many many of my body's systems. I have been put on several medications to combat this issue, but as a result, have put on a lot of weight. I was on 1 medication that is notorious for making people gain weight, and the remicade I am on has actually given me a mostly working digestive system, which... to be honest... I don't think I have EVER had. I'm trying to adjust my diet and I am trying to be more active. The problem is, I am in so much pain every day. My legs and feet hurt REALLY badly, and I can tell it's the bones and partially the muscles. The more active I am, the more miserable I am. There's also the fact that my Crohn's disease is causing rectal bleeding, so if I move around a lot, I start bleeding X.x My doctors won't give me stronger pain meds other than Tylenol and Excedrin. And I am not sure what to do. Are there any suggestions on how to lose weight properly? I'm at about 210 lbs, 5'2" ish. I am VERY much considering a wheelchair to combat some of my pain issues because, quite frankly, I am miserable. But I don't want people to feel like I am giving up, because I am not, and I know not moving around will hurt my chances of losing weight. I would like to drop down to about 160. That would give me some padding in case I have a Crohn's complication. ( I've lost about 20 lbs before after attending Anthrocon X.x )

In terms of a wheelchair, I was considering getting this one here: http://www.1800wheelchair.com/produ.....chair/#details It's cheap, but it has good reviews. I'm not really sure what I should be looking for in a wheelchair though... so if you have suggestions, please let me know!

Updates

In an attempt to try and get myself motivated and sort of "distract" myself from all the crap going on, I am working on finally pursuing my animation and art dreams. I finally have a stable job ( Yay! ). So I can afford some of the tools and can relieve myself of some of that worry. I'm working with people in my apartment to re-arrange and upgrade the space to be more of a studio feel. I spent money on some animation supplies and a professional audio recording system so I can do voice acting :D

And as some of you know, I was working on a special project named Fuzz Hub. This is not forgotten. This will be the primary tool I will be using / creating for the studio I am starting. There are collaboration tools out there, but none that do what I would like to do. I will be working on coding and doing small animation tests, drawing, and probably some comics / graphic novels of the story I would like to eventually end up animating. I'm also hoping to do some collaboration art projects with other artists. You can follow thefuzzhub for updates on the social tool I am working on, and gobluerabbit for updates on my art and animations on twitter. This has been a long term idea that I have had and I had promised myself not to follow through with it until I got a stable job.

Final Words

I know I have been kind of flaky in some respects. For that, I am sorry. All I can ask is that you be patient with me as I am dealing with a lot right now. I'm really hoping to use my art to try and cope with many of the things I am feeling right now. I probably won't be opening for commissions for the foreseeable future, but if you are interested in a collaboration or are interested in my projects, send me a note or a shout via email: alkora[at]blue-rabbit-studios.com

Thanks everyone!
Alkora

I am all about artists' rights. Seriously, I am. and I hate it when customers take advantage of an artist or seriously bitch someone out because they're too jealous of an artist's work because they can't afford to pay them what they should be paid for their work. That pisses me off.

But you know something else that pisses me off?

When artists think they can strong arm into unrealistic and stupid Terms of Service rules. Point and case: adoptables.

I love getting an adoptable here and there. I have a project or something I want to do that's new. Sometimes I can't seem to come up with a design I am happy with, so I find something I do like. But then you go to read the rules...

This is from an anonymous artist's adoptables clause...

"Do not claim the design as your own."
Okay, fine! That's totally reasonable.

"Do not resell the design without my permission."
This is where it starts to get sticky... and I will explain below.

"I reserve the rights to the design you have bought. I may revoke permission to use a design if it is being resold without my permission."
Sorry, but no... Read that aloud...one more time. "I reserve the rights to the design you have bought." What?

"You may make minor changes to any design you purchase."
This is a silly rule to stick someone to, but it can be a legally binding part of a contract.

