Watching my mother and grand mother go thru dementia, watching our taco-in-chief suffering the same... I thought 40 years on this earth was tour enough. The prospect of "living" in that kind of state... woo-boy.

Health scares, general unwell and just being plain ol' cantankerous and insufferable over the last couple of years has really made me question decisions. It seems that when I go with my pledges, bad things happen. When I go against my promises, worse. So I dunno anymore. I tried to clear my shelf but here it is midnight. Taking a 30 minute break to basically brood probably changed the course of history.

Let's see what today brings, I suppose.

After some 25 years on the internet it finally happened: I got my e-mail compromised.

I'm not sure exactly what damage has been done but I do know the two following:
They deleted all my e-mails. Decades of correspondences and pictures (that I swear I planned on uploading) and more.
They changed my discord account. So if you're friends with me on discord just ignore any dumb links I post. I'll update when I have my account back. Discord is draggin its heels on that one.

So yeah. Fun.

... you figure it would start staring back after long enough. Blink, motherfucker.

I didn't know Neer. ... hell, I'd venture to say I don't know but maybe enough people to fit on five fingers in the fandom. And even then most of what I know is direct correspondence. I don't hear all these stories people spread. Or rather, I don't bother to remember. I think part of that is because of Neer.

Neer was one of the first people to tell me he'd talked to "me." He showed me an account that was outright claiming to be me. I've had a fair share of art barrowers before and since but this was a person who felt so vindictive towards me that they actually went out of their way to muddy my name. My name was already mud, but that person felt extra spicy about something I said or did to them and felt it was worth their time to spread me like so much mayo across a shit sandwich.

It made me laugh. I thanked him for the info. And he wound up telling me I wasn't as bad as everyone'd made me out to be. Can't imagine why. And that was it. But it let me know the type and the caliber of people they had out there, gunning for one another. So I take a lot of things with a grain of salt. The other contributing factor is that I really CRS. Go figure.

... has it only been half a year? ... it feels like a life time.

Welp, back on steam I go with a fresh new PC.

Gonna go dive some hells.

Had my computer fry about two weeks ago.

... but when I do they odd as fuck.

I don't know what I listened to that got this one in my feed... but now it's in yours. Enjoy.

There I was with a Chinese menu in my hand
walking through the streets of SoHo in the rain.
I was lookin for the place called Lee~Ho Fooks
forta get a bigg dish of beef chow~mein.

Aooo~ werewolves of London
Aooo~
--

You hear me howlin round your kitchen door,
you better just lemme in.
Lil ol lady got mutilated late last night~
Werewolves of London strike again~

Aooo~
--

I'm the hairy handed gent
who ran amok in Kent.
Lately I've been ov'there in Mayfair.
You better stay away from me
I'll rip your lungs out Lee
... would you like to meet my tailor?

Aooo~
--

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walkin with the King
Doin' the Werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walkin with the King
Doin' the Werewolves of London
There I was drinkin a pina colada at Trader Vic's
My hair was perfect! Oh!

Hey, draw blood~
Aoooooo~

So I look out my window at 445 in the morning and see the green light in the middle of my street and I’m like “Oh boy. A shrine!”

I don’t wanna go to work ;_;

You don't wanna click here.
You don't wanna join Arsis'ses'sses contest.
You don't wanna lower yours truly's chances, do ya?

... I mean, I can't stop ya.

Another birthday.
Another year tired.
Another year working.
Another year looking forward.
Another year spent watching my back.

Gotta remember to cancel my t.v. subscription. Shit's useless, ya know? 500 channels and nothing I care about is on them. Sad state of affairs.

---SUPER SPOILERY TALK ABOUT ENCANTO----

--MORE ALERTS BELOW--

So, I watched Encanto by myself tonight and I can say ... wow. How formulaic. Like, this is a movie that has been distilled from an essence that was refined to a T that was extracted from only the most condensed layer of check boxes to tick. And I don't say that in a good way. And I didn't say that was 'all I could say' because I'm about to say a lot more.

