Well, ANE has completed another successful con. I, for one, was satisfied.

At the con, I commissioned  betsy,  christaphorac,  linez,  appledustings, and  pac who was a Guest Of Honor.

I attended a pie-throwing panel presented by  duino, as well as host my own panel, one for sports mascot fanatics. To those who attended, thanks for coming!

I also did volunteer work at the con, roughly 10 hours total. I set up game consoles in the video game room, did badge check outside the Dealer's Room, worked at Registration, and helped out  danruk at the Masquerade.

Now, I'm still currently recovering from my convention hangover. Once I've recovered, I'll post fursuit pics and art I've commissioned from Dealers at the con, which should be sometime this week.

Thanks to all who helped make this a great con! I'm looking forward to the ANE series becoming a full trilogy next year!

Tomorrow, I leave for Anthro New England in Cambridge! I'm prepared and excited!

I'm staying till Sunday evening. I'll leave right after Closing Ceremonies. I already have a few artists I'd like to commission and a few panels I'd like to attend. I'm actually also really looking forward to picking up a conbook or more there. I have arts in them! :D

Instead of commuting to and from the con this year, I'm staying at the Hyatt where the convention's taking place. I made that decision because of the hassle of arriving at the parking garage there when it became full, and needing to park at Central Square and walk to the con. Not to mention, since I'll be volunteering at the con more, and there's a chance I could do night work, I prefer to stay at the hotel.

As I mentioned in my previous journal, I will be hosting a panel for sports mascot fanatics on Saturday from 1-2. Details can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7293225/

Some of you might be wondering about the upcoming blizzard on Saturday. Well, since we'll all be indoors and in very little to no need to drive anywhere, the snow's not an issue. Also, the forecast is predicting less snow than originally predicted (Now saying around 2 inches). It's southeastern MA, along with Rhode Island and Connecticut that'll be hit with more snow. So, again, I'm not really concerned about this.

In its second year, this convention is aiming for another successful weekend. 757 was ANE's first-year attendance, the highest attended fur con in its first year! (With the exception of Motor City Fur Con and FurPocalypse, which were really conventions that replaced other conventions.) According to Wikifur, as I'm writing this, ANE ranks 17th in highest attended fur cons worldwide, inbetween IndyFurCon at 735 and Fur The More at 853.

To those going, be safe and have fun. See you all there!

I'll be hosting a panel at Anthro New England this year for fans of sports mascots. It'll take place on the Saturday of the convention from January 23rd from 1-2PM.

This is a panel for those who are fans of sports mascots, those who perform as sports mascots, those who do art inspired by sports mascots, and everything else associated with sports mascots, but virtually everyone's welcome! Because of ANE's theme for 2016, I thought this would be an appropriate panel to have this year. At this panel, we'll introduce ourselves and talk about how we're associated with sports mascots. Those interested in attending are encouraged to bring any merchandise, props of any kind, arts, and anything else related to mascots.

(Please note that immediately after this panel ends at 2, I have to do volunteer work from 2-6 doing badge check.)

Hello, 2016! Have a great New Year, everyone!

https://youtu.be/AhR4IUMj9tY

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=awrjZn9tnzc

XP

I have two extra tickets to see the New England Black Wolves at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, January 15th. Me and  danruk are already going.

If interested, please note me.

You can see a collage of fursuiter pics I took at FurPocalypse here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18154337/

EDIT: Uploaded plenty of pics for now. Will upload later...

...I came home as another satisfied con-goer!



Who did I room with?

I roomed with  danruk, Ren Winterfox, Bandit (who was attendee guest of honor), and Maku

Who did you commission there?

 spiced-rum,  dook,  booboobunnygirl, and Keevs (Owl's Mirror Studio)

What did you do there?

Attended Iggi's character creation panel, went to the New England Furs Meet and Greet panel, saw the Fursuit Parade (link to a video I recorded of the parade below), attended the Friday Night Sponsor and Dealer Social, saw the Masquerade, took pictures of fursuiters (which I'll post on Wednesday), and other fun stuff.



Fursuit Parade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UnmUZQ-OX8



Now, time for me to recover from this convention hangover...

