Comments on journals seem to be broken- what the heck? Old ones still exist, but anything from the last week has gone 'poof!' What my conspiracy-theory lobe thinks: gee, I wonder why? /sarcasm.

*giggle* Anyway, comments will hopefully be back soon, so don't worry about answering this journal for a bit. The ones on art still work, right now. Yeah, am I holding my breath? Stop that.

On to the cool news: I haz a laminatorz! Plus, a big, fat package of 10 mil lamination sheets in a nice, roomy 12" X 14". Woot! My husband,  kanis rocks my world.

This thing looks like it was built in the sixties- all metal, weighs about 15 pounds, and it appears insanely durable and long-lasting. We even opened it up to look inside- if there hadn't been a couple of tiny circuit-boards in there, this beast could have been built anywhere from the Twenties on. Awesome for retro style and functionality! It's noisy, though- hums and rattles a bit on initial power. It's odour isn't something I expected, either- rather strong and metallic- possibly because of a coating I often find on metal equipment? I'm hoping that will fade, with time. The hum prompted Kani to say that it sounded kind of like Hypnotoad- it does, actually...

So I tested it and ran some printer-paper through, now I have super-durable signs for my table. This thing works awesomely! I might make up some more to post around the hotel- that way, I don't have to print off new pages anytime I run a table at a Con- just re-use the sheets! Wee! It might even catch on... *hint hint at all you resource-wasters out there* Pros: durable, easy to store, colours POP through the clear plastic, and you can print a simple message or logo on them (prior to laminating), leave a space for hand-written text and use dry-erase markers if you need to change messages or make announcements, which is what I plan on doing. Cons: You're gonna be storing 'em for eons, because they will last that long.

So, my minions, I can laminate my own badges, or laminate for folks at Cons!

I got over a hundred lanyards coming in the next week, just in time for FC. Ten different colours to choose from, so you can match your lanyard to your character colours, plus a bunch of glow-in-the-dark ones, just 'cuz. I think they're cool, but I'll only have 25 of those on this run, so get 'em while I still have them in stock!

On to FC badges: I'll have a minimum of five slots open for character badges, in a couple of styles to choose from. FC's theme this year is "Furries Down Under", so I'll have some funky Tribal art as backing on some for those who want it. Theme-choices are "warrior" (your character all decked out in war-paint with a weapon of your choice), "Shaman" (have fun with this one: masks, rattles, paint you up all pretty), "hunter" (like the warrior, but with a hunting type weapon, maybe some of your catch with you, no war-paint), "Chief" 'cuz you know some will wanna be- headdress of funky coolness and a proud pose), "maiden" (for those who want to be the prettiest member of the Tribe). I'm not hugely familiar with Australian Aboriginal art, so I'm going to be "making shit up" as far as style is concerned- there will be Native American influences (since I'm Native, and it's what I grew up with), with the bright colours of Amazon, Pacific or New Guinean tribesfolk. I will not be using real symbols, however- they'll be an influence, but no real Tribal symbols, unless you happen to be of that Tribe. It's a respect thing.

I also had this fun idea: tavern signs. Stuff like "The Sleeping Dragon", "The Fox's Head", "So and So's Inn", complete with hanging character. I've always liked those old carved wooden signs, and thought they'd make a neat theme for badges.

I made some up as examples of both styles, laminated and everything. We'll be wearing them around FC: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5011220

FC makin's:

Art: nearly done- only four pieces to finish up.

Tails: got half my stock, gonna make another ten or fifteen in different styles. Some toony, some realistic, most in-between. Since I can make up to five in a single day, I should be done by the end of this week.

Jewelry: pretty much DONE. Might make a few more pieces, just 'cuz.

Other, random stuff: Laminator, so I can offer to laminate badges for folks for cheep, say for $1. Lanyards for another two bucks (glowy ones for $2.50). Badge art made for you for $25 (includes lamination and lanyard in colour of your choice).

Oh yeah, gonna have three pieces in the Adult Dragon Panel, presented by the irrepressible  kiteless! See you all there, if only so you can see what I'm like utterly terrified (stage-fright, it sux)! I guarantee, you'll enjoy the art!

[EDIT]: Found out where I'm gonna be in the Dealer's Den! I'll be at the very centre of the second block of tables on the left (first row, the one that faces the door), right behind the Guests of Honour's tables, actually. My table number is #53, and I'll be sandwiched between  skulldog and  kitsumi, with Summer Jackal and  keovi on the very ends. Noice! I'm sharing a table with some fairly well-known artists! And I'm kinda kitty-corner with  touchmybadger so I'll get to wave at her from my spot. Maybe I'll toss her love-notes folded into paper-airplanes during the slow points. Weee!


Back to the sewing-machine! Got more tails to finish!

This edition of the Misadventures Of My Ego is cut and pasted together from a number of comments I've posted all over regarding this latest revelation of Dragoneer's flip-floppy ethics because I simply don't have the time to re-write it all. Some editing and clean-up was necessary to join the disparate bits together. And, personally, who gives a flying FUCK about the hack that revealed all of this to begin with in light of the greater problem it exposes?

Dear FA:

I don't think you get it. This isn't just some fur getting in a twist over somebody making a nasty comment about their Pokemon collection. This is a serious allegation against a major artist here. Whether or not the man did it, whether or not the victim is lying or telling the truth, the fact remains that Dragoneer advised her to keep quiet about it rather than deal with the "backlash of rabid fans". Fuck the fans- in this one case, I say, fuck 'em- the only people who matter in this are the two adults involved. She should charge him, if she feels she can, and he should have the opportunity to prove his innocence. Cover-ups of things like this never go well, in the long run.

A lot of folks are weighing in on one side or the other and this could mean a mass-exodus of people from this site for ethical reasons. Honestly, would you wish to remain a member of a site where the admins routinely "cover up" stuff like possible rapists and crimes of bestiality? The fact that they sheltered cub-porn for so long was a red-flag for me (that they got rid of it for financial reasons was shady, but at least the shit is gone). As a result of this insanity, I'm seriously considering dropping this place and finding another site to post my work on. I'll lose many of the contacts I had here- until I find them all and let them know where I've gone- and my business will drop through the floor, but I'd rather find a site run by more ethical, thoughtful people who understand that you do not tell a possible rape victim to keep quiet...

This issue is non-trivial- this is affecting anyone who does business on this site, and it affects the site itself. This whole thing is THAT repulsive. I can only hope that the admins will realize they fucked up, hard, and do what they can to improve their ethics in how they're running this site.

RE: Bawwing that FA might "go away".

Way to make this all about yourselves and your fucking pronz, you selfish, clueless nitwits. If anything, we should be thinking about the fact that FA has harboured a possible rapist, and that the victim was given the stupidest "advice" I can imagine for anyone in that situation, has advocated that person's silence in the matter, covered up (and warned them of investigations) the actions of bestiality-practitioners- and finally, the icing on that spectacularly ugly cake- that the admins are so hypocritical that they could think covering any of that up is a good idea. (Note: I stress "possible rapist" for a reason: innocent until proven guilty. I do hope Zaush is innocent, but damn, it's not looking good, so far.)

RE: "It's not rape- she let him have sex with her". "She's probably lying to get at a guy she hates". "Jealous, 'cuz he's a popufur". "You only believe her because you hate/are jealous of him". "You only defend him because yer a fan".

WTF? Are you people honestly THAT fucking naive or stupid? If this accusation is true, if coercion was involved, harassment over months (by the lady's own admission) intimidation, verbal bullying and what have you- it was rape. The fact that she eventually gave in means fuck all- she was STILL COERCED, YOU MORONS. Maybe not the highest rating (dunno if there are "1st, 2nd and 3rd degree" rules as there are in murder), but still rape- sexual harassment at the very least- still a chargeable offense. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure of my opinion on this one (yes, I'm that rarity who doesn't confuse her opinion with fact).

