Over the past several election cycles, it's become "common knowledge" that African Americans are a reliable voting block for the Democratic Party. It's all a lie. As I will show you soon, African Americans are as reliable for the Republican Party as Christian Conservatives in the Bible Belt are. I've got the data to prove it.

First, let's look at the Top 10 states by percentage of African American population.

State. .Population. . .Black. . .Black%
MS. . .2,967. . . . . .1,098. . . . . 37%
LA. . . 4,533. . . . . .1,452. . . . . 32%
GA. . .9,688. . . . . .2,950. . . . . 30%
MD. . .5,774. . . . . 1,700. . . . . . 29%
SC. . .4,625. . . . . .1,291. . . . . . 28%
AL. . . 4,780. . . . . .1,251. . . . . . 26%
NC. . .9,535. . . . . .2,049. . . . . . 21%
DE. . . . 898. . . . . . . 192. . . . . . 21%
VA. . .8,001. . . . . .1,551. . . . . . 19%
TN. . .6,346. . . . . .1,057. . . . . . 17%
* All figures in thousands

Now, those same 10 states by percentage of votes for Governor Romney in 2012.

State. . Votes. . .Romney. . .R%
MS. . . .1,286. . . . .711. . . 55%
LA. . . .1,994. . . .1,152. . . 58%
GA. . . .3,908. . . .2,079. . . 53%
MD. . . .2,707. . . . .972. . . 36%
SC. . . .1,964. . . .1,072. . . 55%
AL. . . .2,074. . . .1,256. . . 61%
NC. . . .4,505. . . .2,270. . 50.4%
DE. . . . . 414. . . . .165. . . 40%
VA. . . .3,854. . . .1,823. . . 47%
TN. . . .2,461. . . .1,462. . . 59%
* All figures in thousands

As you can plainly see, of the 7 states with the highest percentage of African American population, 6 of them went for Romney, 5 of them fairly comfortably, Maryland being the lone exception.

As a result, African Americans are shown to be a reliable voting block for the Republican party, regardless of what the media leads the public to believe.

Ok, enough of the bullshit. Do NOT EVER use statistical data like this. Please. It's like I read in an article today: "Poor households produce better football players because 4 of the top 10 NFL producing states per capita are in the bottom 10 in average household income."

IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!

It's like the ice cream sales being correlated to crime rates, except those actually have a BETTER relationship than some of the bullshit I read from REAL JOURNALISTS!

If you have statistical data that doesn't quite make sure, then you should doubt the statistical data. For example, African Americans are just as reliably Democratic as people who are registered Democrats. This has been shown in exit polls since the Clinton administration.

I swear, if I ever am teaching a stats class, and some student turns in a project with a conclusion similar to this, I am going to fucking scream.

End. Rant.

Wow. So, my summer is getting booked up very quickly! Let's see.

Apr 12 - MCFC
Apr 19 - Easter in Wisconsin
Apr 26 - LAFFBall
May 3
May 10 - Grandma's Birthday
May 17 - LAFFBowl
May 24 - StormCon in Iowa
May 31
Jun 7 - CoasterCon
Jun 14
Jun 21 - LAFFBowl
Jun 28 - Work
Jul 5 - Fourth of Ju-luau
Jul 12
Jul 19 - LAFFBowl
Jul 26 - Megaplex
Aug 2 - Cedar Rapids Am Golf Tourney?
Aug 9
Aug 16 - LAFFBowl
Aug 23
Aug 30 - IFC
Sep 6 - Iowa?
Sep 13 - Iowa?
Sep 20 - LAFFBowl
Sep 27 - Work

Oh, plenty of time to waste away ^^;

Simple. Before noon ET on Sunday, answer all 25 questions below. Then come game time, follow along with the game. If you make a correct prediction, you earn the number of points in parenthesis. If you don’t, you get zero for that question. Whoever has the most points at the end of the night is the winner.

1. What will be the result of the coin toss?
a. Heads (10)
b. Tails (10)

2. What color gloves will Renee Fleming wear during the National Anthem?
a. Black (20)
b. White (30)
c. Red (45)
d. Other Color (20)
e. No Gloves (20)

3. How long will it take Renee Fleming to sing the National Anthem?
a. Over 2:25 (10)
b. Under 2:25 (10)

4. How will the first 1st down of the game be gained?
a. Pass (8)
b. Run (20)
c. Penalty (60)

5. How will the first points of the game scored?
a. Touchdown (7)
b. Field Goal (20)
c. Safety (100)

6. Who will score the first touchdown of the game?
a. Marshawn Lynch (20)
b. Demaryius Thomas (40)
c. Knowshon Moreno (50)
d. Julius Thomas (50)
e. Eric Decker (50)
f. Wes Welker (60)
g. Doug Baldwin (70)
h. Golden Tate (70)
i. Percy Harvin (75)
j. Russell Wilson (80)
k. Field (20)

7. What will the 1st commercial after kickoff be for?
a. Beer (25)
b. Snack food (25)
c. Car company (25)
d. Soft drink (25)
e. Movie (40)
f. Other (50)

8. What will be the first Fox show or event promo after kickoff?
a. Daytona 500 (20)
b. Almost Human (35)
c. American Idol (35)
d. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (50)
e. Sleepy Hollow (50)
f. New Girl (50)
g. “Animation Domination” (50)
h. Enlisted (75)
i. Rake (75)
j. 24 (100)
k. Bones (100)
l. Show/event not listed (50)

9. Who will call the first timeout of the game?
a. Broncos (10)
b. Seahawks (10)

10. What will be the result of the first coach’s challenge?
a. Call stands (10)
b. Call overturned (10)
c. No coach’s challenges (100)

11. How many penalty yards will be enforced in the 2nd quarter?
a. Under 27.5 (10)
b. Over 27.5 (10)

12. Who will be the first player or coach interviewed heading into halftime?
a. Pete Carroll (15)
b. John Fox (15)
c. Peyton Manning (20)
d. Russell Wilson (30)
e. Richard Sherman (25)
f. Other/None of the above (25)

13. Which song will Bruno Mars perform first during the Halftime Show?
a. Locked Out Of Heaven (12)
b. Treasure (25)
c. Grenade (40)
d. Young Girls (50)
e. Just The Way You Are (60)
f. Gorilla (70)
g. Marry You (80)
h. The Lazy Song (80)
i. When I Was Your Man (80)

14. Will Bruno Mars wear a fedora, tuque, or other kind of hat on his head at the start of the Halftime Show?
a. Yes (7)
b. No (18)

