So yep. I'm in texas now.

Also I purged a bunch of artwork off my page because it contained my ex. If you liked those pieces go find them on the original artist(s) galleries. I'm not going to host artwork of my ex.

I hardly ever update this page anymore, but I figured I should probably do this much.

I am moving.

I have already left ND and am on my way to my new job, which is near Dalls/Ft Worth (but not in the city, but that's the easiest way to explain the area).

I'm writing this from the midpoint hotel I am staying at on my way down.

Needless to say, it's been an emotional day, and I'm exhausted. If people actually read journals on here and know me enough to want more info, my telegram contact info is on here.

Hopefully will get the chance in the coming months to meet some Texas area furs. :)

I have given in to the horde!

I'm now on Telegram, if you wanna chat with me, you can find me(at)ArtemisDragmire

If this should happen to you and you need your furry art fix, look no further!

*sigh* Here we go.

I'm not even sure where to begin. I think the first thing will be to give a short recap of the events as I perceived them.


Saturday night, I first became aware something was wrong when I was in the Kage & 2 Gryphon charity show, and Kage looked out past the audience and out the windows and asked "Why are there like 4 ambulances outside?". I kinda chuckled, figuring that someone had gotten too drunk or whatever, the usual things that happen at any given con.

The charity show wrapped up and I headed out into the lobby. I saw that there were 4 ambulances, 3 firetrucks, and several more police cars, all with lights flashing out in front of the hotel. Something felt off. I stopped and watched out the windows for a bit, trying to ascertain what was going on, but then shrugged it off and headed up to my room with  cyndalmaul.

We got up to the room, and were planning on relaxing and having some fun before heading back down to maybe hit the bar again or whatever, maybe fursuit, wasn't sure.

While laying on the bed suddenly the alarms started ringing. A noise I'll never forget. It was a siren, followed by a voice "There has been an emergency reported in the building. Please exit the building as quickly as possible. Do not use elevators."

I thought, GOD DAMNIT, some asshole pulled the fire alarm again. I grabbed my coat, put on my shoes, snagged my cell phone, and pulled  cyndalmaul into the hallway with me, which was eerily quiet.

We were in the executive wing, on one of the upper floors. There was NOBODY in the halls. We headed immediately to the stairwell and started making our way down. We didn't see ANYONE in the stairwell, which was even weirder. I figured everyone was out having fun or something, and by some weird luck we were the only ones in the executive wing that night.

Upon reaching the bottom and stepping outside, we were met with a member of MWFF con security, who directed us over to a group of people already milling around outside the parking garage.

The poor security lady was wearing a skirt and a light shirt, so I offered her my sweatshirt and we exchanged room #s so I could grab it later.

Pretty quickly we got word that we had to move away from the building and across the street to the convention center parking garage. I then saw just how many emergency vehicles were there, and it was an insane amount. I still thought it was a false alarm, and tweeted to that effect.

That was when I started hearing murmurs in the crowd and on twitter about some sort of gas related incident. Something about chlorine, or possibly refrigerant. Some people were sick. Ok, so this is real, shit.

Eventually, we got herded into the convention center itself, where I noticed with some amusement there was a dog show going on, the dogs were barking in their cages as their rest was interrupted by thousands of people being forced into the same space. We kept getting pushed further and further from the doors. Eventually I found a comfortable spot near the back of the building up against a pillar and we sat down and got comfortable.

Throughout, I was reading twitter and getting tidbits of information. A friend of mine was in the Hilton and with a group of furs listening on on HAM radio to the emergency frequencies and was doing an amazing job of keeping me updated on a play by play.

My phone was at 30%... then 25%... then 20%... still dropping.

I decided, it's probably a good idea to check in with everybody that I hadn't seen tweet or otherwise communicate. Sent texts out and made sure everyone I knew was ok, they were. Texted my mom and dad, let them know if they see something on the news about a hotel evac in Rosemont that I was involved, but that I was safe and not to worry.

I regretted not grabbing my phone charger. Something I'm taking away from this, in the event of another emergency, in addition to warm clothes, wallet for ID and money, car and house keys, and other essentials, I'm including my cell phone charger as something I MUST grab, and will from now on always have one with me. Being without a cell phone in an emergency is not something that I can tolerate.


