Well, now that's it's no longer April 1st, I'll put up a journal with some seriousness.

I want all my watchers and commenters to know that I appreciate every single one of you and that your attention and input is both an inspiration to me as an artist, and extremly flattering/gratifying.

You guys mean a lot to me, and I'm very proud and pleased to share this community with you.

Thank you.

In other news:

Super Smash Brothers Brawl is kicking my feathery tail...* It's almost embarassing.

I've put myself into training, playing at least a few bouts everyday and trying hard to master the controls, but I still lose the majority of my battles against "Weak" enemies, and most of my victories come down to "Sudden Death", so that I really don't feel like I won.

It's a matter of great frustration to me, but at least I can say that I've noticed a marked improvment - it's not much, but it shows that there may be hope for me if I peservere.

We've also unlocked Sonic the Hedgehog, so I may try my hand at him, though Falco will always be my primary.

D.O.P.R

* Falco is my primary with Bowser being my second.

What I wouldn't give for a faggy little boi-toy of my very own...
...one that I can hold, run my hands up his shirt (when he's wearing one), coo to softly at night and play games with...

Any volunteers?

Must:

- be effeminate
- be submissive, but not slave-like
- willing to share my affections with my wife

Preferably:

- be good at video games, or at least willing to play
- be shorter then 6ft

But honestly, I'm not too picky. I just miss the company of a pretty little male to call my own.

D.O.P.R

>copy pasted from my review on another group<

Last night the Lord of the Rings Symphony was in Tucson and my wife and I were in attendance.

I never would have forgiven myself if I had missed it. As it is, we
got two of the last five tickets availible for the show and were
stuck in the extreme upper-left corner (facing the stage).

But even in the nose-bleed section, the show was fantastic.

The illistrations were synched perfectly to the music and fit with
the feeling perfectly.

As is usual when I see something live that I'm more familiar with
recorded, I kept mentally compairing it to the album versions, but
even so the Tucson Symphony did an excelent job recapturing the
feeling in each peice.

The only gripe I could have is the same I have for all live
preformances I've been too - the tempo in many areas seemed too
fast. I don't know if that's done to compress it into the time
alloted, or for some other reason; and it wasn't enough to put a
damper on the evening.

Taking the place of Enya on 'Aniron' and Elizabeth Fraser for 'Lament
for Gandalf' was Kaitlyn Lusk whose voice was perhaps "deeper then
woman's wont" but nonetheless moistened my eyes.

The Boy Solo, James Mendola, didn't have the same power as Edward
Ross but was nevertheless still exceptionally talented.

From a technical standpoint everything went nearly flawless - the
aforementioned video was synched perfect and fit the themes just
right. My wife and I both noticed some bizare reverb come off the
taiko drums during 'Bridge of Khazad Dum', but everything else was
spot-on.

Some of you I'm sure have already had the opertunity to see the Lord
of the Rings Orchestra, but if you haven't - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING
FOR?! It's worth every penny.

>/copy paste<

And speaking of Lord of the Rings related stuff -HOLY CRAP this was awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMyn7ZqkTlY&feature=related

D.O.P.R

Just a quick journal to let you all know that RapRex is still ongoing.

I will be posting another teaser page into my scraps later this evening for you all to enjoy.

D.O.P.R

What does "SP" mean?

SP = Supressive Person: Any person that openly opposes the Church of Scientology.

And, according to the "Fair Game" policy, SPs "May be deprived of property or injured by
any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the
Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."

Source: http://www.xenu.net/fairgame-e.html

Refer to these sites:
https://www.xenu.net
https://www.whyaretheydead.net
https://www.youfoundthecard.com
https://www.xenutv.com

Scientology is NOT a religion - it is a money-centric cult which has, and does, ruin people's lives. They have murdered before, and will likely do so again.

Stop this lie right now.

copy-pasted

D.O.P.R

I hate Brawl. By that, I mean that I love Brawl; which in itself means that I hate it.

I've never loved something so much that has filled me with so much rage.

The Bun will confirm - I yell, I curse profusely, and I have even become physicly violent. It's a marvel the police havn't shown up at my door yet for noise complaints.

The satisfaction of my few (only, or less then 40%) victories does not equal the disatisfaction, and sheer emotional outrage of my defeats.

I havn't mastered the controls, and it's hard to even attempt to do so when the arenas go through so many drastic and bizare changes.
It's hard enough on a straight floor with just a bot - multiple levels, shifting/disapearing platforms and random damage-causing events are not helpful.

