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The Great Rodent Conspiracy (Does Not Exist), and Blue Rats
General | Posted 16 years agothe Great Rodent Conspiracy does not exist, despite what this piece of yellow journalism would have you believe
(mere miles from where I live, no less):
http://www.kold.com/global/Story.asp?s=10805859
Round-tailed ground squirrels at the scene have verified that the perpetrator of the black-out was indeed a rabbit.
"It's nothing new to the rodent community, that rabbits have pushed the blame on us. For time immemorial, rabbits and hares have been misdirecting the blame of their misdeeds on the Great Rodent Conspiracy, which does not exist," commented an eye-witness, who gave his identity as 'DeepCheeks.' "The Black Death Plague is perhaps the most famous example of lapine lies & misdirection."
DeepCheeks then excused himself to help disperse a gathering crowd of chipmunks and mice, some of which were wearing shiny buttons bearing the enigmatic phrase "support the Great Rodent Con."
ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE...
If I say I'm 'feeling blue,' it may just mean that some lab has injected me with M&M dye...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/photogalleries/blue-rats-food-dy\e-heals-pictures/index.html
Check out the cute blue ratty! And the cute blue ratty feet!
(mere miles from where I live, no less):
http://www.kold.com/global/Story.asp?s=10805859
Round-tailed ground squirrels at the scene have verified that the perpetrator of the black-out was indeed a rabbit.
"It's nothing new to the rodent community, that rabbits have pushed the blame on us. For time immemorial, rabbits and hares have been misdirecting the blame of their misdeeds on the Great Rodent Conspiracy, which does not exist," commented an eye-witness, who gave his identity as 'DeepCheeks.' "The Black Death Plague is perhaps the most famous example of lapine lies & misdirection."
DeepCheeks then excused himself to help disperse a gathering crowd of chipmunks and mice, some of which were wearing shiny buttons bearing the enigmatic phrase "support the Great Rodent Con."
ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE...
If I say I'm 'feeling blue,' it may just mean that some lab has injected me with M&M dye...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/photogalleries/blue-rats-food-dy\e-heals-pictures/index.html
Check out the cute blue ratty! And the cute blue ratty feet!
8 True Items Meme
General | Posted 16 years agoI was indirectly tagged by DOPR, so...
THE RULES...
1) Post these rules
2) Post 8 true things about yourself
3) At the end you must tag 8 people and post their icons
4) Go to their page and send them a message saying you tagged them
5) NO TAG-BACKS
JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM:
1) I got 'Kwan' from when I was a toddler; "K-waaan" was the closest my younger brother could come to pronouncing my name (Karen)
2) I have no internets at home, and until 3 days ago I didn't have a TV (the TV is only for watching DVDs on).
3) I live in Arizona---and 99.9% of my worldly possessions are in a 10x10 storage unit in Ohio.
4) I love to cook. I don't have a stove. Irony much?
5) I'm a sucker for a good voice. My idea of a hawt night: Keith David, Patrick Stewart, Alan Rickman, James Earl Jones, and Ian McKellen taking turns reading the works of Shakespeare. Or the phone book. Or the alphabet. Doesn't matter, boys, just keep talking. MmmmMmmmm!!
6) There is no '6'
This is an in-joke that I have perpetuated since 6th grade. I have forgotten the reasoning behind why there is never any '6' in an itemized listing, only that my cronies & I thought this was tremendously funny.
7) My first crushes were Spider-Man and Easy Reader from the Electric Company (aka Morgan Freeman, who should be added to the list in #5).
8) I need employment. Badly. Please give me a job.
Like DOPR before me, I tag you, the reader!
8.5) I'm doing it this way because I can't remember how to post icons.... #-_-#
THE RULES...
1) Post these rules
2) Post 8 true things about yourself
3) At the end you must tag 8 people and post their icons
4) Go to their page and send them a message saying you tagged them
5) NO TAG-BACKS
JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM:
1) I got 'Kwan' from when I was a toddler; "K-waaan" was the closest my younger brother could come to pronouncing my name (Karen)
2) I have no internets at home, and until 3 days ago I didn't have a TV (the TV is only for watching DVDs on).
3) I live in Arizona---and 99.9% of my worldly possessions are in a 10x10 storage unit in Ohio.
4) I love to cook. I don't have a stove. Irony much?
5) I'm a sucker for a good voice. My idea of a hawt night: Keith David, Patrick Stewart, Alan Rickman, James Earl Jones, and Ian McKellen taking turns reading the works of Shakespeare. Or the phone book. Or the alphabet. Doesn't matter, boys, just keep talking. MmmmMmmmm!!
6) There is no '6'
This is an in-joke that I have perpetuated since 6th grade. I have forgotten the reasoning behind why there is never any '6' in an itemized listing, only that my cronies & I thought this was tremendously funny.
7) My first crushes were Spider-Man and Easy Reader from the Electric Company (aka Morgan Freeman, who should be added to the list in #5).
8) I need employment. Badly. Please give me a job.
Like DOPR before me, I tag you, the reader!
8.5) I'm doing it this way because I can't remember how to post icons.... #-_-#
My First Ambulance Ride
General | Posted 16 years agoI alluded to this in a previous journal (http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/846553/). Really, it's no big deal, and was more a comedy of errors than anything else.
This past Tuesday, I woke up early, got a lot of chores done, then took a nice long lukewarm shower. I must have been a little overenthusiastic in my ablutions, because I looked down and there was blood all over the bottom of the shower.
What the hell?!? I quickly found the source: a fountain of blood, streaming with great force from a varicose vein on my lower leg.
Let's be blunt: I'm a big fat pear-shaped 41-year-old hag with jacked-up legs. While camping, one of my varicose veins got punctured (I don't know how, it could have been anything, who cares). There was minimal blood, I wiped it with some peroxide, it scabbed over, I didn't think any more about it until Tuesday, when it sprung a high-pressure leak.
The blood was pretty much everywhere. I bled through a towel, a pair of undies, and 2 socks. I was just grabbing & using the first thing I could find to staunch it--the blood really was gushing out & spurting several feet. What finally seemed to work was pouring baking soda in another sock, wadding that against the vein, then wrapping it all up with an Ace bandage. As it turns out, all that did was slow things down.
Tuesday is my D&D night, so I got in the car & drove to our DM's place. By the time I got there, I was disoriented & not making much sense. Kynn, our DM, made me drink a lot of water & said that we would go to Urgent Care RIGHT NOW.
Urgent Care took one look at it (by that time I had bled through the baking-soda sock & Ace bandage), said that the entire vein needed to be tied off, and that needed to be done at a hospital. They wrapped my leg with a much better compress, then called an ambulance because I was still a little glossy-eyed & they didn't want me driving.
But first, the entire local fire dept arrived to check me out. That was embarrassing. I got to ride on a gurney, which was both embarrassing & fun. Likewise with the ambulance.
At the hospital, I was kept waiting sufficiently long enough that the new compress did its job & the tiny hole scabbed over. I was also feeling much better, having been rehydrated, and given a drink with electrolytes from Urgent Care. The doctor there said that tying off my varicose vein was unnecessary. He gave me a local anesthetic (which hurt like hell) and gave the vein several stitches so I wouldn't bleed like crazy next time the scab gave way. It was pretty neat watching him stitch me up.
In the meantime Kynn, was flustered & kept in the dark. While in the hospital waiting room, he was calling several folks for a ride home for us. When I was released, I was feeling chipper & a little abashed by all the trouble I caused Kynn, and was all for just taking a bus. Too late-- Wolf was already on his way. As were Suzanna & Chelsea, a cute couple in our D&D group.
So many thanks to the nice folks at Urgent Care, the fire dept, Nicole & Jerome in the ambulance, some of the folks at NorthWest hospital, and especially Kynn & Wolf & Suzanna & Chelsea for their help! I'm sorry for the trouble, guys. 9_6
This past Tuesday, I woke up early, got a lot of chores done, then took a nice long lukewarm shower. I must have been a little overenthusiastic in my ablutions, because I looked down and there was blood all over the bottom of the shower.
What the hell?!? I quickly found the source: a fountain of blood, streaming with great force from a varicose vein on my lower leg.
Let's be blunt: I'm a big fat pear-shaped 41-year-old hag with jacked-up legs. While camping, one of my varicose veins got punctured (I don't know how, it could have been anything, who cares). There was minimal blood, I wiped it with some peroxide, it scabbed over, I didn't think any more about it until Tuesday, when it sprung a high-pressure leak.
The blood was pretty much everywhere. I bled through a towel, a pair of undies, and 2 socks. I was just grabbing & using the first thing I could find to staunch it--the blood really was gushing out & spurting several feet. What finally seemed to work was pouring baking soda in another sock, wadding that against the vein, then wrapping it all up with an Ace bandage. As it turns out, all that did was slow things down.
Tuesday is my D&D night, so I got in the car & drove to our DM's place. By the time I got there, I was disoriented & not making much sense. Kynn, our DM, made me drink a lot of water & said that we would go to Urgent Care RIGHT NOW.
Urgent Care took one look at it (by that time I had bled through the baking-soda sock & Ace bandage), said that the entire vein needed to be tied off, and that needed to be done at a hospital. They wrapped my leg with a much better compress, then called an ambulance because I was still a little glossy-eyed & they didn't want me driving.
But first, the entire local fire dept arrived to check me out. That was embarrassing. I got to ride on a gurney, which was both embarrassing & fun. Likewise with the ambulance.
At the hospital, I was kept waiting sufficiently long enough that the new compress did its job & the tiny hole scabbed over. I was also feeling much better, having been rehydrated, and given a drink with electrolytes from Urgent Care. The doctor there said that tying off my varicose vein was unnecessary. He gave me a local anesthetic (which hurt like hell) and gave the vein several stitches so I wouldn't bleed like crazy next time the scab gave way. It was pretty neat watching him stitch me up.
In the meantime Kynn, was flustered & kept in the dark. While in the hospital waiting room, he was calling several folks for a ride home for us. When I was released, I was feeling chipper & a little abashed by all the trouble I caused Kynn, and was all for just taking a bus. Too late-- Wolf was already on his way. As were Suzanna & Chelsea, a cute couple in our D&D group.