I wanna start by saying I don't have a problem with the message of "be your wacky wonderful self" or "Family means Ohana" or anything about diversity or any other messages represented by the outcome of the movie. What I do have is the layer of corperate slimeball that just drips of lipservice dolling out the "need-to-have"s of the movie. Like corporations during Pride Month changing everything to Rainbow Flags and then as soon as soon as Nov. rolls around they throw it all in the bin in favor of a turkey and donations to conversion therapy centers. I like it when there's honest support on the books, not just for looks. When your message is your message organically because it is what you believe in, not because it's the flavor of the month. And I think that's where a lot of people will tune me out, think I'm anti- this or that-phobic because I see shills trying to make a quick buck off a movement and point them out for that. I'm not against the movement - I'm against co-opting. Do I think there are people at Disney who honestly believe in these messages? Yes. Of course. Maybe even some of the lead designers of the movie themselves can get up on stage and do the whole song and dance because they *are* the whole song and dance. Do I think the talking heads could care less if it means they get their paycheck? No, I don't think they could.

--LAST CHANCE TO TURN AWAY BEFORE SPOILERS START--

So I've done enough "I'm not x-ist, but-" so I might as well lay my issues bear. My first and biggest recoil was the Grandmother. Hooooo-boy. Let me start by saying I watched the hell out of Moana and Coco. Two so much better movies that this movie feels like it was the kid outside the building cribbing notes from those two movie's slide shows before his own powerpoint was suppose to be presented in like 30 minutes. Both of them had the super stern parental figure who was no-nonsense, all for getting along *in the traditional way.* In so much that they are the tradition you better get in step. But they were both rich, warm and loving... they just had their own way of showing it. Abuela? HE-h. All of her lines could've been read as (muttering disgust/disappointment of Mirable) and/or (Glammering praise of anyone who ISN'T Mirable) and it wouldn't have came across any different. (up and until the out-of-the-ass finale, more on that later) She is literally seething hate for her own grandchild. And WHY? bECaUSe sHe iSn't mAgiCaL aNd-- sorry. I can't keep up that sarcastic typing for long -- and that's what MAKES her magical. She's *so super special* because she *isn't* special, and *of course* all Grandma can see is that she isn't special and that's worth cutting off all ties with the fruit of her fruit and totally ha-RUMPH worthy. Grandparents! They're just *so* out of touch with everything, aren't they, my fellow youth? ... I swear this is the modern revival of the "parent(s) dead" trope from old Disney. You got an older relative? Well, they don't get you. That's the end of it. And that literally is the end of it with Abuela. She is downright *cruel* to an extent I had to make sure she wasn't voiced by Eleanor Audley! ... ... you know, the voice of Lady Tremaine? ... the wicked Stepmother from Cinderella? ... well, yeah. G-ma is that level of petty, I feel. But Lady Tremaine was the villian! She was suppose to be unlikable! I really don't know how you can look at that kind of maternal relationship and go "yep. dat's a good family there."

And maybe, to a point, Aubela is the antagonist of Enacnto ... in so much there isn't a real conflict for 90% of the movie. That's my second major gripe. This was so clearly one of those "character is so anxious about their negative destiny that they *become* their negative destiny" stories. Like, even more so than the story of Oedipus. Like, as soon as I heard Mirable start sining about her desire to "shine" while the family photo was going off (which, btw - WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT. THAT IS SUCH A HARD SLIGHT TO MIRABLE. WHAT THE FUCK. ... it was such an obvious way to generate outrage!! ... and I was outraged!! Gah!) - right when she started singing I closed my ears around my head and paused the movie. I knew what was coming. She was going to "see" something and then she would run to tell the whole family and by the time they got back it wouldn't be any there any more and they would all think she was just trying to steal her little cousin's thunder when she obviously connects to him better than even his own siblings. I knew it was coming! But MAN did they lean so hard in to it! But the worst part about it is that Grandma knew! She *knew* about the cracks and she STILL had the audacity to go off on M-bel! Like, I get that there were a lot of people watching but you did NOT need to drag her thought the dirt like that. That just made your family seem all the worse to me! I suppose to the people in the film it was a mystery aliment of the house so there was some thing to fix ... but come on. ... it is so obviously "There's a wedge in the family and that's what's tearing the house apart."