15.Who will be seen on camera first in the 2nd half?
a. Erin Andrews (8)
b. Pam Oliver (12)

16. Will Richard Sherman record an interception?
a. Yes (12)
b. No (8)

17. Who will have the most receiving yards?
a. Demaryius Thomas (15)
b. Wes Welker (25)
c. Eric Decker (25)
d. Julius Thomas (30)
e. Golden Tate (45)
f. Percy Harvin (45)
g. Doug Baldwin (60)
h. Other (40)

18. Which kicker will score more points?
a. Steven Hauschka (10)
b. Matt Prater (10)
c. Tie (50)

19. How many times will Peyton Manning say “Omaha” during the 4th quarter?
a. Under 6.5 (10)
b. Over 6.5 (10)

20. Larger number: Russell Wilson passing yards or points in the Orlando Magic – Boston Celtics game?
a. Wilson passing yards (10)
b. Orlando – Boston points (10)
c. Tie (100)

21. Larger number: Knowshon Moreno rushing yards or Phil Mickelson 4th round score at the Phoenix Open?
a. Moreno rushing yards (12)
b. Mickelson score (10)
c. Tie (75)

22. Larger number: Wes Welker receptions or goals scored in the Detroit Red Wings – Washington Capitals game (regulation only, no overtime nor shootout goals)?
a. Welker receptions (12)
b. Detroit – Washington goals (10)
c. Tie (50)

23. Who will be the Super Bowl MVP?
a. Peyton Manning (12)
b. Marshawn Lynch (25)
c. Russell Wilson (25)
d. Percy Harvin (50)
e. Knowshon Moreno (60)
f. Richard Sherman (60)
g. Demaryius Thomas (80)
h. Wes Welker (80)
i. Other not listed (80)

24. Who will the Super Bowl MVP mention first in his speech?
a. Teammates (20)
b. God (20)
c. Fans (40)
d. Opponent (50)
e. Coach (75)
f. Family (75)
g. Owner (100)
h. None of the above (30)

25. Who will win Super Bowl XLVIII?
a. Broncos (10)
b. Seahawks (10)

Just a simple question for you hockey fans. Which nation has the best goalie situation going into the 2014 Olympics?

* Bernhard Starkbaum, AUT
* Roberto Luongo/Carey Price, CAN
* Ondrej Pavelec/Alexander Salak, CZE
* Tuukka Rask, FIN
* Edgars Masalskis, LAT
* Lars Haugen, NOR
* Semyon Varlamov/Sergei Bobrovsky, RUS
* Robert Kristan, SLO
* Jonas Hiller, SUI
* Jaroslav Halak, SVK
* Henrik Lundqvist, SWE
* Ryan Miller/Jonathan Quick, USA


My personal rankings:
1. Finland: Rask has been the best goalie in the NHL over the past two seasons.
2. Sweden: Lundqvist has slowed down this year, but can really turn it on at times.
3. Canada: Luongo isn't the same goalie he was in 2010, but the duo of him and Price are good enough for gold.
4. USA: Considering what he has in front of him, Miller has been magic in Buffalo. Quick has great postseason experience too.
5. Slovakia: Halak is having a career year in St. Louis, but let's see how it translates over to the big stage.
6. Russia: Bobrovsky is still the defending Vezina winner, but sure hasn't looked like it this year.
7. Switzerland: Hiller is the best piece of this puzzle. If he's on, the Swiss could surprise all with a medal in Sochi.
8. Czech Republic: Definitely their biggest weakness. Lack of solid goaltending could prevent the Czechs from medaling.
9. Norway: The Ryan Miller of the KHL, Haugen is having a good season on a very bad team.
10. Latvia: Masalskis is a journeyman, the Sean Burke of eastern Europe.
11. Slovenia: Kristan has recent experience in the KHL.
12. Austria: Starkbaum is a solid goaltender in the SHL (Sweden), but may be overmatched in Sochi.

About a year or two ago, Twitter introduced the Twitter header. Many social media sites came out with it around the same time. You find them on Facebook, Google+, and most social media sites in this year, 2014. However, so many people have failed to utilize the Twitter header to its potential.

I'm the kind of person who will go to individual's twitter pages to learn more about them, see what they talk about, see what their interested in, and get to know them better before I decide to follow them or not. Now, I'm not going to say that someone's header is a dealer breaker (though their icon could be.) However, it can be used to express more about yourself than what can be said in a 140-character bio. Let me show you what kind of headers look good and what kind of twitter headers to avoid.

Have a twitter header

The twitter header feature has been around long enough. If you are somewhat active on twitter, take a few minutes to add a header photo to it. If you don't have a header, it tells be that you probably don't post much and there isn't much more to learn about you than what you posted on your bio. Though, it's not surprising that these people generally don't have much in their bio either. I'm talking to you, Nekomon.

Can't miss with scenery

For this, I'd like to use Rivard Otter as an example. Aside from being an interesting, kind-hearted person, Rivard has an excellent Twitter header. It's not much, just a beautiful river-and-Applachian background. But it's very appealing to the eye and gives you an instant sense of awe before you read through his timeline.

Avoid centered pictures

Centered pictures are great for most anything: Computer wallpaper, Facebook header, icons. However, they stink for Twitter headers. The reason being is because your twitter icon with cover up the focus of the header photo. As a result, it just looks awkward and unappealing. Unless...

The icon fits into your header

The first person I saw with this style was Rieshal a while ago. If you go to his twitter now, you can see what his icon USED to be. When he first introduced this icon-inside-the-header style, I thought it was one of the best headers out there. I still think it's very clever, but would personally prefer if he moved the focus of the header piece, himself and his boyfriend, to the right or left sides of the header.

Edit: Found a great example in Geo Holms' twitter header!

The header and icon should be different

Yes, I love your fursuit too. However, when you have a photo of your fursuit in a snowball fight and you grab your icon from that exact same photo (and don't line it up as mentioned above), it looks very tacky. It's like having two identical photos in your living room, side-by-side, but one is a cropped version of the other. In fact, I would avoid having your fursuit as the focus of your icon AND your header, a rule that I am breaking as I write this.

That being said, the same rule applies for icons and art commissions. If your icon is from a commission, do not use that commission as your Twitter header. As you can tell, Skye Otter has broken a few of these rules.

Offcentered or two-fronted photos work great

Some of the better Twitter headers in the fandom are shots of someone's fursuit laying on his side or on the ground. A perfect example of this is Haku Pamfer's twitter header. You can still see the entire head while his body makes more almost the rest of the header. Wonderfully done.

