I know this may be a bit inappropriate, but...

Is there a safe way to search for guns? I mean pictures of them; I don't plan on buying any. I plan to use the pics for reference in my art.

You will probably say to Google search for them, but, with the way the government has been acting lately (SPYING on its own citizens, in particular), I've been afraid to attempt that. I'm afraid the NSA or whoever will break in here and arrest me, thinking I was planning to shoot up a school or something (something I would NEVER EVER do!) I'm probably just being paranoid, but I just don't want to risk it. The government is being run by some very stupid people these days...

If there is no other way, I'll probably just have to use the gun models from my various games as reference. But the problem with that is, I don't think I have every gun in history to reference from in the games I have.

I would really appreciate help on this. I have some art ideas that will have guns in them, and I'd hate to abandon those ideas because of government stupidity...

Passed on from  ysA_Rupert

========================> http://imagixs.com/ <========================

This site is taking other people's art and using them as printable coloring pages.

I found 2 of my pics on there, and they both still have my insignia on them. I have also recognized art made by people who are on my watch list as well.

...I don't know what to say. This is the first time I've had my art stolen.

(not sure if that number is right...)

Happy Fourth of July!

Now, if only our government weren't trying to go against the founding fathers' wishes...

I was checking the Charter TV Guide the other day, and I noticed Tiny Toon Adventures will be airing on the HUB starting July 1st! The times are 9:00-10:00 AM and 5:00-6:00 PM CST for me. I dunno how many people get this channel, but I'm definitely taking advantage of this. Especially since I draw TTA fanart now.

I should also watch Animaniacs while it's still on there (only seem the episodes with Minerva and Elmyra). They've been airing that since at least the beginning of the year.

I turn 24 today, but it is also Father's Day. The last time my b-day and Father's Day fell on the the same day was when I was born.

The things I got:
-'How to draw' books on drawing the human head & figure, animals, and cartoons by Jack Hamm (anatomy is something I really want to get good at)

-Doom 3 BFG Edition (my original copy got damaged, and this is quite a step up from what I had) It has Doom 3, it's expansion Resurrection of Evil, "The Lost Mission" map pack. But even more impressive, it has both Doom and Doom II as well, and those games I've never played. The only experience I've had with the first game is watching my dad play it on the SNES a long time ago.

TekNmotion Yapster headset (will be very useful to have when playing Left 4 Dead 2 with my sister)

E-Blue High Precision Gaming Mouse (looks really impressive. Needed a new mouse because the wheel on my current one is driving me crazy, especially when playing Minecraft) Interesting fact: There's not a lick of English on the box or the instructions; it's all in either Japanese or Chinese (or some Asian language). Makes me think this was imported directly from there.

and some art supplies, mostly sketching pencils.

Music:
Aerosmith - Music From Another Dimension!
Kid Rock - Born Free
Shinedown - Amaryllis
Five Finger Death Punch - War is the Answer

All in all, this was a pretty good b-day. But it would've been happier if Nova were still alive...

I found out earlier today that one of our cats, Nova, has passed away from unknown causes (I blame the fleas, even though everyone else says that wasn't the cause. It's just nothing we've tried could get rid of those fuckers). He was... my best friend, and the best cat we've ever had. There will never be another one as unique as him.

I'm going to miss him so much, and I wish I had spent more time with him these last few days. I know pets die eventually, but I didn't think he'd be taken from me so soon...

And the fact that this happened the day before my birthday, makes it so much worse.

At my sister's request, I have made a Tumblr: http://amidnarasu.tumblr.com/. I'm new to this blog thing, so it's pretty sparse. I will be uploading all my art on there, and that makes 3 sites I upload art to.

I found out earlier today that season 2 of Scaredy Squirrel is going to premiere on Monday, June 3 at 1:30 PM EST (12:30 PM CST) in the United States, on Cartoon Network. I should have known, since they've been airing season 1 for the past few weeks! I can't wait! Dunno when it will air in other countries (like in the UK, where my DA friend and fellow SS fan goingunder9 lives).

