Okay, to everyone I commissioned at FC (I had the YiffyRaptor badge) - I'll be getting scans out later today. =D I finally have my weekend, so I'll have an opportunity to get around to that and send 'em out. Thanks again!

UPDATE: Scanner no worky, but I'm jury-rigging a digital camera to do the job. Hopefully this'll work out okay. @_@

I had an absolutely amazing time at FC this year. The best time I've ever had at a con, and one of the best times I've had, period. I'm tickled pink that I was able to introduce  slither to the wonderful world of Interacting With Furries In Real Life - and I'm even more pleased that everyone we hung out with was super, super cool. Thanks, guys!

I'm going to break the icon limit if I mention every single person I had an awesome time with, so I won't do that. In fact, I won't name anyone at all, hahaha! If I had an awesome time with you, I will have already toldja. ;D

The best part about the con - other than watching Slither's reaction as he found out that people actually recognized his character - was that I was able to experience it in an entirely new fashion:

I was able to experience it sanely.


Melodrama aside, I've had ADHD and constant anxiety attacks my entire life. Back in May, I was officially diagnosed and put on treatment for my condition. A combination of medication and intense therapy has finally allowed me to have some amount of normality in how I perceive and interact with the world. Gone are the OCD behaviors, the anger, the frustration, the inability to focus, the constant acting out for attention, the extreme jealousy, the fear; instead, I can now experience life as I should have been able to all along.


So, thank you. Thank you to  slither for having the courage to plunge into the unknown and face some of his greatest fears, thank you to my psychiatrist and therapist for helping me find the tools that I needed to live, and, finally, thank you to all of the wonderful friends and individuals who made this con the wonderful experience it should be.


-YiffyRaptor/Caedere/Tamerlane/whatever

I have arrived at FC, and I'm staying at the Marriott with  slither and possibly a couple of other friends. I'll be staying from today until Tuesday, and hopefully, I'll be hanging out with tons and tons of people. =D

I'm in Room 1919 at the Marriott, for anyone who would like to find me. NOTE: If you're not one of my friends, or if I'm just not feeling up to having visitors, I may ask you to come back later/get lost. It's nothing personal, I promise. =)

Oh, yeah, I totally forgot - I'm going to FC this year, as is usual.

Ha, talk about a last-minute post; I'm posting this from my laptop while I'm actually in the air. In-flight WiFi is the coolest thing ever. =D

So, if you live in the Western US right now, you may notice that there's kind of A LOT OF WIND RIGHT NOW

I'm in Albuquerque, NM, and we're getting gusts up to about 70MPH. And it's like, 30°F, not including windchill. Weather no sane person would be out in, let alone driving in.

Of course, I'm a dick, and I get hungry. I want FOOD, goddammit. Therefore, I go online and find the only place that's apparently open at the moment, which is Papa John's. I order a large pizza.

I'm sitting here, getting hungrier and hungrier because my pizza is about 30 minutes late. Finally, when I give up, there's a knock at the door.


...there's a dude with my pizza. And it's still. Hot. Holy shit.

I tipped the guy $10 on a $15 order, haha. Worth every dollar.

Today was looking to be pretty bleh as a whole (I generally get pretty sad on my birthdays, due to self-esteem, blah blah), but I really want to thank my friends for doing their best to cheer me up. Sefs, Reeds, Frills, Fuzz, everyone... you're the best. <3

I have two ways of dealing with death when someone I know dies. Anger, and dark humor.


For me, sympathy's cheap. I get paid to sympathize, and... I get pissed off when other people sympathize during situations like this, because it seems trite and meaningless. Even when I know that it's not.


So, stripping away my anger, my snark, my urge to run terrified, I'm left with just one thing to say:


This fucking sucks, Athus. I'll miss you.



EDIT: You know what I hate? How... like, how you'll manage to forget for just a second what happened, something will come along and distract you for a bit, and then... out of nowhere, your brain is like, "Hey, guess what? Your friend died." And then it hits you all over again, just like it did when first finding out.

If your reaction to that is, ":D :D :D", then you'll freaking love the new MMO coming out, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

If your reaction to that is, "D: D: D:", then you will loathe and despise it utterly, and you'll curse its name.


-My impressions after being able to get no more than 15 minutes into the game, during this weekend's beta event. 10 minutes of that were spent making my character.

...is as Donald Margolis. Seriously. Second season of Breaking Bad, check it out.



(Okay, Q/Discord is awesome too, but... Donald Margolis. God. Damn.)

I'm moving things around, since I finally got off my lazy butt and managed to snag my  yiffyraptor account back. It was originally locked out during the transition way back.

I'm removing any of my personal artwork that's on this current account and it will eventually be reposted over there, along with some of my photography. If you want to re-favorite anything, feel free to head over and do so. =)

Woots! So, I am off tomorrow to arrive in the land of San Jose for what shall hopefully be another amazing con. I'm excited - I'll be harboring the fugitives  syrinoth and  thorndraco in my SECRET RAPTIE LAIR (room), which should be kick ass. I hope to see all of my friends and have another awesometastic time.

I can understand Dragoneer's reasoning here - I really can. It sucks that AlertPay - a Canadian company, where the protections for free speech are MUCH more lax than in the US - yanked funding, but I can understand that as well.

What I don't understand and cannot tolerate are those who celebrate the removal of "yucky" art that they disapprove of. In the US, this is 100% protected speech. It's not even a legal quandary, really. And anyone who celebrates censorship - especially on a website that is devoted to art - should be ashamed.

EDIT - Apparently the information going about hasn't been exactly accurate - I will amend this journal once I have more information.