Even though it's not a photo, Hatathi created a piece of artwork that symbolizes what I'm getting at. There's something to focus on on each side of the icon while the icon itself is not covering up anything. Another great example is Dantee's header while featuers his fursuit on the right and some fleshy on the left with a sweet backdrop to boot.

Make your header describe you

Are you into cars? Do you work as a firefighter? Do you love sports? Show this off in your header. What I love about headers like Coffeespots' and Guinness Fox's is I already know something about them without having to read a single word. Ultimately, that's why we're not Twitter instead of LiveJournal; so we don't have to read.

Yes, I'm somewhat anal retentive about this kind of stuff. Why? Who knows why! I am a fan of presentation though (except when it comes to food.) I think appearance says a lot about what you are trying to sell. If you're trying to make people interested in your Twitter, if you're trying to sell yourself as a fascinating person to them, having a nice Twitter header is one of the easiest ways to go about it. You may not see your follower count swell into the quintuple digits overnight, but people may just decide to hit that Follow button when they see that you have followed them.

Not racist: Black quarterbacks are better runners than white quarterbacks. The top 5 QBs in rushing yards in 2013 are all African-American.

Racist: They're better runners because they have more experience running from the cops. These are just the guys who didn't get caught.

Let me begin by saying this will just be a rambling with no end destination. I have some thoughts that I'm going to let flow onto the screen. Where it takes me, I guess we will find out together.

I am by far NOT the easiest person to get along with. I don't want to call them flaws, because flaws I am willing to fix. But, many of characteristics make me a very polarizing individual. I'm loud, opinionated, blunt, shameless, confidence, egocentric, imprudent, and somewhat intimidating.

Because of these traits, people tell to be opinionated when I am the topic at hand. I don't mean that I am popular or the center of all attention, but people know my name. I think infamous would be fitting. What can I say? I'm an easy target to direct hate toward.

I bring this up because my dear friends are just as susceptible to my "polarization" as complete strangers are. There are times where I say things to get a specific reaction out of someone. Sometimes it's anger, which I'm pretty good at. Sometimes it's laughter, which I'm not as good at. In fact, there are enough times I am for the latter and get the former. My reaction is generally the same, "It's not my fault that people don't get my humor." It's a selfish route to take, I will admit. But, there are times where I know I've stepped over the line. For those times, my apologies are genuine. How do you know my apologies are genuine? Because I won't apologize if I feel I have nothing to apologize for.

Ultimately, I hurt people, more verbally than physically. Much, much more verbally than physically. The worst thing about that is that it's rarely my intention, especially with people I consider to be good people.

Believe it or not, I categorize more people are good people. I have a very positive outlook on the future of this world compared to most. I see people of my age and people who are younger than me and think that we are going to be alright.

Back to the topic at hand, whatever that is. I don't like hurting friends. I don't like hurting good people. I don't think anybody does. When I learn that I have hurt a friend, there may be some hesitation. I may go to the "well, why are THEY offended" excuse. Eventually, it'll come down to wanting to preserve the friendship over being bitter. I may have pride, but I try to avoid being toxic (but sometimes fail.)

Right now, I'm wondering how to continue this journal entry without sounding weak.

Whether you want to call them fights, fallings out, or whatever, I hate them. Nobody likes losing friends. Nobody likes fighting with friends. I just want to be able to hear, "Dude, that's the line. Stop right there." I want to say, "I don't think we should continue going down this path." I just want, "That wasn't cool."

I don't want the hours, days, weeks, and months of no talking. It fucking sucks.

But what's worse is the mutual friends who get tugged along for the ride on this really shitty roller coaster that is my social life. They are the ones who I feel the worst for. They've been nothing but great people and then my issues drag them into the middle of a fight that they want no part of.

We've all been there. Two close friends are fighting and you don't know what to do. You're walking on eggshells for hours, days, weeks, months. You don't want to mention the other person. You want to stay friends with both, but it gets harder and harder each and every damn day. There are worse feelings in the world, but not many.

But...

Why? What if these issues are an ongoing thing? I want to get along. I actually want to play nice. But I can't. We don't mesh well together, we can't have a 5-minute talk without yelling. We can't be around mutual friends without someone blowing up. Why should I put myself through this? Hell. Why should I put our mutual friends through this?!?!

I know the Bible says, "If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. (Luke 6:29)" I am terrible at that. I slap back. I think most of us are. But that version tells us how we should treat enemies. These aren't enemies... I don't think... In some cases, I wonder though.

I said at the beginning that this had no end point. I was just going to ramble and ramble until I ran out of words. Maybe I need to get away from FA. The answers to my problems are not here. Maybe I should lie in bed, open up my Bible, look there. I know many of you have no use for the word of the Lord. But the word is unbiased. It doesn't care who you are, the message is always the same.

"The second [greatest commandment] is 'Love thy neighbor as yourself.' (Mark 12:31)" But right now, I don't love myself that much. I am a flawed man. I have some traits that so many would love to have. But I also carry some demons inside me that I would wish on nobody.

Finally, the last thing I want to hear in all of this is: You're popular, you have so many friends. This is the most flawed belief in the fandom. Popularity does not equal friends. Even the most popular people can feel alone in a crowded room. Because when they fall, who will sacrifice themselves to pick them up? For me, I can't look around for others to pick me up. I just got to trust myself and trust God.

Looking over the next 4 or 5 months, my real life schedule is going to be stupid-busy.

First, I have an actuarial exam in March, which I really, REALLY need to sign up for soon. Crossing my fingers and hoping I pass.

Second, I signed up for ice skating lessons that begin this Saturday and will run through March. They're only once a week, but on Saturdays. Needless to say, that limits a lot of weekend plans.

After I'm done with both of those, high school baseball season starts, which will run through May.

To pile on, my work schedule is going to be unpredictable at best. My boss has hinted that I may do more traveling in 2014, which I really need to be effective at my job. So, there's a good chance I'd be in a different city during a lot of conventions anyway.

As a result of all of this, I'm going to put aside conventions until at least mid-May, making Elliot's Spring Gathering my first -possible- convention. That being said, the chances of me going to that are low.

I know there were people who were hoping I'd go to FC or Furry Fiesta or FWA or VancouFur or Motor City or St. Louis or that thing in Milwaukee... Alas, it's just not in the cards this year.

To those going to any of those conventions, have a wonderful and safe time. I really wish I could join you, but priorities.