I eventually laid down in what had become the ad hoc refugee center and just tried to relax. Poor  cyndalmaul was still sick, she had been suffering from a cold all weekend and the excitement had irritated it, she was coughing and not feeling well, I asked her if she wanted to get checked out by the EMTs just in case, but we agreed that it was probably unrelated, as we had not smelled any gas nor were we anywhere near the floors that the incident had been reported on. (plus, she was already sick before this)

Eventually, we were shuffled back into the hotel. On the way in I made a point to stop and thank as many police, firefighters, EMTs, and con staff as I could. I knew this night was even harder on them than it was on me.





Now... the REALLY hard part started. The word was getting out that this was an intentional act. Chlorine powder tossed into a stairwell and activated somehow to create noxious, DEADLY gas. Basically, a terrorist attack. I have never had my life threatened before, not directly. Not like this.

I started having to process this. I wasn't directly affected, in that I wasn't in the area the attack took place, but if the target was the convention attendees, I was still a target.

Sleep didn't come easily. I woke up several times thinking I heard a girl screaming out in the hallway, but it was just my mind playing tricks on me.


My thoughts on it all? I'm still not sure. I need to process the fact that, in all likelihood, there was a malicious attack, meant to injure or possibly kill people. And there's a decent chance that I was included in the general "target" (ie, convention attendees).

There's a chance that this was intended as a prank, but it seems far too specific. If someone wanted to prank, they would just pull a fire alarm, not specifically bring the ingredients to creating a deadly gas.

So now, I gotta process after the fact that I just had someone try to kill me.

That's.... harder than I thought it would be.

The event hasn't left my thoughts, and I hate to admit it, but I am scared by it.

I know they say to not be scared, that's what people who do these sort of things want. They want to get under your skin. But, it's hard not to be.

I won't let it affect my actions. I have no intention of ceasing to attend furry conventions, or anything like that, but I am very concerned all the same.

I'm really glad nobody was killed, and those that were hospitalized have been reported to be recovering.



All in all, I'm not sure what to think. I'm very sad that this occurred. I'm very proud that furries handled it as well as they did. I'm incredibly grateful for the organization and responsiveness of the Rosemont and Chicago area emergency responders, as well as every single member of the convention and hotel staff and security. I'm super grateful that I have friends that care about me, and that in an event like this I have people that I can count on.

I hope they catch whoever did this, I want to know the reasoning behind it and motivations. I don't really care about justice, I just want to know the "why".

Everyone at work and in my family now knows I'm a furry, and that's ok, I didn't really hide it. Everybody has supported me and asked if I was ok.

I guess life goes on. I really hope this is the only time something like this ever happens though. I DO NOT want this to become a trend.

First of all, I'm not going to be talking about the gas attack in this journal. If you want to read my opinions on that stay tuned for a later journal which will be dedicated to my thoughts on the event.

This is just for the convention itself:

I arrived on Thursday evening, after a long, 12 hour drive from Bismarck, ND. Very tired but glad to be there. The Hyatt was super welcoming as always and it was awesome to see the staff wearing little ears and stuff. Love these guys, they really get into it and are SO NICE to us.

Promptly went to my room and relaxed. Spent the night in there, ordered in pizza from Mama Mia's pizzeria, and was delighted when the guy on the phone responded to my telling him I was at the Hyatt with "OH! You're one of my fuzzy peoples. I love you fuzzies, what do you need?" XD


Friday was my first day of activity, and spent time going to panels as well as playing in the poker tournament. :) Popped down to the dealers den but couldn't spend much money as I was short at the time (my paycheck comes in on Saturdays).

Nothing too fancy, but had a lot of fun meeting friends I hadn't seen in awhile and watching furries enjoying themselves. Got drunk at the Red Bar and also with some help from booze in the room that night. Eventually passed out and then slept for a REALLY long time.

Saturday I ended up not getting up until pretty late, noon or 1pm if I recall. My work/sleep schedule normally has me getting up at 2pm or so, because I don't work until 4pm and don't get off work until 1am. So trying to switch to a "normal" schedule for the con was harder than I thought it would be. Still got to attend various panels I wanted to, as well as hitting the dealers den hard now that I got paid.