I "take the victims' side" in as much as anyone should: any allegations of abuse are too serious to ignore. It doesn't fucking matter who might be lying. The accusation has been made and it NEEDS to be dealt with, hopefully in a court of law. Unfortunately, unless Ferality is willing to formally charge the man, she'll have to deal with this in her own way and maybe chock it up as a learning-experience.

I don't hate Zaush- I don't even personally know the guy. I thought his art was cool, if blandly the same thing over and over again. In short, he's not really on my radar as anything more than yet another porn artist, and I'm honestly surprised he has that many watchers (over 25, 000 at last glance). I don't fave much porn, honestly. I'd heard a number of ugly rumours about him over the few years I've been formally part of the Fandom, but I take all rumours with a big grain of salt.

I'm not gonna weigh in on whether he did it or not- that isn't my right.

The standard operating procedure all police use (in North America, anyway) when an accusation of abuse or rape comes up: zero tolerance- take it seriously. Find out, afterward, if the situation is so by going through the evidence. Again, it does not fucking matter if the accuser later turns out to be lying- you still deal with the matter as if it were real. Would you assume a child was lying if they said they were being molested by a parent? No, you'd fucking CHECK on it! You do not brush the poor girl off with bullshit like "be quiet because the backlash will be heavy".

Yes, she "should" have gone to the police instead of FA's admin staff- maybe she was hoping for some encouragement to do so. Hindsight being 20-20 and all, we don't know the kind of emotional halting-of-action this kind of situation might set up in her. She's said in her notes that she was emotionally vulnerable at the time of the incident, already having problems dealing with sexual matters from a previous situation and, yes, she might have been frightened that the social repercussions within the Fandom would ruin her, here.

But, how many women, over the years, stayed silent because they were afraid of losing their careers to the wrath of an abusive, harassing boss? Or stayed with an abusive boyfriend/husband for similar reasons? Similar situation: a person of "power" abuses someone, that someone is then afraid to speak out for fear of further attack. Sadly, it's a very common situation, which is why we have sexual harassment/abuse laws. If she can't make the rape allegation stick, her lawyer might still be able to sue for harassment.

I'm reasonably certain she wasn't so naive as to think a site admin could "fix everything and make it all better" for her- she was most likely looking for a reason, ANY reason to come forward, and got shot down!

I'm rooting for the victim, myself, if only because the accusation is simply too serious to ignore or brush aside as if it were some flighty Furry getting their panties in a twist over something trivial.

Something almost no one has pointed out (that I've seen so far): none of us has any say in what happens regarding this, not even Dragoneer. The ONLY people who have a say in this situation are those who were involved. If she feels she can, Ferality should go to the police, so Zaush could at least be able to prove his innocence. He has the right to face this accusation with honour. If he did do it, he's scum I would happily destroy, but I'm at least willing to wait to find out if he is that sort of cad, first.

RE: "keep quiet, because of the potential backlash":

BIG FUCKING DEAL, backlash. Who fucking cares if there's a "backlash"? No matter what Dragoneer decided, there would have been a "backlash" (yeah, he was kinda stuck, unfortunately)- look at the shit going down, now. I think Dragoneer chose the wrong brand of "backlash" to weather, but that's for him to wrestle with in his own conscience.

True, a couple of notes don't mean a whole lot in the sense of proof, but it's still an allegation that needs to be checked on, not "counseled" to remain quiet because of "backlash". FUCK the backlash, and fuck Zaush's fans. I repeat, they have NO say in this situation, and NEITHER DO WE. Nor does Dragoneer. The ONLY people who legitimately have a say in this are Ferality and Zaush (and any other women who may or may not have been involved). PERIOD.

THIS BIT IS MY OWN OPINION AND SPECULATION ON THE MATTER, AND, AS SUCH, CAN BE WRONG: If 'Neer had been worried more about her safety (and that of other women this person may or may not have pressured into having unprotected sex with him) instead of whether or not the fucking FANS would flip, I'd have more respect for his action. You NEVER tell a possible rape-victim to be quiet. I'll repeat this- because it obviously needs to be- it doesn't fucking MATTER if you believe them or not, or if they're even lying- you act as though the situation were true, period.

People react to being attacked in different ways- not all "victims" (gawdz, I hate that word) will be reduced to blubbering wrecks afterwards! I certainly wasn't. You tell her to go to the police, if she's able to! You tell her to find counseling and maybe even suggest some places she could go! You give her a shoulder to lean on. YOU DON'T FUCKING TELL HER TO BE QUIET ABOUT IT.

*sighs* I'm as disgusted with this as most seem to be. Rape, even the allegation of rape, is a serious business that you don't just sweep under the rug with stupidities like "it's better if you didn't say anything, because you might get harassed". How many women have been exploited over the years by high-profile people and ended up staying silent because of such advice, and suffer for the rest of their lives with regret because they weren't powerful, but their attacker was? Or worse, didn't speak up- "advice" or not- for fear of such repercussions as the ruining of their lives or careers?

Less than half of all rapes are ever reported because of fears like that: fear of their attacker coming back, fear of losing their job, fear of ridicule, fear of ostracism for daring to speak out against someone with more power... Fucking FEAR is at the bottom of shit like this, and it's gotta fucking stop.

Zaush has little power out in the mainstream world, but he's "popular", here, and so has "power" of a sort- opinions are gonna be all over the place. But, I would think it would be more fair to him if he could face the allegations head-on and, if he's innocent, prove them false, than to have the rumour-mill going at full blast as it is now.

OY GEVALT. *eyeroll*

Dragoneer fucked up. He fucked up BIG. YOU NEVER TELL A POSSIBLE RAPE-VICTIM TO KEEP QUIET. EVER. He should have suggested she go to the police. He should have suggested she find counseling and maybe sent her some info on places she could go. He SHOULD have given her a shoulder to lean on, whether he believed her or not, whether they were friends or not. A human being comes to you in pain, you don't just brush them off with bullshit like "keep quiet on this, the backlash will be more than you can handle". No offer to help, no offer to step on any potential harassment, just that mealy-mouthed brush-off.

Silence is a killer- rape is such a personal, touchy subject that more people fear the potential ridicule, the stupid assumptions by sexist jerks ("she was askin' for it, look how she was dressed!", or "she went to his place willingly! How was he supposed to know she didn't want it"), loss of a career (how many women over the years risked losing their jobs because they wanted to report their boss for harassment or rape?) than they desire justice for themselves.

But, all it takes is ONE person to come forward to give the other victims the courage to step up. Until someone finally speaks up, anyone who might have been attacked might not be ABLE to say anything out of simple fear! Read the papers: cases like this pop up all the time (sadly so), where one person comes forward and their testimony releases the flood of other victims at last coming out to reveal what had happened to them, sometimes after DECADES of silence.

I was one of those people- when I was eight years old, a local pedophile molested me over the course of a year. When signs began to point to a more violent situation, I got scared and ran to the cops. If anyone even DARES to ask why I was visiting this guy more than once, I'll know they're a fucking tool who knows ZERO about how abusers like this operate. At the trial, it turned out that I was THE FIRST of 54 children who came forward to report this guy. FIFTY-FOUR KIDS that MY testimony freed up enough to speak out. If I hadn't come out and led the police right to the perv's door, he might have gotten away with it- he'd apparently been doing this for so long that the local playground was called "molester park"...