Here's the problem. If you were doing someone a commission, it's TOTALLY legit to say that you cannot re-sell that image unless you buy the rights to it. The payment is for the artist's service to create a project at the client's request. Adoptables are different. The design IS the product. Telling someone they can't re-sell their purchase and telling them they cannot have the rights to their purchase is the SAME THING as if you say: purchased a laptop from dell, then them telling you "Sorry, you can't re-sell your laptop if you want to get a new one or you just need the money. The rights to own your laptop that you paid for actually belongs to us." Any judge with that kind of case would laugh and dismiss it. An adoptable IS a product, you are specifically paying for that design, and you can't just take that away from someone because they want to sell it to someone else who will take care of it. Infact, you're just kind of shooting yourself in the foot!

A lot of people in the fandom think they know how a contract or term of service works, they claim many things without understanding those things. I say this not to make those people feel bad but rather to try and get people to do some research on what it is they're trying to commit their customers to. AND to protect themselves and their own rights.

I'm sorry if this angers a few people, but... lately, I have been seeing a lot of things going on... I have been getting pretty stressed out and I feel like I need to vent. So... there you go.

Yep. It's that time again.

This is what happens when you start, well, at least for me.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/14312175/

And when you wake up, http://www.furaffinity.net/view/14312198/ Tada! <3

Much thanks to  geckomania for the adorable piccies :D

Okay, so... I think I have all the details worked out for the donation drive for  rubbertexraccoon

I have my Alien form: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/14127007/ that I was going to use.
The tendrils on my back can have an array of substances pumped in at the same time, which will make this easy for what I am planning :D

For each $1 usd that is donated, it is counted as 1 point. Pick a type of growth from the following: Inflation or Fat. The choose where you would like to have that applied: Butt, Belly, thighs, cheeks, head, tail, or paws.

I'll be tallying things up at the end of the week on friday, so I can draw over the weekend. The weeks have been pretty busy for me, but I would like to spend time on my weekends for projects like what I have and this growth drive.

You can send the donations to contact[at]fauxpawstudios.com
Please do not mention FA or send anything other than: Donation from {fa user name}
Post a comment below with the following:

Amount: ${dollars}
Type: {Inflation or Fat}
Area(s): X points to butt, X points to Belly ( Or any variation listed above. or just one area... I'll leave that up to you. )

NOTE: Please donate at least $5. I don't think paypal will let you donate anything else.

PS NOTE: The person who donates the most to me toward the end of the drive will receive a cell shaded picture of their choosing! (1 character, limited background)

Hi guys!

I'm working on a really cool project atm, but I would like to see if I could get some artists to do some work for me or collaborate with me. I'm looking for a more toony look for art I want to use.

- Alkora

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you guys know I am still around. I've got a major project going at work that's taking up a lot of my time, but I am hoping to get to my auction this weekend. I should have time to wind down and even get some drawing done!

So far, I was considering doing something like....

I would do a growth drive. It would start probably some time next week and go for a week or two. The person who donates the most will win a custom picture or ych picture, it's up to that person for what they want to do.

Also, I have a new project in the works. It's website related, so if you want to give me a shout now, go ahead! I'm looking for a few people to help me out.

- Alkora

I've got an old laptop that I have no use for. I have one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ.....82E16834200988

It's in very good condition, so I would like to see if I can get $300 for it. I've installed windows 7 on it because when I bought it, I absolutely loathed windows 8.
$300 is not an end all be all, so if you would like to make me an offer, just let me know!

This laptop is a great laptop for doing art on. I used it myself to do my art on. I will be doing a fresh install on this machine and I can also load it with a few things so it's ready to go for you!

Just give me a shout and we can talk :D

I'm trying to figure out the coloration for my new alien form, to which I am naming "Zarethi" - which, pretty much translates to asshole in the universe I am creating :P (I'll explain later once I get the design flushed out)

Here are all of my designs that I came up with:
http://www.fauxpawstudios.com/alkora/

Personally, my top 3 are 7, 6, and 3... in that order. But I really don't feel like pulling the trigger at the moment, I wanted to get some opinions.

If you have another design suggestion, I am open to ideas!

I've been using http://design-seeds.com/ and tweaking as needed here and there.