So many thanks to the nice folks at Urgent Care, the fire dept, Nicole & Jerome in the ambulance, some of the folks at NorthWest hospital, and especially Kynn & Wolf & Suzanna & Chelsea for their help! I'm sorry for the trouble, guys. 9_6
In Which I'm A Sarcastic Bitch
General | Posted 16 years agohttp://www.lep.co.uk/news/Son-39in-.....ill.5477291.jp
Excerpt: A man plotted to kill his adoptive parents with the help of a friend he met on the internet, a court has heard.
(freako #1), 24, wanted (freako #2) to murder his parents... while they slept and then perform an extreme sex act on him, Preston Crown Court was told.
The bisexual pair are alleged to have hatched the plot after meeting on an internet site about "Furries" – people who pretend to be animal characters and share sexual role-playing fantasies.
<snip>
...(freako #1) had talked about his sexual desire for his penis to be bitten off in online chatroom discussions.
He told the jury: "It may seem extreme that he wanted his penis bitten off, but there is ample evidence from websites he visited and conversations with (freako #2) that this was a deeply held interest and one he found sexually stimulating..."
Furries made the news! We got free publicity!
Just imagine the vast amount of new furries we'll get through this!
"Gee, I've never been all that intrigued by anthros, but by golly I like me some internet sexxorz and I'm really into chomping off other people's dicks & having them do the same to me! Wow, to think there's a place that will embrace me & my proclivities, and all I gotta do is call myself a wolf & wear a pair of fox ears!"
Once word of this gets out more, we'll have like 2 million new websites, devoted to furry cock-biting pics & animations, and bad fanfic:
prolog
The well-hung otter wlaked into the bar. The bartender eyed him & asked what he wanted to drink.
part 2
"What do you want to drunk" I asked because I'm a cat bartender.
"whetever." the otter sed. But really I'd like to bite off your disco stick, because we'd just met and that's so hot."
part 3
"Oh boy" murred the bartender who is a fennect. 'That"s just what I was wating for, for someone hot & hung to bite me their and to bite it off also." So the otter did & it was hot & very sexey & you should give this storey top scores becaus its better than those other stories that don't have punkshuations or indentatiuns like this one do. And character development. Oh and the otter looked like Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, only hes the older one from the new movie because i don't do pedo.
the end
Digging Holes & Picking Berries
General | Posted 16 years agoStill recovering from the weekend, plus a little hospital drama from yesterday (which will have its own journal entry--I'm fine, nothing big).
The Furizona group (Tucson Furries) had its first official camping trip this past weekend at Spencer Canyon Campgrounds. I'd say it was a howling success, largely due to the generosity, ingenuity, and good graces of Pedro, Wolf the First, and Pyrofoks. I think we had about 11 total who attended.
This was my first time in the Coronado National Forest (northeast of Tucson). It is breathtakingly beautiful, and the drive up the mountains, going through several different kinds of environments, was fantastic. Many thanks to Wolf the First, who drove my saggy self up & back, allowing me to gawk & take inadequate pictures with my crappy camera.
Wolf & I got there first, and although the preferred spots were taken, Wolf found a damned fine site for us. We got to deal with Angry Shouty Mullet-Man and unloaded the truck right before Pyro arrived with Pedro and Faradin. The rest of the day was spent in setting up tents, scattering supplies about, getting fires going, giving each other verbal abuse, and making remarks about how great it was to be there.
Along with tents for everyone, Pyro brought a parachute-- and based on this past weekend I'd say that no camping trip should be without one. It was hung from the branches of the trees over & surrounding the main campfire area, and it also partially covered the 2 picnic benches.
The parachute proved to be almost immediately important, since no sooner did we start having shish-ka-bobs (my marinated pig crotch seemed to be a success) than the monsoon rains came, complete with pea-hail. The parachute didn't keep us entirely dry, but it sheltered the fire, and the lowered ends kept the warmth about us. The captured smoke went out the central hole, was high enough not to choke anyone, but low enough to act as a deterrent to insects. We would have been shivering, miserable wretches without it! During the day it gave shade from the sun. I'm completely sold on the parachute as essential camping gear.
The rest of the party arrived after the rain petered out. With Nikoli, Kandy, Fluffy, Mune, and Bryant, we were a boisterous bunch (and I hope I'm not leaving anyone out ^_^;;;). Dakota joined us Saturday with her giant flying cookie. Both caused a great deal of infectious laughs!
Other than Friday evening, the weather was fantastic. We hung about yakking & playing games & drawing & fursuiting & eating s'mores & complaining about the icky men's latrine & generally having a great time.
I saw a lot of new birds, but like all interesting Arizona wildlife, they were camera-shy; I wasn't able to capture much on film (the only positive identification so far was the yellow-eyed junco, thanks to Pedro's excellent camera-stalking skills).
Thank you, Furizona, for a great trip!
The Furizona group (Tucson Furries) had its first official camping trip this past weekend at Spencer Canyon Campgrounds. I'd say it was a howling success, largely due to the generosity, ingenuity, and good graces of Pedro, Wolf the First, and Pyrofoks. I think we had about 11 total who attended.
This was my first time in the Coronado National Forest (northeast of Tucson). It is breathtakingly beautiful, and the drive up the mountains, going through several different kinds of environments, was fantastic. Many thanks to Wolf the First, who drove my saggy self up & back, allowing me to gawk & take inadequate pictures with my crappy camera.
Wolf & I got there first, and although the preferred spots were taken, Wolf found a damned fine site for us. We got to deal with Angry Shouty Mullet-Man and unloaded the truck right before Pyro arrived with Pedro and Faradin. The rest of the day was spent in setting up tents, scattering supplies about, getting fires going, giving each other verbal abuse, and making remarks about how great it was to be there.
Along with tents for everyone, Pyro brought a parachute-- and based on this past weekend I'd say that no camping trip should be without one. It was hung from the branches of the trees over & surrounding the main campfire area, and it also partially covered the 2 picnic benches.
The parachute proved to be almost immediately important, since no sooner did we start having shish-ka-bobs (my marinated pig crotch seemed to be a success) than the monsoon rains came, complete with pea-hail. The parachute didn't keep us entirely dry, but it sheltered the fire, and the lowered ends kept the warmth about us. The captured smoke went out the central hole, was high enough not to choke anyone, but low enough to act as a deterrent to insects. We would have been shivering, miserable wretches without it! During the day it gave shade from the sun. I'm completely sold on the parachute as essential camping gear.
The rest of the party arrived after the rain petered out. With Nikoli, Kandy, Fluffy, Mune, and Bryant, we were a boisterous bunch (and I hope I'm not leaving anyone out ^_^;;;). Dakota joined us Saturday with her giant flying cookie. Both caused a great deal of infectious laughs!
Other than Friday evening, the weather was fantastic. We hung about yakking & playing games & drawing & fursuiting & eating s'mores & complaining about the icky men's latrine & generally having a great time.
I saw a lot of new birds, but like all interesting Arizona wildlife, they were camera-shy; I wasn't able to capture much on film (the only positive identification so far was the yellow-eyed junco, thanks to Pedro's excellent camera-stalking skills).
Thank you, Furizona, for a great trip!
Artings, and I Bawled Like A Baby
General | Posted 16 years agoYay, it's upload time! With a couple in scraps, too.
Thank you, everyone who is & has watched me & favorited anything of mine. I typically don't thank folks for that, but I really appreciate that you liked something I did. I'm far more comfortable responding to comments, notes, & questions.
This batch of scans is thanks to the generosity of Kynn: engaging DM, philanthropic provider of car fuel, and all-around sweetie! ^_^
Yesterday, Kynn invited me to go see a free concert by Desert Voices, a Tucson GLBT & Allies chorus. To say they're a talented bunch would be an understatement. Over half of the songs were a capella, which really called attention to both the singers' and the director's gifts, and how well they work together. I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the songs, "Everything Possible," was particularly memorable. An original composition by Fred Small, one of Desert Voice's members, it's sung by a parent to a child tucked into bed. It made me bawl! I look forward to their next concert.
Their website: http://www.desertvoices.org/
From "Everything Possible," by Fred Small:
...I will sing you a song no one sang to me
May it keep you good company.
CHORUS:
You can be anybody you want to be,
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you're done.
Thank you, everyone who is & has watched me & favorited anything of mine. I typically don't thank folks for that, but I really appreciate that you liked something I did. I'm far more comfortable responding to comments, notes, & questions.
This batch of scans is thanks to the generosity of Kynn: engaging DM, philanthropic provider of car fuel, and all-around sweetie! ^_^
Yesterday, Kynn invited me to go see a free concert by Desert Voices, a Tucson GLBT & Allies chorus. To say they're a talented bunch would be an understatement. Over half of the songs were a capella, which really called attention to both the singers' and the director's gifts, and how well they work together. I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the songs, "Everything Possible," was particularly memorable. An original composition by Fred Small, one of Desert Voice's members, it's sung by a parent to a child tucked into bed. It made me bawl! I look forward to their next concert.
Their website: http://www.desertvoices.org/
From "Everything Possible," by Fred Small:
...I will sing you a song no one sang to me
May it keep you good company.
CHORUS:
You can be anybody you want to be,
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you're done.
Penury is for the Birds
General | Posted 16 years ago<edit:more stuff, since library kicked me out>
The happy part starts with a singing hummingbird. Feel free to skip the first few paragraphs.
A little background, short version: I'm supposed to stay away from home during the daylight hours.
A promised check, which I thought had arrived in the mail, turned out to just be a card. I have a gas-tank dangerously close to empty, maybe $1.50 to my name, and I'm sicksicksick of hanging out in the library.
So I decided to hang out in a park that I've never frequented before, find myself a shady spot, read a little, sweat a lot, & feel sorry for myself.
Shade: check.
Reading material: check.
Sweat: check.
Singing hummingbird: ....Buh?!