I've always been a poor loser, and it's something I've struggled very hard to improve on; but Brawl has taken all of that rage and loosed it.

Part of it is simply losing when I'm trying so hard to improve, but a substancial portion I guess to be that I know I'm losing because I'm just plain not very good.

I've never loved something so much that I hate so strongly.

D.O.P.R

I apologize in advance for bringing this up here, but I'm at a loss for things to do on this.

Many, many years ago (when Yiffstar delt solely with stories) I posted a pair of stories there that I afterwards desperatly wanted to modify. Unfortunatly though, my login ceased to work (I hadn't forgotten it, but it wouldn't sign me in) and emails to the admin when unanswered.

Apperantly though, my email is still linked to them, since after all these years, I've suddenly been getting email announcements from Yiffstar saying that people are commenting on those stories.

Now more then ever I want to figure out how do I report a lost log-in - and/or get those versions removed and start a new account?
The "Report site problems or bugs here link takes me to a page that lets me see problems that others are having, but not report one myself (unless I've become totally inept, which I suppose isn't unlikely).

So, though I know this really isn't the place to be asking it, and I apologize, does anyone know what it is I'm missing, or have a suggestion on what I should do?

D.O.P.R

Yes, we've been gifted with a Wii, and furthermore, have begun playing "Super Smash Brothers Brawl".

No "friend code" will be forthcoming yet, since we don't have it internet capable yet (we'd have to run a cable across the apartment), but we're looking into it.

I'm probubly never going to be a champion, but so far I'm taking pains to learn Bowser and Falco.

Mmmm....Falco....

D.O.P.R

 sekaj commented this on another journal and I feel compelled to share this peice of arithmetic.

cake=/= lie
cake=C
concept=O
C possibly=O
if C=O; O must be grasped
if C=O; squish between fingers=make big mess
mess=M
C=O=M
plate=P
P=O; P=O=/=M
paper plate=q
if q=O=M
on floor (F) falls M; cleaning=V
M yields V
therefore: F=O only when C=(attempted O)=M+F+V
(F+M)=O cannot exist without C (attempted=O)
C=Variable
C=/=lie

So, as he points out, the cake is not a lie - it's a variable

D.O.P.R

I want to thank everyone who put forth support in my last journal. I love my aunt very much, and she's been through a lot of hard times and maintained a great attitude. Though I wouldn't want to keep her from her "great reward", she'd be greatly missed.

So far, the news has been good. She originaly entered the hospital with pnemonia, but during the night there were other complications and problems with her heart. At one point, her heart stopped and she needed to be revived by the staff.
A breathing tube was inserted as well and an external pacemaker, but her heartbeats were weak and blood pressure low.

As of my last conversation with her eldest daughter (my cousin Heidi), her heart and blood pressure are still weak, but she's awake and responding to commands. The most hopefull sign is that she's striving to speak and fighting her breathing tube.
She's always been a cranky one...

She's not "out of the woods" yet, but things are definitly more hopefull then they were last night.

I'll be praying.

D.O.P.R

Bad news has reached me, that my aunt (my father's sister) may be dying.
Her heart has already stopped once, and the doctors have given us the infamous: "The next 24 hours will tell..."

I know that's not news that really affects you guys any, and I don't really have any business putting it here, but to put it mildly, I'm concerned.

D.O.P.R

Taken lovingly from  ECMajor

Basics:

Name: D.O.P.R
Nickname: DOPR
Fursona: Common (or Greater) Earth Dragon. Species Draco Rex Cristatus
Date of Birth: July, 24th
Birthplace: Beatrice, Nebraska
Current Location: Tucson, Arizona
Eye Color: Blue/Blue-Green (as a Dragon, it’s Orange in a “sunburst” pattern)
Hair Color: Dark blonde.
Height: 6ft
Heritage: Irish (paternal) German (maternal)
Piercings: I had a labret (lower lip) but removed it. No plans for any more.
Tattoos: Two – a Utahraptor (as drawn by Dr. Bob Bakker) on my right upper-arm, and the ‘JP’ symbol (from “Jurassic Park”) on my upper left hip (kidney area).