What is a rapist? Someone who doesn't understand the word "no". Turning your back means "no". Flipping you the bird means "no". Slapping your stupid fucking face means "no". Saying "no", means no. Kicking you in the balls means "no". Pushing you away when you try to kiss me means "no". Saying "get off of me!" means "no". Crying means "no". Biting and kicking means "no". Screaming means "no". Saying "Fuck off" means "no". Rape means not understanding "no".

So, if this lady is speaking the truth, then Zaush is in for a lot of trouble. If the people she names come forward, and I hope they do, maybe morons like the twats of FA will at last SHUT THE FUCK UP.

I'm'a go and foam a dragon head and maybe get stoned on glue, now. (it's been raining for four straight days- too humid to spray the glue outside and hope it will set.)

... and I'm angsting, of course. She's getting that lump on her jaw removed today, and we'll be picking her up in about four hours. Poor kitty- she'll be groggy and I suspect she won't forgive me for weeks after this one.

We'll suck up tons when she gets back home.

Keep yer digits crossed that lump isn't cancer!

RIP, Leslie Nielsen. You were a fun actor in a lot of my childhood's favourite cheesy movies... His reason for taking on all of those B-movie roles? "They were more fun!" Good bye, man, rest well.

THIS---> http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.co.....10/11/20/15449

My fucking EYES are bleeding. This is the UN!

WHAT THE FUUUUUCK!!!

"Rage" is just not an adequate word for what I'm feeling about this travesty.

Fuck you, United Nations, for allowing fucked up regimes that think stoning women to death for showing a smidge of ankle under their fucking burkha or for looking at a man other than her owner/"husband" is a good way to treat their female citizens to further prove how messed up they are in the human rights department by allowing them to remove the provision of LGBT from the list of persons who cannot be executed without cause.

Fuck you Caribbean nations- you should fucking know better!

Fuck you, homophobes, who just cannot get it through their thick fucking skulls that gay folks don't have a choice in their orientation, it's not a fucking disease and they are human beings as worthy of love as anyone else.

Fuck you all, who think that something like that even needed to be VOTED on!

An especially LOUD "Fuck You!" to the African Nations with the world-regarded record of being fair to gays, yet STILL voted to remove that protection for LBGT people.


AAAAAARGH!

Not something I wanted to see before going to bed.

Fuck.



FUUUCK



Just... fucking hell...

*siiiiiighs and curls up in a ball with her mate*

... haven't encountered my husband. Heh.

One of things that are his personal despair is that so many people stick their heads in the sand when it comes to politics, whether through apathy, ignorance (which they'll actually claim is boredom), frustration at how our leaders "run" things (IE the politicians being owned by Big Money and seemingly every one of them out to screw the regular guy into the poorhouse), and disgusted eyerolling at the idiot Climate Deniers who base their "knowledge" on paid-"disinfomercials" by-the-Big-Oil/Big-Money-Corporation's, religion or the simply stupid beliefs that it's "all a conspiracy!".

To anyone who has ever said "I'm only one person, what can I do? I'm impotent!" I can only reply with the names of several personal heroes of mine who did make a difference- even though they were "only one person":
Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Diane Fossey, Jane Goodall, Rachel Carson... It's a sign of their true importance to our society when you know that three of those five people were assassinated for their views, yet their legacy still lives on.

In other words, singular people are not powerless, we've only been relentlessly propagandized into believing we are. And who can we look to as the source of that propaganda? The Big Money interests who paid the media to continue broadcasting it, because it benefits their agenda: it's easier to control a group when you have control of their access to information...

One of the things that continues to fuel this climate Denial problem is the misinformation, outright lies and millions of dollars poured into the coffers of people willing to lie to the public for filthy lucre. And this is one of the problems that pisses off my husband the most, and so he writes regular blogs, hoping to counter the lies and misinformation with solid, real info, links to places with honest info, things one can do to further a real change that just might make a difference within our lifetimes, before it's too late, instead of sitting back in our "safe" little holes, worrying about why the weather and climate are killing our crops, causing heat-related deaths, species-extinction and rises in sea-levels that are altering our coastlines, leaving less land to live and farm on...

Basically, if we continue wasting our very limited resources, that will be our future. And much of what the scientists have been warning us against is happening now.

Let's put things into a real-world perspective, shall we? I grew up in an area of this continent where the effects of Climate Change have been obvious and disturbing: it's been a trend for the last two decades, at least, for our winters to begin later, be drier and often warmer, with a viciously-cold mid January, or just whipsawing between very mild to bitter, record-breaking cold. The original pattern was a longer, colder winter overall, with more snow and less extreme swings between temperatures.

Our summers have been also more extreme, with massive storms that batter buildings, hammer crops with hail, more frequent tornadoes, heat-waves, prairie fires and dry, dry weather that shrivels our crops into brown ash...

The Tribe I'm related to (the Innu) and the various Inuit Tribes have all been reporting the same thing: more extreme weather patterns, thinner ice (less volume, but as much "cover") on the oceans, changes in migration-patterns in the animals, starving polar bears (who may well be fully extinct in the next fifty years- well within the current generation's lifetimes)... the list goes on. These Aboriginal groups have been some of the loudest in their warnings about this, but, why aren't we listening?

Aboriginal groups in other areas of the world- the Tribes of Indonesia's disappearing jungles, Amazon Tribes like the Boro, Yanomamo and Uranina in Brazil and Argentina, Mayans in Central America, the Sami (Lapplanders) in Finland, have been trying to get us to pay attention to what our greed for the Earth's riches has been doing to our world...

So, I come from an Aboriginal background in my environmental interests (being part Innu)- I approach it from the perspective of a caretaker of the land, who is careful with our resources so later generations can live after I'm gone. Right now, the Western world's mandate seems to be "get my bit before everyone else takes it", while many Tribes still live by the belief that we don't own or pass down the land, we inherit it from our grandchildren... We weep that so much of the Western world just can't seem to get off their entitled asses unless it gets them something immediately tangible, like a fat paycheck, a house they can't really afford, or that gas-guzzling SUV they only think they need. The long-term view seems to be beyond many people.

Not a surprise, when it's common in business to think "long-term" means five to ten years, not decades.

This can't go on as it has been- we NEED to act.

Before anyone asks "what the Sam hell does this have to do with Otherkin?", I'll tell you: many 'Kin who aren't of the fluff-headed variety (like myself and my mate) think about these things a LOT, and we worry about them. We also worry about what could possibly be done in the possibly short time we have left before we hit the tipping-point of runaway global Climate-Destruction. Because after we hit roughly 350 parts per million (we're actually at 390 right now- yes, this should scare you), it's theorized that we might have hit that possible tipping-point where we begin our slow, possibly irreversible demise into an atmospheric, hothouse oven last seen during the Pliocene 2.5 to 5.6 million years ago.

It only makes sense to be more wise in our lifestyle choices where those choices could impact both the next generation and the planet. So, we ask, "WHY AREN'T WE LIVING THAT WAY?"

See, for a group of people who believe that a portion of their psyche is non-human, possibly animal, it seems natural for us to empathize with the plight of so many species nearing extinction (they may have been us in another lifetime) of weather going haywire, and the potential deaths of millions of people to starvation, heat-waves and drought.

Yeah, this planet has been here longer than we have, and will remain to rebuild after we're gone. I've heard that one before, and it still disgusts me every time I hear it. Why? Because it's as arrogant to think that we don't make a difference and that we can simply take what we want without repercussions as it is to think we can control everything. Yeah, it is about survival, the simple genetic imperative to keep living long enough to pass on our genes. Yes, it could be seen as "selfish". But, altruism IS "selfish" at it's heart: in the sense that it fosters better survival conditions for a species.