That's right, a singing hummingbird. I knew they squeaked & rattled at each other, but I never knew they sang! But there the little bugger was, not 5 feet from me, singing his little heart out. Most of it was just too high-frequency for me to make out, but his throat & beak were quite active, and what I could hear was definite singing.
I scuttled to my car to fetch my camera. The hummingbird let me get ridiculously close to it, and just as I was about to snap what would have been a very nice close-up (something that's very difficult to do with my camera), something blurred into frame & crashed into the hummingbird's twig.
It was none other than a hawk--either a sharp-shinned or a cooper's-- and a rather clumsy one at that. I quickly forgave him ruining my hummingbird shot, because now I had the opportunity to get a picture of him.
So of course he flew to another tree. 9_9 And I followed. So he flapped over to another tree. And I followed, and got in a shot or two, but nothing close. This must have distressed him because he started whistling. It honestly sounded like a cheap plastic whistle you get out of a cereal box, sans the ball-bearing.
The awkward attack on the hummingbird & his clumsy flying was soon explained: Mom & Dad showed up!
I was very excited by this time & returned to my shaded picnic table, not wanting to either chase the family away or incur Ma & Pa's wrath. I was kicking myself for not bringing my binoculars with me! But I resolved to make the best of it & just enjoy watching from a distance.
Turns out that was the best thing to do, because Junior decided to return to the tree just next to my spot. For the past 3 hours I've been watching Ma & Pa hawk bringing lizards to Junior.
I was surprised at how many small birds remained in the area, with 2 hunting adults hanging about. The pigeons & doves cleared out right away, but the small songbirds remained. There were vermilion flycatchers, lesser finches, hummingbirds, house finches, and I actually spotted 2 new birds to add to my list--and even got a picture of one of them (some kind of flycatcher or pheobe, & a ladder-backed woodpecker--until I look 'em up, I can't be sure)! Every now & then Junior would flop out of the tree after a flock, get nowhere near catching any of them, and sit on the ground with a surprised look on his face ("But Ma & Pa make it look so easy!").
Okay library is closing. But I just HAD to jump into a library & share this exceptional afternoon with someone. I'm heading right back to the same spot, and hope to see a hawk actually nab something.
::hugs!::
<EDIT>
Well, good thing I returned. Junior was joined by a sibling, making it 4 hawks total! The young'uns are very vocal. "Mom, gimme food! I want food, Dad! This branch keeps breaking! I'm flying over to this tree, Mom. This is a better tree, Dad. Why aren't you flying over here? Hey! Hey! C'mon, fly over here! ...Oh all right, I'll fly back over to your tree. You got food yet? Gimme food!"
I've been looking up both Cooper's & Sharp-shinned hawks, and the jury's still out (they are definitely small hawks & not falcons). All the experts say it's hard to tell them apart. Great. -_- Both hawks have similar sizes & markings, and this part of Arizona is in both their ranges. To make matters more interesting, *all* of my hawks had streaked chests, and all the pics of Cooper's & Sharp-shinned shows them BOTH with barred AND streaked chest markings.
It *was* a ladder-backed woodpecker that I saw; I'm still looking up the other new bird. All I know is it wasn't a female vermilion flycatcher.
I also got to spy on some rock-squirrels, plus the usual round-tailed ground squirrels that are so prevalent around here (everyone around here takes great delight in irking me by calling them prairie dogs).
As the sun started to go, a child's party got underway at a nearby ramada. And even though there was a serviceable fountain right by them, the kids decided the drinking fountain
right next to where I was sketching was *the* spot to fill up their water balloons. They didn't so much as fill them up as splash & squirt each other--and me, and my paper. I literally hollered at them not once, but 3 times.
And to round off the evening, Wolf the First picked up the usual mendicants (Pedro & Ahk) & they joined me in all my sweaty glory at the park. Pedro downloaded his copies of the Ouran High School Host Club anime for me, which I'm a gibbering fangirl over. Good friends, good times.
The happy part starts with a singing hummingbird. Feel free to skip the first few paragraphs.
A little background, short version: I'm supposed to stay away from home during the daylight hours.
A promised check, which I thought had arrived in the mail, turned out to just be a card. I have a gas-tank dangerously close to empty, maybe $1.50 to my name, and I'm sicksicksick of hanging out in the library.
So I decided to hang out in a park that I've never frequented before, find myself a shady spot, read a little, sweat a lot, & feel sorry for myself.
Shade: check.
Reading material: check.
Sweat: check.
Singing hummingbird: ....Buh?!
That's right, a singing hummingbird. I knew they squeaked & rattled at each other, but I never knew they sang! But there the little bugger was, not 5 feet from me, singing his little heart out. Most of it was just too high-frequency for me to make out, but his throat & beak were quite active, and what I could hear was definite singing.
I scuttled to my car to fetch my camera. The hummingbird let me get ridiculously close to it, and just as I was about to snap what would have been a very nice close-up (something that's very difficult to do with my camera), something blurred into frame & crashed into the hummingbird's twig.
It was none other than a hawk--either a sharp-shinned or a cooper's-- and a rather clumsy one at that. I quickly forgave him ruining my hummingbird shot, because now I had the opportunity to get a picture of him.
So of course he flew to another tree. 9_9 And I followed. So he flapped over to another tree. And I followed, and got in a shot or two, but nothing close. This must have distressed him because he started whistling. It honestly sounded like a cheap plastic whistle you get out of a cereal box, sans the ball-bearing.
The awkward attack on the hummingbird & his clumsy flying was soon explained: Mom & Dad showed up!
I was very excited by this time & returned to my shaded picnic table, not wanting to either chase the family away or incur Ma & Pa's wrath. I was kicking myself for not bringing my binoculars with me! But I resolved to make the best of it & just enjoy watching from a distance.
Turns out that was the best thing to do, because Junior decided to return to the tree just next to my spot. For the past 3 hours I've been watching Ma & Pa hawk bringing lizards to Junior.
I was surprised at how many small birds remained in the area, with 2 hunting adults hanging about. The pigeons & doves cleared out right away, but the small songbirds remained. There were vermilion flycatchers, lesser finches, hummingbirds, house finches, and I actually spotted 2 new birds to add to my list--and even got a picture of one of them (some kind of flycatcher or pheobe, & a ladder-backed woodpecker--until I look 'em up, I can't be sure)! Every now & then Junior would flop out of the tree after a flock, get nowhere near catching any of them, and sit on the ground with a surprised look on his face ("But Ma & Pa make it look so easy!").
Okay library is closing. But I just HAD to jump into a library & share this exceptional afternoon with someone. I'm heading right back to the same spot, and hope to see a hawk actually nab something.
::hugs!::
<EDIT>
Well, good thing I returned. Junior was joined by a sibling, making it 4 hawks total! The young'uns are very vocal. "Mom, gimme food! I want food, Dad! This branch keeps breaking! I'm flying over to this tree, Mom. This is a better tree, Dad. Why aren't you flying over here? Hey! Hey! C'mon, fly over here! ...Oh all right, I'll fly back over to your tree. You got food yet? Gimme food!"
I've been looking up both Cooper's & Sharp-shinned hawks, and the jury's still out (they are definitely small hawks & not falcons). All the experts say it's hard to tell them apart. Great. -_- Both hawks have similar sizes & markings, and this part of Arizona is in both their ranges. To make matters more interesting, *all* of my hawks had streaked chests, and all the pics of Cooper's & Sharp-shinned shows them BOTH with barred AND streaked chest markings.
It *was* a ladder-backed woodpecker that I saw; I'm still looking up the other new bird. All I know is it wasn't a female vermilion flycatcher.
I also got to spy on some rock-squirrels, plus the usual round-tailed ground squirrels that are so prevalent around here (everyone around here takes great delight in irking me by calling them prairie dogs).
As the sun started to go, a child's party got underway at a nearby ramada. And even though there was a serviceable fountain right by them, the kids decided the drinking fountain
right next to where I was sketching was *the* spot to fill up their water balloons. They didn't so much as fill them up as splash & squirt each other--and me, and my paper. I literally hollered at them not once, but 3 times.
And to round off the evening, Wolf the First picked up the usual mendicants (Pedro & Ahk) & they joined me in all my sweaty glory at the park. Pedro downloaded his copies of the Ouran High School Host Club anime for me, which I'm a gibbering fangirl over. Good friends, good times.
Good Things
General | Posted 16 years agoI'm completely yoinking this from DOPR5, who I would icon-link to but I've forgotten how. ::Shakes fist at FA for not having an easily-accessible 'How-to' section.::
It seems we're all going through some rough times, and D.O.P.R., rather than dwell on the negative, suggested this simple gem in his latest journal:
"So let's hear about the good things that are happening right now. Or even if you don't feel like commenting, just think of something positive that happening in your life right now. "
I'm wholeheartedly behind that. Sometimes you get so caught up in being in the dark you forget there's a pack of matches & a candle 2 paces to the right. So, here's my list of random positive things:
1) I'm currently typing on a laptop that some way-overgenerous totally-cool anonymous entity done gave me. ^_^
2) Yesterday, after (I'm not making this up) 3 hours waiting (edited: I had originally typed 2, but it was 3), I now have an official AZ driver's license!
3) I've have something like 10 doodle ideas in the past 3 days, which is a nice change from staring at blank paper going "Uhhhh, eerrrrm, I dunno."
4) I saw a different lizard yesterday, a pretty cool-looking stripey-yellow-necked doober (no, I don't has a pic--all Arizona lizards be camera-shy, curse the beasties!).
