My new house track will drop a week from today, and when it does, you'll find it at this link: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/j.....f-the-red-moon

Get ready...

Okay, I think I've gone without a suit long enough. I'm doing this. I'm going all in!

After MFF this year, I've compiled a list of 17 different fursuit makers, not necessarily ones who were at MFF, but I did go around to every single table, and if they had even one suit part on their booth display, I checked to see if they made suits or partials, and if they did, I grabbed their card. I completed building the table of all these makers, for my personal reference. My next goal is to find an artist who is open, so that I can commission them to draw the suit, because most suit-makers require suit concept art before they can begin. So if any artists who read this, or anyone who reads this knows an artist with open slots, please let me know.

~Jaiko

Wow... it feels great to have a reason to come back to my FA page again. Like, seriously. I'm dying to post content here regularly, but I've just been too busy and creatively dead. I hate it. I can't tell you how many times I've cried my eyes out over my lack of inspiration to do anything creative, or to capture memories in pictures, or even try to create my own experiences with other human beings. I've just been so bottled up lately, living alone and spending more time with family than normal during the past two months. Last year in November, my 3 year old nephew was killed exactly a week from Thanksgiving. My parents are still having trouble coming to terms, and during this time of year it has now become difficult for them to be alone, so they usually want me to spend more time with them. And other family fly in to town to see them as well, who also want to see me, so I've been doing that a lot on my days off for the past two months. I don't work on music production on a work night, but I know I really should start. Anyways, con report now, while it's still fresh in my mind:

So, I went to MFF, and decided to go within 30 days of the con actually happening. I was supposed to go to BLFC this year but due to just being freshly hired from my contracting company by the company they contracted me to, I was starting over fresh. I had no PTO, and they treated me like I had no seniority either. I couldn't get any time off for BLFC, despite having a reservation and money in my Southwest account that could pay for a flight there. So I cancelled my BLFC registration and got a refund. I still wanted to go to a convention this year though, so my acquaintance Arashi asked me if I wanted to come help him run a room party at a suite that he and his at-the-time boyfriend had supposedly reserved at the Hyatt. They told me they needed one more person, so I asked my dear friend Navos if he wanted to join us and he said yes. So we were going to have a nice suite room at the main con hotel. We each paid the room owner and Arashi's at-the-time boyfriend $250 for the room. The same day I did that, I applied for time off and was only able to get Friday and Saturday off, because my new permanent status with the company was still fresh with them, and they did not want me taking too many days off while I was still so new. Already have sun and mon off normally, so that helped. After that, I bought my plane tickets and pre-registered for the con. But sadly, two weeks before the con started, we started getting suspicions that the room wasn't actually rented, because he and other folks who were supposed to room with us, were not able to get proof that the room was ever rented, and he wouldn't even give me or Arashi a room number. Since the guy paid me through Venmo, I had his real name. I called the con hotel and found out that no reservation was ever made for him or his fur name. And shortly after that, this ass-hat's social media blows up with pictures of a new fursuit he finally paid off. So yup, the three of us, including Arashi, were scammed out of our money. To this day, I still have not been able to get refund from Venmo, despite having payment protection. If my damn paypal account weren't frozen, I would have had my money back within a single business day. So this unfortunate incident left us scrambling to even find a way to still go to this con. I was fortunate that another dear friend had a room with a pull-out bed that they weren't planning on using. But he was checking out of his room Sunday, so we had to find a place for us to stay on Sunday night as well. Arashi really helped me out by finding me a room with some furs at a separate hotel, for $50 for a single night.

On the first day of the con on Friday, I got there before my con roommates did. Immediately after checking my luggage in, I went to pre-reg, and I had virtually no wait in order to do so. There was absolutely no lines for that! Right afterwards I got in the Dealer's den line and while I was there, I got to see Mr. BLFC pizza boi waiting in the line in his green fursuit. People were fist bumping him left and right. The people literally right behind me in the line were just laughing and talking about how much of a legend he was, after they spotted him. It's surprising how famous that incident made him. There was even a pizza plushy in the adult art auction that had white blobs on it, which I can only assume was an homage to the BLFC pizza incident. And he must have won that pizza plush because I saw him walking around with it at the Dealer's Den on the following day, surrounded by fursuiters, one of them parading him around like a dog on a leash, haha!