For now, I am probably going to make this a closed species... I don't know yet :P

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5966793/

My friend and roomie Larus is going through some rough times. He can't afford the outrageous monthly fee, so he needs to sell the phone to pay it off entirely. The journal explains it a bit better and in more detail.

Thanks for looking!
Alkora

We have been incredibly busy lately. I have been SOO busy, I have been working non-stop for over a month. It's only recently that I started to spend a few hours during the evening with WildStar. My wuff and I have derped getting our room for MFF, and now there is a rumor that all of the rooms for MFF have been sold out. So. I need a room where my wuff and I can stay. If you have space or know of someone who has space, PLEASE give me a shout. We'd really like to get this figured out soon.

- Alkora

JUST because I am not using a previous fursona as my current fursona, does NOT give you the right to take said character and make him your own. And taking his shape, markings, and features, changing and just change their colors is also NOT acceptable. I don't give two shits if you make one of the species I create for yourself, but please, have some respect for me, my work, and my passions and do not butcher my creativity to add another notch on your belt.

I will not say who is doing this, but someone is trying to passive aggressively steal one of my creations x.x
I absolutely will NOT stand by and let someone try and steal my ideas.

Oh god... I'll be 29 >.>
That's not really that old though...right? :P

I'm on the wildstar beta going on. FYI, it's a FREE public open beta!

http://www.wildstar-online.com/en/

Anywho, my account name is AlkoraDragon. You can also add my character by the name Alkora on the Myrcalus server. Give me a shout! Maybe we an play together :D

Hey guys!

I'm still in need of some funds to get me through this month. I still have my special deal running on my website: http://fuzzball.ceruleanhost.com/donate/
You can find out what's going on here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5703286/

I'd like to thank the two people who have contributed already, those funds helped me to keep eating throughout the past week while I went out to work!

As a side note, I am hoping to get some new art posted soon. I've been able to doodle a little bit here and there, trying to get back into the swing of doing art again. So I am trying to get new art put up on this account and through Fuzzball :D

If you haven't watched  bluefuzzball yet, you should!

Thanks!
Alkora

...and yet still far more to go.

For those of you who don't know, I have been plagued with health problems for years, okay... really my whole life. Most recently, and when I say recently, I mean from about 2009, I dealt with chronic vertigo. That lasted every single day, every minute of every hour for 3 years straight. I struggled through therapy, which didn't help at all. I had tests to make me even more dizzy to figure out why I was having vertigo. It was incredibly stressful. I had other underlying issues as well such as a vitamin D deficiency, anxiety, issues with potassium and tachycardia ( though I've dealt with tachycardia and potassium issues since 2003-ish ). I can't really say any more because honestly, I don't remember most of those years. My memories seem to be missing for that period of time. They finally managed to find a combination of meds that seemed to fix my vertigo issues. When that day came, I felt really relieved. I honestly thought it was over. But... that didn't last very long.

Forewarning, this part may be a bit TMI.

