I don't remember what the count was before I started looking today but I have time to look through the immense submission list of things that those I watch have posted. Sorry for such delayed favoriting of your arts - I think I still have things to look at from 2011. My life has been too busy - sorry for the delays.

My current submissions total is 7776.

Today's the last day to download a free shiny level 100 Dialgg from Gamestop on Pokemon Black, Black 2, White and White2. Go there, turn on your game, use the mystery gift option and search for a local connection.

Starting tomorrow, there will be a shiny level 100 Palkia available the same way. I forget the end date for that one but after Palika ends you will be able to get a shiny level 100 Giratina.

I didn't even have to enter the store to get mine, the signal was available all the way out to the parking lot. I was at Gamestop on Friday and saw the sign, but i didn't have my DS with me. Took it yesterday and got my free pokemon.

I have not had time to look at journals & images from those I watch here for a while. Over the past (about) 2 years I think. So, I've got over 7000 submissions to look at. I look at the oldest stuff first, so, you may see some favorites from me on images you posted quite a while ago. You don't have to post a message on my page to thank me for the fave or anything, I am going to be looking at lots of images so i am sorry if i bombard anyone I watch with faves. I will probably be looking at images on the weekends for quite a while to catch up.

Hello to all of my friends!

I had kind of vanished from FA for a while because the things going on in life didn't give me much free time to do online stuff and I have both some of my furry friends and my family on Facebook so I have been mostly active there for the past year.

If anyone who is not already on my friends list on Facebook wants to be added there, please send me a friend request - I am Mae-Lin Panda there. If you have a name different than your name here on Facebook, please comment on this or send me a private message here so I know it's you. Jon and I occasionally get friend requests from people we don't know and we don't accept them.

Also...

Even though I can't go to Anthrocon this year, I still got to see a few furries. My most wonderful brother is there and since I live in the Pittsburgh area, I went to pick up him and a few friends and we had dinner at Bucca.

I had some time this evening so I added a few more of my Anthrocon 2012 pictures. I've still got some more of Kin, and I have not posted a single shot of the parade yet, but they mostly turned out at least a little blurry cause the furries were walking ... I will post more when I have time.

So, I uploaded a few of my photos from Anthrocon 2012. However, it's now time to get ready for bed and i'll be away from the house (and computer) for a few days. So, i'll have to upload more photos later.

Well, Anthrocon is unfortunately over. But, it was fun. I have lots of pictuers to post. Unfortunately, most of my fursuit parade pics turned out blurry cause the furries were walking... i'll post the best of my pictures of suits soon.

I've been so terribly behind at looking at submissions... and I have some time today so i'm sorry if it looks like i'm going crazy with my 'favorite' button today, i'm just a bit behind in looking at things and trying to catch up on all of the excellent art and photos that everyone I watch submits.

So far, no one has indicated that they want to (or are able to) get together tomorrow evening for dinner here or anywhere else I posted about it. So, based on the lack of interest, we may just end up not going out at all. If anyone does want to and is able to go, please make sure to reply online tonight or text me because once I go to bed tonight, I won't see any messages online until I get home tomorrow evening.

My keyboard is dead- Just an FYI


... re-booted the computer, its now workiing again

Hello! I know this is kind of late notice, but my birthday happens to be this week. My boyfriend Jon and I are planning to have dinner at the Dynasty International Buffet in Cranberry around 6pm on 5/31. Anyone who wants to join us is welcome. If possible, please let me know as a note or reply to this post or a telephone call so that I can make sure we get a table big enough for whoever wants to join us.

I know it's close to Anthrocon so many poeople are probably saving their $$ but I would love to enjoy dinner for my birthday with some friends so I hope some people can come!

I have multiple ways to contact some people, so please don't think i'm pesting you if you see this on FA and Facebook and also get a text message or something. I just want to make sure anyone who may want to come gets the message.

Please let me know if you have any questions and you are welcome to pass this message on to anyone who I happen to know who lives in the Pittsburgh area or will happen to be near there on May 31.

Today is Jon's birthday, he said bad things always happen on his birthday... unfortunately, this year is no exception.

He had to work and while I was shopping in Robinson during his shift, I was involved in a car accident. it was not my fault, the other guy ran a read light and i hit him... i would have seen him and stopped in time if the other person waiting at the light next to him was not stopped out past the 'stop here on red' line.