As far as con events went, I didn't make it to half as many as I'd have liked to. I...
- Went to the Art of Needle Felting panel, because I wanted to see how people did that stuff. It involves a ton of stabbing. I was kind of hoping that the presenter would allow folks to come up one at a time and watch her work on something, but that didn't happen. I wanted to see the fine details, but that didn't happen. The best they could do was a video on a projector. But it was still interesting
- Played Red Dragon Inn in one of the game rooms, with my con roommate who I was staying with. I think he said he had all the expansions. I played as Wrench the Kobold ^.=.^ his cards were so cute I kept giggling whenever I'd see a new cute one.
- Went to the Colorado Furries meet & greet panel, but me and Navos left together before the photo shoot occurred, because we didn't want to wait for people to return to their hotel rooms to suit up for it.
- Danced my ass off for the final two DJs on Friday night of the con with my long time friend Midekai. It was so great being able to dance again <3 but I danced so hard I gave myself a headache.
- BTW, out of everyone I knew at the con, I knew him longer than everyone there, so it was fucking awesome getting to spend valuable time with him again <3 He once again reminded me why I love the guy so damn much <3 <3 <3 He was there for me when I was at my lowest point at the con and really helped me do a better job of keeping a stiff upper lip.
- Watched some fursuit Charades for a bit, which was funny and entertaining.
- And finally, I attended the Vore Furries meet & greet. I've never once considered myself a vore furry, and I've never joined their community, but Navos introduced me to so many great and wonderful people in that community that I have now become very much open to the idea of feral Jaiko getting used in such commissions. I want to make others happy and if that involves getting some commissions of feral Jaiko eating them, I'm more than happy to oblige, as long as they are quality commissions.

Positives
This con was a much needed wake up call for me. It relit a fire in me that I needed. A burning desire to actually do more with myself in this fandom. To really get serious and get a fursuit finally.
- The retail therapy sessions I had in the dealer's den really lifted my spirits. I bought a lot of gorgeous dragon/scalie merch and I stayed within my budget.
- I feel like I got closer to a popufur I really admire. Someone I really want to be like. It seems he's taken an interest in me as well, which is huge <3 Dare I say, I love the man to death and I want to be lifelong friends with him. He has so many amazing ideas for how I can do more with my fursona and he even knows how to find amazing, fast, trustworthy artists who I can commission. I want to collaborate with him, maybe do music for him or something. He definitely inspired me and I really hope I can bottle this creative flame that he sparked in me during the con.
- I got to meet a longtime friend I've spoken to online off and on for many years. He's the guy who owned the room I stayed in for my first two nights at the con. We got to spend time playing Red Dragon Inn in the game room together. I think he said he had all the expansions for it too. We also had breakfast together the following day, and got a chance to talk for a little bit. It was nice! I hope to do this all again with him someday.
- Got to meet up with a most wonderful, long time friend of mine named Midekai, who I've known longer than anyone else who was at the con <3 <3 <3 We chatted, caught up, and danced together for nearly two hours straight! I'll never forget that moment, I took so many videos so that I never would <3 <3 <3
- Got to meet the gentleman I just commissioned a couple weeks before the con, to make thumbnail art for a song I released on my Soundcloud account. He cool and I'm grateful for his work :)
- Witnessing and even participating in a most spectacular event that would not have been possible if not for Navos' connections. (PM me for details. I won't be naming names. Just describing the event.)