As you may know, Connecticut's FurPocalypse is heading into it's second year this weekend! I, of course, am super excited for this upcoming convention! Last year's con was a blast. I would expect this year to not disappoint, either.

I'll be arriving at the hotel the con will be taking place at on Thursday afternoon/evening. I'll leave Waltham at around 9:30AM, if not sooner, to do a few errands before arriving at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Cromwell. I'll be buying tickets to see the New England Black Wolves at the Mohegan Sun Arena, visiting the Barker Character Comic and Cartoon Museum in Cheshire, CT, and possibly visiting a friend in New Britain while in the area, before arriving at the hotel.

Either than commisioning a few artists in the Dealer's Room, there are a few panels and such I plan on attending, including the Sponsor/Dealer Social, the NE Furs Meet and Greet, the character creation panel, and a few others.

Two things to note about:

First,

You may have already heard about OklaCon seizing operations due to a disgusting incident there, and RainFurrest was exiled out of their venue, the Hilton, due to incidents such as property damage, a flooded bathroom with hot tub pumps stuffed with towels,people sent to the hospital, and complaints from hotel staff about noise. Hopefully, Rainfurrest can find a new venue to have the convention in.

It's a shame conventions like these have to discontinue because of attendees causing problems. We love going to these conventions and don't want to lose them. However, in order to keep these fur cons from closing up shop, not only do we need to respect venue property, not harass or disturb other people there, and behave in a level-headed manner, but also, if you see anyone causing trouble, report it to con staff, when necessary. We don't want to make the hotel staff upset and have the convention's landlord boot us out!

Second,

The person who booked the room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel I'm staying at had to eject two people out of roomshare because of how disrespectful they have been to the one who booked the room. One of the two ejectees posted tweets on Twitter and a journal on FA about how angry he was over the decision the one booking the room made about removing the two from roomshare. I was disgusted with this kid's comments, all the drama he's puking out, all the insults toward the person who booked the room, man...... It seems they both really got on this person's bad side, which must be really difficult to do, knowing the person who booked the room. I think they should both apologize to him for what they've done. If either or them start any trouble with anyone at FP, they could get their con badges pulled and thrown out of the con. For those that know about this issue, you can talk about it here, but one little thing that I ask is not to bring up the names of the two offenders my friend had to put up with, as part of FA's TOS.

Alright, now that I've gotten that all cleared and out of the way, SEE YOU ALL THERE!!!

Last Friday, I was in Manchester, NH, seeing a hockey game. Over an hour before the doors to the arena opened, I came across these two fans at the entrance. One of those two fans was a fursuiter! The fursuiter goes to Manchester Monarchs games in fursuit. His character is a fan-made mascot for the Monarchs, a lion cub named "Roar". His character was, of course, inspired by the Monarchs' official mascot, "Max".

I recently read his story on how his fursuit performing helps him with his social anxiety and PTSD. He says that performing under a different identity has helped him conquer his anxiety.

I, like many others, suffer from debilitating social anxiety and PTSD. Social anxiety is a condition that many people do not and cannot understand...

This and my PTSD are thought to be due to a combination of military service and constant bullying. I have been working with doctors for years to battle these issues with very little results...

In 2008 I joined the 501st Legion and became a costumed character for charity events. I soon learned that the anxiety that I felt after the Army faded while in costume and the old charisma I once had returned when I was anonymous...

Hockey games presented a unique challenge for me. As a season ticket holder, I had a very hard time attending Monarchs games due to social anxiety...

After years of costuming in public situations I learned that many of my issues vanished while in character. To battle my anxiety, enjoy the Monarchs games and bring a little more excitement to the arena, the idea of Roar was created.


https://www.facebook.com/MonarchsRo.....756900074935:0

After reading his story, I was really saddened to learn how he had to deal with his social anxiety and PTSD. But I was also glad he found a way to conquer his anxiety and PTSD by peforming as his fan-made mascot for the Monarchs. And not only does being Roar help himself, but he's also spreading joy to others! It's a pretty inspirational story, one that I thought I'd have to share to our fandom.

Excited 90's kid is EXCITED!!!

