Inspired by the usual memetic questions, I rearranged this to feel more engaging to me:

Rooming arrangements: When & where, with whom?
I'll get in mid-Wednesday, and stay with local friend  DelvinFox, longtime friend  MiyagiAndel, and his friend  Doomrater. Our room is actually a Motel 6 that Miyagi found a quick drive away, so his friend is bringing a car. On my Sunday night though, I stay in Fraddas's room, giving me some time to relax in the Westin.

Me & Delvin get there together on a Megabus btw, quite affordable as usual. We're actually meeting for our first time by a convenient night-before sleepover at my place.

People: Who do you look forward to meeting, and spending time with?
Firstly, I'll be happy to introduce my friends Miyagi and Delvin to their first Anthrocon! Outside of my room, I'll be most happy to finally meet longtime friend  JordanRinehart, maybe meet his friends as a result. Then Ooo and Fraddas tend to attract a fun crowd and fun times! I'm happy more of their friends will make it than last time, too. Sometime as well, I'll surely take at least a respectful swing over to hug  SteeltheWarrior, the dear old friend who introduced me to so many experiences as a growing furry. I learned as well last year to respect just how friendly things are when hanging around  TiggyCat and his warm fuzzy crowd.

There are assorted artists I'll love to see showing up too, including  log,  SammyStowes, and  PacoPanda, and the first one or two of them I may work on befriending because they're good friends of good friends of mine! And yeah, Ooo is an artist too, hehehe, I didn't expect him to be so friendly the first time I met up with him last year…^_^

Finding the fox:
Poke me long distance? I'm AltheFox at Twitter, and I've just added @ Al_Fox on Telegram. Skype (thealbinofox) usually works too.
Poke me in person? My skin's pretty pale but I'm not literally an albino or anything, and I can't afford to suit as one =p So I'll try to keep a recognizable Albino Fox badge on in public, on a plain or striped polo or tee. I look kinda young for 27, and I keep a ‘normal’ weight for someone 5'11". I'm not usually offended by ‘invasions of personal space’ or whatever, so surprise hugs are fine =)

What I might be up to…

What do you tend to enjoy out there?
I don't do much drinking or dancing, more just following people I know and people they know, wandering to surrounding events to laugh at together, circling the art areas to share opinions, and having a cuddly chat in our rooms, and hey, whatever else comes up! Ultimately it's about meeting friends, physically… y'know?

What kind of artist are you?
All those classes in drawing and portraiture and digital art and I'm still trying to figure out what gives me a sense of direction. But hey, if I know you, and you pick a piece of paper and give me a seed of inspiration, a cute li'l furry sketch might come together if you're lucky. Otherwise, one friend ended up with me drawing what he looks like IRL, and I’m not so sure he wanted to see that XD

How are you about photography?
I love it! DSLR camera settings and all. Though I still habitually detach my RL identity from my furry identity, so I can definitely relate to people that ask their real faces not be constantly published with labels and all. It's a tricky subject, but hey, if my image is pasted about, I guess just let me know where.

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By the way, how are you this Independence Day?

Kinda glad I have no big plans for this weekend; my head just won't settle down about packing/readying/whatevering for Anthrocon. I'm also kinda afraid I have nothing to show for myself this past year. I haven’t made of myself an interesting guy with any uh… not-embarrassing life story, so I’m spending Independence Day thinking about how to be more independent. Maybe finding a grasp on my creative drive again? Wish someone would invite me to a Drawpile server again or something.

My regular life's been just placidly okay. Maybe I keep chickening out before any real-world-level stress gets to come along?

My birthday is in 4 days, but I have to try hard to see much when I reflect on the year I just spent at age 24. I had graduated, but felt lost enough that I never quite found my way to employment.

Meanwhile, Midwest FurFest is in 28 days. I've only been to Anthrocon ('08–'10), which is nearer but so hectic that my interest shied away a bit. I've long had a desire, half a plan and all of sufficient cash to go to MFF, which would even give me room to drop by some Chicago friends afterward, but that's… maybe a minimum of $135 on transport alone, and I've hardly the guts to pick myself up and do anything daring lately (but travel prices haven't gone up just yet, so…). I've only earned money on a few odd events: some design work related to my completed AA degree in Graphic Design, along with miscellaneous chores, but all for family and their friends. I'm a saver though and have largely kept the few hundred $ from that. (I also have five thousand or so in savings I'm not touching, on the side.)

The number that nags at me and tells me, life's too short for this, is “2 years”: I have several dear friends out there, but if I skip this one I'm surely gonna have idled that much of my youth away in all of their absence. Maybe that's just my fault for not knowing the locals. Meanwhile, it's already been 2 years since I've seen some of the friends I miss the most (who are generally Chicago-area folks…).