=) <3

"As someone pushing 250, I hate the idea that we're trying to make being obese more acceptable. This is something we should be discouraging.

Being fat, like smoking, carries countless health risks and should NOT be embraced by society.

We should encourage fat asses, like myself, to get healthy, not coddle them into thinking than their obesity has no consequences."

Those three tweets started a shitstorm this morning that continued into the afternoon. I still stand by every word I said.

Let's start with obesity itself. It is unhealthy. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Being obese may not kill you in itself, but it leads to complications that will kill you, or at least, hurt your quality of life. This long list includes fun shit like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer, sleep apnea, depression, erectile dysfunction, depression, and social isolation. Some people will counter with, "But there are good kinds of obesity." That isn't necessarily true. NFL linebackers may not experience some of the issues listed about because their body fat is in the single digits, but they will see health issues associated with their sheer weight. Trust me, I doubt there are many obese people who are reading this who would classify as a "healthy obese" if there is one.

Recently, it feels like many groups and individuals want to start making it more acceptable to be obese. The fat acceptance movement is growing in the United States and around the world. All of this is happening while we, as a society, continue to vilify tobacco smoking (but not pot smoking). All of these carry severe health risks. All of these are results of choices. All of these have long term negative consequences. However, we're being encouraged to be compassionate and more accepting of those who overeat and underexercise while turning our noses up at those who smoke (tobacco).

While I'm on this topic, I must make it clear that I'm not judging anybody's personality based on their BMI. There is zero correlation between someone's weight and how good of a person they are. There are enough skinny assholes and overweight angels to go around.

Many individuals would describe the first paragraphs of this entry as "fat shaming." First off, "fat shaming" is a sham. There is "bullying"; there is "counseling"; there is just being an asshole. But fat shaming can be any one of these. People who throw around that term do not define it. It's essentially anything that someone says about fat people or obesity that they find offensive. But talking about a study that goes into detail about the life expectancy of overweight people, one could be "fat shaming" for being honest about the risks associated with it. If someone is -truly- fat shaming, then they are being a bully or being prejudice. We already have words for this action, but fat activists have created a new phrase so they can feel victimized by the masses.

Leave the genetics excuse at home when talking about obesity. Yes, there are genetics involved. There are several factors that play into how much somebody weighs. However, diet and physical activity are the two largest factors BY FAR. While we're on the topic, get rid of the budget excuse. Vegetables and water are two of the cheapest forms of edibles available. Someone could probably live on $5/day if all they ate were veggies, grains, and water.

Finally, there are very few feelings that are more satisfying and exciting as stepping on the scale one morning and seeing that you've reached your goal. When I was in Salt Lake City, I stepped on the scale in my hotel room and I was under 250 lbs for the first time in several years. It was a small step, but it was one of the best feelings ever. Then, when I got under 240 pounds, I was so pleased with the progress I had made. I cannot imagine the joy that some people feel who lose 30... 40... 50.. 100 pounds. Then, you have the stories of how much better their quality of life is after they've lost all that weight. THIS is what we should be encouraging people to do. Boost their self-esteem, be able to do more, throw off the restrictions associated with being obese, live a longer life!

If you ever need motivation to lose weight and get healthier, ask someone who has been in your shoes. My mother lost 80 pounds over two years. She has much more energy, is more confidence, and gushes over the compliments she receives. That is my motivation in 2014. For everyone who wants to be healthier, I hope you find your motivation and stick to any plan you set forth on :)

The draw for the 2014 World Cup is scheduled to take place tomorrow in Brazil. Before we get into that, I wanted to share my World Cup simulations. This simulation takes into account the randomness of tomorrow's draw, combined with expected outcomes for all matches down to the Final.

As you can guess, the probabilities listed below will change dramatically depending on who gets drawn with who in Brazil. But for now, this is a fair look at how the teams are expected to do. Then later, we'll look to see how kind or unkind the draw was. So, without further delay...

Nation ........... Sd ... Win Gp ... Knckout ... Qtrs ... Semis ... Final ... Champ
Brazil ............... H .... 0.875 .... 0.984 .... 0.848 .... 0.679 .... 0.514 .... 0.375
Spain ............... 1 .... 0.781 .... 0.950 .... 0.728 .... 0.504 .... 0.326 .... 0.184
Germany .......... 2 .... 0.750 .... 0.942 .... 0.704 .... 0.457 .... 0.274 .... 0.149
Argentina ......... 3 .... 0.609 .... 0.870 .... 0.586 .... 0.334 .... 0.166 .... 0.072
Colombia .......... 4 .... 0.447 .... 0.757 .... 0.399 .... 0.174 .... 0.065 .... 0.021
Belgium ............ 5 .... 0.272 .... 0.583 .... 0.216 .... 0.067 .... 0.017 .... 0.003
Uruguay ............ 6 .... 0.430 .... 0.739 .... 0.376 .... 0.174 .... 0.068 .... 0.018
Switzerland ....... 7 .... 0.314 .... 0.625 .... 0.248 .... 0.082 .... 0.025 .... 0.005
Netherlands ....... 8 .... 0.442 .... 0.811 .... 0.513 .... 0.283 .... 0.143 .... 0.065
Italy ................. 9 .... 0.285 .... 0.648 .... 0.317 .... 0.130 .... 0.046 .... 0.013
England ........... 10 .... 0.322 .... 0.687 .... 0.364 .... 0.176 .... 0.070 .... 0.020
Chile ................ 12 .... 0.260 .... 0.588 .... 0.294 .... 0.125 .... 0.045 .... 0.014
United States .... 13 .... 0.168 .... 0.458 .... 0.187 .... 0.066 .... 0.020 .... 0.004
Portugal ........... 14 .... 0.311 .... 0.705 .... 0.358 .... 0.168 .... 0.068 .... 0.023
Greece ............. 15 .... 0.174 .... 0.518 .... 0.201 .... 0.068 .... 0.020 .... 0.003
Bosnia ............. 16 .... 0.127 .... 0.407 .... 0.129 .... 0.039 .... 0.008 .... 0.002
Ivory Coast ...... 17 .... 0.119 .... 0.377 .... 0.127 .... 0.041 .... 0.009 .... 0.003
Croatia ............ 18 .... 0.137 .... 0.454 .... 0.155 .... 0.045 .... 0.011 .... 0.002
Russia ............. 19 .... 0.194 .... 0.531 .... 0.212 .... 0.073 .... 0.019 .... 0.004
France ............. 21 .... 0.230 .... 0.591 .... 0.257 .... 0.106 .... 0.036 .... 0.011
Ecuador ........... 22 .... 0.154 .... 0.445 .... 0.178 .... 0.069 .... 0.021 .... 0.004
Ghana ............. 23 .... 0.052 .... 0.222 .... 0.055 .... 0.012 .... 0.003 .... 0.000
Mexico ............ 24 .... 0.108 .... 0.346 .... 0.121 .... 0.036 .... 0.009 .... 0.003
Costa Rica ....... 31 .... 0.062 .... 0.237 .... 0.063 .... 0.014 .... 0.002 .... 0.000
Algeria ............ 32 .... 0.014 .... 0.087 .... 0.013 .... 0.000 .... 0.000 .... 0.000
Nigeria ........... 33 .... 0.069 .... 0.255 .... 0.060 .... 0.014 .... 0.003 .... 0.000
Honduras ........ 34 .... 0.036 .... 0.161 .... 0.030 .... 0.006 .... 0.001 .... 0.000
Japan ............. 44 .... 0.080 .... 0.292 .... 0.090 .... 0.025 .... 0.004 .... 0.001
Iran ............... 49 .... 0.062 .... 0.238 .... 0.062 .... 0.013 .... 0.003 .... 0.000
South Korea .... 56 .... 0.043 .... 0.175 .... 0.039 .... 0.005 .... 0.001 .... 0.000
Australia ......... 57 .... 0.058 .... 0.221 .... 0.056 .... 0.014 .... 0.001 .... 0.000
Cameroon ....... 59 .... 0.016 .... 0.095 .... 0.013 .... 0.001 .... 0.000 .... 0.000

