Time for the yearly family trip. =O.O=

This time we're going to Peru and Bolivia. See Machu Pichu and Lake Titicaca 'n all. =>.>=

So, yeah. After an overnight layover in Miami tonight *hugs the Droid and its 4G* I'll be pretty much incommunicado the next week and a half or so (won't be back until the 30th).

So, uh, see ya guys! *passes around hugs 'n such* ^^;

Alright, after seeing all the bruhaha regarding same-sex marriage lately, I'm issuing a challenge.

Give me one GOOD reason AGAINST same-sex marriage. Just ONE.

Ever since I've been aware of this issue 15-20 years ago, I've yet to see even one.

Turns out my car is NOT drivable, according to the guy at the repair shop.
Might have something to do with the smashed tail light, the shattered rear window, and how the trunk door is bent open a little.

But at least now it's in the shop and I have a rental...a GMC Acadia. =o.O=
So I basically went from economic hybrid to big prrfin' SUV. =O.o=

I got my plane tickets to Pittsburgh for Anthrocon. ^^;

Assuming no hiccups with the flights (still a little sore from my experience a couple years ago), I fly in Thursday, June 14th, and leave Monday, June 18th.

I THINK I'm rooming with  beckycascane at the Omni, but I'll need to double-check. =>.>=

But just in case that falls through, would anyone be able to spare some room for a Prrfler on that weekend? ^^;

I got rear-ended on my way to work today. =x.x=

Basically, I was driving down the highway and noticed the traffic ahead of me slowing down. I slow down with them, then next thing I know, I hear tires screeching behind me, then BAM! =@.@=

Luckily, no one's hurt. Even more luckily, the car's still drivable, so I was still able to limp my way into work. The right rear tail-light and right side of the bumper got bashed in good, though. Also, the lower rear window is completely shattered (the Prius has two rear windows in the back).

I THINK what happened was the guy was in the lane to the right of me (I was in the leftmost lane). He noticed too late the traffic building up in front of him, slammed on the brakes, then swerved into my lane. He wound up skidding and doing a 180, bashing into my rear in the process, then slamming HIS right rear corner into the highway concrete barrier.

Unfortunately, since it's the weekend, I can't really drop off my car for repairs until Monday. =@.@=

Prrf....this is the second collision in less than a year. At least it wasn't my fault this time. =x.x=

I suppose I should let people know that I'll be gone most of next week. =>.>=

Family vacation to Mexico! =O.O=
Basically, we're spending a few days in Merida (in the Yucatan Peninsula, near Cancun). Big thing we're planning to see is the Mayan ruins in the area (hopefully gonna beat the 2012 crowd).

Other than that, we're just gonna kick back and see what's available through our hotel's tourist center. ^^;

So, uh, yeah. Flight leaves tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, and I won't be back until Friday.

As I'm not sure about the internet situation at the hotel, I'll very likely be incommunicado until I get back.

Anyway, hasta luego! ^^;;

Guess I should peek my head from behind this rock and mention I'll be at MFF this year. =>.>= =<.<=

So as such, obligatory con-info meme time!

Where are you staying?
The Hyatt Regency O'Hare

What day are you getting there?
Thursday Evening

Who will you be with?
By myself. At least I can afford going solo.

Who will you hang out with during the convention?
Various friends. I also tend to wander/prowl from one end of the con to the other and back again

Are there any panels you might be attending?
Maybe. Haven't checked the schedule yet. Though I'll likely be at the transformation panel.

Are you attending any stage or public performances?
At least Kage's show

Will you be suiting?
Nope! Too shy to suit, tempting as it is at times. ^^;

Which suit(s) will you be bringing?
Uhh....N/A. =o.O=

Do you do free art?
Notta artist! =@.@=

Do you do trades?
Only if you're willing to accept poorly-drawn stick figures and/or fractal trees. =>.>=;

Do you do badges?
Insert obvious "badges" and/or "badgers" joke here. ;P

Do you do commissions?
See above answer to the question about trades

What are your limits to drawing?
Scribbles!

What is your gender?
Physically? Male. Otherwise? Confused. =>.>=;

How old are you?
30 (still not used to that, and my birthday's next month! =O.O= )

How tall are you?
6'

Are you taken? Are you looking for a 'mate'?
Not taken, not ACTIVELY looking. But if it happens, it happens.

Can I talk to you?
Keep in mind I tend to be shy and not that chatty.

