My thanks to everyone who attended. I hope that somehow Tug could see how much love there was for him.

There were people taking logs, and I'll post links when they are up. In addition, there are at least two memorial pieces being written about him, for there is much to tell about the man.

The memorial service for Tugrik on FurryMuck will be this coming Friday (August 8, 2025) at 9 pm CST (10 EST, 8 MST, 7 PST). Instructions for how to attend are on the Park bulletin board.

Please pass the word to all who may be interested.

Tug died earlier today, and it's hard to process about him being gone. I hadn't heard from him in several years -- this was not the kind of update I wanted.

Steve Martin posted just today that Brian O'Connell died this morning: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/11171071/

Wikifur has a quick writeup of his cause of death:
Brian died in the early hours of July 2, 2025 (09:00 am) while temporarily residing at the furry house, Casa de Martin,[8][9] being found by one of the tenants, animator Bob Guthrie. The called-in Santa Ana Fire Department was unable to revive Brian, with the coroner taking him away.

Reason of death was due to cardiac arrest.


He was one of the Greymuzzles that I knew mostly in passing -- spoke to him only a few times, but he was a big name artist and influential in the early fandom. If you don't know him, you can read more about him here: https://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Brian_O%27Connell

It's been a busy month -- I'm fine; no interesting news. Went to the Dallas "No Kings" protest and had fun. Finishing up a cover commission for Uncle Bear publishing.

Now it's time to trot off to a convention.

Still here.

Been dealing with (another) kidney stone. On the (sort of) bright side, I've lost 10 lbs. This is NOT the way to diet, but hopefully I can keep it off.

We're tinkering with my meds now -- the docs and I are a research team, investigating "how to keep Ms. Mel in the very best of health for a very long time." The heart's gone a bit yippie-skippy, but we're tracking that issue down, and we're going to hammer that kidney stone one way or another.

I've got excellent docs; I like them and they seem to like me. Same with my exercise guy.

This kind of "bond", where you have a team working for you that you "manage" by swapping information between the groups is essential as you get older. Exercise guy gets in on the medical info (so he can adjust exercise), nutritionist gets the information (so she can suggest strategies to lower my chances of kidney stones), Urologist gets information about what the cardiologist saw (so she's aware of and can contact him as needed) and primary care physician gets a brief update about all of them. That way, nobody is practicing medicine in the dark, which is a good way to get a bad medical result.

Many of us know Terrie Smith, who was one of the major artists in the early days of furry fandom. She's in need of some funds and is offering prints, originals, and commissions at a very fair price.

Check her out! https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/11118601/

The TFF art show was quite a success (no numbers, but they had to hold TWO auctions) and a lot of artists sold most of their stock. Over half my sculptures sold, much to my everlasting surprise (and, let's be honest... a bit of delight. I get to see two new types of doctors (one for edema, one for evaluating whether surgery will be done on my hand) and the little influx of change will cover things nicely.

So I'm a happy little dragon.

The show will probably expand next year; it's been gradually getting larger and the (smaller) staff this year worked their tails off (mostly Kaje and his staff of three, who were just amazing.) I mostly guarded doors and checked ID and helped check artists out and helped with cleanup. Not as much as last year, but I was being cautious with my hand.

Looking forward to the next con (Soonercon)... I'm down to just four cons now; TFF, Sooner, Further Confusion (gotta see Kitlet and her Coug'r), and Fencon. I may look into picking up another con here in Dallas or some sort of art event.

So... hope y'all have a good Monday. I'm off to do grocery shopping.

Whoa! What a day!

Had a lovely chat with ReblSquirrel -- it's so wonderful having a friend show up to talk (permitted, of course) while on guard duty.. a friend who knows the etiquette of maintaining a station. I was on "adult verification" post, and was surprised at just how active the art show was.

I had expected a slowing of purchases; lots of lookers and fewer buyers. This turned out to be not true -- buyers seemed to swarm the area, and a lot of material went to auction. There was a constant flow of bidders and "instant sale" buyers.

So for right now things look hopeful for artists.

Short journal... I'm tired after an 8 hour shift and 40 minute travel to and from the con. But I did have fun and am delighted to see such solid art sales.

I had an odd (and somewhat enchanting) experience today at Texas Furry Fiesta (well, TWO, actually, but one I wanted to talk about in more detail.) The minor "wow" was when i went to registration, they couldn't find any evidence that I'd paid (I paid with last years' volunteer hours) so I coughed up the dough and after my shift, toddled to reg to politely ask them to look into it (because I am a polite and friendly person.) After some investigation, they found the credits, refunded me, AND... gave me super sponsor swag!!! Because I'd earned it!

Whoa! I don't get sponsor or supersponsor badges because the money is needed more at home. So I was just tickled with all the fun stuff that I got. Won't be able to put in a full 20 hours this time because I couldn't make it on Thursday for setup (hand xray day). But... that was really neat!