Also played in the poker tournament again, this time placing 2nd in the satellite tournament, securing a spot at Sunday's final table.

Saturday night, well, we all know how that went and I'll cover that in detail in another journal.

Sunday I was super tired (again) because of the events of the previous night. Bombed in the poker tournament final table, largely because I was so tired. Went to the dance competition, which lifted my (rather low) spirits, and got to watch a close friend of mine (Mex) take 2nd place in the Novice category. SO damn proud of him. :D

Fatigue quickly overwhelmed me after having lunch, went to closing ceremonies and had my name mistakenly announced as the winner of the poker tournament (lol), but was corrected before the end of the ceremonies. Nearly fell asleep in my chair though.

Then, afterward, had a little teary-eyed walk back up to my room, taking a last look around at the furries around, as I was so tired I knew I wouldn't be able to come back down. Sure enough, got up to my room and almost immediately fell asleep, sleeping until about 2am, getting up and watching some TV, and then falling back asleep until noon on Monday when it was time to check out.

I had a lot of fun, even though I didn't do a lot of things I normally do at cons. I didn't fursuit, for example. But, being that my fursuit doesn't fit me right now because I'm a fat fuck, I'm ok with that. I also am going to be getting a new fursuit head in the nearish future, so spending one con where I don't fursuit isn't really a big deal.

MWFF is amazing, and I fully intend to keep attending. I just wish I wasn't so tired at this con, and had more energy. Not sure how I can go about fixing that for the future.

Too tired to post a full con summary, may do that later.

In any case, considering the things that happened at the con, I figured it's a good idea to let everyone know I'm home and safe.

Yes I was at FM!

I didn't fursuit much, so if you only recognize me in suit your only chance to see me would have been Saturday night as that was the only time I was in fursuit. :)

In any case, I arrived fairly late Friday night, got registered, settled down in the hotel, and went and checked out the con spaces. Didn't do a lot that night, mostly just wandered a bit and then settled down for the night.

Saturday was the big day for me, I went to the dealer's den, bought some commissions, t-shirts, and etc. I skipped the fursuit parade, opting to watch instead of fursuiting this time. It was fun to watch and there were a lot more suiters than I was expecting!

After the parade I took part in the poker tournament, and won 2nd place, for which the prize was a free membership to FM next year. I'll definitely be taking advantage of that! :D

I also checked out the dance exhibition and I must say it was a very well put together show. Good talent by the dancers too, though a few of you should pick shorter or edited songs for your dances XD, more than a couple suiters looked like they were ready to pass out by the end of their sets, lol.

Fursuited a bit Saturday night after the danc exhibition and just kinda moseyed around.

Sunday I bid on an art piece by Foxfeather and won it, very happy with that. :D I also spent a little time in the gaming room playing some video games and just hung around.

Overall it was a really relaxed con for me. After closing ceremonies I went over to the Mall of America for dinner and also to spend time with my wonderful wolf  cyndalmaul

To my delight the MOA had a Star Trek Exhibit going on, where you could see props and prop replicas, as well as costumes and artwork from the Star Trek series. Was pretty cool. The best part was the re-creation of the original Enterprise NCC-1701 bridge (the one from the original 60s TV series), on which you could pay to have your picture taken or just walk around on it and check it out.

Was kinda a childhood dream to sit in the captain's chair, and it was worth every cent just for that opportunity. :)


The best part of this con though was that it brought me and my girlfriend closer together. We spent a lot of time together and it was a very special time for us. So that's what I'll remember it for.

Expect to see me again next year, and also keep an eye out for me at Midwest Fur Fest in December!

Robin Williams was found dead today, here's the source:

http://news.kron4.com/news/breaking.....ms-found-dead/

They think it's suicide.

This is so incredibly sad, Robin Williams has always been a man that was able to bring a smile to my face, even in some of my own darkest times. His stand-up, his acting, they were both amazing and exceedingly well done.


As someone who also struggles with depression and thoughts of suicide this really hits close to home. I wish the best for his family and those that knew him personally.

RIP, I hope you find the peace you were looking for.

EDIT - I'd be remiss in not posting this.

If you yourself are feeling depressed or have thoughts of suicide, or are in a crisis, there are people available you can talk to.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

I sound like an infomercial but I've called before, it can help.