Can I touch you?
I dunno. CAN you? =>.>=

How can I find you?
Look for the cougar with a "Bren" and/or "Brenna" badge? Though, if you know my number, texting me is fine.

Can I visit your room?
I'll only be using my room for sleeping, so keep that in mind.

Can I buy you drinks?
Prf, well...only if you really want to. =>.>=
And as you might imagine, I usually like creamy, dairy drinks. =<.<=;

Can I give you stuff?
Depends on the stuff. =o.o=;;

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
Knowing my shyness, at least warn me first. =>.>=;

Are you nice?
I try to be, despite the bashfulness. ^^;

How long are you going?
Depends on how much fluid I drank. =>.>=
Seriously, will be at the con until Monday. ^^;

Do you have an artist table?
Nope! =O.O=

Do you have prints/CDs?
Double-nope!

Will you have art in the Art Show? General or Adult sections?
What part of 'nope' don't you understand? =>.>=

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Wave? Shout "Hey Bren!" or "Hey Prrfler!" =<.<=

Where will you be most of the time during the day/s?
Wandering around the con, as I usually do.

What/where will you be eating?
Where ever there's noms? If there's a TSA dinner planned, I'll likely be at that, at least.

Can I come with you for food/fun/etc?
Define 'fun'. =O.O=

Can I look in your sketchbook?
Better ask first. =>.>=

Can I draw in your sketchbook?
If you really want, I guess. =o.o=;

Can I take your picture?
I...guess... =o.o=;;

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
Hang around, see old friends, fill out the rest of my sketchbook (only two blank pages left! =>.>= )

So, uh, whoever's going, uh, see you there, I guess? ^^;

So! Well, finally decided to modernize a bit, just to see what all the prrf is about. So this means:

1. Actually got myself a smartphone (A Droid Charge, to be exact). Since I've had an iPod Touch for a while, I figured it's about time I put my phone onto it, so to speak (and I didn't think a Droid had that many problems over the iPhone).
To those who have my number: It's still the same number, so you don't have to change anything. ^^;

2. I got a Google+ account, since I heard that Google+ is like Facebook, but without the evilness of Facebook. Now if it's anything like my Livejournal account, it'll just sit there mostly empty, while I use it to watch other people. =>.>=;
Anyway, my account is brenderlin@gmail.com. =<.<=

3. I also FINALLY got a Twitter account. =O.O=
Username: jedibrenderlin
Now, again, it'll most likely be there to follow other people 'n such, but still, I'm finally on it. =>.>=;
Also need to figure out just who and/or what to follow on the prrfin' thing. =<.<=;

Now...to figure out what apps 'n such to download onto my new phone. =O.O=

On a more serious note, I...er...wrecked my car... =>.>=;

Basically, I was heading down the driveway from my apartment complex when I pretty much drifted too far to the left and wound up smacking right into a car going the other way. Luckily, no one was hurt (not even our airbags deployed), but both cars pretty much had to be towed.

Damage cost: about $6000, most of it in body work and labor (though I DO need to have my coolant tank replaced). Luckily, my insurance is such that I'm only responsible for the $250 deductible and part of the cost for the rental car. And even though I was pretty much 'at fault' for this, I didn't have to pay out of pocket to repair the other car.

Unfortunately, my car is STILL in the shop (the accident happened June 14th), mostly because it IS a hybrid and they were waiting for the necessary parts (probably didn't help that I took it to a shop recommended by the insurance company as opposed to the dealership where I bought the prrfin' thing). But hopefully, I'll get it back by the end of this week.

The kicker? The other driver is one of my landlords. =O.O=
The other kicker? I JUST paid off the loan. =@.@=

Still, this is pretty much why I have insurance. =x.x=

Edit: Okay, JUST got the car back today (July 6th). And wow. I can't even tell that anything actually happened to it. =O.O=
I'll still need to see how it runs in the next few days, just to be sure. But still, seems to have been worth the wait so far. ^^;

Prf, okay, maybe I should actually update this prrfin' thing, since stuff actually happened in my life recently. =O.O=

As this might get a little lengthy, I'm gonna do this in parts. So! Part one:

My family and I actually spent about 2-3 weeks (late May into early June) out in Europe for our yearly trip. Okay, to be exact, we were in Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Vienna and Prague, with a day or two in London. Some highlights:

- The Queen musical we saw in London was...interesting, but in a GOOD way. Bizarre, too. Of course, you kinda had to get a little weird if you hope to fit 30+ Queen songs in ONE plot and keep it SOMEwhat coherent. Just didn't expect the Dystopian Future setting. =o.O=

- Eating pierogis in an outside cafe in Old Town while accordian music played nearby. Yep, I'm in Warsaw alright.