But the thing I wanted to muse about for a bit was "being seen" as I sat and checked badges for the adult section of the art show (this is my usual station at TFF. I guard things. Love to do it because I see all kinds of folks.) As I was checking people through, a group came up and this twenty-something guy (cute and funny and perky) said "how long have you been going to conventions?"

I had to think for a moment. "Forty years. Ran several," I said (he'd noticed my Dragoncon tee shirt though I don't think he knew what Dragoncon is.)

"Wow. So, is this your first furry con? Are you someone's grandmother?"

And I explained I was part of the Furrst Fandom. Another wow.

See -- here's the thing: when you're an old woman, not many people are that interested in "seeing" you; in finding out who you are or what you are. When I'm out with my husband and someone finds out that we've been married for 52 (going on 53 years), they ALWAYS ask him "what's the secret" -- as though marriage is something where the husband has to put up with a wife's demands. I get called "little lady" (a trigger expression; that's what I was called when I was going to be spanked for something) or "dear" or even by my first name. When my husband and i are introduced, he's always asked what he did for a living and it's assumed...

You get the picture.

It has been a while since a stranger looked at me (and me at my somewhat scruffiest; plain pants, tee shirt, black cap) and thought I was worth investigating. It was a bit of a rush, but started me thinking about how our experiences shape what we expect... I no longer expect to be able to walk without pain (I sometimes limp when there's little pain, so more out of habit than anything else.) I don't expect to be able to run... etc, etc.

Anyway, a delightful little rush and a heartfelt "thanks" to the passing stranger who took a little time to "see" me. Made my day, it did.

Looking forward to more art show guarding tomorrow!

Yep. Good at self diagnosis. Bone is broken. I go see the bone doc soon.

It only hurts when I do a few things...so I don't do those things. I may be silly but I'm not THAT nuts!

Fell and may have broken my hand (x-ray soon). Will be more communicative after I get it fixed (stabilized... hopefully no operation.)

Meanwhile.... ow!

I'm in Costa Rica, having fun! Will update next week.

So, the first round of "how to survive financial downturn" is up on my catchall blog. I'll probably collect these on a Substack or something at a later date.

https://journalofchimeras.blogspot......orm-31525.html

The second journal for today.

I'm deliberately doing a copy-pasta of this one around the nets in multiple places because the information is going to be hard to find....

Here's the skinny:

Things are going to be economically horrible for a while, and will be worst for those who have little economic power. We'll see an uptick in homelessness even among people with stable jobs, for example, and the ghods forbid that anyone who's living on the economic thin edge ever need medical attention.

I started looking for "advice for surviving a recession if you don't have a lot of money" and the stuff I see (like, "move into lower risk stocks") is just.... just... absurd. The struggling family down the street doesn't have the ability to buy ANY stock at all, much less do brokerage fees and shuffle things around. "Put together a slush fund of 6 months' living expenses"? Oh yeah. I remember those days -- it would be brutal just to try and get together the amount for "six days of living expenses." And 'cut down on eating out.' "Eating out" is one meal at McDonalds every two weeks.

SO -- hive mind question -- I want to put together an Info Docs on "how those who struggle financially can get through a recession."

I need some brilliant ideas.

Whatcha got?

Two journals today...

I've been remiss in posting that Karl Mauer's wife died a week ago. He's grieving and dealing with the double problem of 'at least she's out of her pain' and 'she's gone.' They loved each other deeply.

If you know him and hadn't heard, consider reaching out to Jethric with a note; even just a few lines. He'll soldier through, but the first weeks (with details about funerals and so forth) are a nightmare.

In the initial stages, it's going to hit the South and Southwest and due to the number of unvaccinated and vaccine hesitant folks around, it could get pretty bad. Before widespread vaccination beginning in 1980, it caused 2 million deaths worldwide each )year (https://www.who.int/news-room/facts.....%20each%20year.

If you or your good friends or your family has school aged children (or if you are around them often), check your and their vaccine status. And this is the time to make a list of free and low cost vaccine clinics in your area (generally the county health department will do this and many schools do it.)

Seriously. Make the list. Even just one or two of them near you. Someone WILL need this information this year, and you'll be glad to have it.

Here's my little list for Garland TX: https://journalofchimeras.blogspot......arland-tx.html

CDC recommendations for Healthcare Providers (HCP) in a measles outbreak. This stuff works for the rest of us humans, too.
https://www.cdc.gov/infection-contr.....les/index.html

Knowing where your local resources are can turn you into a hero, helping people in a crisis mode. In addition to the national level resources I've collected here, I've also been collecting a list of local resources (food banks, free clinics, free/low cost immigration help, etc) for the city where I live. Yesterday, someone who helps Afghani refugees asked for the list and I gladly shared it with them.