A quarter, regardless of age, has a 85% chance of remaining in circulation during the course of a year. During the State Quarters program, the U.S. Mint only minted Illinois quarters between 10.8 years and 11.0 years ago. Zazu has three quarters in his pocket. Assuming the number of quarters minted stays uniform over time, what is the probability that at least one of those three quarters is an Illinois quarter? (Assume that U.S. quarters have always been minted.)

Let me open by saying I –hate- taking requests to write opinion pieces. I write opinion pieces on here or on my Facebook when I feel strongly enough about an issue that I think it needs to be addressed. However, over the past two days, I’ve gotten a lot of, “Huscoon, did you see this post about dance competitions? What are your thoughts on it?” However, having experience of running the FCN dance competition during its final two years and having tried out as well (that was a disaster), I have an insider’s and outsider’s view on fursuit dance competitions. This is something very few people in the fandom can claim. I will also not claim, “This is just my opinion” because damnit, I’ve been around the block with dance competitions more than once.

As an old, overweight fursuiter, I can say that the dancer community is filled with some of the kindest, most accepting individuals I have ever met. This idea that the dancer fur group is a bunch of elitist pricks could not be more far off. I’ve been to enough tryouts and I see how the dance veterans interact with the newcomers: with open arms. They cheer them, they applaud their performance, they give friendly advice, they WANT more people to enjoy dancing the way they do. The biggest obstacle is not the acceptance of veteran dancers; the biggest obstacle is the limited entries at any dance competition. And unless you want a 6-hour long dance comp, there will always been limited entries at dance competition. But that doesn’t mean that the dancer community is a niche group; far from it. However, I understand that dance competitions are not for everybody.

First off, dance competitions are a competition. You will get judged and you will get scored, that is how competitions work. Different fursuiters go into these competitions with different mindsets. Some dancers are there to win; some are there to entertain; some are there just to get feedback and improve for the next con. There is no right way to approach these competitions, but there are wrong ways. The wrong way is taking a dance competition so seriously that you become toxic backstage and kill the mood for everybody else. I have NEVER seen someone do this. So, when people complain about how other dancers approach a competition, I want to ask them, “Well, how SHOULD they approach it?”

As someone who makes it a point to go to fursuit games at every con, I know that every fursuiter approaches those differently. Some people see them as fun and games, some see them are a chance to be silly, and some want to win. Until you are destroying the fun for other people, none of these approaches are incorrect. If your complaint is that too many people take the dance competition too seriously, well, maybe YOU are the one taking it too seriously.

Someday, a con will see over 100 fursuiters try out for its dance competition. In fact, it could be AC 2014. Tryouts are brutal, but that is because they have to be. As an organizer of a smaller sized dance competition, I understand how tough the nature of tryouts are in general. But, to multiple the time of entries by 3 or 4, I cannot imagine what organizers like Theome and JD Puppy go through for the larger cons. Kudos to them. That being said, they are very open minded individuals and want to hear ideas on how to improve the tryout process. That being said, it is the biggest obstacle that organizers deal with.

The idea that the same people win every year is absolute horseshit. There are people you will see near the top year-in and year-out, but that is because they are damn good at what they do, not because they are popular. Or, how about this? Maybe they are popular because they are so good at dancing? If there is a correlation there, it involves their dancing ability making them more popular, not the other way around. It would be like saying, “The only reason people think Yippee Coyote is a good performer is because he’s popular.” Are you fucking kidding me?

Now, there are people you will see near the top at every competition they enter. However, it’s because they are very good at dancing, not because they are super popular. Having been on that side of the table, I can tell you that the judges have it tougher than the organizers (when they aren’t one in the same.) I got to MC at FCN, I get to stand up on the dance floor with a little microphone and spout nonsense while these ladies and gentlemen have to critique people who’ve put hours upon hours into practice for 2 minutes of glory.

But, we can fix this nonexistent problem by replacing the judges with people who don’t know a thing about dancing? This is a terrible idea. Imagine tomorrow, you go into work and your boss has just been fired. He’s been replaced with someone from a different company who worked in a department that has nothing to do with yours. (For me, it would be like if a random fur was evaluating my sports officiating performance.) How does this make any sense?

This may sound hypocritical of me since I had the GOH be a judge at both FCN dance competitions. However, they made up one spot on the judge’s panel. Just one. The remaining spots were given to individuals who knew dancing because if you’re going up there for fun and critique, what good is it to be judged by people who don’t know what to look for? Imagine if you had to critique my sports officiating. Would you even know where to begin? Probably not outside of the, “You blew that call!”

By large, dancers just want judges who know how to judge them. If you brought it instructors from a local dance studio, the dancers would welcome them with open arms. But, nobody is going to pay the money needed to hire them.