In short, there is nothing wrong with wanting to ensure the continued survival of our "adopted" species- humanity. Otherkin have as much to lose as anyone else on this planet if we keep greedily fucking each other over. Lets have a bit interspecies altruism- I don't mean that in the sense that Otherkin think they're a different species- we understand that we're as human as anyone else- but in the sense that we share our bodies with something "other" than human, mostly amicably, so why not extend that to the species we share this world with?

On to the blog I was talking about: my husband writes these, with links to the info he's basing them on, and posts them on the website he created for Otherkin dragon-folk. Here's the text of it- not exactly fluff, but serious reading from a guy who seriously believes we need to change, that we can change, and that the power of an individual is more than what we've been led to believe... (NOTE) the stuff in bold are actually links to the info he's talking about)


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/u.....2BQ23k3!" rel="nofollow ugc noreferrer noopener">This article details how RepubliCorp candidates used record-shattering amounts of money provided by the Citizens United decision to launch attack ads all over the country for the last two years. This, combined with their usual dirty tricks (like recruiting homeless men to run as Green party candidates to waste votes that otherwise would have gone to a Democrat), along with the fake "grassroots" Tea Party movement created and paid for by inheritance babies the Koch brothers and rallied by Fox "News", all led to swings of districts with (often narrow) Democratic wins two years ago to the RepubliCorp camp. And so, the "biggest party turnover in 70 years" happened on Nov 2nd.

It doesn't have to be this way. In California, thanks to state laws, the money dumped into attack ads in our state was not anonymous. So, despite outspending Democratic candidates many fold, RepubliCorp candidates lost across the board, often by 10% margins or more. Thanks to a massive, truly grassroot effort to call voters and knock on doors and tons of small donations, California voters learned that out-of-state oil companies and other RepubliCorp interests were funding Prop 23, Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, and so on. In fact, once the oil companies saw prop 23 was way down in the polls, they shifted focus to passing Prop 26. Unfortunately, the grassroots campaigns did not follow with much of a counterattack and Prop 26 passed. Luckily, it's not nearly as bad as 23.

The RepubliCorp wins were created by good planning with plenty of Big Money, dirty tricks, disinformation, and voters who didn't see enough progress to want to vote like they did two years ago. Yet none of this means climate change is a losing issue or that Democrats must move "to the right" to win. Despite the endless attacks, polls still show a 5% lead in the number of registered Democrats in the country. People who tend to vote Democrat, Green, or Independent may be in the majority, but they have an unfortunate tendency to be quiet or busy and not get noticed compared to angry Tea Partiers. In fact, among the right-leaning Blue-Dog Democrats (aka DemoCorp members) in the House, more than half (29) lost their seats and only 28 remain. Progressive Democrats who ran on their record instead of running from it generally did much better. Exit polls showed few voters voted against Democrats because of their support for Cap and Trade and more Democrats who voted for the healthcare bill kept their seats than those who voted against it. Despite the generally terrible messaging about their accomplishments and too much willingness to compromise without a fight, Obama and his party actually did a lot of great stuff.

With House RepubliCorp members vowing to defund and investigate climate scientists, defund the EPA, repeal health care reform, cut social security and raise the retirement age, make "no compromises" on extending tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%, block future job and clean energy stimulus plans, and so on, our country and our planet are both in serious trouble. We can't go on like this. Whether this ends with a Great Depression style meltdown and one cataclysmic climate disaster after another or with us banding together to finally do something about it is up to us.

California has shown what is possible when people band together. Thanks to sweeping Democratic victories, California's climate change law will continue to generate jobs and show the nation the benefits of a green economy. Heck, we may even get single-payer healthcare (such a bill was passed in 2006 and 2008 and vetoed both times by former RepubliCorp governor Swartzenegger).

We all need to stop feeling sorry or powerless and get a lot more active, if you're not already, and not just right before an election. Despite the endless sums of corporate money poured into our political process, we still have power when we can be convinced to wield it. Here are some places to start:
[list]
[*]Tell your representative to pass the DISCLOSE act - The lame-duck Senate session starting Nov 15th may be the last, best chance to pass this critical reform that forces Big Money to put its name on attack ads. If California is any proof, it's far easier to fight against an enemy that has been named than against countless anonymous ads coming from who-knows-where. Most voters don't have time to check the facts and make decisions based more on who's talking than on what they're saying.
[*]Add to the 1-million reasons the millionaire bailout is a BAD IDEA - It's been proven time and time again that tax-breaks for the wealthy are the absolute worst way to stimulate the economy, so Obama originally vowed to fight to end the Bush tax cuts, but he's faltering and thinking about compromising. Tell him that's absolutely not ok. And BTW, when your friendly local RepublicCorp or DemoCorp representative tells you we need tax cuts to help "small businesses", they're defining "small" as in number of owners, not small number of employees or small profits. Some of the largest companies and richest individuals in the country are "small businesses" under this ridiculously misleading definition.

[*]Tell Secretary Salazar not to drill in the arctic - With ice and bad weather for much of the year, a BP-style gusher here would most likely take years to stop and drive many threatened species in the area to extinction.
[*]MoveOn.org - Still my favorite activist site. They've got a planning potluck going on this weekend all over the country.
[*]350.org - Another activist site completely dedicated to climate change.
[*]change.org - A site I got directed to by donating to a progressive candidate during the elections. Started in 2006, change.org seems to be growing fast and supporting actions for causes in many categories.
[*]The Unitarian Universalists - If you want religion in your life but figure most churches aren't going to be keen on welcoming dragon otherkin, check these guys out. I got invited by a friend to attend one of their services and although I'm not much into religious ceremonies, these guys welcome everyone (including atheists) and they're big into building communities and helping people and causes. We came to a service where they invited a pack of wolves into the church so we could meet them and hear about why their reintroduction to various states is so important.

[*]Rachel Maddow / MSNBC - I'm truly amazed, but one of the giant mainstream media outlets (MSNBC/Universal) seems to be taking a truly progressive turn. Rachel Maddow has a new show on MSNBC as part of their "Lean Forward" campaign to talk about news stories from a more liberal/progressive point of view. In fact, Maddow has become my favorite speaker on the Best of the Left podcast and the bit of Keith Olbermann I've watched has also been pretty great. So, MSNBC seems to be serious about this shift, and they've already pulled ahead of CNN in the news ratings and now hover as #2 behind Fox "News". I only hope that the likely (and bad) merger of Comcast with NBC doesn't change their trajectory...
[*]michaelmoore.com - The amount of stories here that make me angry and frustrated can make it hard to read, but he's always got a "Do Something" link that changes often to give you constructive things to do.

[*]climateprogress.org - The best source I've found for climate news, though rarely talks about what can be done to change things. It's gotten pretty grim there since after the election, but this thread generated a ton of spontaneous ideas from readers about where to go next. Also check out some inspiring words from Van Jones about our community power and the importance of protecting the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
[*]Copy this post to your blog, journal, or email it to friends. If you were afraid to spring voting recommendations on friends or family in the last election (I know I was), now you've got time to feel them out or gradually introduce ideas to them before the next election.
[/list]

Otherwise known as Metthew Ebel, he makes some awesome music. Unfortunately, he uses a Mac for all of his drum-tracks, right now, and wants a real human being to play the drums for him. Yeah, Ebel wants to make a band! Here's a link to the Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t6w.....layer_embedded

Click it, you muuuuust. Besides, it's hilarious. >^__^<

I come from a military family- on both sides. Many of my friends were in the military or in cadet corps. One of my brothers was in cadets, though he never ended up enlisting. I even toyed with the idea of enlisting more than once- in the end, my lungs and mental troubles kept me out of the army. I'm actually a bit of a pacifist, in that I'd likely never raise a weapon against anyone, but I will fight when I need to.