Whatever I do next… just better be meaningful. I've been flipping through this & that in search of meaning: (gentle naked fox play on just this 1st link, others only suggestive) Painting (or just plain coloring others' sketches) in MyPaint, Doodling it up in DrawSomething, sculpting in Sculptris, composing* in PXTone, and much more for learning's sake, but never enough of any one thing…. If I could get my head into doing commissions, it would give me a lot more structure. Even just donating work to someone who deserves it would feel good. I know I'm in far less need of cash than a lot of others I've heard about lately.

Just, don't worry for my safety or anything. I have all the shelter I need. I just feel embarrassed for taking it.

I welcome any critique on that entangled perspective of mine. Even simple compliments on the example links above would help cheer me up for my birthday.

*uses pxtone Collage from Pixel

With only until the end of tonight to second-guess this decision (wouldn't want bus ticket prices rising), it seems clear enough: I haven't grabbed an actual job in a while now so, although I save up and spend sparingly, and seek to get a job as soon as I can, it's kind of inevitable that I avoid needless expense. Now that there's not a single person headed to Anthrocon who I'm in regular contact with, this con has fallen out of the plans. Just as a bonus, I don't become a part of the mass of furries PLUS sports fans clogging up every single hotel in the vicinity this year. I don't mind the crowd but uh, finding comfortable room openings probably gets tougher for everyone at this stage. I know it wasn't easy on us last time.

Still, those of you who I've befriended and who are probably going (but I haven't truly kept in touch with), I'll miss you. Much as I'd like to list you off, it's hard to know where to end the list, or who's ultimately going (though to this day I can't keep my mind off a certain bunny, mouse, and 'coon… at least one of whom probably won't go this time). I wish all my friends the best on having a happy summertime however you choose.

I couldn't go this summer socially alone though. I've accepted a close friend's invite to a cheaper (after cost-sharing) visit to his own place in MI, with another friend, for a whole week. Having gone through my ups and downs with cons, I feel like this may be my preferred opportunity for now. I'll have to give it a try and see how it goes… and then plan another for another friend just as dear and lonely as those two.

So I may be passing through Pittsburgh the week before Anthrocon, looking out the window, and wishing for a passing moment that I could stay. I'll miss ya guys. Just don't think though, that other cons are totally out of the plans. Sometimes I dream of pulling things together to even show up at MFF someday. I just couldn't say how.

And yet again I have a piece of paper sitting here with an unfinished drawing from many months ago, which I hope to find the energy to scribble into a good badge, this time for myself.

So yeah like last time, I'm at the Westin with  Rilest and a couple friends of a friend I've just become acquainted with. This after our plans for my (what would have been totally ideal and worth any added expense) room with him and  SteeltheWarrior, fell apart. Apparently I come in mid-Thursday, and out mid-Monday (plans to stay later haven't panned out). At least it's still a good room.

☻Please DO touch me; this is my one good opportunity in the year to touch as many furries as I can (hugs are a big yes)! It's not like I've managed to afford some don't-mess-up-my-fur suit anyways – I'll inevitably be making do with my simple human self (likely not wearing anything fancy either). Yeah I'm 'shy' but disregard that; AC is one place where I don't wanna waste a minute in loneliness.

I still don't know how to plan what to do at Anthrocon, so if you have any suggestions feel free to mention them! My rough guidelines are as such: I try to hit the big events (and Whose Lion!) and whatever I might learn a lot from, but friends always come first.

I have tickets to make the whole trip on Wed. July 1st, departing about 240 hours from now. Time is counting down and I'd better sort things out in a hurry; I'm determined to put together some form of badge art to prove I can get something done on my own time. Supposedly I have a lot of it available here on summer vacation. I've sketched up an idea but I still need a good drawing on good paper; maybe charcoal on charcoal paper? Charcoal helps convince me to draw darker and stronger. The workable fixative seems quite able to block smudging.

Oh and to answer the usual questions:

I'll be staying in the Westin with  Rilest plus, um, whomever he found a room with. He doesn't know them well either but they seem friendly.

If you see me, don't be hesitant to approach me about anything; I'm as huggable as can be, and can't conceive of an inquiry I'd immediately take offense to. If I get uncomfortable with the suggestion of spending time doing something, it's just because I get nervous trying (perhaps in vain) to figure out how best to spend what limited time I have at my only convention visit of the year. This certainly hurts my chances of doing any drawing on-site, aside from the silliest doodle, as I don't consider myself a fast drawer. It's fun to consider though.

So what do I plan on doing? I actually don't fully know; just that I'll take a lot of looks at the full Anthrocon schedule, and fill a lot of time following good friends (who are clearly the bulk of the reason I'm there).