I’m amused by the idea that organizers will judge because it lets them get more involved. Organizers are already heavily involved. Anyone who pays attention knows that in most cases, the organizer is not judging. I judged at the prelims at FCN because I had the “it’s my dance competition” mentality. I know Malo judges at the prelims for FWA, but he doesn’t judge during the actual competition. I didn’t judge at the FCN Finals because I knew I wasn’t qualified to. I was more qualified to be the host. Also, when people want to promote entertainment, but then suggest the Olympic judging style (no talking, low ratings) vs. the X-Factor judging style (more talking, stupid high ratings), it makes me question their motivation. That being said, there is something to be said about moderation, and even the biggest and best dance comps have their issues with that, but not necessarily from the judges.

As someone who has ran dance competitions before, I know who to listen to. If you were in the audience, if you were a judge, if you were a dancer, your word means the world to me. Between FCN’s 1st and 2nd dance competitions, I consulted the judges on how to talk and how much to talk, I gave preferential treatment to better photographers and videographers to get them the best seats for the best pictures/videos after the con, I limited my own role as MC, I encouraged fursuiters to actively watch their comrades from “the best seats in the house.” However, don’t not attend a con, and then go on a 5,000-word rant about how YOU would improve a dance competition that you didn’t even go to. It makes you look like a selfish prick who is still upset over not making the finals two years ago. If you want your suggestions to be taken seriously, show up first.

https://twitter.com/Huscoon/status/.....96440110833664

Holy moley, people >.>;

Remember this beauty? http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11726500/?

I've had  dingoroo approach me again, this time, for baseball! 30 MLB teams, 30 fuzzbutts. What could go wrong with all bats, balls, reaching 2nd base, and other the sexual innuendo?

Anyway, just like the hockey commission, it's not first-come, first-serve. I will say this though, baseball fans are not as numerous in the furry fandom as hockey fans. So if it's more probable that you will get the team you want. I can't guarantee anything, just putting that out there. :)

Unlike the hockey commission, I will be more open to suggestions and people to nominate for specific teams. Because seriously, I'm still not sure if the Miami Marlins have real, living, breathing fans. o.o

Also, as with the hockey commission, I'm not made of money. Everybody will be required to pay their fair share to be a part of this piece. If you can't afford the extra money, please refrain from nominating yourself.

In the end, this is going to be a fun, humorous, and light-hearted commission and I cannot wait to see how it turns out. If you have any suggestions on how this can be run better, let me know, I will listen.

Thank you.

I could use your help.

I'm conducting a survey for one of the events at Midwest FurFest next month. If you are -not- attending the con (or arriving late Friday/anytime Saturday), please comment below as I could really use your help with something.

Thank you very much in advance. :)

Doing a little survey here. Please reply back with your real life height, weight, and waist line. This information will be used for body fursuit construction.

Thank you :)

Due to the immense popularity of Furry Fanta$y Football, I'm starting a 2nd Division.

I have a waiting list of people who have expressed a strong interest in joining Furry Fanta$y Football. However, all 14 owners are returning from 2012 for this current season, leaving zero openings in the league. Instead of making my friends sit and wait for another year, two years, or more, I've decided to create a path into the league: By playing fantasy football!

For this 2nd Division, the only difference is the league fee is only $25 instead of $50. Aside from that, everything is the same. Up to 14 teams. Play everybody once. Same scoring and roster structure. A postseason. Weekly bonuses. And monetary prizes for the best teams. However, there is a bigger bonus associated with that prize: Promotion!

If your team finishes in the top 2 in Furry Fanta$y: 2nd Division, your team will be promoted to Furry Fanta$y Football for the 2014 season. As a result, the bottom 2 teams from Furry Fanta$y Football will be relegated to the 2nd Division for the 2014 season.

But there's more!

If, by chance, a team leaves Furry Fanta$y Football after finishing in the top 12, the 3rd place team from the 2nd Division will be promoted as well. (If there are any more departures, the 13th and 14th place teams from Furry Fanta$y Football will avoid relegation.)

Edit: There has been enough interest expressed to ensure the feasibility of the Furry Fanta$y 2nd Division. The league will contain a minimum of 8 teams, a maximum of 14 teams. Per Yahoo rules, we can only have an even number of teams in the league. First 14 people to pay their league fee will be admitted into the league.

Payouts will be updated once we have a final total for the number of teams in the league. The $5 weekly bonus for most points is a guarantee. If you are the last person to pay and we have an odd number of teams at the deadline, you will be refunded your full league fee. Other requests for refunds will be determined on a case-by-case basis. (In other words, you better have a very good excuse.)

If you are interested in joining Furry Fanta$y: 2nd Division or have any additional questions, please reply to this journal entry. My PayPal address also doubles as my personal e-mail address if you wish to contact me there. Regardless, I'm an easy person to get a hold of.

The league has been filled. Thank you to everyone for your interest!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/.....mKstA3jqZZp0I/

Indy Fur Con resulted in a lot of soul searching this past weekend. Helping organize a 4-room, 16-person, room block and constantly being surrounded by people for the entire weekend really helped me learn a lot about myself and my friends.

First thing I learned is that I need to do a better job of watching what I drink. Unlike past cons, I didn't have someone handing me hard drinks and watching me get lit. This was all my own doing and it was pretty much every night. Friday night was, by far and away, my worst. I remember being louder than usual, force feeding Cheez-Its to people, and nearly breaking a friend's arm :/

At the time, I didn't think anything of the injury. It was brought to may attention the next morning which really put me in a rotten mode for nearly the entire day. I didn't take it out on anyone. However, I sensed that most of my friends and people at that room party were very upset with me. I don't know how accurate this was, but it was the impression I was getting.

I was able to take the injured friend off to the side that afternoon and talk about the incident. He took it much better than I would've if someone would've done the same to me. Nonetheless, I still felt guilt-ridden nearly all day. I went out to eat lunch alone and dinner alone, removing myself from social situations. After a nap and being able to talk with a trustworthy roommate, I did feel better and decided to make an effort to taper my alcohol consumption for the remainder of the con. (Of course, this started my playing Kings.)

Saturday night was much better though. The worst I did was model underwear, at least a half-dozen pairs, for people at our room party. I don't think anyone minded >.>;;;

Sunday was going fine with a good lunch at Penn Station with friends, some intense fursuit games, a relaxing afternoon of watching the PGA Championship, some poker, and an amazing dinner at Maggiano's. Afterwards, several of us got together for some poker upstairs.