Militaries all over the world do so much more than just kill each other in this day and age: they're firemen, police, rescue-workers, doctors, road-builders and so much else in areas where the infrastructure doesn't have the wherewithal to do these things on their own. They assist in rescue and rebuilding-efforts during times of disaster, they have expertise and equipment that gets used to rescue miners or other victims of major accidents where access is difficult or dangerous, they build schools in war-torn places, ensure food and water supplies get where they're supposed to go (most of the time) in dangerous famine situations...

Soldiers aren't perfect- they can do bad things, too, but they're people, many of them only wanting to help others in poor times.

Regardless of their reasons, or the reasons their governments send them to battle, many do serve, and we should remember, that while some are maybe doing things we don't agree with, others are working in any of a myriad other capacities other than soldier, because it's part of their job as service to their country, and because they want to help. Remember the sacrifices as much as the things we might joke about or revile. There are more "heroes" out there in the various armed services than we realize, and chances are, you know one personally.

Thank a soldier, smile at a tired service-person coming home with their duffle full of undress greens and personal memories, many of them ugly. Give a relative in uniform a welcome back hug, or send them a note through email letting them know you're thinking of them.

Honour the ones who died in the service, too- they paid the ultimate price for what they believed in.

Just some quiet thoughts in my mind on this Remembrance Day

...'Cuz I gotta ramp up makin's for my Further Confusion Dealer's Den table. >^__^<

Just to let folks know, I'm going to be putting all current commissions on hold (except for the double-plush and  kilroy's biggie- those I'll be finishing up this week and and this month, respectively) after Nov, 16th. Not to worry, everyone will be getting their pretties as soon as each are finished after FC! I just need to grab a big block of time to prepare all the stuff I plan on bringing to the Con.

There will be Steampunk and neo-primitive jewelry- great for costumes or just to wear. Tails galore! Plenty of species will be represented. I'm going to be building a partial set of head, hand-paws and a tail for the Art Show- a big blue dragon! I'm working on art for the other three panels I bought space on as well. Prints will be available at my table, and I'll be there in my full lunacy, hopefully giving folks a good time!

The commission queue is as follows:

 kilroy- paid in full- eight-foot plush of a pal of his- pattern made and pieces cut out- I'm about a third of the way through sewing this fellow- sorry I'm taking so stupid long, man- FYI: the face came out fuggin' PERFECT. I'll post some pix of the progress soon!

-secret commish- fully paid up, has been bumped up a slot because of a time-sensitive deadline. All pieces cut, sewing today and tomorrow- mailing on Monday.

 robbob4- Fully paid- repairs and modification to Big Red. I'll be using the new pattern for his head (I'm gonna rebuild it), because the pattern I made for Kilroy's looks awesome.

 trozok21- paid up- tail commish to be finished after Further Confusion. Keeping out the "blue ghost" silver scaly vinyl for his tail and possibly a pair of paws.

 dranslin- partially paid, four foot plush of his friend  darkvyce

 thorphax- partially paid- two feet of cuteness.

 talakestreal- partially paid- tail commish idea. She's got such a cool character, and the tail looks like it would be a blast to make.


As plushes can take a while, I'm now closed for doing plush commissions until this batch is sewn up and shipped! I'll reopen right after next Further Confusion!

If anyone is really wanting a plush, or suit partials- let me know, and I can put you on a waiting-list- I'll put in five spots for now, so it's first-come first serve- I'll add more spots as needed.

Waiting-list for plushes:

 kilroy a fire-lizard plush of his cute self.

 reese a large tiger plush.

 demonlordookami wants a pair of wolf plushes.

Waiting-list for partials:

 dustythemare wants a pair of hooves after seeing the WIP for  clappy9

 scarlitt a pretty striped tail of her dragon.

 anyadserval suit partial of her pretty Turkish Van Cat (handpaws, feet and head)

Waiting-list for Steampunk goggles: (note: I'm getting in a shipment of five pairs that I can modify! If the guy is still around when I have a bit more cash, I'll get more off of him- he found dozens of pairs in an old Steel mill)

 rheiga "his and hers" custom goggles.

Mooncini, a friend of cyberhorn_the_dragon wants a pair of custom goggles.

I keep feeling like there should be someone else in this list. Argh. If I have forgotten anyone, please let me know

Thanks all!

As usual, I'm behind the times...

I don't pay a lot of attention to everyone in my watch-list- I can't, there's too many folks! But I try to reply to anyone who actually wants to talk to me, and, I recall a time or two where I spoke to this individual who liked my art:  starblade

He seemed to have dropped off the map for a while, and I didn't really think much of it, since people drop out fairly regularly around here for all kinds of reasons.

But his 'disappearance" was something more. Poor nit got murdered- stabbed to death- by a supposed friend. Well, FUCK, what a way to go...

(that puts the count to three people I personally knew in this Fandom who have since died) *mope*

He was involved in some of the silliest drama-llama nonsense in this Fandom, but seemed to have mellowed out the last couple of years and was behaving well, from what I personally saw of him. I came into all of that way after the fact, so it didn't have any real impression on me, other than I saw that a lot of people had a bad habit of mocking him for his past mistakes. Yeah, he was kinda whiny and all about the self-pity, but, fuck, he was harmless... Maybe those assholes can get it through their narrow heads that people can change, and he was trying to do so. He was never anything but polite to me on my pages, anyway, the few times he popped up. No drama followed him here on my threads. In short, I had nothing but good to see of the guy.

Now, I understand that some didn't have as pleasant an experience- I'm not gonna go into detail, other than to say it was potentially jail-worthy stuff he should never have done, and I can understand the anger of the people he'd hurt- but the rude posts that have been the common response of many out there really piss me off. The man is DEAD, you cretins! He didn't just "pass away", he was violently attacked and died from his injuries days later! Imagine what his last moments must have been like- pain, fear, knowing that you're probably going to die, that someone who said they were your friend was behind it...

It's crass enough to mock someone for failings they might not be able to do much about (the lousy social-skills broken by Asperger's, his obsessiveness about certain people, which was likely because of the Asperger's, too), but to troll him after he's killed by someone he thought he could trust is fucking disgusting! At least one person has been banned for his trolling lack of decorum in this matter, and good riddance.

Whether you liked him or not, he was a well-known guy in the Furry Fandom, he was in my watch-list almost from the beginning of my time here and he was a member of a board I'm an Admin on.

I'm suspecting his death may have been behind the recent spate of avatars showing up here plastered over with a certain meme attributed to him. I'd wondered about the resurgence of those...

I've always gotten a chuckle out of FYIAD!, even though it had been thrown at him as a way to make fun of him and his... unconventional beliefs about himself, and I like using it to give a finger back to all the jerks in this Fandom and in the mundane world who like to bully others for being a little out there (or simply beyond their particularly low tolerance for batshit crazy of the harmless kind ):


"Fuck You, I'm A Dragon!"

Rest in peace, buddy.

It's morning, I just woke up, and I have a lot of sewing to do on a machine where the foot-pedal is dying a slow and painful death... Both me and Kani have taken it apart, and we've concluded that we need to get a hold of a weird little part: the way the thing works is there are three pieces of thin metal (reeeeally thin), layered one over the other with a bit of space between each. When you push down on the pedal, one strip contacts the first, then the third to complete a circuit and make the motor run. Problem is, the second metal strip sparks against the last, ablating micro-thin pieces of metal away. Arrgh. Now, the second contact-strip is nearly worn through (the last is showing holes, too) and there's only a tiny fraction of metal left on it that can carry a charge. Jeebus- this thing is THE most primitive circuit I've ever frakkin' seen. O____0 I might have to switch machines to the one with the wonky tension. This is what I get for not having the $$ to take my poor machines in to be looked at and serviced. I promise, my babies, when I get a chance, or if I have to beg my man to help me out, you're getting some mechanic-lovin's soon...

