It just sunk in that I haven't posted a journal in over four years, and I figured I ought to do something about that.

The last four years have had lots of up and downs. I maintained a solid job, shared an apartment with my best friend, helped Natavisch move in with us by driving cross-country with him, and then eventually we all got a house together! But then within the last six months I lost the job, lost my car, and lost the best friend. But hey, still holding on to the house and Natavisch! We've been in a rough patch for a while now, but we're hoping things improve soon. In the mean time, I've been able to catch up with friends, cuddle up with some books, and construct a good number of crosswords. So it's not all bad.

On the subject of books, if you want to share your favorite (or else give a recommendation), please do! Always nice to add more to the wishlist. The same, of course, goes for board games!

So, I have decided (for the umpteenth time) that significant weight loss must happen. Starting today, better food, more exercise, more water. Given my work hours and long commute, this will pretty much necessitate going to the work gym after work to ensure I can fit that extra push into my daily routine.

Supposedly my current diet/exercise has me losing ten pounds every five weeks (according to weight loss calculators), but my body apparently disagrees. In many ways, I already live a fairly healthy lifestyle, but given the lack of results over the past year and a half I can no longer deny that I must not be doing enough or I have some bodily issue that I would prefer to ignore and make disappear. As such, a doctor's visit is in order to see what (if anything) my body is doing to make things difficult.

Wish me luck! Time to channel some energy.

A quick little wave to everybody who has left comments, shouts, or sent Notes to me recently (or ever, really).

While I am trying to improve my responsiveness, it is becoming pretty clear to me that I tend to be fairly guarded or suspicious of furs who Note me out-of-the-blue. On a site that essentially glorifies sex (and I admittedly am no innocent in this regard, given my commissions!), my base assumption is that those who go out of their way to contact me likely have some agenda (sex, roleplaying, getting a sexy commission with my fursona, etc.). To be blunt, I am not really interested in any of those things. The first thing I check when you contact me is your page -- if your page revolves around sex or roleplaying, that is going to be my first impression of you. If you are interested in just plain talking, please be up-front about it when you contact me.

All that said, when I actually do get up the gumption to respond to somebody -- unless I am in a very open mood -- I therefore start with the shields up and highly guarded. While I would enjoy making some more friends that I can talk to, I understand that I am pretty off-putting to begin with, and for that I apologize.

I am not online terribly often (just a few hours a night), but I am open to just talk.

/goes back to lurking

Commission-A-Day

So I have mostly unwittingly commissioned an artist a day this week. Maybe it's because it has been my first week off work since I started, or maybe because it's my birthday week, or it could be because I am depressed that I am not attending BGGCon (BoardGameGeek Convention) or who knows. (Or it could be that I just hate having money).

In any case, I figure I might as well continue with the pattern, which means I will need to find two more artists -- one for Friday (tomorrow) and one for Saturday. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! ^_^

And after this week, I vow to stop commissioning so much. I don't even want to tally how much I have already spent, urf.

New Character

Sometime in the near future there should be a couple commissions featuring a new character! While I had originally envisioned Forrest as being a hopeless loner, I think it is infinitely better (or at least more amusing) to have him living with a colorful, cheerful and energetic housemate to offset Forrest's pessimism and cloistered nature.

And so Milo ("Lo") the snow leopard is coming soon. Huzzuh!

Starting today (it is now about midnight my time) I will make a good-faith effort to respond to more comments and notes. Shouts I think I can generally leave alone, as trying to communicate using shouts seems rather unwieldy. This new policy will not be a retroactive commitment, because responding to old comments seems a bit awkward.

I will apologize to those who have left comments or sent me notes that I have flat-out not responded to -- I am not terribly outgoing and so I often cannot even think of responses. Or if I do have a response, I talk myself out of sending it. Sorry if I come off as rude. ._.

Additionally, I generally try to keep a disconnect between me and my character -- I am not Forrest, even though I would much prefer to be Forrest. It can hence be difficult for me to accept that oftentimes comments can be read as being directed towards me/Forrest simultaneously. Still, given that most people tend to make comments on the assumption that *I* am Forrest, I will try my best to respond in kind.

That's about it!

~

As for commissions, I think my ridiculous stream will finally be dwindling, but I can firmly say I don't regret getting them. It has been fun getting to explore my character and watch him come to life, so to speak. ^_^ I will probably still chase after the occasional commission (it's almost like an addiction), and I am always looking for artists I can gladly support.

[... and apparently I lied about slowing down, but I'll slow down SOON. Hopefully].

Hello!

Introverted furry, being grudgingly but somewhat willingly dragged into the fandom bit by bit. Just had my first commission finished tonight (a huge step) and I also have two other commissions in the wings. I will blend right in at this rate!

My fursona (i.e., what I would probably be like as an actual furry) is Forrest, an anthro male skunk. He faces several mental barriers that seem to not easily be broken, such as chronic shyness and embarrassment, the urge to be bisexual though his body seems to insist he is gay, and a general unwillingness to believe others can actually like him for who he is.

He wears a black ribbon in an effort to be more assertive (mentally, hiding his most vulnerable area -- his neck -- makes him feel more confident), though his tail can often do his talking for him if he really wants something. He tries to dress comfortably and smartly, often sticking to simple blacks and whites.

He lives a fairly boring life, working at a pharmacy by day and going home alone at night with nothing in between. He is largely straight-laced and terribly vanilla. (He is so vanilla he bathes with vanilla fruits).

Edit: And as of 10/10/2013 I have already requested two other commissions. Clearly there is something wrong with me.

Edit: 10/20/2013: So many commissions...

Edit: 10/26/2013: Updated Forrest's description. Now that commissions are rolling in, he is starting to feel pretty real. And that's awesome! ^_^