- We actually saw President Obama's motorcade drive by, with him waving to the people, too. =O.O=

- We went on a Communist tour in Krakow, which was basically a couple of college-age guys driving us around in East German Trebants (old, tiny, not-that-reliable cars =o.o= ), telling us the history and what life was like living in Poland during the Cold War, as well as showing us the living and working areas during the Soviet Era. We kept having to push-start one of the trebants, so you know we got the FULL Commie experience there. =@.@=

- That Kielbasa dinner we had in Krakow pretty much confirmed my Polish Slavic roots *licks chops*

- At a Hungarian dinner and dance show (which featured a LOT of stomping and slapping), I actually got picked to dance on stage. Holy PRRF was I lucky the rest of my family forgot to bring their cameras that night! =x.x=

- My dad got pickpocketed in Budapest! =O.O=
Only....it was rather incompetently done. First off, my dad actually felt his wallet slip out of his pocket. Second, the pickpocket kept looking back and around, SO failing to act innocent and casual (and I should know *kitty-innocent look* =>.>= =<.<= ). Thirdly, it was done right in front of our hotel, so one of us could've easily run in and had the front desk call the police. And finally, when my mom actually grabbed him, he threw the wallet away into the street without taking ANYthing out. Now, I can understand doing that just to get us away from him, but he could've at LEAST taken the cash out beforehand. So, yeah, he was full of fail. We've even joked that we could've TAUGHT him some tricks (and turn this into something out of Pratchett's Discworld in the process. =>.>=; ).

- I lost my camera in Vienna! =x.x=
We went to the amusement park in Vienna (The Prater), and my brother and I went on a "water slide/river rapids"-type ride. There were lockers outside for people to stash things they didn't want to get splashed on during the ride. So my brother and I put our cameras in one of the lockers. However, it costs 2 euros to actually lock our locker and take the key, so we figured we weren't going to be gone very long and just left the locker unlocked. After the ride (which involved a LOT more spinning than we thought. It was like a CENTERFUGE. My brother actually got sick from it. =@.@= ), I went to retrieve our cameras...only to find someone else just locked THEIR stuff in our locker. So I first had to wait until THEY got back, and when they did and got their stuff, the locker was actually EMPTY. No cameras. So we tried talking to the park officials (which was an experience in itself, given I didn't know German, my mom only a LITTLE German, and the only official who knew enough English was the security chief). Long story short, they found my BROTHER'S camera but not mine (in fact, we suspect that my camera was actually stolen =x.x=). So...so much for getting pictures that *I* took. =x.x=
Truth be told, I'm actually a little....stoic about it. I mean, yeah, I AM a bit prrfed off. I mean, it DID seem to be a good camera, even though I have no idea how the pictures would've came out (this is the first time I've actually used it), but on the other hand, it IS just a camera. It's not like I lost my wallet or passport. And at least this'll give my parents' ideas for Xmas. Even so, we should've spent the 2 euros. =-.-=

- Late-night TV program that we found while in Central Europe: Burnd das Brot (I think that's how it's spelled). It's this...German bread puppet that seems to be trapped in limbo, forced to do certain things. For instance, when we first found this in Warsaw, he was forced to sing/dance/perform various bits in an X-factor/America's Got Talent type show, periodically being threatened by a toaster, and even did a little bit of the Dead Parrot Sketch ("Dases vogel est...tot" "Nein, est schlumb" forgive me if I prrfed up the German there). And when we were in Budapest and Vienna, he was being forced to be a phone operator for various bits (customer support, pizza orders, radio call-in shows, etc). The bits loop after about 10 minutes or so, and it seems to go on ALL night! And this is on a KIDS TV network (called KIKA), too! =O.O=
In fact, I think this is KIKA's version of the test pattern that other networks have overnight. =>.>=
We actually found him on Youtube when we got home. He apparently has a following in Germany or something. =o.o=

- We saw a Blacklight show based around Beatles songs while in Prague. And....uh....just...what the PRRRF was that?! =@.@=
It was....rather bizarre (even MORE bizarre than the Queen musical). It had a glowy yellow submarine (that sprouted human legs at the end), floating eyeballs (that wore Judge's WIGS at one point!), a floating mouth...and puppets of the Beatles Band in their Sgt. Pepper getup. There WAS a plot in there somewhere, but still...what the PRRF?! My RL brother risked running out of the theater bursting out laughing, and he CHOSE this show over a couple others. Just...prrrrf! =@.@=