5) D.O.P.R. said it was okay to yank this idea it & put it in *my* FA journal (and having received encouragement, I have yanked it long & hard)
6) There is no six
7) My father is (so far) being remarkably cooperative in resolving the AZ license plate issue (my vehicle is co-owned & he's in another state)
8) I'm on my way to (hopefully) getting a little governmental relief
9) I've made a bunch of fun & hoopy cool frood friends here in AZ, and most of them pretty much know where their towels are.
o/` and
10, 10, 10, 10
10) For EVERY THING, EVERY THING, EVERY THING, EVERY THING... o/
(vague reference; whoever gets it first has the option of their fursona being an 'extra' in a short comic I'm working on [you will be the recipient of a noogie {no, I'm not making that up}])
11) Star Trek was a surprisingly good movie, crafted with much respect towards the Trek Classic universe (so much so that there is inclusion of several in-jokes), all new actors managed to portray established characters remarkably well without degrading into parody, and the breaking of Trek canon was explained in a manner that was definitely in keeping with the Trek universe (although I think this film would have been just as successful had it portrayed completely original characters). Also, UP! is a really, really, really good movie. Better than Wall-E, but not quite as good as Ratatouie (I admit to being biased towards rats).
What good things are happening to you? Small stuff totally counts (for example, a lizard sighting).
It seems we're all going through some rough times, and D.O.P.R., rather than dwell on the negative, suggested this simple gem in his latest journal:
"So let's hear about the good things that are happening right now. Or even if you don't feel like commenting, just think of something positive that happening in your life right now. "
I'm wholeheartedly behind that. Sometimes you get so caught up in being in the dark you forget there's a pack of matches & a candle 2 paces to the right. So, here's my list of random positive things:
1) I'm currently typing on a laptop that some way-overgenerous totally-cool anonymous entity done gave me. ^_^
2) Yesterday, after (I'm not making this up) 3 hours waiting (edited: I had originally typed 2, but it was 3), I now have an official AZ driver's license!
3) I've have something like 10 doodle ideas in the past 3 days, which is a nice change from staring at blank paper going "Uhhhh, eerrrrm, I dunno."
4) I saw a different lizard yesterday, a pretty cool-looking stripey-yellow-necked doober (no, I don't has a pic--all Arizona lizards be camera-shy, curse the beasties!).
5) D.O.P.R. said it was okay to yank this idea it & put it in *my* FA journal (and having received encouragement, I have yanked it long & hard)
6) There is no six
7) My father is (so far) being remarkably cooperative in resolving the AZ license plate issue (my vehicle is co-owned & he's in another state)
8) I'm on my way to (hopefully) getting a little governmental relief
9) I've made a bunch of fun & hoopy cool frood friends here in AZ, and most of them pretty much know where their towels are.
o/` and
10, 10, 10, 10
10) For EVERY THING, EVERY THING, EVERY THING, EVERY THING... o/
(vague reference; whoever gets it first has the option of their fursona being an 'extra' in a short comic I'm working on [you will be the recipient of a noogie {no, I'm not making that up}])
11) Star Trek was a surprisingly good movie, crafted with much respect towards the Trek Classic universe (so much so that there is inclusion of several in-jokes), all new actors managed to portray established characters remarkably well without degrading into parody, and the breaking of Trek canon was explained in a manner that was definitely in keeping with the Trek universe (although I think this film would have been just as successful had it portrayed completely original characters). Also, UP! is a really, really, really good movie. Better than Wall-E, but not quite as good as Ratatouie (I admit to being biased towards rats).
What good things are happening to you? Small stuff totally counts (for example, a lizard sighting).
Unemployed, Not Horny, Bad Kissing, Bad Art, Good Friends
General | Posted 16 years agoWell, the job hunt continues. Nothing more there.
Good news is the pon farr seems to have petered out. I've now had 4 offers of casual sex from 2 guys, and turned them all down. Partly because I just didn't want it, partly because I suspect they're not into me so much as just 'settling on a fat chick,' and largely because they both kissed like a spasming lamprey.
Listen to your Auntie Kwan, guys -- you may think that it's sexy to come at a girl with your lips wide open like you're trying to swallow her entire skull, slobbering like a bull mastiff, thrashing your tongue about like a sloppy roto-rooter. And maybe in some circumstances that actually *is* sexy; but it isn't sexy on the first date, and it sure as hell isn't sexy as the first kiss. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. Eeewwww, ick, and UGH.
I'm trying to get going with teh artings again. Amazing how much I lose without keeping in practice. I'm getting more & more frustrated at myself, but still keeping up with it, trying to work something every day. Once I feel I'm up to snuff I want to get some long-overdue important art done, as well as thank-you art.
In the mean time I'm also working on a small booklet project I'm doing just for my nephew as a birthday present, since I can't afford to buy him anything that he'd be interested in (my brother is well-off, and there are 2 sets of prosperous indulgent grandparents). It will just be a recounting of all the lizards & a couple other critters I encounter here in Tucson, along with some illos. I'll also include basic black & whites so he can color on his own. Wish me luck on that.
My friends here in Tucson have been an enormous help to me these past weeks. I can't imagine the funk I'd be in without their humor, energy, and comaraderie. I miss my Ohio friends something awful, but I'm very very thankful & happy to have found such good people here in Tucson too. Even if they're Mexican or conservative (sorry Pedro & Wolf, I couldn't help it).
Good news is the pon farr seems to have petered out. I've now had 4 offers of casual sex from 2 guys, and turned them all down. Partly because I just didn't want it, partly because I suspect they're not into me so much as just 'settling on a fat chick,' and largely because they both kissed like a spasming lamprey.
Listen to your Auntie Kwan, guys -- you may think that it's sexy to come at a girl with your lips wide open like you're trying to swallow her entire skull, slobbering like a bull mastiff, thrashing your tongue about like a sloppy roto-rooter. And maybe in some circumstances that actually *is* sexy; but it isn't sexy on the first date, and it sure as hell isn't sexy as the first kiss. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. Eeewwww, ick, and UGH.
I'm trying to get going with teh artings again. Amazing how much I lose without keeping in practice. I'm getting more & more frustrated at myself, but still keeping up with it, trying to work something every day. Once I feel I'm up to snuff I want to get some long-overdue important art done, as well as thank-you art.
In the mean time I'm also working on a small booklet project I'm doing just for my nephew as a birthday present, since I can't afford to buy him anything that he'd be interested in (my brother is well-off, and there are 2 sets of prosperous indulgent grandparents). It will just be a recounting of all the lizards & a couple other critters I encounter here in Tucson, along with some illos. I'll also include basic black & whites so he can color on his own. Wish me luck on that.
My friends here in Tucson have been an enormous help to me these past weeks. I can't imagine the funk I'd be in without their humor, energy, and comaraderie. I miss my Ohio friends something awful, but I'm very very thankful & happy to have found such good people here in Tucson too. Even if they're Mexican or conservative (sorry Pedro & Wolf, I couldn't help it).
Very Grateful
General | Posted 16 years agoI've been having a pretty hard time, trying to get a job. I believe my roomie's been having a hard time too. He just hasn't been acting like himself. Thursday morning when he came home he was very upset and in hindsight I think he was taking some stress out on me -- which again, is not like him at all. I was confused & hurt & upset so I left in a huff.
We haven't really spoken since. At first I was doing my best to stay away from home to give him some time to himself & work out what he'd want to say, or finish saying, or whatever. But I think maybe he's been doing the same, since the few exchanges we've had have been brief notes such as "Could you feed the dogs tonight & let them in."
I hate this. It hurts not being able to talk for 2-3 hours at a time like we tend to do. I love him more than family --he *is* family-- and I hate thinking that he's miserable but doesn't want to unload on me, and is possibly resenting my presence.
I wasn't feeling all that great in the first place for losing my job, and my spirits took a real nosedive after that. I was shuffling about town, still applying for jobs, hanging out in libraries & parks, feeling miserable & alone & sorry for myself.
Wolf The First, the local furry token straight conservative white male (& all-around uber-cool dude), picked up on this. He rode to the library on a white pick-em-up truck & took me sight-seeing at the San Xavier Mission. Pyrofox joined up with us there, and off we went for some Chinese.
Pyrofox also organized a last-minute furmeet at the local zoo for the next day. Pyrofox's cute son & DOPR5 joined us, & we all had a great time both at the zoo & after, just jawing at a McD's.
And today DOPR5 let me come over to use his scanner & his internets so I could post some stuff. I've been wanting scans done for ages, so this is a real red-letter day for me.
So, right now I'm feeling pretty damned grateful. This weekend was just what I needed to shake me out of the funk I was sinking into. Thanks for the shot in the arm, guys. Thanks for the free meals & far more importantly, bothering to spend time with me. Time & time again I'm happy that I came to Tucson. Having good friends here too is yet another reason to add to the list. Thank you.
We haven't really spoken since. At first I was doing my best to stay away from home to give him some time to himself & work out what he'd want to say, or finish saying, or whatever. But I think maybe he's been doing the same, since the few exchanges we've had have been brief notes such as "Could you feed the dogs tonight & let them in."
I hate this. It hurts not being able to talk for 2-3 hours at a time like we tend to do. I love him more than family --he *is* family-- and I hate thinking that he's miserable but doesn't want to unload on me, and is possibly resenting my presence.
I wasn't feeling all that great in the first place for losing my job, and my spirits took a real nosedive after that. I was shuffling about town, still applying for jobs, hanging out in libraries & parks, feeling miserable & alone & sorry for myself.
Wolf The First, the local furry token straight conservative white male (& all-around uber-cool dude), picked up on this. He rode to the library on a white pick-em-up truck & took me sight-seeing at the San Xavier Mission. Pyrofox joined up with us there, and off we went for some Chinese.
Pyrofox also organized a last-minute furmeet at the local zoo for the next day. Pyrofox's cute son & DOPR5 joined us, & we all had a great time both at the zoo & after, just jawing at a McD's.
And today DOPR5 let me come over to use his scanner & his internets so I could post some stuff. I've been wanting scans done for ages, so this is a real red-letter day for me.
So, right now I'm feeling pretty damned grateful. This weekend was just what I needed to shake me out of the funk I was sinking into. Thanks for the shot in the arm, guys. Thanks for the free meals & far more importantly, bothering to spend time with me. Time & time again I'm happy that I came to Tucson. Having good friends here too is yet another reason to add to the list. Thank you.
Canned
General | Posted 16 years agoEdited...sorry about the incompleteness of the first draft. One of the many drawbacks to having to use the library for internets is that the library kicks you off, sometimes without notice. :/
So, I'm fired from my new job.