... but why? Third(+2) paragraph in, third problem: for as much as the conflict is literally self generated by the idea that there is already conflict... the inciting incident and the conclusion just make no bleeping sense to me! Like, why did the house reject Mirable initially? ... guess we'll have to wait for a sequel to find that out! Was the the rejection because of the rift growing in the family? Because it sure seems like the rift growing in the family was because of the rejection! Why go to Bruno when everyone believes all he has are bad omens? Jumping ahead - the whole thing was wrapped up in a whole lotta nothing. There was no determinable reason for Alma to suddenly change her mind from shouting at Mirable to braking down in tears with her. She even knew that Mirable was safe after the house collapsed. It would've made sense if they hadn't seen her escape or w/e but they knew she was just running away. So what was going through A-A's mind during that time? "Oop, I saw how you really go after that candle there and despite me literally encouraging you to just slip in to the shadows with your uncle and ignoring your every attempt to just be seen and loved by me... I love you now. It's me, your grandma!" Was it literally just seeing the river again? Cause you know what, it feels about that hand-wavey. Story was like "okay, we got these kid's attention for another 10 minutes, tops, let's move it along." And what was with Mirable's "I see you now" line? Like, was the story of the miracle not told over and over again in their family? I feel like everyone knew the story. Was I missing something? tf.

So... other gripes. Mirable. I feel like she is just checkmark in the "nerdy girl makes a breakthrough" checkbox. Like, her mother has healing powers. Can't heal her eyesight bEcAuSe tHaT wOuLd TaKe AwAy HeR gOoFy relatability! (I had a friend who said "No, she can't heal her eyesight because that's what makes her so special!" and I kid you not I was waiting for something very similar to those words to be said throughout the whole movie. I really thought they would literally play that card just as directly as that. No joke. That's how sell out this movie is.) And like, all the kids younger than her really and honestly feel pity for how awkward she is. They lay that on thick in the opening song. So thick that they literally just come out and say it. No joke. Well, they're talking about her lack of a 'gift' but you can tell that this character is going to forever be "the cool *Aunt*." It's like they looked at a Moana cut out and said "... we can just re-do this, right? No one cares if we copy off our own homework, right? ... just don't make her as strong or independent this time. That's not what the demographic is any more." and stripped her of all her adventure and determination and just made her as mousy as can be like this was some 80s revenge of the nerds skit. The more I think about the other checkboxes that they look like they're trying to hit ... I'll refrain. It just seems like there was such a consorted effort made not because it was story driven but just because it would be another feather in their cap when they parade the movie around.

Overall... I sat and I watched the whole thing. I predicted something like about 25/40 scenes correctly. (I was expecting Isabella to confess she didn't want to marry Mariano because she was in love with his sister) ... but overall, I didn't hate it. If you really want to plop your kids down and do a little bit of international flair you should... probably go out and buy Coco, Moana and hell, throw in Book of Life in there. You'll probably get them for cheaper and you'll have more hours of movie for the little ones to watch. I cannot "meh" this movie enough. There has been so many better told so much more honestly. Just ... don't talk about it.

... you can no longer check under the sea.

Cause that is where you'll find Sealab 2021.

Totally freakin' nuts that this year went by without so much as a peep from that show. Or if there was I missed it.

Boy. Did the original Sealab 2020 miss the mark.

So, about 5-7 months ago someone I watch uploaded a picture of a orange lizard showing off her breasts, leaning towards the viewer. One was in a bikini, one was naked. The skin detail was very nice. ... but I don't know why I didn't fav it. Anyone, off the top of their head, would be able to find it? I might set up a reward~!

So. Hmm.