Negatives
- Sleep deprivation (Four hours or less) every damn day of the con. Mostly my fault for being out until 2 AM every day of the con, but I hate missing a single moment of the cons I go to, so that's always going to happen.
- Thursday night, before I left for the con, I just could not sleep. I had a lot of anxiety over the fact that I was realizing that I would know almost nobody at the con, and which lead to me considering taking a sleeping aid, but deciding not to because of useless anxiety that I would somehow sleep through my alarm and miss my flight.
- Friday night, because Arashi really wanted his friend to join us in the room, we split a tiny pull-out bed between the three of us. I had to sleep on the very edge, with a metal bar digging into my back and legs while I was sleeping. This caused me a lot of pain, so once my friends in the bedroom part of our hotel room got up for the day, I finished crashing in their bed.
- Saturday night I decided not to make the mistake of sleeping in that pull-out bed, so I shared the queen bed with my friend and his housemate. Sadly, due to how light a sleeper I am, his snoring kept me up, even through my earplugs. (I'm not upset over this. Nobody can help the fact that I was born a light sleeper and that my con roommates developed snoring in life and to feel upset about that would be immature of me).
- Sunday night, when I changed over to a separate hotel, once again it was sometime shortly after 2 AM when I entered the room. I didn't really talk to any of the folks in that room prior to rooming with them. I didn't spend the time or effort to talk to any of them after they agreed to let me room with them. So, because of that, it was extremely awkward for me, having to hop into bed with people I didn't even know. One of them was awake and the way he was posed and acting seemed like this situation was also very awkward for him too. Though, he could have just been so exhausted he didn't know how to act about that. But when he finally did fall asleep, his snoring prevented me from sleeping (again, even through my earplugs). Then at 5 AM, the guy who was asleep when I came into the room woke up and started packing to catch his flight, which woke me and the other guy up.
- Also, different room mates being active at different times of the night/day when I was trying to sleep. Again, this is understandable given my situation, and unavoidable without prior planning.
- Room stuffing. 3 people to a pullout bed that can only sleep two people comfortably was a mistake and only served to hurt my back and legs. We did the best we could, given our situation.
- Using the skybridge too much. It took a great deal of energy out of me to do so much walking and standing on hard flooring for most of the con. When I first arrived to the con, I was only using the sky bridges because I wanted to avoid getting cold at all costs. But when I actually stepped outside, I was quite baffled how little the cold affected me. It didn't feel comfortable or ideal. But I didn't find myself shivering or feeling myself lose any body heat at all. I felt like a fiery furnace walking out there! So afterwards I avoided them whenever it was possible, especially whenever I needed to walk between the Hyatt and the Embassy.
- Getting dragged in multiple directions at once, or experiencing communication blackouts from everyone I could possibly hang out with at once. There were some moments at the con where I would find myself alone with no idea what I wanted to do. And there were moments I would get separated from my group because I wanted to stop and give a quick chat to someone I spotted. And there were moments still, where I had to pick and chose who was most worth hanging out with at that time. I'm sure if you've been to a convention before, you've experienced at least once of these. Definitely sucks.
- Experiencing a massive inferiority complex event during the con. Whenever I spend time with people who are some combination of interesting, talented, and charismatic, I can sometimes start to feel massively inferior to them, wishing that I was just like that person. A wonderful friend of mine at the con started making me feel very jealous of their ability to just converse and have fun with such a vast diverse amount of people. He's handsome, witty, intelligent, fun, creative, passionate, loving, sexy, and just the best guy you could possibly know. I love his predatory behavior whenever he's around folks he's intimately interested with. And I love how he can make anyone melt and feel like the most special person in the world. He could have anyone he wants. I find absolutely no faults in anything he says or does, and as far as I know, everyone who meets him likes him. I can't see a single reason why anyone wouldn't like him. And I want to be just like him. He is more than a model furry. He is a model human being. I very nearly idolize him. And even though I've known him for awhile, I only came to this conclusion about him yesterday. He makes me want to be an even better person. To surpass my natural limits and strive to be more witty and attractive to others like that, so that I could increase the chances of making more life-long friends. Do you happen to know someone who makes you feel like this? I wanna hear some stories!
- Prices for food at and around the con hotel. Unless you want cheap crap like McDonalds and Dominoes, affordable food options were scarce. Hell, at the convention center, two-slices of pizza and a one-size drink was 24 friggin' dollars! Glad I didn't pay that much (went with the single slice combo instead).
- Busted or empty ATMs everywhere. Seriously, what's up with that? Virtually every single ATM I approached at the con and hotels (Save for the one at the Aloft) was either locked up and not responding, or devoid of cash. I hope con staff is aware of this problem and can possibly bring that to the attention of the convention center and hotels in the area.

Takeaways
Next time I go to MFF, I'm doing the following:

- Renting a car
- Bringing a wallet stuffed with cash
- Hopefully getting Thursday and Tuesday off in addition to the convention weekend
- Forgoing a coat for a light jacket and avoiding the toaster oven sky bridges at all cost (I am seriously stunned how well I did in the freezing temps. I was outside walking around at 2 AM every day of the con this weekend in it, in nothing but a tank top, and still wasn't shivering.
- I heard a story from a guy who said that one of his buds asked the Hyatt front desk why the sky bridges near the Hyatt were so hot, and he was told that it was because the hotel wanted to save power, so they moved the thermostat for the sky bridge into their loading dock. We both remarked that it was counter-intuitive, because it was making things too hot.
- If I get a room with strangers, and this applies to more than just MFF, I'll want to at least meet up and chat before hand. Maybe just talk to them over the telegram chat and get to know them a little bit. That way, when I finally join them in bed for the night, we don't have to be complete strangers to one another.
- I would say things like "Making my own damn hotel reservations" but given the fact I wasn't even planning on going to this con until less than 30 days until, it was inevitable that things would go the way they did.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this. If you're someone I talked about in this journal, and you don't mind me name-dropping you, please let me know. I named friends I know would be okay with it, and avoided naming some who I'm not sure would want such publicity. Also, if I seem loopy, or this appears not to be proof read, it's because I still haven't gone to bed since getting back from the con! I have to get up tomorrow morning at 5 AM for work (Couldn't get that off either), so I'll be draggin' all day.

What hotel are you staying at?
Main Hotel

Arrival/Departure
Wednesday May 15th May 31st through Monday May 20th

Means of transportation?
Driving up from Denver with and his mate

Are you sharing a room with someone?


Who do you hang out with?
Sadly, the two people I was hoping to spend the con with are no longer going, so against my will, I'll likely be doing this con alone. With my luck, it'll be a miracle if I make any new friends at this con, as I can't say I've ever made a new friend at a convention before. Hoping for a first this year. Also hoping to see again.

Relationship Status
Single. Hoping to meet other singles if possible, but we'll see how things go :)

How old are you?
32

How tall are you?
6'1''

Are you an Artist?
Music producer.

Do you have an artist table?
Nope

Do you take commissions?
Yes!

Do you do trades?
Yes!

Are you a Fursuiter?
Nope. I'll be wearing my Nightfury hoodie and tail and that's it.

Attending parties?
My roommates are throwing one in the rooms that we got together! If you know me, and talk to me about it, there's an excellent chance that you're invited :D We'll have free food, alcohol, and video games! My treat for stopping by :3 My con roommates are likely going to be spending a majority of the time in their hotel room, but I won't be doing that unless I happen to attract some cool folks who I wouldn't mind spending lazy time with in my room.

Do you drink?
Sure do

Can I buy you a drink?
I'd be flattered!

Do you smoke?
Cigars and not cigs. Never touched a cigarette in my life.

Are you attending any panels?
Dance competition maybe, but the dances, definitely.

Stage or public performance?
N/A

How do I identify my self to you?
Tell me your name, show me your badge, etc.

Rules of engagement (physical contact)?
You get a free hug if you introduce yourself to me. If we're friends, you don't have to ask permission of course. Fursuit hugs = always

How can I find you?
On Telegram as JaikoStarfire, or you may have my number to text me at the con if you want to hang out. You'll have to PM me for that. I prefer Telegram though.

Can I talk to you?
Please do, I love chatting!

Can I give you lots of money?
Erm, sure!

Can I give you stuff?
I'm bad at accepting gifts but I usually don't say no to free stuff lol.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
You get a free hug if you introduce yourself to me. If we're friends, you don't have to ask permission of course. Fursuit hugs = always. The folks I was planning on snuggling at the con are no longer going, so it would certainly be great to meet someone new for that

Can I come to dinner with you?
Please do! The more, the merrier!

Can I hang out with you?
Of course!

Can I take your picture?
Not without my permission and I'd also want to know where the pics will be posted. Trying not to tip my conservative Christian family off that I'm going to this thing.

How do I know if you're not looking to socialize (angry, busy or upset)?
I'm really bad at hiding my emotions lol. If it's really a bad time though, I'm pretty good at saying so.

Personality Type?
Friendly and positive!

What's your goal for the con this year?
Have fun, party hard, p0wn furries at gambling and take their money at poker or make more than them on the other tables XD Also I'm bringing my Alienware Alpha again like I did back in BLFC 2017, except this time it's got maximum upgrades, and will be fully updated before the visit, along with quality games installed to play. I'm going to be training and practicing for the Rivals of Aether tournament and I need challenging opponents to just try to kick my ass in that game XD

What hotel are you staying at?
Main Hotel

Arrival/Departure
Wednesday May 31st through Monday June 5th

Means of transportation?
Driving up from Denver with  finalactpart2 and his mate  freakat

Are you sharing a room with someone?
 freakat and his mate  finalactpart2 and  cottoncandycabannaboy along with my bud  ryusuke573

Who do you hang out with?
A random assortment of people, but mainly hanging out with my best friend  ryntanuki and  ryusuke573 and hoping to see  midekai again. Also, I'm planning on meeting  PumpedAaron for the first time. If you want to hang out let me know! I love to meet new folks!