The company usually hires computer programmers or lab techs, and I was an experiment. The higher-ups wanted better customer service skills for the company, which I certainly have (and they certainly need).
Their first mistake was to not involve my supervisor in the decision-making process. His response was to avoid me whenever possible. The one meeting I had with him, 2 days before he fired me, he slipped & briefly let his resentment show.
The higher-up's second blunder was to put me in a training class with 3 other people, all in the same team & a different department as mine. One of them has been with the company for 10 years, another is a computer programmer. They had each other for study-buddies & had a supervisor who spent a great deal of time with them.
The third mistake was assigning the task of training to someone who obviously did NOT want to train, as she was constantly telling us about how work was piling up with her 'real job,' and more importantly could not teach well. Even the brains were baffled by her at first. The others then started relying heavily on their supervisor (who as previously stated was spending a great deal of time with them). When I suggested to our trainer that she start at a more basic level, she told me that was impossible because everyone in the room would have a different idea of what a basic level was. When I asked her for help, she told me that I had to be responsible for my own learning. She said that my asking questions in class was disruptive, & I should see her after class..when she was super-busy & resented being interrupted from her 'real job.' She chastized me for not using a manual to look things up--yet the manual did NOT have the verbiage she was teaching (try looking up Istanbul in an encyclopedia that has it listed as Constantinople, and does NOT have the word Istanbul listed anywhere in its pages). There is a long long list here of her shortcomings as a teacher, but I hope you get the general drift.
I was told that I was fired due to my second test scores, and certain 'behaviors' which my supervisor would not go into detail on. However, I believe I was being fired because I had been invited to an open-topic round-table discussion with one of the company's VP, and neither my trainer nor my supervisor wanted me at that meeting. This suspicion was strenghtened when I was told I had to leave immediately & was not to return until a half hour after that meeting was scheduled to end.
The behavior of those 2 people, and those 2 people only, reflects very poorly on the company, which I very much admired & still do. Every other person I met there was fantastic. I wish the company much success, and I can only hope that my supervisor & trainer someday receive the karma they deserve.
So, I'm fired from my new job.
The company usually hires computer programmers or lab techs, and I was an experiment. The higher-ups wanted better customer service skills for the company, which I certainly have (and they certainly need).
Their first mistake was to not involve my supervisor in the decision-making process. His response was to avoid me whenever possible. The one meeting I had with him, 2 days before he fired me, he slipped & briefly let his resentment show.
The higher-up's second blunder was to put me in a training class with 3 other people, all in the same team & a different department as mine. One of them has been with the company for 10 years, another is a computer programmer. They had each other for study-buddies & had a supervisor who spent a great deal of time with them.
The third mistake was assigning the task of training to someone who obviously did NOT want to train, as she was constantly telling us about how work was piling up with her 'real job,' and more importantly could not teach well. Even the brains were baffled by her at first. The others then started relying heavily on their supervisor (who as previously stated was spending a great deal of time with them). When I suggested to our trainer that she start at a more basic level, she told me that was impossible because everyone in the room would have a different idea of what a basic level was. When I asked her for help, she told me that I had to be responsible for my own learning. She said that my asking questions in class was disruptive, & I should see her after class..when she was super-busy & resented being interrupted from her 'real job.' She chastized me for not using a manual to look things up--yet the manual did NOT have the verbiage she was teaching (try looking up Istanbul in an encyclopedia that has it listed as Constantinople, and does NOT have the word Istanbul listed anywhere in its pages). There is a long long list here of her shortcomings as a teacher, but I hope you get the general drift.
I was told that I was fired due to my second test scores, and certain 'behaviors' which my supervisor would not go into detail on. However, I believe I was being fired because I had been invited to an open-topic round-table discussion with one of the company's VP, and neither my trainer nor my supervisor wanted me at that meeting. This suspicion was strenghtened when I was told I had to leave immediately & was not to return until a half hour after that meeting was scheduled to end.
The behavior of those 2 people, and those 2 people only, reflects very poorly on the company, which I very much admired & still do. Every other person I met there was fantastic. I wish the company much success, and I can only hope that my supervisor & trainer someday receive the karma they deserve.
Amok Time
General | Posted 16 years agoAs previously mentioned, I am going through my pon farr, and it ain't pretty.
El Matador, a fellow trainee at my previous employment, roused my usually-dormant sex drive in a big way. Tall and solidly huggable, he'll rub your shoulder or hug you just as soon as say hi--which only serves to let you take in his very alluring smell (if I ever find out what he's using, I swear I will buy a vat of it). Until recently we spent a great deal of time together, both at work & after hours, and became regular hang-out-at-a-place-that-serves-alchohol buddies. He's been throwing out mixed signals higgledy-piggledy, and revving this old rat's horny hormones to new heights.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a love connection here. I just want to blindfold him & tie him to a mattress for several weekends in succession. What can I say? The guy is numero uno prime grade-A fuckbuddy material.
As a result of my hyper hormones, I've been flirting outrageously with strangers, and groping the asses of friends & aquaintances. At the last furmeet I grabbed at least 2 different asses, and would have grabbed more had the opportunities (and posteriors) presented themselves (in case anyone's wondering, I have also grabbed El Matador's ass, on 2 seperate occasions, and received neither encouragement nor discouragement).
Pon farr is hell. I'm not used to being so horny so often. If I were a slut things would be much easier, but I have a bad case of standards that's getting in the way. I can't bring myself to get physical with someone who has poor hygiene, or isn't sober, or I just plain don't like. Considering that I'm of an age & a build that sends most straight guys in the opposite direction, it would be far, far simpler if I could bear to make out with some unwashed fossilized disease-ridden junky who kicks puppies for fun & profit. But I can't. Go figure.
The good news is that there's been a significant drop in El Matador lately (a combination of mutual lack of funds & my personal lack of interest in bar-like establishments). Without regular doses of his "hawt mal-e-ness" (a-la Agador Spartacus from the movie Birdcage) to keep me in heat, the horny hormones are more manageable.
In the meantime, although the pon farr seems to (thankfully) be waning, it's still very much in effect. There's a rather burly specimen of charcoal-grey pigeon outside of the library who's strutting his macho best, knocking the feathers off the lady pigeons (I've never seen a bird drool before). I'm pretty sure he came on to me as I walked by. I'm thinking of taking him up on the offer.
El Matador, a fellow trainee at my previous employment, roused my usually-dormant sex drive in a big way. Tall and solidly huggable, he'll rub your shoulder or hug you just as soon as say hi--which only serves to let you take in his very alluring smell (if I ever find out what he's using, I swear I will buy a vat of it). Until recently we spent a great deal of time together, both at work & after hours, and became regular hang-out-at-a-place-that-serves-alchohol buddies. He's been throwing out mixed signals higgledy-piggledy, and revving this old rat's horny hormones to new heights.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a love connection here. I just want to blindfold him & tie him to a mattress for several weekends in succession. What can I say? The guy is numero uno prime grade-A fuckbuddy material.
As a result of my hyper hormones, I've been flirting outrageously with strangers, and groping the asses of friends & aquaintances. At the last furmeet I grabbed at least 2 different asses, and would have grabbed more had the opportunities (and posteriors) presented themselves (in case anyone's wondering, I have also grabbed El Matador's ass, on 2 seperate occasions, and received neither encouragement nor discouragement).
Pon farr is hell. I'm not used to being so horny so often. If I were a slut things would be much easier, but I have a bad case of standards that's getting in the way. I can't bring myself to get physical with someone who has poor hygiene, or isn't sober, or I just plain don't like. Considering that I'm of an age & a build that sends most straight guys in the opposite direction, it would be far, far simpler if I could bear to make out with some unwashed fossilized disease-ridden junky who kicks puppies for fun & profit. But I can't. Go figure.
The good news is that there's been a significant drop in El Matador lately (a combination of mutual lack of funds & my personal lack of interest in bar-like establishments). Without regular doses of his "hawt mal-e-ness" (a-la Agador Spartacus from the movie Birdcage) to keep me in heat, the horny hormones are more manageable.
In the meantime, although the pon farr seems to (thankfully) be waning, it's still very much in effect. There's a rather burly specimen of charcoal-grey pigeon outside of the library who's strutting his macho best, knocking the feathers off the lady pigeons (I've never seen a bird drool before). I'm pretty sure he came on to me as I walked by. I'm thinking of taking him up on the offer.
Quickie
General | Posted 16 years agoWow, what a lot to get caught up on. I'll do my best to brass tacks it here, in hopes of fleahing it out in later days.
Great news--2 weeks ago, I started my first day at a different job. I really, really wanted to work there; I had a very favorable opinion of the place, the morale there was exceptional, and I was convinced that the company that retained its employees--in other words, a career instead of a job. The pay is less than where I was, the benefits are much better.
Not so great--training has been very rough, due to a combination of a huge amount of technical info (coding, operating systems, etc) and a trainer who can't train well. There's also the whole fish out of water thing going on, since it's far more professional than anywhere I've worked before & I'm still dumpy old me with a limited wardrobe (which has already been remarked upon) and hair that resents living in Tucson.
Bizarre news: I'm in my Pon Farr. It was triggered by a former employee who I shall refer to as El Matador, and unrequited lust is turning me into a dirtier old hag. I've become an ass-grabber. Males (and some females) in my immediate vicinity are in severe danger of being felt up by a fat middle-aged rat. You have been warned.
Time's almost out at the library. Damn I miss having internets. *sigh*
Great news--2 weeks ago, I started my first day at a different job. I really, really wanted to work there; I had a very favorable opinion of the place, the morale there was exceptional, and I was convinced that the company that retained its employees--in other words, a career instead of a job. The pay is less than where I was, the benefits are much better.
Not so great--training has been very rough, due to a combination of a huge amount of technical info (coding, operating systems, etc) and a trainer who can't train well. There's also the whole fish out of water thing going on, since it's far more professional than anywhere I've worked before & I'm still dumpy old me with a limited wardrobe (which has already been remarked upon) and hair that resents living in Tucson.