I dunno about you, but Scaredy Squirrel is becoming my new favorite show.

Has anybody seen 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World'? This movie... is supposed to be a comedy!? I nearly cried when it was over! This ranks as the second most depressing movie I've ever seen; the first being the 2000 remake of 'On the Beach' (which I saw around 10-12 years ago).

I'm not saying it's bad, it just unexpected to see it turn out the way it did.

Wow, I can't believe its here. It seems like yesterday that we celebrated 2012...

I just hope it'll be better than last year; even though I got more art done than any other year, I certainly don't want to go without internet for the majority of it again. Same goes for the other bad things that have befallen me in the past.

Merry post-apocalyptic Christmas everyone!

Things I got:
Donkey Kong Country Returns + Strategy Guide
Portal 2 (finally!)
Altec Lansing BXR 1220 USB Speakers (I was getting tired of using my headphones all the time)
Steamlight Microstream LED flashlight (super-powerful for something so small)
Ozzy Osbourne - Scream (album)

...and some new underwear that I needed badly.

I got everything I had on my list (it was the stuff I didn't get last year). It was a small list, and I didn't ask for much considering we're still digging ourselves out of the financial hole we were in. But I'm pretty happy with what I got!

The day that has been foretold by so many in history is here. The day that the Mayan calendar ends, and the "apocalypse" begins...

I for one am not real worried about it, but I am concerned about what the true believers might do.

It's been around 8 months since I last posted here, and a lot has happened during that time. The reason I was gone was because we couldn't pay the internet bill, and it was cut off on April 8th (a week after Charter said they would cut it off, leaving me completely unprepared). Things went from bad to worse when we couldn't pay the bill for the trailer containing all our furniture, and the power bill; meaning we could have lost both. Life would've been at it's worst if that happened, but luckily, my Aunt Faye gave whatever she could to get it paid til the end of the month, and then we used one of those emergency payment services (dunno the exact name) to pay of the rest of the overdue bill. We've managed to pay the bill every month since then. The trailer has also been paid off since then as well.

Things have been pretty miserable nonetheless. I spent most of that time drawing, gaming, and hurtin' for the internet to come back. Half my life is on the internet, and when it was gone so was part of my life.

But then, a good thing happened. My dad finally got a job after 3 years being unemployed, and began work in late September. Job = Income, and we desperately needed it. Unfortunately, almost everything took priority over the internet bill, and that's when we learned how out-of-control it got (because Charter sucks, I'm sorry to say).

Not long after that, tragedy struck. My grandfather (whom I called Paw Paw) became gravely ill, and had to be taken to the hospital. He was there for around 2 weeks before coming home, supposedly okay. But then, on October 23rd, my mom came and woke me saying that he had passed away. I was in shock, but not as bad as I might have been if she hadn't told me to expect it anytime. I'm never going to forget seeing him as I was leaving the house that morning; I really wish I hadn't seen that (and I wish my mom warned me he was still in there). His funeral was held on the 26th (and I had no idea he served in the military until this point). He was the third loved one I've lost in my lifetime (my dad's parents were the first two), and he will be missed dearly. His death was the worst part of the entire 8 months.

Things were improving since that incident; bills were getting caught up on, our car was getting new brakes and tires (which it needed desperately), and most of all; precious internet! I was expecting it yesterday, but we learned that Charter no longer uses wireless modems (which is what we had before), and my dad had to buy a wireless router today to get the rest of us going again. There's still many issues, but I'm just glad to have internet again!

...and here we are now. I still have to get my computer updated (and with one current issue, that's going to be a pain in the ass), among other maintenance things. I've been busy art-wise; busier than I've ever been. Starting tomorrow, I will be uploading a total of 85 PICTURES! 58 are brand new, 21 are digitally colored versions of older works, and 6 will be updated versions of some traditionally colored works. I've decided to upload 5 a day; no more, no less. This is to avoid breaking rules regarding flooding, and to give the community a chance to see my works before they're pushed out of newest. It's going to take me over 2 weeks to upload them all, and I may have even more by the time I'm caught up. I'm also going to try to upload them in the order I've completed them (but with so many, it's hard to keep track; especially the colored older works, which retain the date they were scanned for some reason). I've also done many Halloween-themed pics, as well as a Christmas one (so far). Unfortunately, the Halloween ones are probably gonna be uploaded around Christmas, and the Christmas one(s) around New Year's; but I just don't want to wait til next year for those.