Relationship Status
Single AF. I'm hoping to meet other singles if possible, but we'll see how things go :)

How old are you?
31

How tall are you?
6'1''

Are you an Artist?
Music producer, actually!

Do you have an artist table?
Nope

Do you take commissions?
Yes!

Do you do trades?
Yes!

Are you a Fursuiter?
Nope

Attending parties?
My roommates are throwing one in the suite that we got together! If you know me, and talk to me about it, there's an excellent chance that you're invited :D

Do you drink?
Sure do

Can I buy you a drink?
I'd be flattered.

Do you smoke?
Hookahs only

Are you attending any panels?
Dance competition, and anything that involves music, I'll be there!

Stage or public performance?
N/A

How do I identify my self to you?
Tell me your name, show me your badge, etc.

Rules of engagement (physical contact)?
You get a free hug if you introduce yourself to me first. If we're friends, you don't have to ask permission of course. Ask if unsure. Fursuit hugs = always

How can I find you?
On Telegram JaikoDragon or you may have my number to text me at the con if you want to hang out. You'll have to PM me for that. I prefer Telegram though.

Can I talk to you?
Please do, I love chatting!

Can I give you lots of money?
Erm, sure!

Can I give you stuff?
I'm bad at accepting gifts but I usually don't say no to free stuff lol.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
Ask first please.

Can I come to dinner with you?
I will be spending like nearly all of my meals with my best friend but if there's room for ya, sure!

Can I hang out with you?
For the most part, yes!

Can I take your picture?
Not without my permission and I want to know where the pics will be posted. Trying not to tip my conservative Christian family off that I'm going to this thing.

How do I know if you're not looking to socialize (angry, busy or upset)?
I'm really bad at hiding my emotions lol. If it's really a bad time though, I'm pretty good at saying so.

Personality Type?
Friendly and positive!

What's your goal for the con this year?
Have fun, party hard, p0wn furries at gambling and take their money XD

Since RMFC is dissolved, that only means I can move the money I've been saving for it over to my BLFC fund, and party that much harder ^.=.^

I'm expecting to see a lot of wonderful old faces including my best friends in the whole wide world ^.=.^ But I'm also still hoping to meet new ones, so if any of my followers are going this year and would like to meet up, I would absolutely love that. I'm ALWAYS up for meeting and getting to know new people.

I took the BLFC Questionnaire if anyone reading this is going and interested: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8188283/

As of today, my gallery here on FA is fully organized! I've fully taken advantage of the Gallery Folder feature and plan on doing more with it in the future. I can also start focusing on uploading more commissions that haven't ever been posted before.

~Jaiko

Has it really been a year since I posted anything? Yes! It has been a year since I've made any changes to my profile, other than random avatar switches or profile mood changes. But I gave my profile a small facelift just now, to reflect the me of today, along with a nice pic that I just posted.

Anyway, to business! I'd like to talk about my status on music. To do that, I have to explain where I'm at in life at the moment.

Living with parents, who are letting me live at home rent free, as long as I save all the money to buy a place of my own. I've been given until May 1st to move out because parents want to renovate the house. I'm not the slightest bit upset though, despite being told I could stay and save up longer. It also means I get to move out and not live with family anymore, which alone is exciting to me.

Once I have moved out, I shall start working on music immediately and have things to share again regularly :3 Can't wait!

~Jaiko

Man... things have changed so much and time has been so fleeting. It's been nearly a year since I made any music. I've been living nearly the same way I was living at my previous residence. Everything I own has to be kept in my room. But unlike my previous residence, which made an exception for a few items like my kitchenware and my 7' beanbag couch, I have to keep these items in my room, on my darn bed, which takes up a third of it. I'm pretty sure the extra weight on this mattress, for months, has ruined it. Also, no room to set up my computer. I left my PC desk in Washington because it was made of cheap particle board and every time I moved, a part of it would break, no matter how careful I tried to be. I'm confined to keeping everything in my room until February, when my stepbrother and his family move out, and the entire basement becomes mine. But only until June, when the house is sold. Things have been tough, but I'm pulling through.