Bizarre news: I'm in my Pon Farr. It was triggered by a former employee who I shall refer to as El Matador, and unrequited lust is turning me into a dirtier old hag. I've become an ass-grabber. Males (and some females) in my immediate vicinity are in severe danger of being felt up by a fat middle-aged rat. You have been warned.
Time's almost out at the library. Damn I miss having internets. *sigh*
A Great Week
General | Posted 17 years agoAt the beginning of the week, I found a local BBW group (Big Beautiful Women--ladies who are plus-sized & above) and went to their gathering. Fun group of gals, a couple who are quite outrageous. It looks like I'm going to have a lot of rowdy times with them. ^__^
But wait! That's just an appetizer!
Hey, remember how I was hired last week? It was at the bottom of my "want to work there" list, due to being sales (not customer service), poor work environment, poor salary, and practically nonexistant benefits. The only good thing about it was the work schedule. Having spent the entire year of 2008 trying to get dfull-time employment, I was relieved enough to take it. However, training doesn't start until 2 more weeks, so I just kept on applying & interviewing.
On Friday, I went in for a call-back interview (after having already been through on-site testing & an extensive phone interview) and 3 hours later walked out employed. I"ll be working on the weekends--I consider that a very sacrifice for better work conditions, better benefits, for-real inbound customer service, and $3 more an hour!
My faggot --aka the bestest fiend evar-- took me out to a Japanese buffet (specializes in sushi) yesterday to celebrate the other job, and to an Indian restaurant today for more celebration. We've been watching our dimes & nickels for a while, so he was using this as an excuse to eat at our favorite restaurants--hey, I'm not complaining!
The only thing that would make this week complete is being with all my buddies who stood by me in depressing, desperate 2008. Sadly, with one very important exception, they're (mostly) all in Ohio. I want to go charging into their homes & jump up & down on the bed with them, throwing pillows at each other & shrieking like a pack of 5th graders hopped up on Pixie Stix at a slumber party. I've never missed them more than now, when I'm at my happiest. I want to celebrate with them!
Today we'll be taking the faggot's 2 dogs (I refer to them as Special Needs & the Brute). They both have their issues but they both crack me up to no end. A typical example: the Brute had a nice big bone he wanted to lay done & chaw on. He approached Special Needs, who was stretched out her entire length, basking in the sun. Special Needs thought the Brute was just there to show off his treat. She raised her head for a polite sniff & laid back down, closing her eyes. The Brute decided that here was the ideal pillow, and just collapsed his whole self on poor unsuspecting Special Needs. After I got my breath back from cackling, I realized that 2 months ago I was so deep in my depression & miserable, I probably wouldn't have even noticed what was happening right in front of me, much less found it so funny. I'm happy that I'm able to be happy at home again.
Tomorrow we plan to drive an hour outside of town to visit a donkey sanctuary. I've talked to the nice lady who runs it, and I'm really looking forward to to meeting her & checking out the longears (I wish it was closer, I'd be a regular volunteer there).
Finally, there's some small birds I've been spotting at a local library & for weeks it's been driving me nuts not knowing what they are. Tiny little things, very cheeky & active, & the male sings its little heart out. After searching in over 6 bird books at various libraries, I finally found it--a verdin.
All told, a very up week for yours truly. I just want to run around hugging everyone I know.
Consider yourself huggled!
...and bopped with a pillow. ^_^
But wait! That's just an appetizer!
Hey, remember how I was hired last week? It was at the bottom of my "want to work there" list, due to being sales (not customer service), poor work environment, poor salary, and practically nonexistant benefits. The only good thing about it was the work schedule. Having spent the entire year of 2008 trying to get dfull-time employment, I was relieved enough to take it. However, training doesn't start until 2 more weeks, so I just kept on applying & interviewing.
On Friday, I went in for a call-back interview (after having already been through on-site testing & an extensive phone interview) and 3 hours later walked out employed. I"ll be working on the weekends--I consider that a very sacrifice for better work conditions, better benefits, for-real inbound customer service, and $3 more an hour!
My faggot --aka the bestest fiend evar-- took me out to a Japanese buffet (specializes in sushi) yesterday to celebrate the other job, and to an Indian restaurant today for more celebration. We've been watching our dimes & nickels for a while, so he was using this as an excuse to eat at our favorite restaurants--hey, I'm not complaining!
The only thing that would make this week complete is being with all my buddies who stood by me in depressing, desperate 2008. Sadly, with one very important exception, they're (mostly) all in Ohio. I want to go charging into their homes & jump up & down on the bed with them, throwing pillows at each other & shrieking like a pack of 5th graders hopped up on Pixie Stix at a slumber party. I've never missed them more than now, when I'm at my happiest. I want to celebrate with them!
Today we'll be taking the faggot's 2 dogs (I refer to them as Special Needs & the Brute). They both have their issues but they both crack me up to no end. A typical example: the Brute had a nice big bone he wanted to lay done & chaw on. He approached Special Needs, who was stretched out her entire length, basking in the sun. Special Needs thought the Brute was just there to show off his treat. She raised her head for a polite sniff & laid back down, closing her eyes. The Brute decided that here was the ideal pillow, and just collapsed his whole self on poor unsuspecting Special Needs. After I got my breath back from cackling, I realized that 2 months ago I was so deep in my depression & miserable, I probably wouldn't have even noticed what was happening right in front of me, much less found it so funny. I'm happy that I'm able to be happy at home again.
Tomorrow we plan to drive an hour outside of town to visit a donkey sanctuary. I've talked to the nice lady who runs it, and I'm really looking forward to to meeting her & checking out the longears (I wish it was closer, I'd be a regular volunteer there).
Finally, there's some small birds I've been spotting at a local library & for weeks it's been driving me nuts not knowing what they are. Tiny little things, very cheeky & active, & the male sings its little heart out. After searching in over 6 bird books at various libraries, I finally found it--a verdin.
All told, a very up week for yours truly. I just want to run around hugging everyone I know.
Consider yourself huggled!
...and bopped with a pillow. ^_^
(Sort of) Good News, and a Question
General | Posted 17 years agoGuess who's employed?
Yeah, I have a job. But this a qualified good news--it's a sort-of good kinda good.
It's one of those we-say-it's-customer-service-but-it's-really-sales jobs. Of the list of 7 places I've interviewed at, this was one of the two on the bottom. And it doesn't start until the middle of March.
A sales job, which doesn't start until a month from now, at a low salary & pretty poor benefits compared to what I've had in the past years, but--at least they're hiring me, which is more than I can say about my top 3 choices, let alone the rest of the places I've applied at.
So--limited celebration, with muted yays in anticipation of my first paycheck, which I won't see until April. :/
And now, the Question:
I'll preface this by saying this really isn't a huge issue to me. I've more or less already made up my mind. I'm pretty much just throwing this out ther for discussion.
I've recently found out that we have the ability to block people. There's a handful of folks who I seriously wouldn't want to ever remark on anything of mine, purely based on their comments in other artist's galleries. Should I pro-actively block them? What's the ettiquette here?
Discuss.
Yeah, I have a job. But this a qualified good news--it's a sort-of good kinda good.
It's one of those we-say-it's-customer-service-but-it's-really-sales jobs. Of the list of 7 places I've interviewed at, this was one of the two on the bottom. And it doesn't start until the middle of March.
A sales job, which doesn't start until a month from now, at a low salary & pretty poor benefits compared to what I've had in the past years, but--at least they're hiring me, which is more than I can say about my top 3 choices, let alone the rest of the places I've applied at.
So--limited celebration, with muted yays in anticipation of my first paycheck, which I won't see until April. :/
And now, the Question:
I'll preface this by saying this really isn't a huge issue to me. I've more or less already made up my mind. I'm pretty much just throwing this out ther for discussion.
I've recently found out that we have the ability to block people. There's a handful of folks who I seriously wouldn't want to ever remark on anything of mine, purely based on their comments in other artist's galleries. Should I pro-actively block them? What's the ettiquette here?
Discuss.
Once more into the breach!
General | Posted 17 years agoWell here I go. After 2 weeks of Job Fair, & daily job searches & online applications, I have me a couple weeks of interviews. I have one every day this week & starting next. Over a week of primping, jumping through H.R. hoops, filling out the same forms in longhand that I did online, watching videos that make vastly different claims on the company culture compared to what I see in person, and beaming like I've been pithed. Some people love this process. They are sick individuals.
There are a couple places I'd be very happy to be employed at, and at least 2 others that I know I would quickly become miserable at (but at least it's better than no paycheck at all). I am hoping like hell that at least one place hires, and it's one of the better ones.
Send me some good karma, folks!
On the plus side: Yay local furmeets!
There are a couple places I'd be very happy to be employed at, and at least 2 others that I know I would quickly become miserable at (but at least it's better than no paycheck at all). I am hoping like hell that at least one place hires, and it's one of the better ones.
Send me some good karma, folks!
On the plus side: Yay local furmeets!
Tucson Furmeet
General | Posted 17 years agoThis past Sunday about 25 furries showed up at the Tucson Furmeet. A great turnout & a great pack of deviants--er, nice people. <.<; All hail the mighty (mighty odd) zorro 
pedrolerenard for organizing this!
I got to meet many of the furry folks who extended friendly welcomes to Tucson to me via the Yahoo Groups list. I was pleased that I wasn't the only greymuzzle there, but even the young punks playing grab-ass ---errrr, Death By Nerf-Gun--- were very friendly & welcoming.
kattywampus was there, as well. It was great seeing a familiar face & getting caught up with her. She donned her Lucario suit & ended up getting mobbed by pack of free-roaming yard-apes. There was much blurry movement & yakking & looking at arts & tree-climbing & drinking of caffeinated beverages & forgetting names & fursuiters going wheee down the slides & I cussed like a sailor in front of mundanes.
In other words, it's what I've come to love & expect from a typical large furmeet, with a lower percentage of drama. Well done, everyone. Scritchies all around (to those who inbibe in them, anyways-- the rest of y'all get waves & handshakes).