Favorites:

Animal: Dinosaurs – no particular species (it’s too hard to choose).
Band/Singer: “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”, though there are a great deal of other artists who I enjoy just as much – “Cream”, the artists from the “Pickin’ On…” series, “The Beatles” etc…
Song: I don’t think I can really answer that. But I’ll mark down “Ten Years Gone” by Led Zeppelin as a good contender (I prefer the “Black Crowes” cover), as well as “Menu1” by Unknown, “Red” by King Crimson, my own remix of “Furious Angels” by Rob Dougan, “You Can't Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones, “The Diddler” by Ten Percenters, a non-vocal version of “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve, and “The Ecstasy of Gold” by Ennio Morricone. There are many others, since I put meaning behind songs that may not relate to the lyrics, and frankly, there are too many songs to list.
Movie: The original “Jurassic Park” and the complete “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Disney Movie: None. Though I enjoy the animation style in a lot of Disney movies, I’m not fond of the puerile nature of some of the films, and the outright rape of classic literature/history in others. That however, is just my opinion.
Disney Show: “Education for Death- The Making of a Nazi” and generally any cartoon starring Donald Duck.
Disney Character: Donald Duck. Though I will say, I have something of an affinity for villains such as Scar, Kaa, and Maleficent.
TV show: “Star Trek” TOS, TNG, “Sonic the Hedgehog” (SatAM), “COPS”/”Wildest Police Videos”, “NOVA”, and pretty much anything on the National Geographic, Discovery or History channel. The Military channel gets a honorable mention as well.
Color: Forest (Pine) Green, though I usually (like so many others) wear mainly black.
Food: Pizza and Ferengi Flatbread. Also, Arby’s roast beef sandwiches, Cheese-it Twists and Cheese of almost any kind (Mozzarella and Sharp Cheddar in particular).
Pizza topping: Pepperoni (with lots of cheese)
Ice-Cream Flavor: Orange Sherbet
Pocky Flavor: I’ve only had the chocolate covered ones.
Drink (alcoholic): Jack Daniels (sparingly)
Soda: Surge. Anyone else remember Surge…?
Cookie: Shortbread.
Store: Best Buy (or any store that sells Dinos and Dragons)
Clothing Brand: None. Brand names aren’t something that I value.
Shoe Brand: See above, though I often get Caterpillars or Wolverines due to the durability I’ve gotten from them in the past.
Season: Spring and Summer.
Month: July
Convention/Holiday/Festival: Anthrocon. My hatchday. Christmas.
Flower: Scarlet Carson rose.
Board game: Yatzee (also known as Kniffel).

This or That:

Sunny or rainy: Sunny. I thrive on sunlight.
Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate
Fruit or veggie: Fruit.
Night or day: Day, though I tend sleep lat and retire late.
Sour or sweet: Sweet.
Love or money: Love.
Phone or in person: In person.
Looks or personality: Personality. Looks are nice in and of themselves, but ultimately useless.
Coffee or tea: Neither.
Hot or cold: It depends on the season.

Your:

Goal for this year: Be on the way to getting a second vehicle.
Most missed memory: If I “missed” it, doesn’t that mean I lost it?
Best physical feature: I left this question to be answered by my wife, and she said it was my hair.
First thought waking up: What’s the time/how long before I have to get up?
Hypothetical personality disorder: Perhaps a touch of OCD (though I don’t claim to have it)
Preferred type of surgery: I’m not sure how to answer. I hope that I don’t need any kind of surgery. The Lord put me together fairly well, and I trust his judgment…
Sesame street alter ego: Akin to Aloysius Snuffleupagus (though not as fuzzy, and certianly not imaginary).
Fairytale alter ego: The good Dragon on the hilltop.
Most stupid remark: >playing as a red-team member< “Ah, back to the relative safety of…BLUE BASE?! Boy did I get turned around!”
Worst crime: Procrastination.
Greatest ambition: To leave a lasting mark on society. Not necessarily something monumental, but to have left the world a better place by my presence.
Greatest fear: That I’ll die and be forgotten.
Darkest secret: That would be telling.
Favorite subject: Subject #4537
Strangest received gift: An official replica of the sword Glamdring from LOTRs appeared at my house, addressed to me, with no explanation and the giver has yet to identify him/herself.
Worst habit: Too much time on the computer.