I'm going to be a busy bee these next few weeks, among other things to catch up on. But it's sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good to be back!

PS: The title of this journal is a reference to Blood, an old DOS game.

...is the worst idea ever! This will destroy the internet and the right of free speech!

I originally had a great dislike of this country's government, but now I have reason to flat-out hate them. These people really need to be removed from power!

I have signed the petition, but that's as far as I'll go; I really don't want to mess with congress/senate by contacting them about this...

So 2012 is finally here, the year we've been hearing so much about on the History channel and similar places. The end of the Mayan calendar, and the predicted end of the world is now less than a year away. Better get everything you've ever wanted done before then...

...not that I'm worried about it, or think it will actually happen. I'm pretty sure it will be just like every other year, and life will go on after the day it is said to happen. I just hope it will be better than last year, for me and the rest of the family.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe Christmas got here so fast; usually I enjoy this time of year. This year I wasn't really in the spirit, mainly because all our decorations (which get me in the spirit) are packed up. Tbh, I wasn't expecting to get anything this year, since we are still strapped for cash since we lost our house last December (and that ruined Christmas for me last year), but was surprised to get some of the things I wanted.

The things I got:
Left 4 Dead 2 (and it's strategy guide)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 1024MB DDR3 video card (1 part of an upgrade to my computer)
Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 500W power supply (required for the new video card and second part of the upgrade)
2 8GB DT101 G2 thumb drives

...as well as the deviantART premium membership my sis gave me earlier this month (thanks again)!

Things I wanted but didn't get:
Portal 2 (I wanted this the most)
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Ozzy Osbourne's latest album "Scream"

...as well as new speakers for my computer, since my current ones are pretty much dead (and I've been using my headphones the past few weeks.)

That was the whole list; I didn't ask for much (due to the aforementioned problem.) At least I got half of what I wanted, though the upgrade was planned since I got this computer, and the thumb drives weren't actually on the list (I have been asking for these though.) And like I said, I really wanted Portal 2...

Not the best of Christmases, but certainly not the worst (a la last year). But nonetheless...

Merry Christmas!

It's been 10 years since the horrible tragedy when the World Trade Center was attacked, yet it still feels like yesterday...

We were living at our first house in Savannah, GA at the time. That morning, we were getting ready to go to MawMaw and PawPaw's house (my mom's parents, whom we live with now), when it was on the news. My grandmother (my dad's mother, whom is now deceased :() was also at our house, and was going to stay while we were gone. A plane had already hit the first tower when I started watching, and we watched the whole tragedy unfold. I didn't understand how tragic this was, because I was young (12 years old), but now I do. On the way to my grandparent's house, there wasn't a single plane in the sky.

I'll never understand why the terrorists did this, but I will never forgive them for it. This day would just be another normal day if this never happened (and I certainly wish it never happened)...

*Colonel Stinkmeaner's voice* I'm baaaaaaaack!

It has been over six months since I've had a working computer (the longest I've ever gone), and I didn't think I was going to make it. I had lost all hope, and was preparing to adjust to life without a computer of my own. But finally, the wait is over. And it's not just an old repaired computer (like I was expecting), but a brand new one with Windows 7 (And I'll be the first in the family with this OS)! I went from Win 2k to Win 7 (instead of XP, which I was also expecting). I am impressed with it; but it's going to take some getting used to, and learning the new features that come with it. The computer also came with a new keyboard and mouse, which I will use (as I'd hate for those to go to waste).