I've always had issues using the bathroom. I usually would have to go very often and when I did, it was usually unpleasant. Of course, at the time, I didn't know any better. It's what I have dealt with my entire life. Having to make sudden runs to the bathroom for seemingly no logical reason was a regular thing. One day about a year ago or so, I went to the bathroom and when I went to clean up, there was blood. Lots of blood. It was almost enough to just say fuck it, I'm going to the ER. At that point, I was really scared. I thought I was either bleeding internally or developed colon cancer. Those were the only two things that I knew could cause so much bleeding down there. The next day, I went in to see my regular doctor. He was concerned when I showed him a picture of what happened and referred me to a specialist. They told me I needed to get a colonoscopy done. Let me tell you... they are NOT fun, especially the prep for them. While they were doing the procedure, they found some strange issues in my large intestine and saw that my small intestine was swollen. They took a biopsy of several parts of my colon and found some sort of ulcer on my large intestine near my rectum, IE it was what was causing so much bleeding. The test came back a few days later and revealed that I may have Crohn's Disease. For those of you who don't know, Crohn's Disease is an auto-immune disease. It is when my immune system attacks my intestinal tract because of certain foods I eat or drink. Finally, everything was starting to make sense. It would make sense why I felt crappy so much, why I constantly was low on vitamins and minerals. My system wasn't absorbing the nutrients I need like a normal person's body would. They decided they wanted to try and get me on something called Remicade. It's supposed to fix the issue with my digestive tract. The problem was, each infusion session costs about $4,000. There was no way in hell I could afford that, so I had to wait. While having to wait, I developed something called a peri-rectal abscess. Basically, the white blood cells that were attacking my intestines, and probably the ulcer that was on my large intestine, were collecting under my skin around my rectum. It had caused that area to become incredibly inflamed and hardened. It had gotten so large, that it was spreading out around my rectum. It spread to the right side and above it headed toward my crotch area. I was referred to a surgical specialist that deals with rectal surgeries. At that point I was in extreme pain all the time. I could no longer sit properly it hurt so badly. I got in to the office and the doctor took a look at it. Needless to say, it didn't last very long. He told me to go to the hospital immediately. I was to be in to surgery in an hour. I remember laying in the bed, in some pain, but mostly drugged up with hydromorphine. That was to be my first major surgery. In order to fix my problem, they needed to make a 4 inch long incision over the abscess and stick something called a seton through my rectal muscle into the abscess to allow it to drain after the incision has healed up.When the nurse came in to talk to me about my issue, she told me that aside from child birth, having a rectal abscess is one of the most painful things you can have. I can safely agree with her x.x I had to start pain medications after I had the surgery. They started me on Oxycodone. They wanted me to start the remicade ASAP, but I kept telling them I couldn't afford it. One doctor would stop my pain medication, so I would go to the next. And because my Crohn's disease was an ongoing issue and because of where the surgery took place on my body, it was being affected by the effects of Crohn's disease and not healing very fast. That has been prolonging my pain since then. It's been hell having to try and rely on pain medication to feel normal and function like I am supposed to. Not to mention the fact that there have been many many restless nights. I've managed to get some health care ( will go more into this below ) and start my remicade treatments. But I still have to be careful. Remicade lowers my chance of fighting off infections, so if I get sick...I could get really sick.

Throughout all of this, I have had some pretty damn low lows. There have been several times I have wondered what it would be like to not be here. I have thought "what if?" But I would NEVER actually do anything. The way I think of it is this: It sucks now, it will probably suck later; but there ARE lots of good times and lots of good people in this world. There is so much I have not experienced yet that I wish to know before I die. So as much as things suck right now, they will get better at some point. It's had a drastic effect on my mood. It's a difficult thing to try and push through, but I am a stubborn ass. The only way I will go is fighting.

I would like to appologize to a few people, mainly commissioners. I feel really bad that I haven't gotten some stuff I owe, 3 pictures really, done and sent off. I've been financially trashed, have been jobless for over 6 months ( Although, I am currently working a contract position ), and stressed out. I know I need to start working on art again, and I am trying to get back into the swing of things. It's been a really big balancing act that I just haven't known now to deal with. The funny thing is I think I know how it a cancer patient feels mentally. For me, it's kind of like... my body is broken and I am fighting it. But with Crohn's, it will never go away. Ever. Only treatments can help me.

I'd like to thank my loving mister wuffy  aerak for being by my side for so long and through all the crap I have put him through. We give each other a lot of crap. Like... a LOT of crap :P but in my family, that was how we showed someone we liked, loved, or appreciated them haha. He's one of the kindest, most loving, and caring people I know and I don't know what I would do without him.