All was going well til I busted out of the cash game after being unable to capitalize on good pocket hands. (AQ is a good hand, but not went 863 is your flop.) I rebought back in. And first hand, I get AKo. This same trustworthy roommate who helped me through the tough situation was also in the hand. Blinds were 5-10. He acted first and raised to 30. I re-raised to 100. He re-raised to 300. I went all-in with 1000. He thought about it for a while, and called my all-in with TT. Nothing came out on the flop, turn, or river to help either of us and his pair beat my high card. I was pissed and stormed out. I posted some passive-aggressive shit on Twitter before trying to fall asleep but was unable to. My mind started to wander as my thoughts became more and more contemptuous and cynical. It took me over 3 hours to actually fall asleep.

This morning, I was still very upset at the events at the previous night. While packing to leave the con, I made a snide remark toward the roommate which escalated quickly. I began moving my stuff to the car. On the second trip upstairs, I grabbed the remaining items of mine and stormed out of the room. I didn't even make it halfway to the elevators before my eyes started to water. What was I doing? Was I really willing to destroy a friendship over a stupid poker game? Why was I reading into signals that were figments of my imagination? How could I be so selfish? I just dropped my belonging and sat by the elevators, pondering what I was doing for what felt like an eternity as friends passing by stopped to make sure I was okay.

Finally, another friend needed to catch up with me. When he did, I asked him to watch my belongings as I returned to the room to apologize for all of my actions. The rest of the afternoon went better than I could've hoped. Things felt back to normal as we all hit this nice bar for lunch before going our separate ways. (The buck is still scrolling thru the list of starting QBs for Arizona.) The drive back to Chicagoland was a great chance for me to reflect on myself: why I did the shit I did, what I need to do to make it up to everybody, and how to prevent it in the future.

First, I put a lot of stress on myself. I am a leader by nature. I take responsibility for a lot of things. I don't know what the root reasoning for this is, but it's a common theme in anything I am apart of. As a result, if anything associated with my events goes wrong, I blame myself. I was the de facto head of this room block at IFC (even though one person came up with the idea and another collected the money for it.) So, if people were not having fun, it was my fault. I tried to make sure that all 16 of us were included in everything we did because it's a dick move to invite 10 people in the room block to do something, but not the other 5, yes? On top of that, we have another 4 people (a husky, a puma, a shepherd, and a tiger) who became de facto members of our room block because of how often they were hanging out with us. So, essentially, we had a 20-person room block which got the nickname: The Huscoon Room Block. (Yes, this is flattering.)

However, as mentioned above, there were times when I went for food by myself. Have you ever tried to gather more than 6 people for a meal at a furry con? It is a fucking nightmare. In fact, there were times while we were playing poker, someone in our dinner group would invite another poker player, and I would vocally groan. Never because I didn't like the person, but because I know how quickly these become logistics nightmares. (Hint: If you want to go to dinner with me at MFF, tell me it's only going to be us [less than 7] and I will jump at the chance. If people end up getting tagged onto our group to make it 7 or more, I will give death glares.)

Next, I need to do a better job of keeping my alcoholic behavior under control. This is easier said than done as anyone can imagine. When I'm drunk, I get louder, become more physically playful, and more aggressive. Anyone at our Friday night room party will confirm this. The problem here is: if I'm drunk, I'm not going to be aware of what I am doing that I should not be doing. I don't want to cut out drinking altogether because there are strong social benefits if I've had 2-4 drinks, depending on the strength of them. However, after that threshold, the benefits start to disappear and become hindrances. And no, I am not a good listener when I'm drunk. I honestly do not know what to do about this problem...

Finally, I'm competitive. I have always been a competitive person and I am not going to apologize for being so. If I wasn't competitive, I would not be the person that I am today, and I mean that in a good way. However, being competitive means that I can develop a win-at-all-costs attitude or become a very sore loser. If there is one part of my personality that I need to work on more than anything, it is controlling the reactions associated with my competitive. If one would ask any of my regular poker friends, they would actually say I have gotten much better about controlling my anger at the poker table. I honestly believe I was only a couple of blow-ups away from being uninvited from poker nights a few years back. I'm far from perfect right now as Sunday night shows and I have a lot of work to do to become a better loser.

I think the best step is to use my analytical mind to sedate my competitive mind. A good example is Sunday night. Even though I initially saw TT v AKo as a highly questionable call, the odds are 57-43% in favor of TT. I also need to stay off twitter after an emotional loss. Nothing good has EVER come from being on twitter when I'm toxic like I was last night. In fact, even if I don't want to at the time, my best course of action is to probably stay with my poker friends and talk about the hand. I mean, the people I play poker with are some of the best in the entire fandom. (I'm not bragging, I'm just being honest. It'd be like if the 2012 USA Basketball team got together for a pick-up game every other weekend or so. We are really that good at poker.) But most importantly, when I am the most pissed about a poker outcome, it's because I immediately start to doubt if what I did was the right thing. (Friday night, I got pissed too. But I handled it much better because I knew I made the right move and just got fucked sideways with a 3-outter on the river.) Not drinking before poker would probably help too. Just saying.

That does it for my introspective journal post after this roller coaster of a weekend. Despite all of this, I am so happy to hear how much fun my friends, my roommates, and my poker buddies had at the convention. (Talk about an heavily overlapping Venn diagram.) I do love the idea of us getting together and picking a convention to simply invade for our own self-interest. I may ask someone else take charge of the room blocking thing. But would I do this all over again despite the issues? Without a doubt in my mind. Why? Because I love my friends. They are an extension of me (no homo) and they help make me who I am (still no homo). If 15 dear friends of mine had a great convention because of something I helped put together, then damnit, it was worth it. :)

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4749592/

Go! Get free artz! Why not?! :D

For the past two days, I've mentioned on twitter the idea of getting a large, expensive commission from an artist. The concept would be to have 30 characters together, each one representing an NHL team by wearing their jersey, rooting for, or doing something related to the tradition of that team.

It's a pretty simple concept. 30 fuzzballs, each cheering on or representing their team in various ways: Habs fan fighting with a Bruins fan, Red Wings fan throwing an octopus at an Avs fan, Thrashers fan crying openly and holding onto a dead bird. Ok, maybe not that last one.

Here's the status.

First, I do not have an artist to take on this commission yet. When I find one, things can proceed. But until I do, this is just an idea in my head. So, don't throw money at me, screaming for a spot. If you do, I will take your money and that will be that.