The guy and his wife were HORRIBLE, he asked for MY insurance and said I went through a red light, he and his wife proceeded to yell at me and inform me that they will just go find witnesses (everyone else was gone of course) his wife said she will call the police and I told her to do so, I was REALLY uncomfortable being by myself with these 2 people yelling at me... When the officer arrived, he was actually really nice, took a statement from each of us, and gave us an official paper with info and the number our insurance agencies could call for the police report. He had to put in the report that both drivers indicated that they had a green light... cause that's what the other guy said too. There are no cameras at that intersection and no witnesses

I called my insurance and they are of course backing me, but his insurance believes him cause that's their job i guess. My insurance told me that I am not at fault, his insurance is saying the same about him. Our insurance companies will each fix our own cars, and we each have to pay our deductable. So, now I have to spend $500 to get my front bumper fixed. How fun. My dad looked at it and pointed out there's more damage than I thought, but I guess things could be a LOT worse...

My boyfriend Jon got an excellent deal for us we could not pass up... although it caused me some serious stress! He managed to get a brand new queen sized mattress for us for $22. It is a model generally sold for over $400 and has a layer of memory foam. Our current mattress is over 10 years old and we are starting to feel the springs.

First difficulty - the old mattress & box spring are double, not queen. The frame we are currently using is my fouton frame which is only double size. we plan to try to stick the bigger mattress on the smaller box spring as a temporary measure. (later we can get our other bed frame that adjusts to queen size after we purchase a queen box spring.)

Second difficulty - how do we get it home? we live 40 miles from the location where it was purchased. it would not fit in my car, or in the minivan, and might with difficulty POSSIBLY fit in the pickup truck bed... which is currently full of power tools and carpentry equipment. We ended up getting it home today, literally strapped to the top of my car! I was rather nervous the whole way home. My brother's former car was totaled by a mattress (as he told me) so I assume someone lost a mattress in transit. My mom has also seen a mattress not tied securely fly off of the top of a car. But, i kept my speed below 50 and got home safely. I unstrapped it and it took 3 of us to get it up the stairs. Tomorrow we will see about putting it on the bed cause i have to go get some new correctly sized sheets before we can use it.

Anyway, a brand new mattress for $22 was entirely too good to pass up.

My week has been stressful. My mom went to the hospital with pneumonia last week, and has now been in the hospital for an entire week. After mostly recovering from the pneumonia and being told she would go home the next day, her heart went into a-fib (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrial_fibrillation ... for more info if anyone is curious) and the doctors are working with multiple medications to get her to be successfully out of a-fib. I am hoping she will come home sometime this week.

Caddie - if you want mom's phone number in the hospital send me a text message to my cell phone and i'll send it to you.

For those who know me and know how terrified I am of doctors and needles, you'll be proud of me.

I have asthma, so I should have a flu shot every year. But that's a needle so no-no-no-no-no-no-NO. I had an appointment with my doctor today to get new asthma medicines, and she said "you need a flu shot" I asked her if I could have the kind they spray in your nose instead of the needle, but she said those are bad for people with asthma so no. I debated it a little and finally agreed to the flu shot, the medical assistant came in with the needle and brough in another guy so I could squeeze someone's hand with my other hand. I actually surprised myself, I didn't panic or cry.

So, after I agreed to the flu shot, the doctor said she wanted to get some bloodwork done but she will wait. She said she wants to see me in a month for a follow up visit on my asthma and to discuss the blood sample she wants and getting a pneumonia vaccine. The really interesting thing is that at this time, I don't even feel worried or panicked about going back in a month.

Maybe the steps I have taken to try to work through my needle fear are working. 2 years ago, I went to the ER for my asthma, and I could barely breathe. I didn't have much choice, they wanted to admit me to the hospital. they gave me some valium before putting in the needle to take a blood sample and start the IV. Since then, I realized that I will HAVE to deal with needles at some point in my life again. no matter what. So, I decided to try to do something about my fear.

Earlier in this year, I designed an image on the computer similar to the symbol my deceased cousin Jeff used for his signature/logo type thing. (It's a lot to explain, if you want to know more, let me know.) The day after drawing it, I went with Jon and his friend Tim when they were getting tattoos done. (I helped design Jon's too from an image we found online.) I watched Jon get his done and then I let them put the image I designed on my arm. I actually watched the whole time it was done. (You really can't see the needles, and I got it in a spot that's generally less painless.)

So, now I am working to design the rest of the image for my tattoo, it's currently just a black symbol. I am planning to add some more symbolic images to it, and i am planning a design related to my religion on my other arm.