In other news, I have some art taking shape that will be in Further Confusion's Art Show. A lovely little Egyptian lioness, dancing and being graceful, is half-completed. Some of the art I'm doing is digital, but I'm hoping to have more pieces that are traditional media this year- the lioness is one of them.

So, to wake up me head-meats, here's a silly meme I snagged off of  nyaasu

1. First thing you wash in the shower?
Usually my hair, what there is of it.

2. What color is your favorite hoodie?
They're all black, actually.

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
Why? Ya wanna watch? *giggles* Of course I'd kiss him again- I married him!

4. Do you plan outfits?
On occasion, depending on the occasion. Most of the time, unless I have a yen to be co-ordinated, nope.

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now?
Worried- my mum-in-law is in the hospital, recovering after a serious surgery to remove cancerous growths.

6. What's the closest thing to you that's red
My stripy shirt.

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having?
Most of my dreams are boring or just plain WEIRD. This one was about some new breakthrough in weather-manipulation where you could sculpt clouds, and I was all excited over the idea, then it morphed into some odd "alien-invasion" thing where the cloud-sculpting was actually a message from the aliens and I got this powerful urge to go find them after seeing a particular series of dragon-like clouds. I finally end up at the alien's location (looked like a big dojo, complete with creatures exercising and doing what looked like martial-arts- WTF) and I'm quizzed rather sternly by the head guy, who I'd insisted upon seeing. He asks me why I was there- "I was summoned." I answered. "Do you always come when called?" I grin and say, "Pfft! No!" Frowning, he asks, "then why are you here?" "'Cuz I wanna be."

The dream disintegrated after that into some weirdness involving my being one of them in human-form, or some such oddity. Oh, yeah, and they were these lizardy, dragon-like things that I found really attractive. Like, I wanted to jump his bones SO BAD. Go figure. All you Reptilian Conspiracy nuts out there- have fun with this one... OOOOWEEEEOOOOO... I'm one of THEEEEEM. Booga!

8. Did you meet anybody new today?
Nope- I'm a cave-dweller, hiding in my work-room, or at my computer.

9. What are you craving right now?
Breakfast. There's some leftover vegetarian pasta in the fridge... Yum.

10. Do you floss?
Not as often as my mate wishes I would.

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage?
Being a literal sort, "rolls or slaw, pick one."

12. Are you emotional?
Yeah, but I'm not hyper about it. I have panic-attacks, yet, when I really SHOULD panic, when it's REASONABLE to panic, I DON'T. My brain is wired WRONG, man.

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000?
Why the frak would I want to?

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?
Both, but usually, I just lick.

15. Do you like your hair?
The little I have left, sure. *is going bald, slowly*

16. Do you like yourself?
Depends on the day, and what my funny head-chemicals are doing at the moment.

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?
Yup, just so I could have a captive-audience wherein I could pick his tiny, heartless, little soul over why the fuck he pandered to the rich and let so many more deserving people go to the poor-house, the selfish, over-moneyed, oil-magnate (ok, I actually know why- he's rich, after all, and wants to stay that way). That, and ask how the fuck he could not believe Climate-Change is real, is happening and how he could live with himself for actually putting policies in place that could make it even worse for the next generation. Grr.

18. What are you listening to right now?
Concrete Blonde's version of Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows"- a rather appropriate song, considering my response to the last question.

19. Are your parents strict?
They were, stupidly so- I'm still getting apologies from my Mother-Unit to this day.

20. Would you go sky diving?
The idea fascinates me, but terrifies me at the same time. I have no idea if I could grow the stones to actually do it, though.

21. Do you like cottage cheese?
Yup, but it makes me hurl, so I don't eat it. I might try it again, sometime, though, with more fruit. I love cheese, and it disappoints me that one has this odd habit of making me ill...

22. Have you ever met a celebrity?
I've met several, actually: Dave Brockie (Oderus from GWAR) and his band-mates, I've met Nichelle Nichols (Uhura of Star Trek) James Doohan (Scotty) before he passed away, and many big-name science-fiction authors over the years: Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Robert J. Sawyer, Lois McMaster Bujold, C. J. Cherryh, Spider Robinson, Terry Pratchett and others.

23. Do you rent movies often?
Yup. We don't often go to see them in the theatre- their prices for the food are INSANE.

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in?
Not really. There's a pile of quarters, do those count?

25. How many countries have you visited?
One, now I live here.

26. Have you made a prank phone call?
Nope. Always thought that stuff was pointless and stupid.

27. Ever been on a train?
A few times, once to visit my evil grandmother in Montreal and once on a lovely little antique rail line called the Prairie Dog Express.

28. Brown or white eggs?
Whichever are cheapest. They taste the same, anyway. Aesthetically? Brown. If I'm making Pysanky (Ukrainian-style painted Easter eggs)? White.

29. Do you have a cell-phone?
Nope- never owned one, either- too expensive, and I feel stupid trying to operate one.

30. Do you use chap stick?
Yes, especially when it's cold, or I'm in the desert.

31. Do you own a gun?
Only prop guns- I doubt I'd ever want to own a real one. *shudder* Gimme a bow, instead.

32. Can you use chop sticks?
Yep. Have since I was a kid.

33. Who are you going to be with tonight?
My husband and the Trick-or-Treaters I'm gonna scare at my front door. Happy Hallowe'en!

34. Are you too forgiving?
No- fuck up once, I'll accept an apology, fuck up a second time, and I MIGHT accept an apology, fuck up a third or fourth time, and it's probably a pattern that I'm not gonna waste my time on, 'cuz it'll be obvious by that point that you don't really want to fix things. I might still accept an attempt at change, though.

35. Ever been in love?
Still am- *purrs at her mate*

36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow (or the next soonest week day)?
Sitting at his computer, working on the programs he sells for a living. >^__^< Yeah, it's  kanis. Heh.

37. Ever have cream puffs?
YES. Damn, now I want some. Can I change my answer to the craving question? *giggle*

38. Last time you cried?
Uhhh... Sometime a couple of weeks ago? It's a periodic thing with me. *shrugs* Fuggin' PMS sucks, lemme tell you. At least, I don't throw stuff like my mother did.

39. What was the last question you asked?
"Can I get that fleece blanket with the cool skulls and roses all over it?" *is wrapped up in it right now*

40. Favorite time of the year?
Hmmm, Spring and Fall, almost equally, but for different reasons: Spring for all the flowers, bright greens and sweet smells in the air, Fall for the colours and different, richer smells like wood-fires from the local fireplaces as things get chilly.

41. Do you have any tattoos?
Yup- it's in my ear.

42. Are you sarcastic?
Do bears shit in the woods?

43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect?
Is that an actual movie? If so, no. If you mean the philosophical concept of a small action can have big consequences, then yes.

44. Ever walked into a wall?
Yeah, usually the part right next to a doorway. I'm a moron, some days. Derp.

45. Favorite color?
Well, shoot- I love so many colours...I think Cobalt Blue is still the tops, though- that colour can make me cry... in a good way. I'm rather fond of Purple, Chartreuse (a bright, yellow-green that can hurt the eyes, heh) and a certain shade of deep red.

46. Have you ever slapped someone?
Not really- I'm more prone to punching. If I'm gonna hit someone, it's for a good reason, like I'm in danger, so I'm gonna make it HURT. Playful slaps, I do, though- little taps or pushes on the shoulder, mostly.