I'm going to be posting a few here and there over the next few days, but I have a request to make!

This year I didn't take a ton of photos myself. However I know there were photos snapped of me in suit. If you have some, or see some posted, please send me a link! I'd love to see them, especially if they're while I was in full suit as this was my first con with the full body! :)


Thanks a bunch!

Made it back! Had a great time. Will be posting some pictures (I didn't take a ton) over the next couple days. :)

My head likes to do funny things.

Lately, it's seemed like it's harder for me to interact with furries.

The problem is twofold. One, I overthink things. Two, I care about what furries think about me. I want to be included in the group and feel welcome.

Around people I don't know, or people who I really don't care about what they think of me, I do fine. I can laugh, joke, make inroads and be sociable. And all this because I really don't give a fuck what they think of me at the end of the day. Perfect example here is co-workers.

With furries I get this anxiety issue that reminds me a lot of the fear I felt in social situations as a young kid. I want so bad to be accepted and included, that I end up overthinking the issue and worrying that I'm not fitting in. And this ends up being self reinforced whenever I go to a convention or meetup, then end up spending most of my time by myself or with my one or two friends. I watch people bounce around in big groups and having fun, but I never really feel a part of it.

I know I'd probably just have to go up to people and make my presence known and try to break the ice, but I get petrified with fear because I worry so much about screwing it up and winding up ostracized, so instead I stay back, stay quiet, and just watch people have fun.

All this, combined with my Anxiety (with a capital A, as i'm talking about the medicated disorder now), means that I end up in a sort of negative feedback loop when something bad does happen. For example, a bad stint of drama can mean I isolate myself from entire groups of people, assuming they hate me or are being told nasty things about me and believing them.

It's stupid, and I do it to myself.

My goal for AC this year is to try to break that shell a little bit more. AC is great for that because it is quite removed from my usual social circles and anyone that I worry might have a grudge against me. But, I still tend to be kinda reserved because the furry community it's very easy to have bad rumors and drama spread, so I worry constantly about offending someone or winding up caught up in something nasty which leads to me being ostracized at large.

So yea, haven't posted for awhile.

I need to get more active in the furry fandom again. But, my life has been focused up until just recently on just finding a job ever since I lost mine back in August last year.

Well, I finally got one. It's in my field (IT), pays well, and has great benefits. So I'm pretty stoked.

Getting back into the swing of being employed and going to work every day is a little challenging at the moment but I think I'm in a much better mindset and place overall now, and hopefully I can avoid the problems that plagued my previous position.

In any case, things are looking up.

Furry wise:

I plan to attend Anthrocon 2014 and have already made arrangements and reservations. Only a few months out now and I'm starting to get pretty excited for it.

With any luck, the body suit for my fursuit made by  drakonicknight will be completed in time for that, and I'm really looking forward to the "full transformation" if you will. :)

I've not been very active with local ND furries as of late, partly due to some falling out and damaging of trust that happened last year with a few people. Thankfully, I've managed to rekindle some old friendships that were partially damaged from that incident, and overall have been able to move on and put all thet bullshit behind me.

My goals for the rest of 2014 is to get settled in my new job, catch up on bills and such, and try to work my way back into the furry community again. I miss the joy that furry brought me when I first opened up about it. Part of it is that I've been openly furry for close to 4 years now, and have been perhaps a little desensitized to it all.

Anyways, that's the update. :)

Been awhile since I posted here so I figured I'd update everyone.

It's been a long couple months, and I've spent a lot of time re-evaluating and taking a hard look at my life and where I want to stand.

I'm still in North Dakota and still unemployed at the time being (Although, I'm expecting a call any day now with a job offer from an interview I recently had, will update when/if I hear something). I'm not in any dire problems financially, though I'm not going to go into details of my financial life here. Needless to say, between harshly self budgeting and some kindness from friends and family, I'm making it through without problems.

I've started seeing a psychiatrist for Depression (the D is capitalized on purpose) -- I knew I struggled with it for some time, and those that are close to me or know me well enough probably already knew I had it and struggled with it. However, I was not managing it with medication until recently. I'm now on Lexapro and it has been helping immensely. I'm not necessarily a happy bundle 24/7, but it's helping me to manage things that would trigger a massive depression or anxiety attack and look at things objectively. It's also reducing my paranoia and helping me step away from various interpersonal drama issues that have cropped up in recent months and not get so bothered by them.