"a gorila, a puffer fish and a bag lady all made love and had a little baby and supposedly I'm the one. but at this point thats only purely speculation. on halloween people smile at me the rest of the year, they dial the police they kick me off there lawn and shoot me off there cars but on halloween there giving me candy bars. trick or treat it's 5:30 in the morning im still out..im standing on your lawn and I'm lookin through your window *tap tap* I see a gummy bear on the table, ya gonna eat that?"

If you are the first to guess the source of the Halloween quote, you will get a prize, a small piece of art by me. (I know, that's not much of a prize. but a contest is still fun.)


I didn't check the terms of service, I hope that this isn't against the rules or something. Sometimes it seems there are too many rules around here.

Ok, Thead wins... Here's the whole thing:


Song title: Every Halloween

Artist: Insane Clown Posse




I paint my face every year all day
The 31st ain't nothin' to me, another holiday
All of a sudden face paintin's in style
And I've been doin' ever since Gilligan's island was on

But try to live all year though
Try pickin' up a chick when your painted up like a weirdo
I'm 68 years old I still trick or treat
You think I care? Shit I'm tryin' to find somethin' to eat

And tell your old ladies to keep your pennys
If it ain't above a quarter, don't even bother
I'm sick of these little kids to I know you did it
Put a brick in your bag and hit me in the head with it

And then they take my candy and diss
Look what I got from the fat guy painted like kiss
All year I'm a psycho uh huh I see
But every Halloween, you wanna be me

They every Halloween, they want to be me
They every Halloween, they want to be me

A gorilla, a puffer fish and a bag lady
All made love and had a little baby
And supposedly I'm the one
But at this point that's only purely speculation

On Halloween people smile at me
The rest of the year, they dial the police
They kick me off there lawn and shoot me off there cars
But on Halloween there givin' me candy bars

Trick or treat it's 5:30 in the mornin'
I'm still out I'm standin' on your lawn
And I'm lookin' through your window, tap tap
I see a gummy bear on the table, ya gonna eat that?

My paint don't come off, and if it did
You think I'm scary now, shit
I look like Frankenstein that's been slapped with ugly
Yet children hug me on Halloween

Every Halloween they want to be me
They every Halloween, they want to be me

Three, six, four people hate my guts
On Halloween though, they wanna ride my nuts
They dress up as monsters, freaks, and clowns
And pass jelly bears, goobers, and suckers around

They next day when I try to trick or treat
It's get off the porch or I'll call the cops you freak
I don't understand you people but that's okay
I'll see you all next time you try to be Violent J

They every Halloween, they want to be me
They every Halloween, they want to be me
They every Halloween, they want to be me
They every Halloween, they want to be me

Everybody in the house
(Well I don't care)
Everybody in the house
(Well I don't care)

Everybody in the house
(Well I don't care)
Everybody in the house
(Well I don't care)

I had been trying to get in touch with a friend (non-furry) whose e-mail seemed to be no longer valid and her phone was disconnected. I remembered she always talked about doing things on Facebook so I joined it to see if i could find her.

I found her with no problem, and I sent a friend request.

Anyway, I don't really feel comfortable with the social networking sites that seem to want your real info, so I used Mae-Lin
Panda as my name. (Now the people I went to high school with will never find me, which is partially the point of the alternate name.)

I will probably not be using the facebook thing much, just wanted to find my friend who I have not talked to in a long time. However, if anyone who I am friends with here wants to add me I don't mind.

I wanted to post a note directed to our friends regarding WPAFW 2011 ... Jon and I did not attend in 2010, for reasons I choose not to discuss. A few friends commented that they missed us and we had been planning to attend this year to spend time with those who seemed to want us around.

However, with Jon having his new job and being in his first 90 days, he didn't want to ask too much to start with. He ended up getting scheduled to work the entire weekend of WPAFW. He's scheduled for Evening on Saturday and daylight Sunday so we can't go to any part of it. I dont remember what his schedule is for Friday but it would be kind of pointless for us to pay for registration for just Friday evening.

So, even though we would like to be able to see some of our friends at WPAFW this year, we can't.

Hopefully, since Jon and I both have new jobs now, we can get together with some friends soon. I do miss everyone.

Hello to anyone who watches me...
someone who I watch is requesting responses on a survey

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/...../#cid:21739076

Also, she's got lots of nice art so you should watch her too.. she draws good bunnies

So, the good news is that my boyfriend  StarRazor got a new job. The down side is that I have even less time online for anything. I am soooo behind in submissions and journals. I know there are others more behind than me but I want to go through them all cause I am finding submissions that have been deleted before I even get to see them.