- After hitting a "ghost tour" in Prague (which included a story that made me think of a more...ghoulish version of the Groundhog Day tradition), we decided that, next city we hit, we should try to find something weird to see there. =>.>=;

Anywaz, that's just some of the highlights of our trip. Obviously we did a bit more than that, but the above is what basically stood out the most in my mind. ^^;

Heh, yeah. Felt I had to do SOMEthing to mark the day. =>.>=;

Should've been obvious to those who know me (or at least know about my bashfulness ^^; ).

So yeah. Last journal deleted because, well, joke's over, right? ^^;

- Cruise control is niiiice.

- If you're not careful getting off i-294 onto N. River Rd towards the hotel, you'll wind up going east on i-90. =@.@=
a. So thank PRRF for friendly old toll booth attendants.

- The hotel layout would make for an interesting FPS level.

- Being in the Pre-reg line on Thursday night may not necessarily be better than being in the regular line at Registration.
a. Then again, there really was nothing else to do at the time.

- Sometimes you just gotta pounce a popular artist at the right time. =>.>=

- Apparently, this is the con of commission sequels. =o.O=

- There are some people who REEEEEAAALLY don't get furriness ("So who is the leader of this organization?" "Do you guys have a newsletter?" "You don't walk around your own neighborhood in ears, tail, or a suit, do you?")
a. So thank PRRF for friends to help bail you out *waves to  tango-mutt* ^^;

- I keep forgetting just how...raunchy "Whose Lion is it Anyway?" can get. =o.o=;

- You can never tell just who you'll run into at these things. In fact, you COULD run into an ooooold college friend you lost touch with over the years, only to find out he and you were both closeted furs at the time both of you hung out together. *waves bashfully to  toastedwheat* ^^;;;

- Got a question for Therians: What if you really WANT to be something nonhuman, but don't necessarily feel like you have an animal spirit living in you?

- Sometimes, you gotta organize a dinner gathering yourself.

- This hotel has apparently handled weirder groups than us furries. =O.O=

- One of these days, I'm gonna actually check out some of these dead dog room parties, especially if some of my friends will be there. =>.>=;;;

- It's also apparently MY turn to get a fursuit. =O.O=
a. Though, if I DO get one, it'll have to be a partial suit. Sleeves, leggings/footpaws, tail, a head...and perhaps falsies and hip padding (it'll have to be of Brenda, though. Not really muscular enough to do Brenna. =>.>=;;; )

So long story short, had a bit of fun. Some parts were a little boring, but overall, a positive experience (and I'm counting that mind-blowing one with old college friend as "positive", too. ^^; ).

Now to actually upload the commissions I got. =>.>=;

Alright, since I keep getting asked certain questions, I've decided to come up with a FAQ.

#1. What the prrf does "prrf"/"prrfle" mean?
Prrf (and its cousin, Prrfle) is a sound that Bren and Brenna make, based off of the sounds that an actual cat makes. For those of you who've been around cats, I'm referring to the sudden 'purr?' noise, particularly when they're startled. At least, that's how the prrfling first started. Over the years, it's been basically developed into something more....robust. Almost like the f-word (the prrf-word?). In fact, that's probably the BEST way to regard prrf/prrfle, if not QUITE as vulgar.
=>.>=;;

#2. What does IAC stand for?
I Am Cute.
 cye-chan first came up with the acronym (as well as the IAC shirt that the vixen wears). But she has given her 'sister', Brenna, permission to use IAC as well (as well as her own shirt). As far as I can tell, a few others also have permission (Hence the "IAC Sisters"), but only Cye and Brenna have actually used it this extensively.

#3. What does Bren's shirt say?
"You have to be crazy to stay sane".
I came up with that motto back in high school, and pretty much kept it to this day. Also, I DO have that shirt IRL, even if it was a Christmas gift (the shirt on Bren came first, IOW ^^; ).

And that's all the FAQs I can think of right now. Short list, I know. But if you have a question you've been meaning to ask (or a question you think SHOULD be in this list), please, don't hesitate to ask. ^^;;

After all, "There's no such thing as a stupid question, until you ask it." ;)

- On her birthday, Cye-chan randomly selects one lucky child to be thrown into the sun.

- Cye-chan once ordered a steak in a restaurant. The steak did what it was told.