I got vaxed back in Feb. My job isn't offering Katzy any chance to skip the line so there's that. Still, I like my masks. ... it's not a huge collection, and if I didn't forget to leave one in my car today after Katzy washed the lot I'd've been SoL ... or wearing one of the disposable ones, which I suppose ain't so bad. But I like the masks I have. I even got the Katzy one as a christmas gift.

Got a new mouse today! ... yesterday. Working nights. Right now is my 'today' even though it rolled over like 2 hrs ago. I finally replaced the one I purchased from  patto as a favor nearly 8 years ago. Admittedly 2 of those years were light use ... but still. I think that's longer than any ... I'll delete what I was gonna type in the hopes of not jinxing myself. I like my current set up, and wish it many, many years.

I've built a modest collect of around 400~ dvds. Part of my job offers me a chance to entertain some individuals, and movies seem to be a great way to go about it, so I can't say I ever thought I'd own a copy of Bad Boys II.. but there ya are. The issue now is the shelving to display them and the space for the shelving to display them.

I notice there's less traffic on the site these days. Sad. It seems like when I devoted no time to keeping up the mess just got bigger exponentially. But now that I'm trying to keep my submissions in check, there just aren't as many of them.

I unno. I think I'm happy with my life. Things could be different. I could have absolutely no time to enjoy a solitary BBQ lean pocket at Dawn ... but at least I have someone to watch American Gods with. Gosh. Does any one wanna talk about last night's eps??

Was wrapping presents sunday afternoon. Stood up and my back went "WEEE, fuck you!"

Apparently pinched my sciatic nerve.

Still recovering. 4 new meds, 3 shots to the butt, 2 visits to the doctor and one trip to the E.R.

Lemme tell ya - when those muscle relaxers HIT... wooo-wee. Hope I can go to work tonight. Missing Christmas day has got the higher-ups in a tizzy.

I think I'mma upload some art, cause my monitor be tilting.

So I nuked my submissions today.

28,000 submissions.

Nearly 400 days of catch up I had to look at.

... and trying so borked my browser, so somehow I ended upw with 3430 submissions left.

Which is nice, cause I really didn't wanna have to get rid of all of that. So it's kinda like a flower left over from a dead garden. It's hope.

Hope that I'll eventually get around to clearing it XD

Aug. 11th is my wedding anniversary!
Aug. 12th is World Elephant day!
And the most specialist day of them all! Today!

Left Hander's Day!!!



... also my birthday, but we're only 4 hours remaining. So, I understand if you're just here for cake and ice cream.

Hello Kitty Waillywash...a somethin'. Definitely the wrong last word there. It was the t.v. show I was watching in my dream I just woke up from.

It started because in my dream I wondered aloud why no one ever did a follow up to that great Alice and Dumbo story. ... yah. Wtf. Apparently, Dumbo meets Alice from Alice in Wonderland. That was a thing. But not much of a thing. Because as I wonder this, the show starts on my tv. Again, my dream is set in my old house. So I'm watching it and it's Alice and Dumbo and for some reason Alice wants to be able to fly. So they both just jump off a cliff with Dumbo - non-verbally - assuring her that she'll be able to fly. Somehow during the middle of all this it become apparent that Alice has huge ears too and she goes "So does this mean I'm flying?" just seconds before they reach a jutting part of the cliff that they would crash in to. Dumbo comes to a graceful and abrupt hover while Alice more or less lucks in to a sudden swoop and pulls out of the fall at the last minute, flapping her now huge ears.

So, for whatever reason, we fast forward to an adult Alice - she's grown distant from Dumbo and is living in a run down, Toon Town kind of city. Still sunny and bustling, but really poor. She's got a boyfriend who she is totally not interested in. Enter Dumbo. He's still cute and young while Alice is, well, an adult, with adult problems and such. Dumbo is still well off, but he was famous when him and Alice were a team. So they decide, or rather, Alice begs him and he agrees, to do a comeback tour. We jump to said tour - where Alice and Dumbo just basically fly together - and their opening act is The Wailing Wall... here represented by a castle tower with a face on it, missing a few bricks here and there to signify that she's an old singer, singing some saucy, exciting, soul song. The castle is starting to be rolled out (she can't move) towards the end of the song. A little tower hops his way out of a door on stage left, under some stairs and the crew roll the Wall back out as she keeps singing the song, sort of a funny bit, and then they roll her back in, all the while the little tower is trying to introduce Alice and Dumbo over her singing.