Today is the first day since he started working that we have both had a day off. He does not drive, so when he works and I don't, I still have to go out to the area where he works on the weekend and spend the day kind of hanging out. It is planned to move closer to work, but for now (for both of us) I have to drive about 1 1/2 to 2 hours in morning or evening rush-hour time or and about an hour when it's not TRAFFIC time.... each way... so its more effective financially and time wise to jus thang out at the shopping center till he is done when I don't work.

So, I rarely have time at home. Today is good. At this point, I don't know when I will have a day to stay home in the near future.

Anyway, sorry for being so invisible.

So, the good news is that my boyfriend  StarRazor got a new job. The down side is that I have even less time online for anything. I am soooo behind in submissions and journals. I know there are others more behind than me but I want to go through them all cause I am finding submissions that have been deleted before I even get to see them.

Today is the first day since he started working that we have both had a day off. He does not drive, so when he works and I don't, I still have to go out to the area where he works on the weekend and spend the day kind of hanging out. It is planned to move closer to work, but for now (for both of us) I have to drive about 1 1/2 to 2 hours in morning or evening rush-hour time or and about an hour when it's not TRAFFIC time.... each way... so its more effective financially and time wise to jus thang out at the shopping center till he is done when I don't work.

So, I rarely have time at home. Today is good. At this point, I don't know when I will have a day to stay home in the near future.

Anyway, sorry for being so invisible.

My boyfriend  StarRazor got a call Monday to schedule a job interview on Tuesday. I dropped him off near the location before work and he went to the interview at 10. He was offered the job at the interview. He starts training on Friday at 9am.

Because of this, my part time job needs to be placed on hold cause it's in greensburg and his new job is in the Robinson area near my full time job. So, it would not be financially reasonable to take him to work and then go to my part time job on the same day. I got someone to cover the shifts I am currently scheduled for. After he starts and we see what the schedule is like for sure then I can go ahead and either transfer to the Robinson location of my part time job or just quit temporarily. As long as my manager marks me as re-hireable (which I am sure she will) then I can always get re-hired there part time once we move closer to work.

I am wondering if some of my photos that I have to upload or will take in the future will be acceptable with the constntly changing acceptable upload policy. So, I decided to sign up for another place to put up my photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maelinpanda/

Anything that I feel may violate the upload policy will go there. Then, I can make a journal and post a link.

If there are any things like my bunny photos or kitty photos that anyone in particular enjoys and wants me to keep posting here, let me know.

Next, even though I'm not a very talented artist, I plan to work on some arts in my free time and if I think they are good enough, I might post some here.

So, I am learning a lot at my new job. I work in education for nurses. I had to write an advertisement for a training teleconference on the topic of "Compassion Fatigue" the other day. Prior to this point, I had never heard that specific terminology. So, I looked up some articles online and consulted with my supervisor on the subject. The articles all list Compassion Fatigue as something that can easily affect those in the health care field, where you kind of become un-compassionate after working with people who are sick or in pain all of the time and not being able to save them all. Another article referred to people who work with animals, because no matter what you do, you can't save them all or rescue them all from bad homes.

After reading enough to write a short advertisement for our training teleconference (which my supervisor was really impressed with) I realized that Compassion Fatigue affects so much more than just those in medical jobs. Anyone who has worked on telephone customer service and spends all day listening to people complain and not being able to fix all of the problems, anyone working in retail who sees grumpy and unfriendly customers all of the time. Even simply driving your car through rush-hour traffic daily can cause compassion fatigue cause you run out of compassion when you see all of the aggressive drivers pushing everyone else out of the way nearly causing accidents on a daily basis.

So, the reason for this journal, the subject of Compassion Fatigue is new to me but I realize that I have had this feeling off and on for years in both my personal life and in jobs I have had. Now, since I have learned about it, I can learn what to do about it.

I encourage my friends to all look at themselves and their outlook on life. Until I had to read about it for work, I thought what I had been feeling was normal. Compassion Fatigue is actually related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Below is one website, search "compassion fatigue" online for lots more articles.

http://www.compassionfatigue.org/

Hopefully knowing about this will help some of my friends who have high stress jobs or any other situation in their lives that end up causing compassion fatigue.

I am really happy with my new job and how many things I am actually learning.