47. Is your hair curly?
On the ends, when it gets long enough.

48. What was the last CD you bought?
Probably something by Type O Negative or Velvet Acid Christ.

49. Do looks matter?
Not one guy I've gone out with could be considered more than"cute" or ok in looks, by current society's standards, so the answer is probably no. Mind you, what I consider attractive is not what a lot of other folks might like- I think Kani is pretty fucking handsome, by the way, especially when he smiles. He's got an an awesome smile.

50. Could you ever forgive a cheater?
I don't see why not. I only get put out by "cheating" if the person is pushing me aside in favour of the new fling and if they tried to hide it. If they actually introduce me to the person they want to play with, I don't have a beef, except that I'll insist on both of them getting tested for disease before I'll sleep with my partner again (or he wears a condom). I don't want what they're "having", thanks. Besides, I might like him/her, too! Heh.

51. Is your phone bill sky high?
No. We make a point of using it as little as possible, and use One-Suite and Google-voice for long-distance (it's free).

52. Do you like your life right now?
YUP! YUP! YUP! >^____^<

53. Do you sleep with the TV on?
No. It's a waste of power and money. And it's noisy. I like quiet in my lair when I sleep.

54. Can you handle the truth?
Depends on what that "truth" is.

55. Do you have good vision?
Nope. Myopic and mildly astigmatic.

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people?
Hate? No. Dislike intensely? Yes. No, I'm not gonna tell you who they are. You wouldn't know them, anyway.

57. How often do you talk on the phone?
As seldom as possible- I HATE phones.

58. The last person you held hands with?
 kanis.

59. What are you wearing?
That red, stripy shirt, black cargo pants with the legs rolled up, a pair of brown woolly slippers and my new fleece skully-rose blanket. It's chilly in here, for some reason.

60.What is your favorite animal?
If it has to be a real animal, then probably Big Cats, like Tigers. I got to actually scritch a full-grown tiger last year- that. Was. Fucking. Awesome. DRAGONS!

61. Where was your favorite picture taken at?
At the Aquarium of the Pacific, just last month. I'm playing with a sea-lion through the glass. I once saw a video where a trainer used a specific hand-motion to get their sea-lion to open his mouth for a tooth-exam, and I used the same gesture to see if it would work on this sea-lion. It did. >^__^<

62. Can you hula hoop?
Yes, sort of. At the hips: badly. Around my neck: pretty good, actually. WTF.

63. Do you have a job?
Yup- self-employed as Alien Eyes Creations. Art, jewelry, costumes, clothes- that's my bag, baby.

64. What was the most recent thing you bought?
Groceries and a certain skully-rose fleece blanket.

65. Have you ever crawled through a window?
Yeah. My psycho-ex-roomie had locked me out and was refusing to let me get my stuff... I popped the window and and crawled in, then unlocked the door so I could finish moving. Yeah, I broke in. I still ended up losing a lot of shit, because I couldn't fit it all in the car, and when I came back for another load, the bitch was home and threatening to call the cops. So I stuck around and let her. Cops show up, laugh, tell her to let me get my shit, and leave. Then, I found out that she'd supposedly called a hauler to take the last of my gear to the dump, 'cuz it was all gone. Grrr.

Pity this meme had to end on such a poor note. I'll just snuggle with my new blanket and sniffle out the last of this cold. Bleah.

 kilroy- paid in full- eight-foot plush of a pal of his- pattern made and pieces cut out- I'm about a third of the way through sewing this fellow- sorry I'm taking so stupid long, man- FYI: the face came out fuggin' PERFECT.

 robbob4- repairs and modification to Big Red.

 dranslin- partially paid up, four foot plush of his friend  darkvyce

 thorphax- partially paid up- two feet of cuteness.

-secret commish- nearly paid up, and might get bumped up a slot because of a time-sensitive deadline. Working on patterns this week and next- have all the materials and will be cutting/sewing next week as well.

 talakestreal- partially paid- tail commish idea. She's got such a cool character, and the tail looks like it would be a blast to make.

As plushes can take a while, I'm now closed for doing plush commissions until this batch is sewn up and shipped! I'll reopen right after next Further Confusion!

If anyone is really wanting a plush, or suit partials- let me know, and I can put you on a waiting-list- I'll put in five spots for now, so it's first-come first serve- I'll add more spots as needed.

Waiting-list for plushes, goggles and suit-partials:

 kilroy a firelizard plush.

 scarlitt a pretty striped tail of her dragon.

 reese a large tiger plush.

 dustythemare wants a pair of hooves after seeing the WIP for  clappy9

 anyadserval suit partial of her pretty Turkish Van Cat (handpaws, feet and head)

 rheiga "his and hers" custom goggles.

 demonlordookami wants a pair of wolf plushes.

A friend of  cyberhorn_the_dragon's wants a pair of custom goggles.

I keep feeling like there should be someone else in this list. Argh. If I have forgotten anyone, please let me know! Thanks all!

 electrictalia is moving to Colorado, but can't take her goof-ball Pitbull, Pink, with her. [EDIT] Pink has a home! YAAAAAAY! apparently a nice older lady is taking her in and Talia is so happy her beautiful dog will have a good home. Congrats, Tal!

Dammit, I STILL miss that dog. *snif*

...and articles like these only seem to back up my choice:

My feeling/assertion that religion is a psychological factor- not always a good one (IE: things I consider delusionary being attested to as being real, from the belief in angels to beliefs in the Reptilian Conspiracy- it's all tin-foil hat stuff, as far as I'm concerned)- http://www.sciencedaily.com/release.....1005092302.htm

This one backs up my theory that religion could potentially be at fault for people not taking responsibility for their actions (regarding the lessened anxieties related to making mistakes or potential mistakes. The anxiety is there to both warn us of the error and to encourage us to fix it and NOT DO IT AGAIN... Religion can short-circuit that)- http://www.sciencedaily.com/release.....0304160400.htm

Violent religions beget religious violence- 'nuff said (well, actually, it's just violent passages that are the culprit, especially ones where "god" sanctions attacks on others in his name)- http://www.sciencedaily.com/release.....0223143009.htm and
http://www.sciencedaily.com/release.....0305202614.htm

And the root of all evil is fear: extremism may have anxiety at it's base (gee, you THINK?)-
http://www.sciencedaily.com/release.....0706103404.htm

And, lastly, to counter my slagging of faith (though there is a cynical hint that religious "do-gooders" are only doing it to enhance their status in a community, most of the article points to the positive aspects of having faith in a deity)-
http://www.sciencedaily.com/release.....1002172013.htm

Yeah, as if I needed any kind of scientific/psychological study to tell me why I've gone atheist after so many years of having a religious life, but it's nice to see it corroborated by the scientific community.

I'll say it again- I do not hate religion or religious believers. There is much to respect in the religions of this world. The charity, honesty, and overall goodness to others that religions at their heart encourage always gives me a smile when I see it. But, when people use their faiths as an excuse to oppress others, to rip away basic rights *coughsamesexmarriagecough*, to justify violence against those not of the same belief or race, I want to wipe them off the map. All of them.

It doesn't matter if I think someone's beliefs in angels or space-ship gods is silly and most likely a result of sub-pathological mental-illness. If having those beliefs helps them function in our society- and it obviously does, for a great many- then, by all means, believe in those things. If you need a faith to dictate your morals and ethics to you (or simply to reinforce them), then fine. I just wish folks could learn to think for themselves, though. I know how hard it can be to be the gentle person who wants to help the guy in need of a good meal and place to sleep, and how often those generous people will actually be sneered at or mocked for wanting to help so so "worthless" (not my view, trust me- I despise people who look down on the poor and destitute like that).