So Alice comes out and that's where the song in the journal's title starts playing. I'm listening to the real song that's really called that and no, it's not like that. ... but it's close. It's a woman singing really deep, both in timbre and deeper meaning. It's this kinda country, kinda 70s female vocal that's really... haunting. Anywho, it's playing over a small montage - and I don't know if this is on a screen or in Alice's head - and it starts in Alice's apartment, but it looks much more average, less run down. Not great, but okay. It would be right after her and Dumbo part ways and Alice finds her boyfriend ... but her and her boyfriend are now cats. I recognized them in my dream as like a classic misfit side-character couple. As in, they're both misfits, they're both side-characters in a story, and they're a couple. I'm really focused on saying it was kinda Georgette and Tito's relationship from Oliver and Company right now, but I don't remember enough about the movie to recall if they were actually in this "trope" so to speak.

But yah, it's two anthro felines, laying in two twin beds. I don't know how I know the female, and the one closer to the screen is Alice, and the other bed has her boyfriend ... but I do. So she wakes up a little ... and suddenly they're a different misfit couple, and the building is looking a little more grimy. Another cut, she's a little more awake, a new character, and the building is starting to have holes. And it keeps jumping like this, where each frame it kinda jumps back a few miliseconds, shows them as a new couple throughout the ages of cartoons, and that their building is slowly becoming a bombed out shell, with every floor above theirs suddenly disappearing, and at one point her boyfriend is literally a sentient goop with a face that falls on her from above.

It's ... very somber. That's why I don't think it was playing for the audience of Alice and Dumbo's show, but in Alice's head. It's showing her progression as getting worse while Dumbo has remained constant. She's been chasing that outcast life while Dumbo was ready and willing to accept comfort and safety and is all the better for it.

I don't know if that was the message of the dream, or just that I like Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo. :X My mother was pulling in to the driveway and I was scrambling to set the program to record while also trying to change the channel. Dream ended about there.

I wanna get in on one of those "you drawing your character" meme things going around.

Anyone with a little talent and a fast hand wanna help? I have an idea...

Reloaded my w/c/f/j tab. All normal.
Open a new tab (because I'm a nerd) to look for the old-ass journal I keep all my references in.
Open FA. Less than 2 minutes after reloading the previous page.
NEW SPLASH PAGE
NEW LOADOUT
NEW DESIGN
IT'S NOW A J/F/C/W PAGE! CEPT IT ISN'T! CAUSE IT'S STILL IN THE OLD ORDER! BUT IT'S WRITTEN WEIRD IN THE HUD!

... I'm old. Change terrifies me.
... but I'm fine with this.

I was torn between that title and 'This isn't really for anybody' because I don't know if I'm really going to hit that 'submit' button by the time I finish typing, backspacing, backspacing, typing and more backspacing. If I do, I know I'm inviting people into my home, into my brain and into my heart which is something I don't think I'm famous for. (at least, not as famous as 'welcome to my penis.')