You may wonder why I chose to live this way? Simple. I pay nothing to live here, and am only expected to cover my own expenses. This saves me a great deal of money, but it's all going to debts which I incurred due to necessity during my time away from Colorado. I'm putting a majority of my money towards that debt now because, aside from college debt, I want it all to be paid by June. I still save a bit of fun money to spend, to keep me from going crazy, but I must be able to stand on my two feet when I leave here, and I want to be able to get a decent place so that I don't have to move again for awhile.

This is what has been on my plate since returning to Colorado. Thanks for reading this far. Now I have a question for my readers. I was working on a song before I moved out here. Who would like to hear it?

I have allowed a few people to hear the WIP. It has generally received good praise. But I also got some valuable criticism, which helped me to add some improvements to it. The improved version is still on my Desktop, which is being stored away until Feb. I've been away from this song for so long that I don't know if I want to even finish working on it. It's the most I can offer my watchers at the moment.

As of May 3rd I am officially moved back to Colorado. Though currently my hobbies are in hibernation mode. My computer is packed up and there's no room to set it up anywhere. I have been seeking work and saving unemployment checks to put into making my car functional again. I'm only announcing this now because I am a week away from having wheels again and I'm going to start hanging out with old friends again. Right now, I have to focus on myself above all else. I need to find out what my school schedule will be like this fall, because I'd really like to turn my Associates of Computer Sciences into a Bachelor's. Once I know what my school schedule will be like, I'll be able to job hunt more efficiently. I've had to turn down a few jobs because I didn't know what my class schedule would be like and these jobs did not work with me unless I knew that. Once all that is out of the way, I expect I'll be back up and running again like before :)

*hugs for all*

~Jaiko

Edit: Turns out that since I lost my Colorado residency from living out of state since 2007, college will not be something I can plan for at this time. Laaame.

I have almost nobody to talk to about music production and it can become maddening at times. I'm looking for a music producer who is friendly and open about what they do and would love to talk to me about music production stuff. Specifically working with vocals and sampling. If you are such a person, or if you know of someone I can talk to about working with vocals/sampling, please let me know :)

Thanks!

~Jaiko

When I first joined FA, I used it exclusively for commissions and to talk about my work, then for many years I started using it as a place to post about my personal life. I would give status updates and rants about things that bugged me, but I'm done with those days. I'm going to be using FA the way I used to.

The question is, what are your preferred venues for keeping up with your friends? Google+? Live Journal? Twitter? Something else? I have an account on each of these and they are the best way to see what's going on in my life, other than talking to me directly. I'd like to become better connected to my fans and maybe even find people to collaborate with :3

Speaking of which, I've been having friends submit recordings of them singing, and then remixing their voices into really neat songs :3 if you want to participate, I highly recommend it. It's GREAT fun for me ^.=.^

All I ask is that the recording is clear with as little background noise as possible, and you stay in tempo. I'm even hoping a few artists will draw for me in return for me making a song with them singing :3

Check out my latest two scraps to hear some samples of what I can do if you send me clips of you singing :3

~Jaiko

So one of my favorite bands is touring! And I can actually afford to see them, unlike with Freak Night's outrageous prices (Because of that, I missed seeing Pendulum and will probably miss seeing Destroid, Datsik, and Infected Mushroom as well).



Anyways, I randomly discovered this band while browsing Soundcloud. I was into Neon Indian (Another band I'm dying to see perform) because I had heard them on our local radio station, KEXP, which plays a lot of synthpop <3 so after looking up Neon Indian on Soundcloud, I saw bands that sounded like them, and Mansions on the Moon is one of those bands. They're AMAZING! And their music is so radiant and beautiful <3



EDIT: They were a no-show ;.=.; I went and they did not even get up on stage. I checked their twitter feed and they had to cancel their tour and return home due to bad band management. Pity ;.=.;

Oh GOD yes <3 <3 <3 I've been waiting for this since he first appeared on Youtube Live. The chance to see Beardyman in concert. And not as a comedian/stage act, but as a FREAKING MUSICAL CONCERT! This guy... my GOD! He makes the 10th concert I've attended since moving to WA, and what a 10th concert that will be <3 Nothing gets me more excited than to go to a concert for an artist I like <3 <3 <3

Let me show you not two, but performances by him. You don't have to watch the last two, but pleeeease watch the first one.