Starting on Monday, October 5th, Nickelodeon will be premiering a 90's Nickelodeon block called "The Splat". It'll be on TeenNick from 10PM to 6AM.

http://www.vox.com/2015/9/24/939437.....-90s-the-splat

As a fan of classic Nickelodeon, I was deeply thrilled to learn that an 8-hour block on 90's Nickelodeon was gonna be launched soon on TeenNick. It may not be its own 24/7 channel, yet, but I feel this is a big milestone in moving towards launching an all 24/7 "Nickelodeon Classic" channel. (Anyone get a chance to see my "Rocko's Modern Life" 20th anniversary pic I did two years ago?: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11629898/)

While were at it, Nickelodeon should plan on bringing back 80's Nick as well! Shows like "You Can't Do That On Television", "Double Dare", "Out Of Control", "Don't Just Sit There", Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea", "Third Eye", the list will go on.....

Today is the 25th anniversary of the world premiere of the animated TV show, Tiny Toon Adventures!

The pilot episode premiered as a special on CBS on Friday, September 14, 1990. However, it wasn't until three days later on Monday, September 17th, 1990, that I first got to see it on WLVI-TV Channel 56 in Boston. I was only 6 years old at the time it came out, but I remember looking forward to finally watching this show when they kept advertising it on channel 56 the weeks before its September 17th launch! I was already a fan of Looney Tunes (which they showed on Nickelodeon, back then), so it was easy for me to enjoy Tiny Toons. I watched this show religiously once it came out. I had several Tiny Toons merch, including stuffed animal Tiny Toons, the Gameboy game, Babs' Big Break, a Tiny Toons sleeping bag, and other types of merchandise.

This show was legendary for my childhood. I don't know what the early 90's would be like for me without this show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EiEX4tmCfY

I just passed my medical coding course!

Another reminder about the Chateau meet in Waltham on August 14th.

If you'd like to attend, please RSVP. (DO NOT show up at the last minute!)

Details can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6866364/

For those that haven't learned the news about Maltese Fur Con, yet, MFC has been cancelled due to lack of pre-registered attendees, as well as financial problems. I'm quite disappointed by the cancellation, especially since it was going to take place less than a five minute drive from my house. But in all honesty, I'm also not really surprised about it, either.

That being said, I'll still host this Chateau meet on August 14th at 6pm. This time, it'll be for making up for the cancellation of Maltese. I want to hopefully make things better to those who were planning on atteneing.

The Chateau is an Italian restaurant located on School Street in Waltham. Instead of meeting at the hotel where the convention was gonna take place, we could meet outside the entrance of the Chateau, and then go in at around 6pm.

If you plan on getting there via MBTA, you can take a 70 or 70A bus from Central Square in Cambridge to the Waltham Commuter Rail Station, which is across the street from Waltham Common. From Waltham Common, go left down Main Street, and then right down Exchange Street. You will see the Chateau on your right.

To RSVP, please RSVP on the Facebook page of this event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/841592072601858/

PLEASE RSVP IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND. DO NOT SHOW UP AT THE LAST MINUTE WITHOUT RSVPING.

If you don't have Facebook, or couldn't use it to RSVP, post a comment in this journal here, and I'll put you on the list.

Attendees are more than welcome to bring other guests to this meet, but please let me know if you plan on bringing any guests with you.

For those that have any questions, please let me know!

Because no one responded to my last journal, I am extending CA through Tuesday evening.

Journal can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6842158/

At long last, Cyan Asks makes a return after a long half-year! Work being painful over the last six months has depressed me away from doing such things, including this contest. I'm happy to say that I'll finally be back to running this contest!

I may do this contest monthly, instead of every two weeks, however. Even though work has been less tiring and whatnot, I still have other things to do that are keeping me a bit occupied, including that online Medical Coding course. But if things get less busy, hopefully, I can do this contest more frequently.

Now, let's get this contest underway!



For those that don't know, CYAN ASKS is a contest that goes on almost every two weeks. In this contest, I ask a question, and all you have to do is come up with an answer to the question. Your answers can be creative, clever, weird, funny, etc. If your answer gets chosen, you will get a free sketch from me! The winner will be sent a note saying that he/she has won, and might be asked for a reference sheet of his or her character.