All in all, I'm feeling better in that sense. I've still got a long way to go though.

Furry fandom wise, I've kinda stepped back and been a more passive participant again in recent months. Pretty much since a patch of nasty drama in August hit. After starting the anti depressants and talking to some counselors, I have been able to separate myself from any feelings of guilt, hate, and associated grudges with certain people that were involved. A side effect of being able to step back has been that I've stepped back from the furry community as a whole lately. Those that follow me on twitter may have noticed my tweets have nearly gone dark, and this is partly why.

I'm not leaving the fandom or anything like that. I LOVE the furry fandom and MFF helped re-assure me that I still want to be a part of this crazy community, despite everything. I just have been a little distant. I need to re-forge connections in the fandom and make some new friends again. And this time, I'll do it all better!

MFF -- I did attend! Some of you may have saw me there in fursuit a couple times, and those that know me "IRL" may have seen me more, out of fursuit. :) I spent a lot of time this MFF just walking around out of suit, taking it all in, very much like I did my first MFF. I was using the convention to re-evaluate if I still felt the same way about the furry fandom, and the answer is yes, I do, sorta. :P Furry is still a passion for me, and I don't think that will ever change. What I need now is to find some more friends in the fandom that I can get close to, and start breaking my way into the community more. I've been active in the fandom for something like 3.5 years now and I still feel like I live on the edges of it all. So my goal for the upcoming year is to break out of my shell more and start getting to know more people.


Future stuff -- As I said earlier, waiting on hearing back from a job interview and hoping to be starting that sometime next month if all goes well. I'm still self-evaluating and dealing with my depression and anxiety, but at least I acknowledge it upfront now and am managing it, rather than having it control me, which has led to a lot of damage dealt in my personal life, some of which I can hopefully repair, or replace.

In any case, things are looking up. It's the holidays now, which is a time of the year I hate, but I'm going to try to not let it bother me this year quite as much.

Anyone who liked Amnesia: The Dark Descent needs to pick up this game. It's along much the same vein, survival horror without the ability to defend oneself other than running/hiding.

The visual and audio effects in the game are very well done. The game takes place in an insane asylum deep in the Colorado mountains.

Your character is more nimble than a lot of survival horror characters too. The controls are fluid and easy to pick up, and you can run fast and jump fairly well. You can see your character's arms and legs as you perform actions, so the running, jumping, climbing and other things are reminiscient of Mirrors Edge in a way (though not quite so heavy on the parkour action).

The game isn't terribly long, but what's there is memorable. (And I'll likely give it another playthrough at some point too)

In any case, if you like first person, atmospheric survival horror, pick this one up. Trailer:

Well, I got fired today.

Apparently I didn't fit into the "corporate culture" of the company I was working for, or some other nonsense like that. I asked them what was the tipping point on this decision and they wouldn't fucking tell me.

So, I've filed for unemployment for the time being.


I've got a few choices now.

1. Search for another local job and keep going as is.

2. Go back to school -- problem with this, is I can't do it right away. The fuckers at my job waited to fire me until the school semester had already started. Pretty sure they did that on purpose to fuck me over more.

3. Leave this hellhole of a state.

I'm probably going with 3.

It's going to take some doing, and I won't be able to do it alone. I'm going to need help and advice from people, because I have never moved away from home before (I grew up here in Bismarck and have never lived anywhere else).

But I think it's the right thing to do. I need to spread my wings and get the fuck out of North Dakota. All North Dakota does is bring me pain and suffering and remind me how fucking horrible the world can be.

So yea, going to see about finding somewhere to live near a big city. Minneapolis is one big prospect as it's relatively close by. I've also considered Pittsburgh, just because of how much tech industry has moved into that city in recent years, and also for the fact that it's REALLY far away, really pretty, and actually smaller than Minneapolis.

The problem is... I have no fucking clue where to even begin for something like that.

I'm pretty much certain that my room is full, but I'm posting this here just for posterity in case someone backs out, that way I can point anyone interested to this journal for reference.