- Rosa Parks refused to get out of her seat because she was saving it for Cye-chan.

- Xilimyth got her drivers license at the age of 16. Seconds.

- When Brenna does a pushup, she isn't lifting herself up, she's pushing the Earth down.

- Cye-chan's body temperature is 98.6 degrees... Celsius. (Well, she CAN be one 'hot' vixen =>.>=; )

- When God said, "Let there be light", Brenna said, "say please."

- Contrary to popular belief, the Titanic didn't hit an iceberg. The ship was off course and accidentally ran into Brenna while she was doing the backstroke across the Atlantic. (Prf, I SAID I'm sorry. You have any idea how hard it is to watch where you're going while doing the backstroke? =>.>=; )

- Cye-chan doesn't stub her toes. She accidentally destroys chairs, bedframes, and sidewalks.

- In the first Jurassic Park movie, the Tyrannosaurus Rex wasn't chasing the jeep. Brenna was chasing the Tyrannosaurus AND the jeep. (So I was in the mood for some T-rex that day. =<.<=; )

- Brenna is not capable of hitting a target on the broad side of a barn. Every time she tries, the whole damn barn falls down.

- Xilimyth drinks napalm to quell her heartburn

- It is believed dinosaurs are extinct due to a giant meteor. That's true if you want to call Cye-chan a giant meteor. :)

- The speed of light was instituted because Xilimyth didn't want get winded outrunning it. Xilimyth hates to sweat.

- Dinosaurs went extinct because of the Brennasaurus.

- Brenna can speak braille. (dot dot dot... =>.>=)

- Xilimyth can delete the Recycling Bin.

- The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed... unless it meets Cye-chan. :)

- Brenna can drink an entire gallon of milk in thirty-seven seconds.

- When Cye-chan falls in water, Cye-chan doesn't get wet. Water gets Cye-chan.

- Brenna can create a rock so heavy that even she can't lift it. And then she lifts it. (*Flexes* =<.<=; )

- Cye-chan trick-or-treated as herself as a child. :)

- Brenna can split the atom. With her bare hands.

- The Seven Wonders of the ancient world were: Cye-chan's left and right hands, her left and right feet, her belly button, her liver, and her soul.

- Brenna once ate four 30lb bowling balls without chewing

- When Brenna breaks the law, the law doesn't heal.

- Brenna eats eight meals a day. Seven are steak, and the last is the rest of the cow.

- The Xilimyth military unit was not used in the game Civilization 4, because a single Xilimyth could defeat the entire combined nations of the world in one turn.

- After taking a steroids test, doctors informed Brenna that she had tested positive. She laughed upon receiving this information, and said "of course my urine tested positive, what do you think they make steroids from?"

- A high tide means Xilimyth is flying over your coast. The tide is caused by God pissing his pants.

- Brenna can slam revolving doors.

- Cye-chan's pulse is measured on the richter scale.

- Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper, but Brenna beats all 3 at the same time.

- A picture is worth a thousand words. A Brenna is worth 1 billion words. (Uh, check out my gallery? ^^; )

- Nothing can escape the gravity of a black hole, except for Brenna. Brenna eats black holes. They taste like chicken. (Eh, I prefer starcones anyway. =>.>=)

- Brenna is the only woman to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.

- Giraffes were created when Brenna uppercutted a horse.

- In an emergency, Brenna can be used as a floatation device. =O.O=

- Xilimyth is ten feet tall, weighs two-tons, breathes fire, and could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing. (Alright, so that's off by a factor of at least a few hundred. ^^; )

- Xilimyth qualified with a top speed of 324 mph at the Daytona 500, without a car.

- Brenna eats steak for every single meal. Most times she forgets to kill the cow. (But I LIKE my steak rare. ^^; )

- They once made a Brenna toilet paper, but there was a problem-- It wouldn't take shit from anybody.

- When Brenna does division, there are no remainders.

- Brenna can divide by zero.

- Industrial logging isn't the cause of deforestation. Brenna needs toothpicks.

- As an infant, Brenna's parents gave her a toy hammer. She gave the world Stonehenge. (I
would've thought that Stonehenge was Brenna's first building blocks, but ah well ^^; )

- Scientists believe the world began with the "Big Bang". Brenna shrugs it off as a "bad case of gas". =>.>=;

- Faster than a speeding bullet ... more powerful than a locomotive ... able to leap tall buildings in a single bound... yes, these are some of Xilimyth's warm-up exercises.