This first video is a promotional video for the concert tour he's going on. This is what you'll expect to see if you see him in concert. Ignore the scenes where they're talking if they bug ya. They are the programmers who helped Beardyman with his new DJ setup.



This is a clip from Youtube Live 2008 where he was featured. Little did I know when he stepped on that stage and performed that he would have me as a fan for life.



And here is a video of him performing. It is my favorite video of him showing off what he is capable of. It's actually two parts, but it was broken in half back when Youtube had length limits.

"OMG NO Jaiko! You mustn't go to another dubstep concert! As Hank Hill would put it, 'It's all toilet sounds!'."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y028vvl4c4A

So, this guy is really cool. His persona as this green demon with very large, sharp teeth, is really neat. He designed his stage after it, which is even more awesome. I just love watching all these neat stage shows <3 first Shpongle, then Rusko, then Excision, and now Feed Me <3 And his music is pretty awesome. This is one of my favorite songs by him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6GIdGhxyHw

I opted to go to the Wednesday concert since the Thursday concert is gonna be sold out. Gonna be a lot of fun. I'm pumped! Plus, it's great exercise to dance for 2-3 hours straight, since the concert venue has no places to sit for non-VIP members. In addition to a good time, it is also an investment towards my health

I hope Pretty Lights comes to Seattle.

Oh man... I usually post these concert journals before I go to the concert but I've just been so busy lately. Anyways, I just saw this guy in concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tloy0ldDvVQ

It was freaking fantastic. Hardest bass I've ever heard, period. 10,000 watts of motherf*cking sound! It was just too awesome <3 <3 <3

Also, the two opening DJ's that performed were both pretty darn good =3

Vaski played half original stuff and half remixes of popular songs. The floor went crazy when this song played. It sounded a lot better with the DJ effects thrown in when it was performed at the concert, but this version is still pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBOQE-jwJ2A

And Paper Diamond... dear Paper Diamond... you were fantastic! You brought that hot 80's sound back to life, and remixed it, in your wonderful set.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynQYUtQeEMY

I posted photos on my Google+. Videos might follow too, if the sound isn't so garbled as to be painful.

Oh gawd... I just saw it for the first time and I must say... HOW did something like that make it to Netflix? That's like... furry porn XD

Wow! I found an artist with 27 pages full of scraps! She is  kayla-na

Do you know anyone else out there who has more scraps than that? lol

The generous criticism I received from my audience on how to improve my song, although undesired at first, was entirely correct. I feel like I can finally appreciate being pointed into fixing any obviously horribly sounding parts of my tracks, like that former intro XD

Check out how it sounds now: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9202908/

This month, I've heard of so many people losing pets or being close to it. It's been making me feel very distraught. I can't help but feel there is a connection.

Here are all my documented cases. I've counted a total of 6 pets that have died or are dieing, and 2 that almost have died. There are more than what I have listed here, but I haven't been documenting them very long and can't find the FA journals of the others:

Everyone who follows Tojo knows her frog Douglas had a close stint with death and only lost a leg.
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/yoshiherder lost his dog two days ago
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3932480
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3953773
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3953150
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3936654
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3957715

In honor of all your fallen or suffering pets, I will watch Pet Cemetery this Halloween.

~Jaiko

I was wondering... what kind of music really helps you get those creative juices flowing, and how can I make something that artists would love to draw their pictures to? I'm anxious to know, 'cause maybe I'll create something just for you artists to draw to, if I get enough interest.

~Jai

This RF was a pretty bittersweet one for me. Mostly good thanks to all my friends, but there were many times where I ended up alone and couldn't find anyone who was free to hang, and solitude is definitely not this dragon's natural habitat. I just allowed myself to get spread too thin. Didn't focus on hanging with any specific group of furs, so it was partially my fault. I tried to hang out with everyone that I liked but that was a bad approach. I get bummed way too easily that way, because I end up jumping in with a separate group of furs who weren't planning to hang with me during the con, and therefore, they either ditched me not knowing/caring that I was following them around, or they were too engrossed in each other that they forget I was even following them. Often times at this RF, I was just running around aimlessly as a result. I even ended up getting invited to a dinner on my last day at the con, and the guy who invited me, didn't even talk to me once because his table was full, and I ended up sitting away from him and his friends, unable to participate in the fun conversations they were having.

