THE 'eathen in 'is blindness bows down to wood an' stone;
'E don't obey no orders unless they is ‘is own;
'E keeps 'is side-arms awful: 'e leaves 'em all about,
An' then up comes the Regiment an' pokes the 'eathen out.

All along o' dirtiness, all along o' mess
All along o' doin' things rather-more-or-less
All along of abby-nay, kul an' hazar-ho,
Mind you keep your rifle an' yourself jus' so!

The young recruit is 'aughty - 'e draf's from Gawd knows where;
They bid 'im show 'is stockin's an' lay 'is mattress square;
‘E calls it bloomin' nonsense - 'e doesn't know no more -
An' then up comes 'is Company an kicks 'im round the floor !

The young recruit is 'ammered - 'e takes it very hard;
'E 'angs 'is 'ead an' mutters - 'e sulks about the yard;
'E talks o' "cruel tyrants" which 'e'll swing for by-an-by,
An 'the others 'ears an' mocks 'im, an' the boy goes orf to cry.

The young recruit is silly - 'e thinks o' suicide.
‘Es lost 'is gutter-devil; 'e 'asn't got 'is pride;
But day by day they kicks 'im, which 'elps 'im on a bit,
Till 'e finds 'isself one mornin' with a full an' proper kit.

Gettin' clear o’ dirtiness, gettin' done with mess,
Gettin' shut o' doin' things rather-more-or-less;
Not so fond of abby-nay, kul, nor hazar-ho
Learns to keep 'is rifle 'an 'isself jus' so !

The young recruit is 'appy - 'e throws a chest to suit;
You see 'im grow mustaches; you 'ear 'im slap 'is boot.
'E learns to drop the "bloodies" from every word ‘e slings
An' 'e shows an 'ealthy brisket when 'e strips for bars an' rings.

The cruel-tyrant-sergeants they watch 'im 'arf a year;
They watch 'im with 'is comrades, they watch 'im with 'is beer;
They watch 'im with the women at the regimental dance,
And the cruel-tyrant-sergeants send 'is name along for Lance.

An' now 'e's 'arf o' nothin', an' all a private yet,
‘Is room they up an' rags 'im to see what they will get.
They rags 'im low an' cunnin', each dirty trick they can,
But 'e learns to sweat 'is temper an' 'e learns to sweat 'is man.

An', last, a Colour-Sergeant, as such to be obeyed,
'E schools 'is men at cricket, 'e tells 'em on parade;
They sees 'im quick an' 'andy, uncommon set an' smart,
An' so 'e talks to orficers which 'ave the Core at 'eart.

'E learns to do 'is watchin' without it showin' plain;
'E learns to save a dummy, an' shove 'im straight again;
'E learns to check a ranker that's buyin' leave to shirk;
An' 'e learns to make men like 'im so they'll learn to like their work.

An' when it comes to marchin' he'll see their socks are right,
An' when it comes to action 'e shows 'em how to sight.
'E knows their ways of thinkin' and just what's in their mind.
'E knows when they are takin' on an' when they've fell be'ind.

'E knows each talkin' corp'ral that leads a squad astray;
'E feels 'is innards 'eavin', 'is bowels givin' way;
'E sees the blue-white faces all tryin' 'ard to grin,
An' 'e stands an' waits an' suffers till it's time to cap 'em in.

An' now the hugly bullets come peckin' through the dust,
An' no one wants to face 'em, but every beggar must;
So, like a man in irons, which isn't glad to go,
They moves 'em off by companies uncommon stiff an' slow.

Of all 'is five years' schoolin' they don't remember much
Excep' the not retreatin', the step an' keepin' touch.
It looks like teachin' wasted when they duck an' spread an' 'op -
But if 'e 'adn't learned 'em they'd be all about the shop.

An' now it's 'Oo goes backward? " an' now it's " 'Oo comes on?
An’ now it's Get the doolies," an' now the Captain's gone;
An' now it's bloody murder, but all the while they 'ear
'Is voice, the same as barrick-drill, a-shepherdin' the rear.

E's just as sick as they are, 'is 'eart is like to split,
But 'e works 'em, works 'em, works 'em till he feels 'em take the bit;
The rest is 'oldin' steady till the watchful bugles play,
An' 'e lifts 'em, lifts 'em, lifts 'em through the charge that wins the day!

The 'eathen in 'is blindness bows down to wood an' stone;
'E don't obey no orders unless they is 'is own.
The 'eathen in 'is blindness must end where 'e began,
But the backbone of the Army is the Non-commissioned Man !

Keep away from dirtiness - keep away from mess,
Don't get into doin' things rather-more-or-less
Let's ha' done with abby-nay, kul, and hazar-ho;
Mind you keep your rifle an' yourself jus' so !

-Rudyard Kipling, 1895

I highly Recommend Scott Adams on the significance (or lack thereof) of the current election from a Rationalist perspective: http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/0.....the-narrative/ . He gets extra points for being a left-ish sort of guy (endorsed Hilary in close states, Hilary, Johnson, or Stein in safely 'blue' states) who made that post on November 7th.

So it's someplace I won't forget it, I'm creating this journal entry to remind myself what art I have coming from various artists. If you're one of the artists in question, please don't take this as nagging: it's public because most of the pics involve one or more friends who are also on FA and I want them to be able to see it, which is why it's journal rather than the front-page listing that some commissioners have taken to doing.

On a related note, if you think I've listed something that was already delivered or that you have no record of, please contact me. I try not to be a nagging commissioner, but sometimes the flip side of that is that I let things go so long that the commission may have been lost in the sauce at some point. I have documentation for all of these.

Inu-Jean:
-Dusan and Hilde, full shade, 4/15.

Loco-Salt:
- Keri and Linn, Full Color and Drawn BG, 12/14

Mamabliss:
- Keri and Linn, 5 page B&W comic, 4/14.
-Linn and human, 5 page B&W comic, 4/14 (may change commission if it's not started yet)

Zillford:
-various, 2014.

What kills me is I -think- there's at least one or two other artists, looking at my paypal, but that's all the ones I can confirm from saved FA Notes/E-mails x.x

I need to be more careful about this sort of thing.

...Even if I know enough about games of chance to -know- better. Still, a free entry's a free entry, and who knows, one might get lucky.

I don't think anyone reads my journals, but for those who -do-,  Krispup is giving away $1,111 to the winner of a raffle. For those who are interested, the raffle page and the rules to enter it are here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5266668/

Good luck, everyone.

I'm a sucker for mice, as most people know, and so I can't resist giving Malkanis a helping hand here. She's put up her Mousie for a YCH auction, and I think a quick perusal of her gallery should serve to whet anyone's appetite and interest.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5122207/

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

-Laurence Binyon

...since I have a thing for mice in general and enthusiastically debauched ones in particular (certain rodent friends of mine -might- just know this already), the sliver of a shot at snagging some art with his character Molly was too good to pass up.

 Koyote's relevant journal is here (http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4239448/), and while I know I don't have a ton of watchers at the moment, I suspect most of you that like what I have up thus far will probably like most of what he's commissioning as well.

These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling,
And took their wages, and are dead.


Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay.

-A.E. Houseman

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord

-Rudyard Kipling

...I've always rather enjoyed  SamanthaFeline 's body of commissioned work (no, too obvious), and since she's got a little contest under way, I might as well give it a try. Of course, now I'll need a few other journal entries. Curse you, Samantha, you've gotten me roped into writing again.