Starting sometime in September I'm going to be contacting those who have expressed interest in rooming with me for MFF and asking for a deposit for the room if you wish to guarantee your slot.

After the fiasco that was Anthrocon and the financial trouble it ended up putting me in due to last minute back outs, I'm going to require that any roommates for cons going forward pay me a non-refundable deposit up-front equal to 50% of your share of the room cost. The remaining 50% can be paid just before the con, at the con, or immediately following the con depending on individual preference, which can be ironed out after the fact.

This is just to cover my ass. Reserving these rooms is not cheap, and the closer it gets to a convention the more impossible it is to find replacement roommates. Before AC I had quite literally the entire lineup for my roommates back out, and wound up having to replace them all. I was able to find 2 roommates in time, but the 4th slot was not filled and I had to foot that cost myself, which is an experience I do not wish to repeat.

Some people might see me as being a dick for asking for this, but quite frankly, that's their problem. I'm under no obligation to provide room slots to anyone, and I don't think asking for a deposit a month or two in advance of a con to guarantee you will be attending is at all unreasonable. If people don't like it, they're welcome to reserve their own rooms or arrange to be roommates with someone else.

Anyways, not trying to bitch or be a jerk, just spelling out the conditions so I have them written down for future reference.

I normally am a big backer of never removing uploaded works, because someone, somewhere, may really like that picture or story and want to see it again.

I just broke that rule for myself. Some may have noticed some pictures missing from my gallery. Things have happened in the last few days that have led me to realize someone wasn't what they appeared to be.

FA has rules, and I won't drop names here. But, I don't want anything more to do with this person, and as a result, have removed any pictures or artwork involving them from my gallery.

Apologies to anyone who may come here looking for one of these pieces. Don't think that'll be much of a problem, but some of them had quite a few favorites, so... who knows.

Some of you reading this may know who I'm referring to. Please don't drop names in the comments, your comment will be removed. Thanks.

So, twitter has been abuzz today after the hotel venue that IFC is being held at this weekend imposed a rule stating no fursuits are allowed in the hotel lobby until after 6PM.

This irks me, both the con staff and the hotel dropped the ball on this one, and I for one will not be attending IFC (it was a con I was considering for next year) unless the venue is switched and the con organizers get well... organized.

This should have been laid out well in advance in contracts that were signed before the convention even dedicated to this hotel. Having it come down the day of the convention is a blow to fursuiters and con attendees, and is quite frankly, bad organization and unacceptable.

The hotel has every right to impose these restrictions, and I have no beef with them. It's their property and they can do what they want. However, IFC also has a responsibility to find out these sort of concerns beforehand and plan for them when choosing a hotel. This should have been spelled out in a contract far, far in advance.

IFC needs to organize themselves and find a new venue before I'll consider attending. Which is unfortunate, as I have a lot of friends that attend the con, but I guess I'll have to fill that prospective vacation slot with something else next year. Maybe RMFC.

Quick edit: If I am looking at conventions I want to attend, I would want to know well in advance of any lobby restrictions on fursuiting. The fact this information only became widely known on the day the convention started is what really irritates me. Again, to clarify, I'm in no way implying a "right to fursuit" or calling "fursecution" or anything like that. The hotel can do what they want on their property and impose whatever restrictions they see fit. The problem lies with IFC organizers not being aware of this, and not informing people soon enough.

I'm just glad this happened a year before I was considering attending, so I wasn't surprised with this AFTER having paid hotel and travel costs. I'm glad I can take my business elsewhere as I don't want to attend a convention held at a venue that has obvious conflicts with what fur con attendees expect.

*flump*

That sums up my feelings right now.

I'm beyond tired. I'm sore in every way from running around like a madman fursuiting and being trapped in a car for ~48 hours round trip. I'm also having anxiety attacks because of some billing issues that are going on with the Westin (but I know they'll get sorted I just over-react to such things).

I had a lot of fun though. The con was amazing. It wasn't quite as mind-blowing as last year maybe, it felt like it had a slower, more relaxed pace for me, but that was a good thing. I got a chance to relax and really enjoy my vacation. I spent way too much money as usual, but managed to resist buying artwork that I won't ever hang up due to my furry-disliking roommate objecting to artwork on the apt walls.