Do You:

Smoke: No.
Drink: Very rarely.
Curse: More then I should, but I’m trying to eliminate it from my speech again.
Shower daily: Sadly, I’ve lapsed to every other day.
Like thunderstorms: Yes, I’d love to record the sounds of one to have as ambient noise when I’m home.
Dance in the rain: I don't dance, but occasionally I’ll step outside to feel the rain on my face, though generally I avoid getting wet. For me, the most miserable feeling is to be fully clothed, and wet.
Sing: I enjoy singing, though I have no talent for it.
Play an instrument: I took lessons for the trumpet and for the piano, but I lost whatever knowledge I may have learned long ago. Sadly, though I’ve worked for several years in a business that sells and manufactures violins, violas, bass and cellos, I’ve never learned to play one.
Get along with your parents: Very much. I was fortunate to have a good set of parents.
Wish on stars: Only when I was very, very young and I only ever wished on the center star of Orion’s Belt for “World Peace”.
Believe in fate: No.
Believe in love at first sight: It’s possible.

Can You:

Drive: Yes, though I often times dislike it.
Sew: In a simple stitch, yes.
Cook: Yes, though not very well and generally only with a recipe.
Speak another language: I know some German, but not enough to hold a long conversation.
Sing: No, my range is too limited, though I enjoy singing anyway.
Touch your nose with your tongue: No, but I can put it in a double curl.
Whistle: I remember the day I learned – I was twelve.
Curl your tongue: Very well, even to the point of double curling it.

Have You Ever:

Been Drunk: No, though I have felt slightly “buzzed”.
Been Stoned/High: No.
Eaten Sushi: Only a pinch and never again.
Been in Love: Yes.
Skipped school: Yes, doing art with some friends from high school. By the time we realized we were late, we didn’t bother going to class. I, of course, was caught.
Made prank calls: No, though I’ve had them attempted on me.
Sent someone a love letter: Yes.
Stolen something: Not including pirated music, yes. I’m actually rather ashamed – I stole a ten cent Ring-pop from a corner store when I was nine to try and impress a friend. I told him “It’s easy to steal.” I’ve felt guilty for it ever since.
Cried yourself to sleep: Yes.

Other Questions:

What annoys you most in a person: Injustice, and inflexible people.
Are you right or left handed: Right-handed, but left-eye dominant.
What is your bedtime: I start thinking about bed around ten.
Name three things you can't live without: Food, Water, Air.
What is the color of your room?: White.
Do you have any siblings?: Yes, a brother. He’s two years my junior.
Do you have any pets?: Yes, three cats. Gil-galad (Gilly), Isildur (Izzy), and Khan (Khaaaaaaan!).
Would you kill someone you hate for a million dollars?: No.
What is you middle name?: Michael.
What are you nicknames?: DOPR, Dragon
Are you for or against gay marriage?: I support gay marriage. I believe that marriage is a personal choice and not a decision that the government should have any involvement in whatsoever (like choosing who your best friend is).
What are your thoughts on abortion?: I don’t support abortion, but I understand why it may be necessary in certain circumstances.
Do you have a crush on anyone?: Yes.
Are you afraid of the dark?: Only if I’ve been reading something on zombies beforehand.
How do you want to die?: Doing something honorable or meaningful.
What is the largest amount of popsicles that you have eaten on one day? An entire box of Otter Pops (a hundred at least).
Would you take a bullet for the one you love?: Yes.
Are there any rules you've broken?: Quite a few, but none that would have a detrimental effect on myself or society (or so I believe).

D.O.P.R

I finally got down to doing some independant studying of Scientology, and while my sources aren't always the most unbiased, I've learned alot so far (more then I'm really comfortable with).

Now I almost regret that I don't know anyone who is a Scientologist so that I can get first-hand accounts (and impressions) of it.

D.O.P.R

Who would have thought that I would get so much enjoyment out of something so odd.

I dearly love the mighty Led Zeppelin, and have been loving them for a long time.

I also despise so-called "Nashville Country" (though I don't mind bluegrass, which still requires talent on teh behalf of the preformers). Generally, I'm content to leave it to those who do enjoy it, but I personally avoid it at all costs.

I've been listening to the album "Pickin' on Led Zeppelin: a Bluegrass Tribute" and it's second volume almost exclusivly since getting back from La Vegas on Thursday.

It's a mix I never would have thought would work, and yet I've been rocking out to it all day.

Anyone who can appreciate good musicianship should look these up; they're definitly worthwhile - so long as you can overlook the strangeness of the pairing.

D.O.P.R

Yes,  witchiebunny and I are now a legally married couple.
She has gone from being my consort, to being my mate.

We got back just today, and already I'm missing the Stratosphere.
Vegas was a lot of fun, and was made even more fun by having friends and family to share it with.

I was honored to have my friend Skadjer there to share it with me; as well as  genecatlow, my best friend Justin (who I've known for almost a decade), and several mutual friends that I share with my new wife.