Second, this is not a first-come, first-serve deal. This is not an auction for each of the 30 teams. This is me and I will be hand picking who I want in this commission. Is it fair? Absolutely not. But, this is my idea. The only person who will have a big say as to who is in is the artist who decides to take on this challenge. I mean seriously, how douchey would it be of me to tell an artist? "Oh, your boyfriend is a Blues fan and wants to be in it? Well, tough shit."

That being said, I'm not going to put my good friend, Albaz in an Ottawa Senators jersey just to get him in the commission. He's a Red Wings fan, not a Senators fan. I will try my best to match friends with the team they support. There are cases where I have multiple friends who support the same team; you should've seen my timeline during the Red Wings-Blackhawks series. In this case, I will have to leave some people out. I apologize in advance, but as mentioned earlier, this is my commission and it will be unfair. Obviously, I do not know fans of all 30 teams. In those cases, I will take suggestions from other friends or the artist who ends up doing this. You are more than welcome to say, "Pick me for this team!" But that is no guarantee I will use your character. (If you want brownie points, RT any of my mentions of this idea so that I can more easily find an artist to draw this.)

Finally, regardless of what Kiba says, I am not made of money. Something like this will run several hundred dollars. Because of this, I -will- tell everyone involved to pay 1/30th of the commission price. If you don't want to pay for your share of the commission piece, don't bother asking to be in it.

In the end, this is going to be a fun, humorous, and light-hearted commission and I cannot wait to see how it turns out. That being said, something like this needs to be posted to limit the drama associated with a big project. If you want to bitch about how I'm running it, go here. If you have any genuine suggestions on how this can be run better, I will listen.

Thank you.

Needed: Personal trainers. Duties include massages, rubdowns, laundry collection, footpaw rubs, footpaw licking, giving blow jobs, and so much more.

Interested? You know you are. You've got less than 24 hours to join our team! Click the link below and good luck.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10789929/

Which are sexier in your opinion? Saber-toothed cats or griffins?

With another amazing FCN in the rear view mirror, it's time for me to start focusing on my plans for Summer 2013. Last year around this time, it was solely focused on graduation, umpiring baseball, hunting for a job, and studying for Exam FM/2. This year, it will be quite different.

Unlike last year, I have a career to focus 40 hours a week of my time on. This will be especially interesting with my boss moving into a different department. As a result, I will be the only member of our company's inventory operations team for the foreseeable future. My title is not changing, so it's not really a promotion, but it's definitely an opportunity to prove my worth to my superiors.

The #2 priority will be studying for my next actuarial exam, MFE/3F. I will be taking this exam at some point in mid July. As  hatathi can attest to, this is arguably the toughest of the prelim SOA/CAS exams. It will require hundreds upon hundreds of hours of studying during lunch breaks, on weekends, and when I would rather be hanging out with friends.

There are a couple of other things I would love to do, but at this point, free time will be at a premium (see, already studying ^_-). I would like to get back into umpiring baseball. I haven't officiated a game of any sport since I moved to Illinois in December. It's a good way for me to stay involved in sports I enjoy, especially baseball, as well as good fursuit fund money.

I want to take tennis lessons as well. It's a sport I really want to get better at because I truly enjoy playing it and it's more fun to play something when you're good at it. I just hope I have the time to set aside for it.

Also, I would like to hit Megaplex or IFC, leaning toward IFC at this point. Thankfully, it's after my actuarial exam, so it wouldn't interfere with studying for it.

Then, there's the things that I know I will be doing this summer, like LAFF Softball, fursuit bowling events, and random trips to Ohio and Iowa.

I wonder how much of this I will get around to doing and how much of it is just a dream.

This is going to be a cra-cra FCN for yours truly. I'm running SIX events this year, all fursuit related. You can't even count that on one hand... Unless you're a freak... Freak.

Friday afternoon, I open up with the Fursuit Meet and Greet, followed by the Fursuit Performance Panel. Come in, get to know your fellow fursuiters, learn about everything that FCN has to offer for fursuiters that isn't alcohol related, and maybe win a raffle prize in the process.

Friday evening, bring your music and bring your moves, it's the prelims for the Fursuit Dance Competition!

Saturday afternoon, there is FCN's World Famous Fursuit Games. A fun, relaxed, skills-based competition for fursuiters of all shapes and sizes.

Saturday night, there is the FCN Dance Competition Finals. The top 12 fursuit dancing performances from the prelims will compete to wow the judges and the crowd for the love of all in attendance!

Sunday afternoon, there is FCN's Xtreme Fursuit Challenge. This ain't your grade school Patty Cake* like you will see at other cons. This is sweat-your-fur-out fursuit games. Bring the rest of your energy, because you will have none left by the time these games are finished!

See ya there, fuzzies!

* I am sure that if fursuiters played Patty Cake during the fursuit games, they would turn it into a game whose violence rivals that of MMA Pay-Per-Views.

Where are you staying?
- The Sheraton, aka, the main hotel

What day are you getting there?
- Thursday night around midnight, with a  nbowa and maybe a  mahadri

Who will you be rooming with?
- The self-majestic  nbowa, The popular  november, and possibly the intelligent  mahadri

Who will you hang out with during the convention?
- Fursuiters. Lots and lots of fursuiters. Poker players, alcohol drinkers, Columbus furs, and friends :)

Will you be suiting?
- If I find time, yes.

Do you do free art?
- Hell no. You don't want my artwork anyway!

Can I talk to you?
- Only if you have halfway decent social skills.

Can I touch you?
- Only if you buy me a drink ;)

How can I find you?
- If there's a fursuit event happening, I'm probably there running it.

Can I visit your room?
- Ask my roommates, then ask me, but I probably won't be there.

Can I buy you drinks?
- See above. :D

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
- Only if I know you really well.

Will you be going to parties?
- Need to do SOMETHING to relax.

Will you be performing?
- Nah, but I will be helping others perform :)

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
- "Hi, my name is [insert your name here]. I've seen your fursuit on FA/follow you on Twitter. It's nice to meet you." *offer handshake* (Add "Can I buy you a drink?" and you're already on my good side!)

What/where will you be eating?
- Taco Bell, Chili's, McDonald's, Subway, Olive Garden, and the bar.

Can I take your picture?
- If I'm in fursuit, I insist :D

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
- Run the best fursuit games ever, run the best dance competition ever, enough fursuiters to do more than just drink this con, run an entertaining and informational Meet and Greet and Performance Panel. Also, catch up with friends, fursuit some, get shit-faced at least once or twice, and get laid often. (No, I'm not kidding. >.>)