- Godzilla is a Japanese rendition of Cye-chan's first visit to Tokyo.

- Brenna has 12 moons. One of those moons is the Earth.

- Brenna once bet NASA she could survive re-entry without a spacesuit. On July 19th, 1999, a naked Brenna re-entered the earth's atmosphere, streaking over 14 states and reaching a temperature of 3000 degrees. An embarrassed NASA publically claimed it was a meteor, and still owes her a beer.

- Brenna once went skydiving, but promised never to do it again. One Grand Canyon is enough. (Prf, talk about "Brenna cratered!" =O.O=)

- When Bruce Banner gets mad, he turns into the Hulk. When the Hulk gets mad, he turns into Brenna. (*Outflexes the Hulk? =<.<=; )

- Brenna once bench-pressed the entire state of Ohio, and all of its residents.

- One time, Brenna accidentally stubbed her toe. It destroyed the entire state of Ohio. (Prf, poor state. =>.>=; )

- Brenna once skewered a man with the Eiffel tower. (Hey, I tripped, okay? I didn't know the structure was THAT weak at the foundation. =>.>=; )

- President Roosevelt once rode his horse 100 miles. Brenna carried her the same distance in half the time.

- There are no steroids in baseball. Just players Brenna has breathed on.

- There are no such things as tornados. Brenna just hates trailer parks.

- The world's fastest car has 7 gears. 5, 6, and Xilimyth.

- Brenna plays racquetball with a waffle iron and a bowling ball.

- Brenna knows the last digit of pi. (It's, uh....8! =<.<=; )

- 'Icy-Hot' is too weak for Brenna. After a workout, Brenna rubs her muscles down with liquid-hot MAGMA. (It IS oddly soothing and opens up the pores. ^^; )

- There is no such thing as global warming. Brenna was cold, so she turned the sun up. (Prf, sorry about that. =>.>=;; )

- Xilimyth doesn't have blood. She is filled with magma.

- Simply by pulling on both ends, Brenna can stretch diamonds back into coal.

- Xilimyth can cook minute rice in 30 seconds.

- There are only two things that can cut diamonds: other diamonds, and Brenna.

- Xilimyth is expected to win gold in every swimming competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, even though Xilimyth does not swim. This is because when Xilimyth enters the water, the water gets out of her way and Xilimyth simply walks across the pool floor.

- Brenna did in fact, build Rome in a day. (It was my first model train city...without the trains, of course. ^^; )

- Cye-chan stared evil in the face, and it backed down.

- Xilimyth once participated in the running of the bulls. She walked.

- That's not Brenna doing push-ups -- that's Brenna moving the Earth away from the path of a deadly asteroid.

- Brenna was the orginal sculptor of Mount Rushmore. She completed the entire project using only a bottle opener and a drywall trowel. (and only those tools for the more detailed work, too. =>.>=; )

- Brenna had to stop washing her clothes in the ocean. The tsunamis were killing people.

- Everybody loves Raymond. Except Brenna. (Yeah, wasn't really a big fan of that show. =>.>= )

- Brenna will attain statehood in 2009. Her state flower will be the Magnolia.

- Xilimyth drinks tabasco sauce instead of wine.

- Xilimyth has held the World Championship in every weight class at the same time.

- There are now five cup sizes at Starbucks: Short, Tall, Grande, Venti, and Brenna.

- Xilimyth visits an active volcano every morning to get some of "the best damn espresso on Earth".

- Brenna once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour.

- The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Brenna out. It failed miserably. (*Straddles the Wall* Yeah, I agree. Epic Fail. =>.>= )

"Facts" taken from here: http://blog.esaba.com/projects/facts/index.php ^^;

Okay, I've been kinda pondering off and on for a while now on whether to make Brenna a herm by default.

I'll admit part of the reason is sexual (kinda like how I like musclefemmes. *blushes deep* =>.>=; ). Yet, Brenna (along with Bren) is basically a reflection of who I am, so the herminess could also reflect that I'm somewhere between masculine and feminine. But then, I still have Bren and the concept of him representing my male side, while Brenna's my female side (Not bringing Brenda into this. Don't want to add unnecessary complications. =>.<= ). So why make Brenna go herm when I still have a perfectly good male side (ie, Bren)? WOULD that actually be considered an 'issue'?