You might remember the story of the Afghani refugees - families of interpreters and others who risked their lives to support and help our troops during the Afghanistan wars. People like these saved the lives of personnel that my nephew commanded. Musky-Trump's wild chainsawing of resources has cut them off abruptly, and I'm deeply angry at the callousness. They don't care, and I think that they'd simply tell these people to go back to Afghanistan.

Anyway, my little list of local resources will at least give them some clues about where to look for help, and I'll see if I can help teach them to become more proficient in English. There may be other small things I can do. We'll see.

But the moral of my little tale is to encourage you to start a list of your local resources. Resistance isn't always demonstrations or brawls -- it can be quiet actions that help others survive difficult times. There are people out there who need YOU. Good people, kind people, people hammered by unfair circumstances. Every one that we help is another one who will stand with us.



...and it's only early days. We need all the help we can get.

I'm actually keeping these on a blog (link in my profile) -- don't want to spam folks with this kind of stuff, but will be keeping the blog updated and will try to post this kind of thing once a month. If you know things that should be on this list, please let me know.

Blog is called JOURNAL OF CHIMERAS on Blogger.
https://journalofchimeras.blogspot......resources.html

---

HEALTH

Walgreens' flu index: https://www.walgreensbootsalliance......eens-flu-index

Covid tracker: https://www.walgreens.com/healthcar.....covid-19-index

Pharmacy News with updates on what's going around: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/.....irus-landscape

Health news and recall substack: https://drrubin.substack.com/

Alt CDC: https://bsky.app/profile/altcdc.bsky.social

American Medical Association (topical video podcasts every 3 days or so) https://www.youtube.com/user/AmerMedicalAssn



TO LOCATE POLITICIANS AND SEND EMAIL THROUGH BROWSER

https://ziplook.house.gov/htbin/findrep_house

https://www.senate.gov/senators/sen.....rs-contact.htm

https://click2mail.com/?USPS=1

https://5calls.org





INTERNET

Electronic Freedom Foundation on data safety -- https://www.eff.org/pages/surveilla.....e-self-defense



ACCOUNTS TO BROWSE OR FOLLOW FOR INFORMATION

Heather Cox Richardson -- https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/

American Society on Aging -- https://www.facebook.com/asaging/



LEGAL

GI Rights Hotline -- https://girightshotline.org/

Lambda Legal (legal advice) -- https://lambdalegal.org/

My latest project -- as most of you are aware, I'm a quiet sort of firebrand. I believe that information is far more useful than bombs or violence. So, in the spirit of resisting the current political climate, I want to collect a set of Furry resources (so that if someone is whimpering for help, we can at least point them to where they can find help.)

A living protester is far more useful than a dead martyr.

So... I'm not everywhere at once and I'm not all-knowing, so I'm tapping into the great Hive Mind. Two types of resources I'd like to see: Furry-specific sources along with national sources. Furry Specific ones can be local (like a food bank where Furries work.) National ones are likely to be hotlines.

If I can keep up with this project, I'll try to post a monthly list.

So... suggestions?

Many of you old-timers will know Karl Mauer, who (among his many accomplishments) was the Further Confusion Dealers Con Store lead until just a few years ago when his wife's condition worsened. He's taking a severance package to stay at home with her because her condition has worsened (no, I don't know what her medical condition is... I'm not sure I ever asked.)

For Friends of Jethric, the latest is here on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Jethric/po.....ftJcao4oBRTrQl



(for you who don't know him, here's his page on Wikifur... quite a significant contributor to the fandom in early days https://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Karl_Maurer)

I do try to keep politics and the like away from this space (I let myself go on Bluesky and in the Facebook Furries For Freedom group, however.) But a number of my friends are Greymuzzles and medicine and health care are a major worry.

This substack is maintained by a doctor. Includes information about recall of medicines:

https://drrubin.substack.com/

In these dubious times, accurate information is the most critical resource. Finding accurate information can be a long and tedious task.

If you're in the USA and taxes are one of your spring nightmares, AND if you make less than $84,000/year, AARP will help you with taxes and may even be able to suggest some programs that will help you.

If you know folks that this information can help, do share it around: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aa.....-TAXAIDE-PRINT

George Lakoff (who is one of the inspirations for two of my degrees and who came up with a lot of brilliant things about framing) is a scientist who thinks and writes quite a bit about how we use and understand information. Some time ago, he wrote a book on Trump, and the publisher's website has a very interesting excerpt that would best be called "How Trump Manipulates Language."

Worth a read, for those of you who like this kind of thing: https://press.uchicago.edu/books/ex.....off_trump.html

I usually discuss this kind of thing in the Facebook Furries For Freedom group, but this was so interesting that I'm sharing it more widely.