I have been logging into DA and FA from my dad's computer, but only to keep messages from piling up (I'm a neat freak about this). I know I've missed a lot, including my 3rd year anniversary on DA, and my 1st year anniversary on FA, but now I'm here once again. Unfortunately, I don't have my HP Deskjet software CD (it's packed up somewhere I can't get to right now), so I won't be able to upload any new art. But that won't stop me from continuing to draw, and hopefully by the time I do get the CD back, I'll have loads of art to put up (I already have a few new ones done). I'll still be able to upload photos, as my new computer has a built in card-reader (and I believe the card-reader I was using is also packed up somewhere).

I am also able to play my Steam games again; which, for over a year, I haven't been able to do because of the Win 2k OS (and then the loss of my old computer). They discontinued support for the OS, and even though it would officially end at the end of August 2010, the stupid message notifying me about it (which began in April 2010) kept freezing Steam, making it unusable anyways. I have lost some of my respect for Steam because of this, but I could never stop using it because it's the only way to play any of the Half-Life games (which btw, feels sooooo good now that I can play them again), which are precious to me (*Gollum's voice* My precioussss...). I was also unable to continue mapping, because it also required Steam, but I can finally do that again too. I can't imagine what I've missed over the past year, but maybe that'll make a nice surprise.

I'm planning on spending less time on the internet, and more time doing more productive things (as I want to use the computer to it's full potential, unlike what I was doing before), so if I'm less active, this is why. I was spending too much time lurking around on DA and FA, and watching hundreds of videos on YouTube, when I could have been gaming or drawing. This doesn't mean I will cease these activities completely, but I will dial down how much time I spend on them greatly.

So, it's great to be back in business once more...

7/28/11
EDIT: Actually, I found out I could download the software from the HP website, so I can upload art!

This is the first New Year I celebrated at my grandparent's house, in Alabama, and in the Central Time Zone.

I watched the movie 2012 with my family, and literally had minutes before the New Year.

Just now got my comp hooked up at our grandparent's house, minus Printer/Scanner and my speakers (which will be connected later). Finally, after over 2 weeks of moving and settling in. The moving was dreadful; we were planning on being here on the 6th, but just had much more stuff than we expected, and got delayed another week and a half. How much stuff? Well, we filled a 26 ft. semi trailer and a 14 ft. U-haul, and we just barely got everything in (we planned on taking our refrigerator and an emergency generator, but there was no room). I also couldn't take my old computer desk, but that thing was near falling apart anyways. Last Thursday we finally left (after saying we'd leave pretty much everyday beforehand). The last week was just settling in and getting reacquainted with my grandparents, Uncle Ben, Aunt Missy, and my cousins, whom we haven't seen in over 3 years.

Things are almost back to normal, even though this isn't permanent (I do know we'll be here for the next few months, maybe more). This, as well as getting hooked up with DirecTV service, counts as my Christmas present, since we drained our money on the move.

209 messages while I was gone, wow...

I got news earlier that we will be moving in with my mom's parents and giving up our house on the 6th of December, because we can't pay the mortgage and the bills anymore. My dad got laid off from his job a little over a year ago, and have been surviving off of the unemployment checks until now. We've been living in this house for over 6 years (and have been living in Savannah for like 12), and my parents were never planning on moving again. But I guess these were the unforeseen consequences. I'm devastated, yet looking forward to, this move.

We'll be living there until my dad finds a job; either around there or in another state (possibly one I've never been to, like Oklahoma). I'll still have my computer (and internet), as well as everything else I use, while we live there. Life will still be the same, basically, just not living under the roof of a house we rightfully own...

My mom's parents (whom I've always called MawMaw and PawPaw) live in Salem, Alabama (but the area they live in is called Opelika (unsure of the spelling)). They live out in the country, which I've always liked (I'm a fool for the country). I haven't seen them in 3 years (last time we visited was late August 2007). We've been planning on visiting them again; but I wish it wasn't under these circumstances.

So if I'm not active (if I'm actually "active" at all) around that time, don't be alarmed.

Today was my 21st birthday; I can now drink, smoke, go to strip clubs, and all the other things you couldn't do until this age... Not that I would do any of that, though.