RULES:

-Answers must be in a 'G' to 'PG' range. Keep your answers appropriate.

-One answer per user. Do not post multiple answers.

-If more than one person posts the same answer, only the first to post that answer will be qualified for the contest.



Now, here's the question...



CYAN ASKS...



You're at the beach. Sharks come towards the shore. Everyone in the ocean heads for the land to avoid being eaten. Now, without doing harm or scaring the sharks away, to keep the sharks from attacking other swimmers and making it safe to go in the water again, what would you do?

Answers must be posted here in this journal by 6PM Eastern US time on Tuesday.



(EDIT: Now extended to Tuesday evening.)

Cyan Asks returns this Friday morning!

That is all...

For those attending Maltese Fur Con this August, I am hosting a get together during the Friday evening of the convention. I was thinking of hosting a meet at The Chateau restaurant in Waltham on Friday, August 14th. We could either meet at the convention hotel's entrance prior to heading over to the restaurant. Since there'll be shuttle bus service to and from the Embassy Suites to the Waltham Commuter Rail Station during the con, we can take a shuttle bus to the Waltham Station, and then take a 5-10 minute walk to the restaurant. The Chateau is an Italian restaurant, for those that don't know what cuisine type the restaurant is. To those interested in going, I would recommend RSVPing before August 7th, so I can call the restaurant and make reservations. I'd like to give an accurate number of people coming when I make these reservations. For those interested, or if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know!

You can RSVP on this facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/841592072601858/

If you don't have facebook, you can comment here in this journal or note me saying that you're interested in going.

(Additional notes about the Waltham Commuter Rail Station: The Fitchburg Line that the Waltham Commuter Rail Station is on won't be in service on Saturdays and Sundays until this fall, so unfortunately, those who plan on arriving or leaving the convention by Commuter Rail will be unable to do so on those days. As an alternative for public transportation to the convention, I would recommend taking the subway to Central Square in Cambridge, and then an MBTA 70 or 70A bus to Waltham Common where the Waltham Commuter Rail Station is. Schedules and other info can be found on MBTA.com.)

Hey, guys!

I was wondering if those who are attending Maltese Fur Con this year are interested in a Chateau meet?

The Chateau is an Italian restaurant located on School Street in Waltham, about a 2.5 hour walk from the Embassy Suites MFC will be taking place. It is also roughly a 5-10 minute walk from the Waltham Commuter Rail Station.

I was thinking, perhaps, on the Friday evening of the con at around 5:30, interested furs can walk together, or take the shuttle bus from the hotel to the Commuter rail Station and walk to the Chateau from there, for dinner. I would recommend R.S.V.P.ing to this event if you're interested, so I can call the place to make the reservation and have an accurate number of people coming.

I already have a few people interested in going, as I've made a post about it on the New England Furries/Therians Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NHFurriesTherians/

If you'd like to R.S.V.P. to this event, or have a question or suggestion, please let me know!

Just thought I'd share some updates on what's been going on with me.

In a nutshell, the second half of 2014 went downhill for me, and the beginning of 2015 sucked. Things have been improving since after Anthro New England, however. Now, for the long version...

For those that don't know, last July at work, I got moved from one department to another, after the supervisor of that department finagled her way out of trouble and used me as a scapegoat. The assistant manager at the time, who received the request from that supervisor to boot me out of that department thought it would be a good idea to move me on to the front end of the store. Unfortunately, it wasn't. For the majority of the time I was in the front end, I had to do carriages. It's not the concept of the job that's bad for me, or even the weather we had lately, but the fact that I have a medical condition with my legs and feet where I can't do too many carriages at a time, or do carriages non-stop for too long, without straining them. This was especially bad for Saturdays when it was even more busy at the store - more customers coming in, more customers using carriages. Does this asshat of an assistant manager realize that the decision he made here was in really bad logic? Does he care? In addition, the pain from doing this job generated the worst depression I had in nearly two decades. I would've quit, but I wasn't in any position to do so because of this credit card debt I had to pay off. (It's gone now, though.) It wasn't until my current supervisor for the front end got transferred to the Stop & Shop I'm working at, that things were gradually getting better, but very slowly.