A few bumpy bits for the con though, didn't get my body suit at the con so I was only in partial for the big group photo and Guinness World Record attempt, which still upsets me quite a bit. The situation is under control and I understand the reasons, but it still is upsetting.

There was an incident with con staff over a misunderstanding as well, which I'm not going into detail over until I hear back from Anthrocon staff in response to a complaint e-mail I sent. In any case, it's no big deal, just a misunderstanding that was handled poorly and it didn't really effect my con experience all that severely (if anything, just made me a bit grumpy for the fursuit parade, which is ok, because nobody can see you frown under a fursuit that's bouncing around waving!)

But! Enough about the bad.

Pittsburgh was amazing!! Every year I find myself dumbfounded with how beautiful a city Pittsburgh is. I've been to many big cities including San Diego, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Nashville, Orlando, and others I'm forgetting -- but Pittsburgh continues to amaze me. Beautiful hills, three wonderful rivers, and BRIDGES EVERYWHERE! It's just a very pretty city and I love having a chance to experience it every year.

The firework show put on by the city was astounding, even though we ended up having to watch it indoors from the DLCC due to risk of horrible death by lightning strikes, lol.

I have to give kudos out to the Dorsai for managing security and herding furries so well. There was some stressful moments last year at AC during some confusion over certain event lines and elevator lines, but this year I didn't see a single problem, and every single member of the Dorsai I saw met me with a smile and good cheer. I know there have been troubles in the past and I've seen a few tense moments, but there was none of that this year that I witnessed, which was really great!

The shows I attended this year were great -- the Masquerade was really fun and had some hilarious moments and some beautiful performances. And the dance competition... OMG... I don't know how it keeps getting more epic every year but it does. All you dancer furs out there just blow my mind year after year.



I think that about covers it. Looking forward to Anthrocon 2014 and seeing everyone again.

But before that, it'll be time to start planning Midwest Fur Fest stuff!

First of all, thanks to those who helped me look for a roommate. One has been found and things are all good. :D

Some basic info about the con for those who might wanna seek me out or whatever:

I will be arriving on Wednesday in the evening (8 or 9 pm most likely), staying in the Westin and not leaving until Monday morning. :)

I have no specific plans for the con, not throwing any parties or anything, but mostly just plan to wander the con, fursuit, and just have fun.

Will keep posting as things go. :)

So some plans changed last minute for some friends and now I need to try and find a roommate to fill my Westin room.

Room is reserved Wednesday (july 3) night - Monday (July 8) morning. Should be getting a twin bed but these things are never 100%, so you may need a sleeping bag.

Rules are: No parties, keep it clean, contribute to tipping the maid every day, and keep it quiet when it's time for bed. Myself and another roommate have fursuits as well -- do not touch fursuits that don't belong to you without asking first. I'm pretty laid back, but I don't want to come into the room to discover someone trying on my fursuit head or something.

I've never roomed with a stranger before and tbh I'd prefer to keep it that way, so I'm going to give preference to people I've at least met or talked to online when picking a roommate. NOTE: This doesn't mean if you don't know me I won't consider you. Please contact me if you're interested, we can chat, I have some basic interview-like questions to ask, and we'll figure out if it'll work or not.


As for transport, you'll have to arrange that yourself in all likelihood. My car is looking pretty full. If you're in or around the area around Pittsburgh and would just need to be picked up for a short distance (<1hr) I could probably arrange that, so long as you aren't bringing much luggage.


Note me if interested. I'm not going to discuss details like pricing and negotiate over comments publicly.

A friend recently introduced me to this guy's videos on youtube. A few days ago he released this video:



Holy crap. Goosebumps every time I listen.

Does anyone know where I could purchase some furry vinyl window stickers or possibly custom order one with artwork of my choosing? I want something fox-related, or ideally, a small vinyl of my fursona "leaning" against the window frame to put on the back of my new car window in the corner.

Googling "fox car window vinyl" is stunningly unhelpful due to the hipster "fox" brand of clothing and sporting gear. ><

Here's the recording!



After-battle results:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u.....4-44-50-00.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u.....4-45-06-26.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u.....4-45-11-81.png