After the skating (NO, I did not skate!) the Wampus had few of us over at her liar, where they played a sucky game why I tried to get my drawing hand back & told them why the game sucked.
The Top Reasons Why the Game Sucked:
-It would not allow the players to gather up plague-infested vermin & catapult them over their territory into the invading Persian armies
-It empowers players to generate vulcanos, but does not permit them to harvest any of the lava-rock (for building)
-The invading Persians looked & sounded nothing like the ones that appeared in the movie 300 (a movie which has won many awards & achieved much critical acclaim for its painstaking historical accuracy)
-Free-ranging hippopotami. In a deciduous forest. With no rivers or lakes.
-The hippopotamusesseses could not be gathered into vast thundering Herd of Death & then stampeded into the Persians, rending them into quivering red jelly with little bits of bone-gristle, nor could they be domesticated as mounts for an Amphibious Calvary of Death
There were many more reasons why this game sucked, but those are the only ones I can remember at the moment.
pedrolerenard for organizing this! I got to meet many of the furry folks who extended friendly welcomes to Tucson to me via the Yahoo Groups list. I was pleased that I wasn't the only greymuzzle there, but even the young punks playing grab-ass ---errrr, Death By Nerf-Gun--- were very friendly & welcoming.
kattywampus was there, as well. It was great seeing a familiar face & getting caught up with her. She donned her Lucario suit & ended up getting mobbed by pack of free-roaming yard-apes. There was much blurry movement & yakking & looking at arts & tree-climbing & drinking of caffeinated beverages & forgetting names & fursuiters going wheee down the slides & I cussed like a sailor in front of mundanes. In other words, it's what I've come to love & expect from a typical large furmeet, with a lower percentage of drama. Well done, everyone. Scritchies all around (to those who inbibe in them, anyways-- the rest of y'all get waves & handshakes).
After the skating (NO, I did not skate!) the Wampus had few of us over at her liar, where they played a sucky game why I tried to get my drawing hand back & told them why the game sucked.
The Top Reasons Why the Game Sucked:
-It would not allow the players to gather up plague-infested vermin & catapult them over their territory into the invading Persian armies
-It empowers players to generate vulcanos, but does not permit them to harvest any of the lava-rock (for building)
-The invading Persians looked & sounded nothing like the ones that appeared in the movie 300 (a movie which has won many awards & achieved much critical acclaim for its painstaking historical accuracy)
-Free-ranging hippopotami. In a deciduous forest. With no rivers or lakes.
-The hippopotamusesseses could not be gathered into vast thundering Herd of Death & then stampeded into the Persians, rending them into quivering red jelly with little bits of bone-gristle, nor could they be domesticated as mounts for an Amphibious Calvary of Death
There were many more reasons why this game sucked, but those are the only ones I can remember at the moment.
Art Cards
General | Posted 17 years agoThey seem to be all the rage nowadays. Artists seem to be swapping them at cons like they were pogs or something.
Could someone edumacate me on these things?
Could someone edumacate me on these things?
In the Land of the 360 Degree Sunset
General | Posted 17 years agoI MADE IT!
I'm in Tucson, Arizona, having successfully braved through 3 days & 4 nights of aggressive semis, strong winds, unexpected snow, and poorly-maintained roads, with my deaf & aged spazzhund as co-pilot, & buddy Kyle as my cel-phone navigator & support staff. It was a little over 2000 miles all told. I've very, very happy that I chose to get new tires before leaving Ohio. I'm convinced that hose old bald ones would have never made the journey, especially considering the terrible state of the roads through Arkansas & parts of Oklahoma.
It is beautiful here. The skies bluest I've ever seen, and the sunsets are stunning. The nights are freezing; I'm told that will change in 3 weeks, to be replaced by the monsoon season & then 115-degree summer--ack!! The days meanwhile are nicely toasty. I've already gotten a sunburned face by basking in the warm morning sun--gotta get that sunblock out!
I've had a close encounter with a 'true' coyote (much smaller that the ones in Ohio, who have interbred with the dogs they can't kill--much cuter too, imho) and look forward to spotting the small band of feral porcines (I forget what they're called--they sound like a cross between peccaries & wild boars). I'm dying to learn the names of the various birds & plants in the area. There's tentative plans to go to the desert museum & botanical gardens this weekend.
Right now my only internet access is throught he library. Once I get employed I'm positive that my first paycheck will go towards internet connection. I knew how much I used the internet to stay in contact with everyone--but I had no idea how much I depended on teh intarwebz for basic info, directions, and other local searching. I feel very lost not being able to locate a store & then Google Map to it.
Which reminds me--anyone have any idea how I can get things scanned & posted to the internet?!
I've found some fellow furries here in Tucson via the internet, and will hopefully be able to meet a few soon. I really miss the active furry community I left behind in Dayton & Columbus, and I miss my regular table-top RPG group something awful (doodles from past games are in my 'scraps' section). Guys, I miss you!!! If the furries here end up being even half as good-hearted as you are, I'll consider myself very fortunate indeed.
My fingers were a right mess after moving out. From all that packing & loading & taping & cleaning & whatnot, the skin was hard, red, & shiny, and I was worried about not getting any feeling in my fingertips for a while--it felt like I had several layers of dried glue over them. I've given myself quite a few hand treatments courtesy of surplus from my past job, using sloughing & moisterizing products meant for feet. The past couple of days the damaged skin has been (painfully) coming off in bits & pieces, & it seems that the skin underneath will be fine.
My time is running short. I'm looking forward to a job fair for employment, and hope to get back into the swing of things soon. BIG HUGS to everyone back in Ohio, and to everyone here in Tucson too!
I'm in Tucson, Arizona, having successfully braved through 3 days & 4 nights of aggressive semis, strong winds, unexpected snow, and poorly-maintained roads, with my deaf & aged spazzhund as co-pilot, & buddy Kyle as my cel-phone navigator & support staff. It was a little over 2000 miles all told. I've very, very happy that I chose to get new tires before leaving Ohio. I'm convinced that hose old bald ones would have never made the journey, especially considering the terrible state of the roads through Arkansas & parts of Oklahoma.
It is beautiful here. The skies bluest I've ever seen, and the sunsets are stunning. The nights are freezing; I'm told that will change in 3 weeks, to be replaced by the monsoon season & then 115-degree summer--ack!! The days meanwhile are nicely toasty. I've already gotten a sunburned face by basking in the warm morning sun--gotta get that sunblock out!
I've had a close encounter with a 'true' coyote (much smaller that the ones in Ohio, who have interbred with the dogs they can't kill--much cuter too, imho) and look forward to spotting the small band of feral porcines (I forget what they're called--they sound like a cross between peccaries & wild boars). I'm dying to learn the names of the various birds & plants in the area. There's tentative plans to go to the desert museum & botanical gardens this weekend.
Right now my only internet access is throught he library. Once I get employed I'm positive that my first paycheck will go towards internet connection. I knew how much I used the internet to stay in contact with everyone--but I had no idea how much I depended on teh intarwebz for basic info, directions, and other local searching. I feel very lost not being able to locate a store & then Google Map to it.
Which reminds me--anyone have any idea how I can get things scanned & posted to the internet?!
I've found some fellow furries here in Tucson via the internet, and will hopefully be able to meet a few soon. I really miss the active furry community I left behind in Dayton & Columbus, and I miss my regular table-top RPG group something awful (doodles from past games are in my 'scraps' section). Guys, I miss you!!! If the furries here end up being even half as good-hearted as you are, I'll consider myself very fortunate indeed.
My fingers were a right mess after moving out. From all that packing & loading & taping & cleaning & whatnot, the skin was hard, red, & shiny, and I was worried about not getting any feeling in my fingertips for a while--it felt like I had several layers of dried glue over them. I've given myself quite a few hand treatments courtesy of surplus from my past job, using sloughing & moisterizing products meant for feet. The past couple of days the damaged skin has been (painfully) coming off in bits & pieces, & it seems that the skin underneath will be fine.
My time is running short. I'm looking forward to a job fair for employment, and hope to get back into the swing of things soon. BIG HUGS to everyone back in Ohio, and to everyone here in Tucson too!
Oh, fer cryin' out loud...
General | Posted 17 years agoFor some reason Nero PhotoSnap Viewer is suddenly unable to open my scans. My scanner is working nicely & saving scans in my documents, but when I try to edit through PhotoSnap, I get the same message..."File cannot be opened."
This is a major bummer, since I was using PhotoSnap to rotate, level, crop, adjust pixels, etc of some of the stuff I scan. It's very frustrating not being able to neaten up a scan.
I am able open the same scans in Paintshop. To the best of my knowledge, Paintshop can only rotate, it cannot crop, level, etc like Nero PhotoSnap does.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I have a mess of older stuff & RPG-game doodles I wanted to post. :P
This is a major bummer, since I was using PhotoSnap to rotate, level, crop, adjust pixels, etc of some of the stuff I scan. It's very frustrating not being able to neaten up a scan.
I am able open the same scans in Paintshop. To the best of my knowledge, Paintshop can only rotate, it cannot crop, level, etc like Nero PhotoSnap does.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I have a mess of older stuff & RPG-game doodles I wanted to post. :P
About to moove to anudder locowtion
General | Posted 17 years agoEDIT: I was asked whether I'd be doing anything special for my 500th Page View.
Well, why not?
The first 5 (one for each hundred) who comment on this journal entry will get free art of some sort.
I am doing this just for fun.
Maybe it will be a group shot. Maybe a mess of singles. Maybe a combo. Dunno if it will be colored. There is no time frame to this at all. I can guarantee that they won't even get started on until after I've moved. You'll get what you get when you get it.
If you're one of the first 5 and would rather not be included in this, please say so.
We now return you to our regularly-scheduled panic attack...
GAH! GAH GAH GAH too much to do GAH GAH so much not done GAH GAH GAH can't do this until I do that can't do that because I don't have the other thing, burn it all burn it all!