Throughout all of this, money has been a HUGE issue. My previous job ran out of work for me to do and had to let my contract finish off and not renew it, so I was out of work for several months. This piled on top of taxes and medical fees have left my bank account and my $73,000 in school loans fester. I have luckily been hired back on as of last week, however, because I am a contractor, I have to submit an invoice and this company uses something called a "Net 30" system. Basically that means that I have to wait 30 days from the day I submit my invoice to receive my paycheck. And because I am not an employee, if they don't have work for me to do, I make no money. I don't normally do this, but I kind of have to. Until I get my paycheck, I have a negative balance in my bank account. I've been relying on loans from my wuffy to keep me going, and he can't just keep doing that. If you would like to help me out, I would GREATLY appreciate the help. I have created a patreon account under my other art alias which can be found here: http://www.patreon.com/fuzzball If you would like to send me a donation, you can use my website. And for helping me out right now, if you donate $50 or more, I will put you on a special contributor's page on my list. Anyone on said list will be able to recieve a lifetime 10% discount on any service I provide ( can be applied once to the total amount of your single invoice every time you make a purchase on a service ). This can be artwork, website design, and more. You can see the list of services I offer and their availability here: http://fuzzball.ceruleanhost.com/services/ ANYONE who donates anything, no matter how small will make the base contributor's list to show appreciation for helping me out when I really need it. This offer will end when I get my first paycheck, so in about 30 days from now. Please do not mention FA in the description, just put your FA name so I know who you are and whether you would like me to put you on my thank you's page ( make sure to let me know what name you'd like me to list as well. )

With any luck, I should be getting things re-aligned with my health an life. I have started doodling again, so we'll see how things go art-wise. I want to be creating art on a regular basis and finish off things I owe to the 3 very patient commissioners I currently have. If I get myself to draw regularly and post like I should be, then I will consider opening for art commissions again.

Thanks,
Alkora

My character Quinn is up for nomination as progenitor. I think he looks frickin awesome, so please send me a vote! As a note, you need to have a forum account.

Quinn's profile

Go here to vote! :D
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18O.....vukLY/viewform

Hey guys!
Check out this new video for Minnesota's first furry convention.
http://www.furrymigration.org/fm1_preparations/

I'm one of the stars in the video! <3

I tried to get a new account on livestream. They took away soooo many features, including the ability to stream live. Everything is done through events as far as I can see. And all of your content is deleted after 30 days. In order to get what we had before, you have to pay like... $40-$50 a month X.x

What are some alternatives that are still decent?
Ustream? justin.tv?

What do you guys use?

Furry Migration is looking for artists who are willing to donate their time and talent to contribute to different mediums for use with the convention! Currently, we are seeking art for our con book, con badges, and possibly other media. If you are interested, please contact me at alkora[at]fauxpawstudios.com

Since the beginning of this year, I have been searching for a new job. I considered the option of even starting my own business. But... where do I start? How do I manage things? How do I set a reasonable price for my goods and services?

The first step is finding out the cost of doing business. Some things that are really important to consider:
What assets do you need to do your job?
What services are required for you to perform your work? ( IE: electricity, internet, rent, etc )

So, I decided to create a budget for myself. I started with the large costs for me to survive. The largest on the list are my school loans. It costs me $650 a month. It costs me about $300 a month to live here in the apartment. Everyone has to eat, so I have allotted $200 for groceries. For me, I have a lot of medical issues, so I have budgeted $100 for doctors visits / health care. $100 for transportation. I have electricity to take care of, so I took the average cost for how much it could be which is about $100. I have medications to deal with, so I budgeted $100 for pharmacy costs. I have a mobile phone, so that's another $50. I have a credit card payment I need to make so that's $50. I'd also like to be able to have a little fun, so I decided to put about $100 a month. And lastly, and probably one of the most important things, Savings. This is REALLY important to budget for. I have decided to put $150 each month. Things break, people get sick, life happens. Having a buffer for emergencies is very important.

There's one more thing that is not necessarily needed right now, but will be in the future. That's getting a car. To save for a down payment on the car, I found out the cost of the car, how much I wanted to pay per month, and figured out what the down payment should be. In my case, I need to try and save $898 / month. This may seem kind of high, but keep in mind... After I buy the car, I will have to have money to pay for the monthly loan payment, gas money, taxes / tabs, car insurance, and anything left over can go to savings in case something on the car breaks down.

Once I added all these things together, I found out that I have to make $2,798 a month to operate. I multiplied that by 12 to get what I would need to make each year which is $33,576 / year. So that means I can just charge a fee based off that number, right? nope. You have to account for taxes. So I started with a best guess number. I tried charging $20 / hour. Assuming this is a full time job, I did some math and came up with these figures:

$20 * 40 hours a week = $800 / week
$800 * 52 weeks a year = $41,600 a year
Now, with taxes, I decided to charge 40% of the annual income. This comes out to be $16,640.