First off, let me reference my previous journal on a related topic: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1238641/



I was worried this would happen. It is a very real slippery slope that we're now heading down. The administration is no longer reacting intelligently in response to current legal scares... they are reacting out of fear, and disapproval, and disgust.

There are no clear-cut laws regarding this topic, and there's zero controversy about "cub porn" outside of the fandom.


Any US law that would target FA for obscene content would trip up on the whole "animal people sex" thing before anything else. You show your average person furry porn, they're not going to care whether or not one of the characters is underage.

And note that I specify "US law". When it comes to other countries - you really can't pander to them. I mean, where do you stop? There is no well-defined line, and any such line that IS drawn is one based on the "morality" and personal tastes of the site administration.

Hell, the UK has made FA itself illegal as a whole. Under section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act of 2008, downloading or possessing images from FA carries a prison sentence of up to three years, and placement on the Violent and Sex Offender Register.

Yes, that's right. FA - and most "extreme" porn sites, both real and illustrated - are illegal in what is likely the home of the biggest contingent of furs, outside of North America.


I know that FA is a personal site, and yes, it's not a First Amendment issue; However, that doesn't mean that banning things simply because you don't like them is okay behavior. It is hypocritical, dangerous, and downright sad.

Anyone who supports a change like this, whilst also trying to promote a freedom of expression, should be ashamed.

VNV Nation came in town tonight to play a show at a local club. It's a small venue, but the show was fan. Fucking. Tastic.

I managed to edge my way up to the front during the two hours of the show and I shook the hands of both members of VNV Nation during their songs. :D

The concert was powerful and moving beyond words - it's the closest to a religious experience an old secular humanist like myself will ever experience.

I am sore all over from dancing and my voice is gone from yelling and my hearing is still ringing a bit, but it is all worth it.

I thought Neil Gaiman said it best when he originally posted about it, and I still believe that it's one of the most well-thought out writings on the subject.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/.....ky-speech.html

Check it out. Good stuff there. Also, please look at the follow-up article: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2010/.....-today-is.html



If you feel that FA's policies regarding this subject matter should change, I suggest you help by doing your part to prevent further legal rulings like this from happening - buy a membership with the CBLDF. http://www.cbldf.com/


EDIT: To clarify, I support Dragoneer's decision in the matter - I understand that he's in a really difficult position and that he very much values freedom of expression, but... yeah.

My biggest issue is with the people who are taking this situation and letting their ugly side show. "YEAH, BAN ALL CUB ART!" "THE KIDFUCKERS DESERVE TO GO!" "DEATH TO PEDOS!" - if you've seen the discussion thread on this matter, you understand that there are certainly people who have that sentiment. This journal is primarily in response to that sort of destructive and dangerous thinking.

Merry Spontaneous Christmas, everyone!


Many thanks to  kjorteo for commissioning  sefeiren to celebrate this joyous and sudden occasion.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3160977

Okay, haven't heard any objections, so I will starting posting my FC haul over the next few days. If you see your stuff posted and you want a high-res version, lemme know and I'll get it to you right away. Unfortunately, I don't have the contact info for everyone I commissioned. :(

Well, I had an awesome time at FC - many thanks to those out there who made it a wonderful time! Especially to  acidapluvia for being crazy enough to trust me with showing her around her first con. ;D

Most importantly, however... I have con sketches that I'd love to upload and also e-mail to their rightful owners. If I commissioned you at FC and you do NOT want me posting what you did, please let me know ASAP. I plan on posting it all over the next few days.

Also, if you'd like a high-rez scan for your own posting, contact me through e-mail or notes. Or comment, whichever works.



And yes, Ozone, I'm scanning your piccie for me from Califur last year - sorry about the wait on that!

Seriously, I'm fucking DISGUSTED. D: D:



FAT32 is the absolute worst way for me to set up my filesystem... Jesus Christ, I'm making certain to stay with NTFS next time. Vastly superior in every way!





;D As for the banner, it's a banner - I'm too busy paying attention to the TONS OF ART ON MY SCREEN to notice it overmuch. :O

Yays, today I turn the age o' 25. :O So far I've received some awesome presents... some artings and t-shirts and delicious Godiva chocolates. Major yum! Only downside is that I have to work today, curses. D:

Because the admin team has decided Spore is considered more like a standard character generator (like CoH) than something like Second Life, I'm not able to upload my Spore submissions directly to FA. I personally hope this policy is revised in the near future, but whatever.

However, if anyone is interested, I can still apparently post journals linking to said images - if there's interest, then I'll certainly start sharing what I've been up to. :D

Is this how I do it? =O

http://www.myfursona.com/user/Cowdere

So, I had an absolute blast at FC. I met a TON of awesome people and I want to especially thank those of you who let me stay on Monday night so that I'd have place to crash.

It was a very friendly atmosphere and a lot more fun than AC was for me - an interesting side effect of hanging around so many people who were drawing is that I got inspired to start drawing again myself - I did a bunch of art trades and I'm really excited to get drawing more.

I'm working on scanning everything I received, and I'll try to get everything sent out to the respective artists. Please lemme know if I miss you or anything, and I'd also please let me know if you'd rather I not post said scans on FA.

Woo!

HARRY POTTER IS VOLDEMORT!


...and finally, my old job working at Border's Books pays off. :O

Alright! If I commissioned you during AC and you want a copy of what you did for me, lemme know! I need contact infos so I can be sure to send 'em out to you as high-res scans. =)

Also, I plan on posting what I received as mid-res scans in a day or two - if you'd rather I not post your picture for me, please let me know.