I had a dream this morning. Right before I woke up, so it's still already starting to fade from my brain meats. I was back home, by which I mean the house I grew up in. I hadn't left there until some scant few years ago, which is why I still have to call it home more than any other place I will probably ever be. I recall walking in from coming outside (what I was doing outside has already left my sphere of memory) and my mother asking me about some e-cig (I think it was Juul) refills that were suppose to "last longer." I said I'd look into it and went to the bathroom to wash up. My hair was a mess. And it was full - another sign that this was a dream. While alternating between trying figure out when I'd dyed my hair green (and how the green was in the roots and not the tips) and reading reviews for what I'd best describe now as pods filled with glitter, I started to grow frustrated with the vague instructions I'd been given. Looking back on it, my mother would've laughed as smoking became a modern fad again, and done so while puffing on her Winston 100s Lights (in a box!) So, in my dream, I called her up. And she answered. I think it was her. Or some voice amalgamation between her and my wife. (we marry our parents, kids, just remember that) She answered... and my voice caught in my throat. It wasn't that Resident Evil style 'Something is wrong, I can feel it' kind of revelation. It was more the gentle settling of some aspect of death, landing on my shoulder and telling me it was time to go. I'd realized it had to be a dream because she has been gone. And so I went. I returned my conscious to the land of the living. And I thought about you.

My first, immediate thought was 'Do you tell someone it ever stops hurting?' And I had to first evaluating if I was indeed, actually hurting. This is the part where I start to question just deleting this all and not hitting that submit button: speculation on my own fears and failures. See, I knew I'd cry a few times, thinking about the dream and thinking about sharing the dream, but I really don't know if that's my emotions at work or me working through the motions. I recently found out that one of my happy-go-lucky, wacky, wild co-workers is (honestly? or equally? - depends on how real you think my issues are, I suppose) detached from his emotions. The 'I'm a veteran of war; I have seen the face of death' kind of detached. Yet he is still so outwardly zany, goofy. I'm coming to terms with maybe he doesn't shun me nearly as much as I think he does, just that he's hard to form a more than superficial bond with. Which I don't know if my co-workers think that about me. I tried hanging out with them last night and cut out early to just go sit by myself and eat pizza.

Where was I? outside of my own delusions? Loss. Right. Four panels. Let's go.

I don't know, man. Are there days that go by that I don't think about it? Sure. Does that fact really bother me? define me as heartless person? No, not really. I'd like to think I am who I am today because of great losses, great sacrifices just as much as great triumphs and gains. And maybe in the grand scheme of things 3 years and some change isn't what most people would call a 'great span of time' but I'd like to think it's long enough that some douche bag would hear you say this sort of thing, lovingly tap the back of his hand against your groin and say 'move the fuck on.' I think I have, though. I've moved on enough to know that it's okay to revisit in trying times (like I'm expecting to soon enter again; what I think is the reason I had this dream) but it's not safe to stay there. I stayed there for a whole year. It's a year that I know nobody would excuse today. And as damning as that is I think I can safely say I'm better today than I was yesterday, and the day before that. And so on and so forth. And I think the best thing I can do, in memory, is keep striving to pull forward.



If you read all that and have nothing to say I understand, and I'm not sorry. Less a 'dialog' and more one person speaking into the ether; speaking it in to existence. Not a question, not a subject of debate. Just my thoughts on the matter. And that's cool. If all it did was help you, great. If it made you question yourself, your current course of action, your very being today - I'm glad, because I'd be totally fine with talking to you about it. Note me if you need to, even if it's just to ask for my DM handles. But just a forewarning: if you are going through something right now, right this second, what I'm going to tell you isn't going to be what you wanna hear - it never is - and you may not even look back on it some day and realize it's what you needed to hear. It may just be one person's crazy pov. But I will talk with you. About anything. Even if I have no experience! ... that fact may be dangerous. So if you're compelled to talk, do so, even if it's not to me. Use me as a jumping off point if you need to. "This wacky guy on the internet said..." is a great way to tell your friends that what you're about to say it's pure hogwash, but it is still an easy way to breach a subject that you may have a hard time talking about.

Update: 'Submit' is now 'Create/Update.' ... woo. Here. We. Go.