That being said, I still had a great time and I do not regret going. At next year's RF though, I want to be more... coordinated with the furs I hang with, and have a main group to hang with so that, if I ever wanna break off to talk to a friend for a bit, I can return to that previous group and not have to wander alone so much. There were times where I was so desperate to hang with people that I lowered my standards and hung out with people lower on the social food chain than I'm normally used to hanging with, just to relieve my boredom X3 We're talking, the folks who spend a majority of the con gaming or nerding out, rather than standard socialization.

Also,  FayyAislin was the highlight of my con <3 I was so happy to show her to all of my friends, and virtually every single person who I introduced her to thought she was awesome. I have friends begging to meet her again X3 I haz an awesome girlfriend, lol!

There's something that has been eating away at the back of my consciousness all of yesterday and even now, but I can't even bring it up because it's really personal. I want to mention it, but doing so would hurt the trust of a loved one so I can't even seek advice -.=.- all I can say is, if you believe in praying or at least wishing good fortune upon others, please send that my way. I need as much positive energy as I can get. Hopefully fate will be in our favor.

I'm not going to write a detailed con report, but to every single person who interacted with me at the con in some way, I thank you. Thank you for being there and keeping me company. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for every moment you spent with me. I've taken many people for granted, and even had low opinions of a few people prior to this con, but that has all changed.

~Jaiko

I've been giving serious thought about opening up for music commissions, however, I already owe two people some music. One of the project files got utterly destroyed on my external hard drive when it broke, and the other is going to require special synthesizer hardware to make because it cannot be imitated via software. These two failures of mine have prevented me from opening up to regular music commissions. However, I am a good musician as you can hear for yourself in my gallery. I do really need the money at the moment ^.=.^; so what the heck. Who would like to commission me? For those who want a commission from me but have a tough time deciding, I can make theme songs for your fursonas.

~Jaiko

I just want to say in advance that I'm sorry for posting such a journal on FA. I prefer to keep my furry life and my personal life separate, but this is virtually the only place I can post anything and be guaranteed lots of helpful people will read it and give me good advice rather than lectures (Facebook) or criticism (Twitter).

Every ER visit I've had, Insurance or not, has ended up costing me waaaay more than I could ever hope to afford. I'm already paying off 2 credit cards, loans from 2 people, and 2 college loans. Now on top of that, I have 4 medical bills, each ranging between $180 to $750 in price, all from medical issues that just hit me with no advanced warning and nothing I could have done to avoid them. I am left befuddled. HOW the hell do people manage such debt? I want to be a home owner someday so bankruptcy is out of the question.

Now, you might be thinking, "Lol, it's not the end of the world. You're still alive and independent." But that's all I am. That's not where I want to be. I can't go out and do things that involve money, because my paycheck is gone before the weekend is done, and then I have to look forward to the next payday, where my check will also be gone before the weekend is done. Last payday, I spent it all the day I got it. It's looking like that's going to happen again next payday. My offline social life, something that is pretty much already nonexistent, is pretty much stuck that way. I SHUDDER to think how much less of a life I'd have if my car broke down. I've never been without a car since I started driving except for the time I was in Job Corps, but even then, I was allowed to drive the vans they had on campus.

I always try to go to these offline furry parties hosted by a local furry party group called Fur The Record and I am always seeing groups of friends sticking together. I don't have that out here in Washington yet, and it's not something I can even work on building. I just end up being a wallflower because I just can't get out and meet people due to my financial situation.

In Washington where I live, I have only 3 folks I even consider to be a friend, and one of those three friends never contacts me for any reason. And when I have contacted this person in the past about being friends, and talking about life's hardships, he's helped me out with a lot of them, even though I never asked him to, automatically making him a friend to me.

Sure, people take me out to do stuff here and there, but I die a little inside when people pay for me, and I can tell it's putting a damper on the friendships I would like to form. So I just stop reaching out and stop making plans because I'll just be burdensome.

tl;dr Hopelessly deep in debt = Can't afford to have an offline social life = Nobody wants to hang out with me = A life I am sick and tired of living.

-Jai

...when collectors editions of games are so expensive you can't hope to own them unless you're rich.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list.....;condition=new

Not a single one of my friends even likes Borderlands enough to care about the sequel. Is there really such a big hype over it that 2k has to sell an overpriced collectors edition? In my opinion, it should have gone for not a cent more than $250, the most I'd ever pay for a collectors edition for a game series I love.

Lame.