So this past weekend was my birthday, and I had a great time hanging out with Maryn and some of our friends, including a really awesome game of Risk that took the whole evening. Anyway, I have finished another story for the Wanderlust Tales, now I just need to get it edited so I can get it out into the public eye.

So my contract position at the studio I have been working at got picked up full time just before Christmas (Yeah this journal is a little behind the times) and it was the best present ever. So now that they have hired me, I get a title - Software Engineer! Which is cool, because that looks great on a resume for any future jobs, but hopefully that won't be for a good long while as I really enjoy what I do at this place and am getting to learn a ton of awesome stuff from some pretty brilliant people. One day I might even get to talk about some of it...one day.

It has been a pretty big transition but I think things are starting to settle in with the new job and having Maryn working from home. Hopefully we can keep this up for a long time. I am about half way through my contract with this new company and should know if this will be permanent sometime in the coming weeks. I guess that is about it really, been playing some Destiny on PS4 if anyone else ever wants to get together there.

So, in a much faster fashion than I expected, I have found new employment with another studio here in town. The position is just a contract job for the next three months, but assuming I can cut the mustard (and early indications are that yes I can) it could turn into a full time job, with benefits and everything! The studio does some pretty high level stuff and I work with a bunch of people who know way more than me and I am getting to learn about some awesome stuff. I have just finished my first week with this studio and things are looking up for me and Maryn. But hey, she still has commissions open and that's what she is doing for work now, so go and get you some awesome art.

[Edit] I am also playing a bunch of Destiny lately and am having a pretty good time with it. With the new job I have taken a step back from Gm'ing, but my different groups are playing Pathfinder and the other is taking a shot at D&D 5th edition. So that is what I am playing right now.

I'm pretty sure no one actually keeps an eye on this account anymore, but I am going to try and start getting back into using it. Anyways, the big news of the day is that my wife Maryn is back open for commissions and you should go check out what she has available: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/14474465/ Our jobs are coming to a close very shortly and this is one of the things that she is doing to try and help keep us afloat until more work is found. Anyways, if you actually read this, let me know so I can see who still notices. Take it easy.

There is a kickstarter being run by this small indie studio where I live and they could use as much support as they can get. Plus the game is all about playing a robot dog. I won't say to much more about it, you should just go check out their page and throw some money at them. Also please feel free to spread this around for greater exposure: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects.....ently_launched

So this weekend was SXSW here in Austin (a huge music/movie/interactive festival) and as part of my job, I was able to attend as we were demo-ing our newest game. I also found out that a game I had backed on Kickstarter, Shadowrun Returns, would be making its first live showing. On top of that, Jordan Weisman, the creator of the Shadowrun universe, was hosting it along with the games producer, Mitch Gitelman. Being the huge Shadowrun fan boy I am, I took my nicest rulebook and got Weisman to sign it for me. During the demo, the pair actually turned to the crowd for direction on how we wanted to play through the demo. While it was the same level shown in their alpha gameplay video (http://youtu.be/9MiMjQwd2VE), the crowd made some distinct choices to see how the game would react. Since they took questions through out the panel, and we managed to dig alot of details out of the crowd, including inventory management, karma, and alot about the editor. These guys are really driven to recreate the pen and paper experience in this game and are almost more focused on the games editor than the game itself. It was one of the best panels I have been to. Additionally, I was able to speak with both of them a bit before and at length after the panel and they were actually super approachable and really glad to interact with their fans. I also talked with the studio's social media manager, who was there and we also had the chance to talk. All in all, it was a great chance to meet some great game developers that have hugely influenced me and forge a personal connection with them. Defiantly the high light of the con for me.

Maryn has convinced me to post a set of stories I was working on probably close to a year ago. They were each written from the perspective of a different Shadowrun character that hangs with Maryn, and show off some personalities. Frankly, they were better than I remember them being and am kind of excited to post them once Maryn gets through helping me edit them and maybe doing a doodle for them. Anyways, just thought I would post this and will hopefully have a few more stories in my gallery.

Since trying to thank each of you individually would be nearly impossible (not really, but there are a bunch of you guys) I will just say thanks to everyone for wishing me a happy birthday. Hope everyone has any equally great day.

So if you follow Maryn, which you should be if you found me, you know that we have a couple of Mass Effect OC's. Well I have a couple of very short little stories that I have written about these guys and plan on posting them soon. Right now I am waiting on Maryn to do some illistrations for them, so I can attach the stories. Hope that you guys are actually interested and please feel free to leave me comments on the stories, they are very encouraging.