I'm getting ready to move to a land where wild-growing herbs & spices form vast treelike forests, thundering herds of friendly mustangs will accompany you as you float down the lazy, pure rivers, any vegetable or fruit you can name is being farmed in your backyard, the air is so humidity-free that there is no rain or snow (precipitation just forms on the ground), and meats of all cuts grow on trees (if you want rare, pick from a sapling--for well-done, pick from an aged tree).
I begin to think that maybe The Best Roomie In The World is exaggerating a little.
The good news is, I don't have to be out of Ohio by the 31st. Don't get me wrong, I'll be out of state soon enough; perhaps the 2nd week of January. I just have to be out of the place I'm currently renting.
I've liked the privacy I've had here, I've liked always having a parking place close to the door, and I've really enjoyed how happy my aging spazzhund has been to have a plot of land to patrol & mark as her own. But it's financially impossible to continue living here.
So, I have like 12 days to get my stuff packed & out of here.
12 days to decide what to cram into my banged-up Taurus & cram into the equally-banged-up storage unit & decide what I hope to sell because I have no idea what to do with it if it doesn't. And deal with family issues, doctor's visit, the holidays, and please just give me a flame-torch because that would make everything so much easier!
Well, why not?
The first 5 (one for each hundred) who comment on this journal entry will get free art of some sort.
I am doing this just for fun.
Maybe it will be a group shot. Maybe a mess of singles. Maybe a combo. Dunno if it will be colored. There is no time frame to this at all. I can guarantee that they won't even get started on until after I've moved. You'll get what you get when you get it.
If you're one of the first 5 and would rather not be included in this, please say so.
We now return you to our regularly-scheduled panic attack...
GAH! GAH GAH GAH too much to do GAH GAH so much not done GAH GAH GAH can't do this until I do that can't do that because I don't have the other thing, burn it all burn it all!
I'm getting ready to move to a land where wild-growing herbs & spices form vast treelike forests, thundering herds of friendly mustangs will accompany you as you float down the lazy, pure rivers, any vegetable or fruit you can name is being farmed in your backyard, the air is so humidity-free that there is no rain or snow (precipitation just forms on the ground), and meats of all cuts grow on trees (if you want rare, pick from a sapling--for well-done, pick from an aged tree).
I begin to think that maybe The Best Roomie In The World is exaggerating a little.
The good news is, I don't have to be out of Ohio by the 31st. Don't get me wrong, I'll be out of state soon enough; perhaps the 2nd week of January. I just have to be out of the place I'm currently renting.
I've liked the privacy I've had here, I've liked always having a parking place close to the door, and I've really enjoyed how happy my aging spazzhund has been to have a plot of land to patrol & mark as her own. But it's financially impossible to continue living here.
So, I have like 12 days to get my stuff packed & out of here.
12 days to decide what to cram into my banged-up Taurus & cram into the equally-banged-up storage unit & decide what I hope to sell because I have no idea what to do with it if it doesn't. And deal with family issues, doctor's visit, the holidays, and please just give me a flame-torch because that would make everything so much easier!
Happy Parade Day
General | Posted 17 years ago(as an aside, I just added a couple roughs to the scraps)
I like to tell people that my mother has a prize-winning ass, and every Christmas she parades it downtown.
This isn't entirely accurate; she actually has FOUR prize-winners; 3 large standards and one mini, and only 2 have ever been in the parade.
Of course, I'm talking about her donkeys.
And the parade downtown is Lebanon, Ohio's annual entirely-equine-drawn Christmas parade. This is an extremely popular event that people pack the streets to see. Every entry, be it a wagon, trailer, cart, etc, is pulled by a horse, donkey, or mule. No motorized vehicles permitted. Some of those rigs are quite impressive, either as restored antiques or colossal sizes or creative designs. There are 2 parades, one at 1:00 and the other larger one at 7:00pm when the rigs are all lit up with festive lights & baubles. It really is a sight to see.
The mini-donk Tinkerbell will be in the parade again this year; Ruby, the undisputed star of the herd who was in the very first Lebanon Xmas Parades, has been retired from this event. As usual, I'll be putting in time as groom & general lackey so Mom can enjoy herself a little.
Hopefully I'll be able to take a pic or two to share.
I like to tell people that my mother has a prize-winning ass, and every Christmas she parades it downtown.
This isn't entirely accurate; she actually has FOUR prize-winners; 3 large standards and one mini, and only 2 have ever been in the parade.
Of course, I'm talking about her donkeys.
And the parade downtown is Lebanon, Ohio's annual entirely-equine-drawn Christmas parade. This is an extremely popular event that people pack the streets to see. Every entry, be it a wagon, trailer, cart, etc, is pulled by a horse, donkey, or mule. No motorized vehicles permitted. Some of those rigs are quite impressive, either as restored antiques or colossal sizes or creative designs. There are 2 parades, one at 1:00 and the other larger one at 7:00pm when the rigs are all lit up with festive lights & baubles. It really is a sight to see.
The mini-donk Tinkerbell will be in the parade again this year; Ruby, the undisputed star of the herd who was in the very first Lebanon Xmas Parades, has been retired from this event. As usual, I'll be putting in time as groom & general lackey so Mom can enjoy herself a little.
Hopefully I'll be able to take a pic or two to share.
Today's Lesson
General | Posted 17 years agoThank you, everyone, for the hugs & support!
After an extremely long day of hours-long conversations, the decision I needed to make is all but made.
Oddly enough, all the planning, logistics, and formalities that seemed so overwhelming before feel like nothing now. As hard as it was admitting that things were rapidly getting worse, it was nothing compared to having to decide one of two options. It was hard. HARD. But now everything feels so much more manageable and, well, easy.
Here I am, in a deep dark tunnel, and I was agonizing over which exit to aim for. Silly me. Sometimes it isn't the exit that's important, so much as getting out at all. ^_~
After an extremely long day of hours-long conversations, the decision I needed to make is all but made.
Oddly enough, all the planning, logistics, and formalities that seemed so overwhelming before feel like nothing now. As hard as it was admitting that things were rapidly getting worse, it was nothing compared to having to decide one of two options. It was hard. HARD. But now everything feels so much more manageable and, well, easy.
Here I am, in a deep dark tunnel, and I was agonizing over which exit to aim for. Silly me. Sometimes it isn't the exit that's important, so much as getting out at all. ^_~
Dilemma
General | Posted 17 years agoArrrrgh, what a decision I need to make...
For some time now, I've hard various hardships which I'll spare you from mentioning; just suffice to say it's been a very harsh 2008, culminating in a utterly crappy November. I've been depressed for quite some time. It's become clear that I won't likely be able to stay at my place any more.
My dearest friend has been offering for months for me to move in with him, but it involves me moving from Ohio to Arizona. Another close friend local to me has generously told me I can crash at his place, but there are already 4-6 people there, and the landlord has already indicated to me that if I move in I should first have a job (which is completely understandable).
Because of rent being due in December & other issues (like various utilities about to be shut off), my decision must be made ASAP.
Plus to Arizona:
- I'd be with someone who's the best friend I'll ever have, he's the family I've chosen (versus blood-relative).
-The job market there is conservatively 5 times better than where I'm at now.
- Having a roomie saves money
- Having a room-mate who I know I can live with saves my sanity
Minus:
- My friend is the ONLY connection I have in Arizona, if something happens, I'm screwed
- I'm far, far away from the friends I value so much here in Ohio
Plus to the Ohio 'group' home:
- Lots of roomies = save more $
- I stay close to my Ohio circle of friends
- I'm in a state & area I'm familiar with
Minus:
- I'm not sure I'd fit in with or be happy in the the current living dynamic there
- I'm still stuck in the same crappy job market
- Living out of boxes sucks ass
So anyways. Suggestions, words of support, and especially hugs are all very heartily solicited for this sloppy old rat.
For some time now, I've hard various hardships which I'll spare you from mentioning; just suffice to say it's been a very harsh 2008, culminating in a utterly crappy November. I've been depressed for quite some time. It's become clear that I won't likely be able to stay at my place any more.
My dearest friend has been offering for months for me to move in with him, but it involves me moving from Ohio to Arizona. Another close friend local to me has generously told me I can crash at his place, but there are already 4-6 people there, and the landlord has already indicated to me that if I move in I should first have a job (which is completely understandable).
Because of rent being due in December & other issues (like various utilities about to be shut off), my decision must be made ASAP.
Plus to Arizona:
- I'd be with someone who's the best friend I'll ever have, he's the family I've chosen (versus blood-relative).
-The job market there is conservatively 5 times better than where I'm at now.
- Having a roomie saves money
- Having a room-mate who I know I can live with saves my sanity
Minus:
- My friend is the ONLY connection I have in Arizona, if something happens, I'm screwed
- I'm far, far away from the friends I value so much here in Ohio
Plus to the Ohio 'group' home:
- Lots of roomies = save more $
- I stay close to my Ohio circle of friends
- I'm in a state & area I'm familiar with
Minus:
- I'm not sure I'd fit in with or be happy in the the current living dynamic there
- I'm still stuck in the same crappy job market
- Living out of boxes sucks ass
So anyways. Suggestions, words of support, and especially hugs are all very heartily solicited for this sloppy old rat.
Scraps Attack
General | Posted 17 years agoI have uploaded a whole mess of very rough pencil sketches to my Scraps section. They were all inspired by & done during game sessions with my local tabletop RPG group. We tend to be boisterous & have a lot of fun. ^_^
I don't really expect anyone outside of the group to find any of them amusing, since they are mostly in-jokes and like all in-jokes you 'had to be there' in order to appreciate just how funny we thought the situation or the joke was. But you are welcome to view them anyways. Keep in mind they are very rough!
The systems used while these doodles were done were Ironclaw, and D&D (with a furry twist).
I don't really expect anyone outside of the group to find any of them amusing, since they are mostly in-jokes and like all in-jokes you 'had to be there' in order to appreciate just how funny we thought the situation or the joke was. But you are welcome to view them anyways. Keep in mind they are very rough!
The systems used while these doodles were done were Ironclaw, and D&D (with a furry twist).