Of course, a solution to that is to make BRENJI (Bren and Brenna merged together) my default. However, even though this makes some logical sense, it would, at the very least, be a bit of a change, considering the history I kinda have to retcon (basically merging two characters AND their histories/baggage into one). Not only that, but I think I'd also have to come up with a better name than "Brenji". =>.>=;

And I could be just making a mountain out of a molehill here, so to speak (I AM a mountain lion, after all. ;P ;) ). Or, at the very least, I'm just being my usual indecisive self. Or that I actually need to COMMIT to something.

Eh, don't mind my random prrflings here. ^^;

Prf, would this be considered an identity crisis? =o.O=

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Re-post this if you believe love makes a marriage.

EDIT: In case you haven't figured it out by now, yes, this was supposed to be satire. ;P ;)

Just letting people know I'm back from my trip to China. ^^;

Don't worry, the country's still intact. Didn't trip over the Great Wall or or smoosh any pandas or anything. =>.>= =<.<=
Might post a more detailed report at some point. When I don't feel so jet-lagged. =@.@=

Anyway, back to being here but lurking. =>.>=;

Hey, guess I should at least say SOMEthing about Anthrocon.

It was fun *nodnods* Yep. =>.>=
Actually made to the con on that Thursday (no airline prrf-ups like last year =>.>= ).
Saw a bunch of people. More than I thought would be there. =<.<=
Got a few commissions done. Will upload them at SOME point. ^^;
Got to hang out with friends 'n such, complete with weirdness therein (two words: Table Pope! =O.O= )

So yeah. Overall, the con was good. ^^;

Now, why did I mention China? Well, because this year, my family and I will be spending our vacation there. ^^;
Gonna see the Great Wall, the pandas, even the World Expo in Shanghi. You know, do the touristy thing. ^^;

Now, we're leaving tomorrow morning, so, uh, yeah, consider this the warning post. I'll be gone until the 27th. =>.>=;;
Maybe I should've posted this a little earlier. =<.<=;

Anyway, uh...see you guys when I get back! ^^;;

Prf, okay, after seeing all the posts regarding AC this weekend, I figured I'd chime up here. =>.>=

Will I be at Anthrocon? I'm definitely planning on it, so yes, I should be. ^^;

I'll be rooming with  tyren and  raththomas at the Doubletree.

Now, after seeing a lot of posts from people I know saying that they WON'T be coming, I just have to ask: Who else WILL be there? =o.O=

Prf, you can thank/blame  stampy for pushing me to do this filk. =>.>=
If you don't know what a 'filk' is, it's basically taking a known song and putting new lyrics to it. Many of the songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic are considered 'filks'.

Anyway, on to the song, The 12 days of Prrfmas. I'm skipping to the final verse due to the recursive nature of this song. ^^;

On the 12th day of Prrfmas, my sisters gave to me,
12 tasty milkshakes
11 fruity starcones (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3174049/Starcones0001%20edit.jpg)
10 mad scientist kits
9 prrflers prrfling
8 alternate forms
7 green lightsabres
6 prrfin' bakastomps
Five. Catnip. Toys.
4-bidden puns
3 koosh balls
2 tabby cats
and a Mathematical degree

Info about me at MFF this year. =O.O=

Where Are You Staying?
Hampton

What Day Are You Getting There?
Thursday

Who Will You Be With?
Bren, Brenna, me, myself, I...prf, oh, you mean PHYSICALLY? Well, I AM rooming with  raththomas and  tyren

Do you do free art?
If you like poorly-drawn stick figures and fractal trees. =o.o=;;

What is your gender?
Physically: Male
Mentally: Uhh...lemme get back to you on that. =>.>=;;

How old are you?
29

Are you taken?
Nope

Can I talk to you?
*Prrfs! Hides!* =O.O=
Heh, actually, I'm not THAT bad. But I DO tend to be pretty shy and quiet. Guess it'll depend on how well I know you. ^^;

Can I touch you?
*Prrfles* Depends on how well I know you. But at least give me SOME warning first. =o.o=;;

Can I hang out with you?
Again, depends on how well I know you. See a pattern here? ^^;
Also, I tend to wander/prowl around the con floor if I'm not already hanging out with friends. =>.>= =<.<=

How can I find you?
*Prrfles, waves a paw* "This isn't the cougar you're looking for..." =>.>=;;

Prf, hello? I'm still looking for crash space for MFF here. Haven't gotten any responses yet. =o.O=

So, uh, anyone got room for a cougar for Furfest this November? Please? ^^;
Despite it all, I really don't take up THAT much space. =>.>=;;