Oh yeah and if I fail to say much, I guess I'm "Just Shy, Not Anti-Social (You Can Talk to Me!)". I need to work on my congoing.

Well... I might as well announce it while I can. I just turned 21. This age doesn't mean much more to me than any other age though.

I'm actually accepting my age this year a little bit more easily than I did last year. That's probably because at this point in last year I still seemed like a childish little thing that refused to adapt to college. I think I'm finally getting better with that, even if not at the rate I'd prefer.

This may seem posted late, but I think this timing actually reflects pretty well the late time of day at which I was born.

How did I ever convince myself to do this? Well, step by step... and a little too slowly-stepped at that. But when the time came to decide, I booked the train tickets to AC. After all the anticipation and dedication to the idea, it was hard not to.

After a talk with my parents, neither of whom fully approve of the idea but one of whom will get me to the station, I'm left feeling painfully nervous about travel, but I have friends to ease my fears. They won't exactly be there on the ride, but I'll have my cellphone on hand to text them if I feel lonely. At least one of them will likewise be nervous during his similarly lonely trip.

Above all my confidence has felt restored when just a few hours ago, I got a an e-mail reply from my academic coach, congratulating me on my plans. I really have her to thank for much of the confidence that got me this far.

Well It's past 10:30PM and I should get back to checking how prepared I am, and rest up to go to the station tomorrow morning. Here's hoping to have a great time meeting my good friends and making new ones….

Titled as such for various reasons, as I've had quite a need to answer that question not just for others but to myself.

It has often been feeling as if so much time has gone by without enough really happening. Perhaps my life has indeed come to somewhat of an awkward stall. Perhaps I can take it as a good thing that I'm finally growing a little impatient with life. But hey, I'm going into my 20's pretty soon - I'd like to enter them feeling a bit more accomplished and significant.

A second semester of college went by, but I don't feel so great about the progress I've made with that. As always, I learned a lot from what few classes I took, but my grades don't consistently reflect that.

On the other hand I've been become a great SL builder buddy and strong friend for Steel the Warrior here. I've had great fun building whatever he asks for, at least, whenever I have the time for it. When I'm too busy with other work, he's just there to encourage me to keep at it.

Currently, I can feel like I really am rather divided between a 'first life' and a 'second life', with the first being composed of all the things my parents pay attention to like college and other overt responsibilities, and the second being composed of all the things my online friends get to see, like my building and drawing. Each life is quite enjoyable when I can see that it's making real progress. That said, it's for reasons like this that I'm really glad I have the second, so I can tolerate the first. In the first I'm shy and uninvolved, and I have been battling bored frustration to get work done on basic subjects, and to get a job (I should hear about my upcoming interview with Target tomorrow >_> ). In the second, I'm finding bunches of people in and out of Steel's circle of friends to meet and talk with, and I'm starting to really pursue what really interests me, while helping others to do the same.

Once, I attempted to bring the two worlds together, only resulting in an unpleasant collision as they repelled each other. That was when I broke out of my shyness (thanks to Steel) just long enough to tell my parents about how much I'd like to make the trip to Anthrocon. It didn't seem too far off to say that they hated the idea. So anyhow, much as Steel and I would love to meet up there and see lots of other furry friends, this really isn't a possibility until I've done a bunch more proving my independence to my parents and/or myself. Like getting a job.

Now, I have some drawing to get back to, and/or some building to do for Steel. I hope to finally get to posting more work soon. Speaking of which, should I post some nice stuff I accomplished in Drawing class, despite the almost complete lack of any animals?

I originally used to question whether anyone really sees this little page of mine. I can thank Ultratails42 for answering that question for me. :)

Now, seeing as I have this page visibly sitting here, I really ought to answer the question: am I or am I not working on some form of art right now? Well, I guess I'd have to say the answer is yes. Specifically, I'm making a tall residential building in Second Life, commissioned by Steel Musketeer. I'm really quite surprised to hear myself say that word, as I've never been commissioned to do anything before. But it's true: all of a sudden I'm the builder of a home for Steel and myself with 24 rooms for plenty of his friends (he has a lot), plus space for a club on the roof. So far I'm doing quite a nice job of it too, or so they say. I guess the central double-spiral staircase idea came out pretty well. Of course with a building this tall, I need to keep it rather low-prim, and above all I seem to be pulling that off quite effectively. Hopefully I can share some screenshots here very soon.

The only bad news is (Steel doesn't like this either) it's stuck on access-restricted land. However, if for some reason there are actually people who would like to check it out in person (even to see the work-in-progress), I wouldn't mind bringing a copy of it into a sandbox any day (nor would Steel care).