I explained to that supervisor abut my medical condition, and she's doing whatever she can to keep me inside the store longer. And last month, that assistant manager got transferred out of the S&S I work at. The new assistant manager we got appears so much nicer. I'm in a less depressive state than before. That being said, though, I still need to save up more money to put aside just to be safe. I am also saving up for something special. (More details on what I'm saving up later when I have the funds for it... )

Now, starting on June 17th, I'll be taking an online course in Medical Coding. The course will go for six weeks. I would still be at Stop & Shop during that time, but once the course is over, I expect to begin job searching again, hopefully getting a job in Medical Coding.

As for conventions, I'll be at Maltese Fur Con in August (It's in my hometown, BTW! It's like a five minute drive from where I live!), Furpocalypse in the fall, and I also have plans for Anthro New England 2016, a possible trip to Texas Furry Fiesta next March, Anthrocon 2016 summer of next year, and get this...another Massachusetts-based fur con starting up! This one in West Springfield called "Fur Xoticon", taking place from May 27th through the 29th. More info can be found at their FA page.  wxcevents

I also might start doing "Cyan Asks" contests again! One of the reasons I put that on hiatus was because there were other projects I wanted to finish. One in particular, unfortunately, I didn't get to finish in time. It was related to the AHL. the project was having my character star in these illustrations, each of them with different AHL mascots in them as well. Because the regular season ended before I even had a chance to color these illustrations in, and that a good portion of the teams are relocating (I have a feeling this relocation experiment will fail, however), I would have to put that off aside till the next AHL season begins. I might post a journal on doing CA again soon!

That's all I have for updates. If anything else happens that might affect things for me, that might be needed to be posted here, I'll post it.

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing. This was a very tragic day in history, not just locally, but globally. Regardless of the Tsarnaev brothers' intentions on why they placed a backpack with a bomb in it at an event with many innocent people attending, it was the wrong decision to what these two were trying to accomplish. I wish for events like this not to happen. I wish for a world of peace. I wish no one would commit actions like these. And I will keep wishing for global peace until we receive it.

However, even in the most tragic of times, our spirits cannot be broken. In the aftermath of this dreadful act of terror, people from around the world brought support to the city of Boston, the bombing victims, and to the families and friends of these victims. It was a great healing process from all those who supported Boston in this heartbreaking and tragic event. I, for one, am grateful for those who aided and supported us in this horrific event. I am especially grateful for the Boston and Watertown Police for their bravery and heroism in their effort to capture Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and bring peace back to the area.

We stand together as one.

‪#‎bostonstrong‬

So, I get home from work, come here on FA, and I see a handful of journals about FA being sold to IMVU. "What is all this fuss about, anyway?", I wondered. I read on the "IMVU Clarification Post" journal, the Dragoneer's post on the FA forums about this site's partnership with IMVU, and Dragoneer's journal on the sale. There's a couple of things I'd like to share and state involving this matter.

IMVU have been major supporters for FA. (Have you seen their ads here?) BAsed on Dragoneer's post in his journal, IMVU was the only potential ownership group he could trust.

"IMVU offered to help the site with funding and support the site as is. They're the only group who didn't want to tear it down, but help build it up. That group: IMVU. They wanted to help fund the site and support it in order to help grow their large furry community base."

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/...../#cid:44895062

As for how FA will be managed, to quote Dragoneer's post on the forums (3rd paragraph):

"Going forward, FA will continue to operate independently but with IMVU’s support and resources to upgrade our services. We can now work on improving our infrastructure, adding more storage, making performance improvements and improved coding support to reach our full potential."

https://forums.furaffinity.net/thre.....MVU-Discussion

This may actually be good for the site. It doesn't sound like IMVU will have control over FA, but will help this site with adding storage, upgrading the site, etc. If that's what will happen here, why complain?

I'd say, before making automatic judgment on this matter, let's give IMVU a chance at their partnership with FA and see what happens over the next few months or so. Again, this may actually be better for the site.

One final note: If you would like to discuss this in my journal, please keep the comments civil.

Hahahahahahahaha....... As of 6:06 this morning, I have officially turned 31 years old. I'm such an old feline now. XP

That is all. :D