I then take the annual income and remove the taxes which comes out to be $24,960. Oops! Looks like that's not enough for me to operate. Let's try $25 / hour.

$25 * 40 hours a week = $1000 / week
$1000 * 52 weeks a year = $52,000 a year
Taxes @ 40% = $20,800
Difference = $31,200

It's close, but still not quite enough. Let's bump it up by $2.

$27 * 40 hours a week = $1080 / week
$1080 * 52 weeks a year = $56,160 a year
Taxes @ 40% = $22,464
Difference = $33,696

Hey look! We're just over our required yearly cost! This means that in order for me, personally, to operate... I need to be making $27 / hour at a full time position.

The next step is to look at the market. What are people currently charging for the goods or services you are dealing with. In my case, I deal with art and web development. I originally went to school for animation because I really liked it and I thought it would be a fun and exciting job. But I realized that the market for animators, especially in my area, was not that good. I was hearing a lot of stories about my animation buddies graduating and not getting a job. I am also fond of web development and the market in that area is booming big time. I made a business decision to go into web development. "But Alkora, if it's what you really want to do, why are you abandoning it?!" Just because I make a business decision doesn't mean I have to give up my dream of doing animation. I have allotted 40 hours a week to doing web development to make my income. I can use my spare time to pursue my passions. It's also good to note that it's a good thing to have things you are passionate about available for personal interests to keep you inspired. So now that I have decided what I want to do to make my money, I need to look at what others in my field are charging. I want to make my prices competitive, but try not to go under my budget too much. If it's not doable with my current budget, then maybe some thought needs to go into revising my budget to make sure it will work. In my case, the standard contractor's rate is $35 / hour to $40 / hour. On my current budget, I can easily justify my service's costs and it will make me competitive.

Another important thing is advertising. People need to know you. You need to stand out and get attention. For me, I have learned that it would be a good thing to look around and actively pursue work. Sending emails to companies with suggestions as to why I could help them improve their business. Emailing is the best method as it does not take up their time on your schedule. In my case, I would benefit by offering a free consultation. Even if that consultation doesn't bring in business for that person, it creates a business connection. There's a chance they could talk to one of their connections and bring you business that way. Word of mouth advertising is a big thing, that's why social networks are such a large interest with the general public.

And the last thing is creating a schedule. It's important to set a schedule for yourself. It sets goals for projects, reminds you of upcoming events / meetings / deadlines. Working from home can be difficult as you may feel more comfortable and lazy. It's important to keep yourself professional and on task to accomplish your goals and make that money you really need.

As a result of all of these things I have learned, I realized that if I am going to do commissions for people I need to be charging $27 / hour. So I may be creating a new guide at a later point to reflect these changes. I may also be opening up for other web-based services for the fandom.

If you have any questions or comments, or feel I goofed up on something, please feel free to post your opinions below. I'd love to hear back from you, especially if you have found this helpful for you!

Hey everyone, Minnesota is starting up it's very first furry convention! We are super excited about it. Check out the information and resources below. If you would like to help out, we would really appreciate it if you told your friends, or your friend's friends! And hey, you'll get cake if you do!*

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5556080/

 furrymigration
www.furrymigration.org
https://www.facebook.com/FurryMigration




















* There is no cake, the cake is in fact a lie.

I got a freelance gig for the next month! <3

There's a chance I could get hired on full time, sooooo we'll have to see how things go.
Gonna go to Olive Garden to celebrate :D

Apparently it was the modem.

From what it looks like, comcast upgraded their network to DOCSIS 2.0 to DOCSIS 3.0 this past week and didn't tell anyone. The old modem was choking on it hardcore and finally killed itself this weekend. We went out and bought a new Motorola SURFboard SB6121 cable modem and now we're getting faster speeds than we ever have. Sooooo... I guess we'll see if this sticks or not.