We left last Friday and had no (free) internet access until returning home today. And I ended up deleated the majority of the 150+ journals I had waiting for me upon my return, so if I seem out-of-the-loop on recent issues, forgive me.

I'll try and get back into the swing of things as quick as possible, and I'll have a few stories to tell about our time in Las Vegas.

D.O.P.R

In a few moments,  witchiebunny and I will be driving to the airport, from which we will be borne to Las Vegas, where this very Sunday we will be married.

Big step...

D.O.P.R

You can keep your Cenozoic.

But I'll take the Mesozoic...

D.O.P.R

Just a curious question I have:

How many avians do I have watching me?

How many of you are avian lovers?

Since discovering some of  windpaw's pics long ago in Pre-FA-Time (PFAT) I've developed quite a fondness for our feathered fellows.

So lets hear it for the birds and Gryphs among us!
And if you know any great avian artists, link me so that we can all benefit.

D.O.P.R

First up on my "assorted news" post is to make sure all you pokemon-fans check out  munesol's page and give him lots of love.
He's just unveiled his team, Team Nightmare, and byeond that, he's a fantastic artist and there's sure to be a few other images for everyone to fave in his gallery.

Next up, I remembered today that Valentine's Day is comming up, which means an influx of "I HATE VALENTINE'S DAY!" posts.

Of course, I've no authority at all to say they can't express their opinions, or that they're wrong; but it gives me something else to have to sift through (just like the current slew of After-Con reports).
Either way it's not a big issue. I was alone for a long time as well(if you don't count my cat) and though I generally enjoy being alone and have never actively searched for a consort, I am nevertheless familiar with that empty, painful feeling of having no one (one other side effect of my self-enforced solitude was that I also had no friends to coddle me through such moments).

I'm mostly ambivalent toward V-Day - not so much because I now have a fiance (who I will be marrying in Febuary oddly enough), but because it's a holiday for which I never felt any rapport or great excitment.
As I mentioned, I never spent my time "searching the meat rack" (so to speak) for a consort. All my relationships (inculding the current one) came about by natural circumstances. Well...maybe not with Nancy...but she was a special case...
Even as a child Valentine's Day seemed uncessecery. It celebrated something that I felt should be shown everyday - affection. Christmas was reckognizing the birth of Christ, Easter his ressurection, St. Patrick's Day was fun because of my Irish heritage, Halloween honored the dead and so forth, but V-Day celebrated nothing (or so it seemed to me).

For me, the greatest part of the holiday is the day after, which I call "Half-Price Chocolate Day" and of course those little heart-shaped candies....Mmmmmm....

D.O.P.R

Oh Paramount... Why, oh why must you pick on the poor Miranda Class starships?

Did Khan in the hijacked USS Reliant lay a curse upon the whole design class?

In every starship battle, the Miranda's are always the ones who most suffer.

Excelsior Class also gets bruised and beaten, with breached hulls and damaged nacelles.

The Galaxy Class seldom gets scratched.

But the poor, still-reliable-even-in-the-24th-century Miranda Class is the punching bag of every enemy fleet...

I call foul!

D.O.P.R

P.S. Guess my favorite starship class.

Stole this link from  blackfrost

http://blog.riflegear.com/archive/2.....-cute-and.aspx

F'ing sweet!

D.O.P.R

I'll probubly end up regretting this later, but does anyone feel like a sketch-trade?

I feel left out sometimes seeing the higher-rung artists doing pics for one another, and I figured that the best way to get myself involved would be to see if anyone was interested in an exchange.

It would generally have to be a sketch, since I've found that anything more then that would probubly take me longer then practicable.

Let me know if anyone is interested.

D.O.P.R

I had no idea it stretched so far...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ILK8JYm-dak&feature=related

"We japanese dont kill neighbors since 1945."

D.O.P.R

A while ago, I had the idea of making some icons. I have a few sorted pics laying around that I could use, and a few ideas for several more, and lately I've thought about maybe doing up a page or two of little 150x150 icons.

If I did, would anyone be interested?

Most of them would be pretty simple and taken from all manner of sources - screenshots, photos (my own and off the 'net), possibly a few I manufacture totally on my own, etc.

If I started posting some of them here, or in a seperate account, would that be acceptable, and would anyone be interested?

D.O.P.R

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/986786/

Comissioned for us by  darkwingdork
The art is by  Meepity

I really don't know what else to say. It's left me speechless.

D.O.P.R