I kinda wanted to write this big ‘ol play by play of what happened this weekend, but I was two big paragraphs in and I hadn’t even gotten on the plane yet. So I’mma try to pair this down to a highlight reel.

 sydak - I started out the weekend not even remembering Sy/Umbri’s telegram handle. He messaged me outta the blue and, I mean, I never felt so welcome before. He genuinely wanted to hang and I was genuinely happy to do so. We caught a cool ass voice acting panel where he pretty much blew every thing out the water. It was watching a true craftsman at his craft. Then he invited us out to go check out the Galloping Ghost, and I gotta echo his sentiment – it is really, really worth checking out. I’ll speak at length below, but the place was amazeballs. I’d say we spent maybe 4-6 hours max in each other’s company, and not even necessarily in direct contact at that, but I walked away from that con feeling a lot better because he invited me in on some fun reindeer games.

 theblackrook - another person I was super psyched to meet when I found out, Rook and his family treated us to another amazing local treat - the restaurant Crisp. We had to fight traffic and play table hop to find seating for our group but it was worth it. Well, I mean the food was pretty good, but the comradery was really where it was at. … as a person with damn near 0 talent and almost 0 experience going to cons like this, a lot of my art, my contribution to the fandom, comes from people I’ve never met. Never talked to face to face. Never shared a meal with. Summa y’all are like ‘Well, that’s a benefit, right?’ Y’all don’t see that as an issue with being nameless or faceless, might even prefer it. But sometimes I wonder if I’m fixing problems, or even helping the right people. I’m glad my faith was rewarded in this instance. He and his wife are an amazing couple, got an adorable little baby to take care of, and by god if you haven’t checked out their work, you need to. I heard them talking about getting back on a traditional grind and man, that’s gonna be some good shit. Be sure to check out their comics in the meantime. They weren’t available at MFF which was a total bummer, but y’all really need to give them a chance. I mean it. They’re the kind of good people I feel a whole lot warmer because of.

The Convention - … eh. I could take it or leave it. It was really worth meeting good friends like the two above, or  echoen or artists I’ve worked with, like  rabbi-tom,  tincrash,  pulsar or  negativetheory or even artists I’ve only admired from afar or , for starters. People I know through others, like  deonwolf or  strredwolf I even saw one of our local furs out there, :icondjembetheape. But it felt like I could’ve spent all my time meeting people and never needed a thing from the convention itself. Like, basically, I paid 140 bucks to turn around and spend money on stuff I could've bought at home. Yah, on fun stuff, and it did make me feel better meeting some of these people, like I said back a paragraph ago, but also on stuff like rides, beds, and travel. I think the one panel I enjoyed wasn’t something to be jazzed about, imo. I enjoyed the stuff I bought, sure, and I liked the game room, but ultimately I think there just wasn’t enough doing that wasn’t worth doing because I was doing it with people I liked.

The Food – once we gave up on the Hyatt’s high priced bs, we had a lotta fun. For clarification, I stayed at the Aloft, and they had some okay offerings for morning stuff, which we enjoyed and were pretty fairly priced. But the 2-3 take outs we ordered? And the wing place we went to Rook with? Good stuff! I tried authentic deep dish pizza. Got to enjoy some Honeydew Boba tea. My only regret was not getting to try a Chicago hot dog … although Umbri’s working to help fix that. Heh.

The Travel – fuck taxis. Hooray uber. The same trip that cost me 90 something dollars from a taxi cost 44 with an uber. Freakin taxi sucked. First, last, and only we’ll have if I can help it. Uber really helped, tho. But I really need to find more people to split the diff with. Also, airplanes suck. My ears popped so hard leaving/returning to New Orleans. But I’ve come to realize it’s the fastest and the cheapest. So I might just deal.

Yah. That’s the short of it. Y’all saw my photos I printed out, I’ll be posting the art I get just as soon as I can. Otherwise, yah. Conventions.



I think it’s convinced me I need to be more active in my local community, because I really did enjoy hanging out with people more than I did hanging out with a purpose.

Last night was a slog. Let it be known - I am not a smart phant. I managed to book us a flight at midway instead of O'hare. Fun! But we will survive. And we will see y'all on the floor today! Lemme know if you spot me!

Yep. See y’all there!

So. How much would last minute plans run, y’all think? Are there even still room openings? Where y’all search?