*Peers at the 'watch counter'* Prf, 200 watchers? 2 HUNDRED watchers? Two hundred PRRFIN' watchers?! =O.O=

Prrf, you people are prrfin' INSANE. =>.>=

BTW, I'm still wondering who has room for a prrfler for MFF this November. Kitty still needs a place to sleep. =<.<=

Also would be nice to know who, if anybody I know, is going to MFM next month. =>.>=

Okay, a couple questions:

1. Who's going to MFM this year?

2. Similarly, who's going to MFF? AND has crash space for a certain prrfling cougar? I promise to ease off on the milk... =>.>= =<.<=

Prf, okay, I INTENDED to post SOME kind of Anthrocon report. Procrastination kept me from doing it, though. And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure what is there to report, really. I mean, I basically wandered/prowled around the con floor, hung out with whatever friends I ran into (which is a LOT more often than it sounds), and got a bunch of art (with I WILL show off...eventually...when boredom's squashed the procrastination again. =>.>=; ).

Oh, don't get me wrong. I actually had quite a bit of fun at the con. In fact, I wished it could've been longer or something. Which leads me to this question: Is it possible to STILL have PCD (Post-Con Depression) WEEKS after the con? =o.O=

However, I WILL tell you what happened at the airport that almost COMPLETELY derailed the ENTIRE weekend for me:

The original plan was to fly in to Pittsburgh Thursday afternoon (take-off was supposed to be around 3 pm). Despite a minor delay, we board the plane without a hitch. After a few minutes, we get told to get OFF the plane because an FAA agent wants the plane inspected. Half an hour later, we then get told that some issues came up in the inspection and the plane needs to be towed to the hanger for repairs. So we settle in at the gate and we waited...and waited....and waited...aaaaaannnnd waited....mind you, there was NO backup plane to put us on, so we were basically FORCED to wait for the mechanics to finish. Finally, at around 10, 10:30 at night, we finally get word that the repairs are finished. We just now need to wait for the paperwork to get done. By around 11:30 we were STILL waiting for the prrfin' paperwork. I mean, you'd think it wouldn't take THIS long. But at this point, they were basically waiting for some fax to come in from some office that would clear the plane for flight, and this late at night, we weren't even sure if said office was even OPEN. By this point, my fellow passengers were ready to mutiny. Even the poor lady manning the gate was ready to join in, bitching out at least one boss for being on vacation at the time (apparently said boss could've fixed this right quick or something). So under the circumstances, I just went "prrf it! Put me on the next avaliable flight" and went back home to try to at least take a nap.

So I didn't even get into Pittsburgh until FRIDAY afternoon. And to add insult to injury, I checked online before heading back to the airport Friday morning. According to the airline website, the plane DID finally take off...at 1:30 AM. I'm STILL debating whether I should've waited or not. =x.x=

Amusingly enough, on the flight back to St. Louis, not only did I have the same flight crew as on the original ill-fated flight, but there was also at least one other passenger (other than me) who was also on the earlier flight.

In retrospect, I think what happened that Thursday may have contributed to my PCD (by shortening my trip by about a day).

Okay, now a brief update on my life:
- Still working for the Government (I've now been at this job for 2 and a half years... =O.O= ). This year, though, we're experimenting with a rotational schedule. As in, 12 weeks on the dayshift (6 am to 2-3 pm), 12 weeks on the evening shift (2 pm to 10-11 pm), 12 weeks on the night shift (10 pm to 6-7 am), back onto the dayshift for 12 weeks, etc. This week is the start of the night shift for me, and I can already tell it'll feel like old times pretty soon. =@.@=

- The "little prrflers" (the kitties I adopted back in March) are as cute and rambunctious as ever. They survived Anthrocon weekend just fine (I basically laid out a bunch of food and water, doubled the number of litterboxes and had a co-worker check the place a couple times). Things might get more interesting once I start taking trips longer than a few days, especially since one of them's so prrfin' skittish I STILL can't hold her long enough before she starts squirming and clawing, let alone get her into a carrier unscathed.

- I'm starting to feel a little isolated over here. I'm not sure if it's because of PCD or that most of the friends I usually hung out with are back out east. Either way, I'm starting to toy with the idea of looking for furry groups around here (and if you know my shyness, yeah, the isolation's getting to be THAT bad... =>.>=; )

- Otherwise, still alive and prrfling about, as usual. Just thought I'd say so, to those who were wondering about me. =>.>=;;