Religious folk will help them because their religion tells them to, regardless of their personal opinion that the homeless guy is at fault for his predicament, that he's likely a drunk or an addict. Either way, the unwashed homeless guy will get a place to sleep and a meal, maybe a shower. Who cares why the person is helping, really? As long as an unfortunate is shown he can have a better life, does it really matter the reasons behind the help? Yeah, it can. See, my only beef with some religious institutions extending charity to the downtrodden and unfortunate is that they often do it with an implied price: "believe in our God, and He'll feed you". To me, that's nothing more than extortion and repulsive. Feed the guy, don't put fucking conditions on what he must do to get it! He deserves to be healthy, well-fed and happy as much as anyone else! But, there are quite a few charities and outreach groups that don't put conditions on their aid, which is fine by me. Help those who need it, but not at a price.

When someone tries to get me to believe in religious things, then the problems start- I'm not receptive, let's just say. To me, it's all crazy-talk, tin-foil-hat rantery and a waste of my time to listen to it. I can no more believe in a mysteriously-powerful, invisible abusive father in the sky any more than I'd believe the moon was made of green cheese. Just ain't gonna happen, Jack.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster touches us all with His noodley appendage, and His tomato-sauce moistens us all in His tasty love. Ramen.

Oh, man does that ever sound wrong. *giggle*

So I get this email from a buddy back home in Winnipeg. When he's not working (which is often- his job is seasonal), he spends a lot of time online, surfing. He finds a lot of fluffy-cute stuff like lolcats, heart-warming photos of a cat and a deer who are pals, silly jokes, that sort of thing. But every very once in a while, he shoots me one of these:

(photos omitted- they were of a dead pig, the pig in a hole about to be buried, and of the "grave" with a CROSS on it):

PEOPLE IN MICHIGAN and NEW YORK NEED TO TAKE A LESSON FROM THE SPANIARDS!

"At Sevilla, Spain

Some local people found a way to stop the construction of another mosque in their town. They buried a pig on the site, making sure this would be known by the local press. The Islamic rules forbid the erecting of a Mosque on "pig soiled ground". The Muslims had to cancel the project.. this land was sold to them by government officials. No protests were needed by the local people... and it worked !!!"

I sent him this response:

Um, whut? I might offend you with my reply, just letting you know ahead of time, hon. You know, you send me some hilarious stuff, but every once in a while, you shade over into things that make me wonder.... Like this bigoted little post.

One: the building that is planned on being built in New York is NOT A MOSQUE. It is a community-centre, like a YMCA. YMCA's often have a chapel as part of the floor-plan. This is no different.

Two: Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who bought the site, is NOT a radical, nor is he any kind of a terrorist: he HELPED Bush and co. in finding terrorists, and showed them what to look for. If anything, this man is on the terrorists hit-lists for helping the "evil" Americans! ([EDIT] thanks to for giving me the Imam's name)

Three: the site is four (possibly three- no one seems to be sure- typical) blocks AWAY from Ground Zero in an abandoned department store: the people who are making a silly-season bigot-fest over this are either stupid, or lying.

Four: what the FUCK is wrong with Muslims wanting to build a mosque anywhere in the first place? Oh, right, absolutely NOTHING.

Lastly: protesting the construction of mosques, or defiling the ground a proposed mosque would be built on is bullshit, wrong, rude, and nothing more than religious bigotry. Islam did not destroy the Two Towers- TERRORISTS who used Islam as an excuse to commit murder did.

End of story.

What will not end, however, is the garbage-spewing bigots on the right in the political arena using this and similar stories to distract people from real issues, like Climate Change, the economic meltdown and political corruption, all caused by corporate greed and their raping of that economy. People who are in the pay of these "interests" don't want us to pay attention to these real problems.

No, let's get them to bitch about a fucking community-centre where children will play sports, hang out and maybe learn something instead of doing that hanging out on the streets and getting involved with gangs. Oh wait, they're all actually "ebil Muslims wit gunz" learning new terrorist tactics in their "terrorist" school. Yeah, that's a real serious problem. WTF is wrong with you people?

Idiots.

******, please think about not only what you send out, but who you're sending it to, hmm? This little post was maybe meant to be funny, but it's content makes it obvious that the humour is only a very thin disguise for religious intolerance, nothing more. I will give it this: it was a creative way to prevent the construction from happening without violence- but it's still a bunch of jerks telling those of a different faith that "you can't worship here". Now ask yourself, "why am I spreading religious bigotry?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*sigh*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, yeah, it's a disappointing thing to find out that a guy who I like, who is a genuinely good person, who would never harm anyone in his life.... isn't thinking about the bigotries he's promulgating through "humourous posts" via email. The whole "ooh! This is funny!" knee-jerk reaction when their brain hasn't engaged in time to prevent them from hitting "send" shows me that he's forgetting the cardinal rule of life on the web: think before you post.

What bugs me even more: that he thought the thing was funny enough to spread it. Oh, before somebody points it out, I do know that by showing the text of the email, I'm technically spreading it, too. I think I can be excused since it's obvious that I not only don't agree with it, but I'm shooting it down as the racist/bigoted/religiously-intolerant garbage that it is. The context of this whole thing wouldn't make a lot of sense without it, either.

Furthermore, the bitching about this "mosque" is so recent, it's pointless- the place had been planned, and the land/building purchased, over a YEAR AGO, and there were no huge, TV-busting "protests" then. It was public knowledge- it was in the city's records that the place had been in the planning-stages back then, all permits gotten and paid for, etc. Nothing had been hidden. The funding for it did not come from "terrorist organizations" like some have been claiming. It came from the Imam's own community: from donations by local businesses and folks who are in the community he serves.

The "protests" currently going on only started just before the mid-term elections that are making people crazy in this country (I'm in the U.S., but I'm from Canada). Why? Because it's a convenient distraction from other matters.

Yeah, let's protest a place where housewives who need a breather can go for a cup of coffee with friends. Where kids can go after school to play until their parents come home from work. Where a businessman can unwind with a swim after a long day in the office (no, I'm not sure if there is to be a pool, but there might be). Where people using the centre as it's intended can take a break from their exercise-routines or socializing at the times appointed by Muhammad for contemplation and pray to their god in peace in a quiet room set aside for that purpose. Let's make AMERICAN CITIZENS and new immigrants feel oh so welcome. "Oh you're a Muslim? I'm sorry to hear that. Um, you can't come in here, sorry. Reserved for white Christians, only."

Racism, bigotry and religious-intolerance are all repulsive, and they make no sense to me at all. These people aren't a fucking THREAT. The real threat to our safety is ignorance, and allowing it to prosper.

"What is the opposite of hate? Understanding."

Ugh, I'm disgusted with some people.

[EDIT] something that made me grin: furry art in a major movie! http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/...../#cid:14823499 Go and congratulate  growly she had an awesome thing happen when her 'toon was used in that film! I can only hope she was paid for the footage or royalties for them to use it!

[EDIT] JUST TESTING TO SEE IF EDITING THIS IS CAUSING THE WEIRD-ASS DUPLICATING OF MY JOURNALS. SHEESH.

[EDIT II]: Nope, no dupes. Net hiccup, I guess.

Here's how it stands:

 kilroy- paid in full- eight-foot plush of a pal of his- pattern made and pieces cut out- you should see his monster by the end of next week or just after!

 robbob4- repairs and modification to Big Red.

 dranslin- partially paid up, four foot plush of his friend darkvyce

 thorphax- partially paid up- two feet of cuteness.

-secret commish- nearly paid up, and might get bumped up a slot because of a time-sensitive deadline.

 talakestreal partially paid- tail commish idea. She's got such a cool character, and the tail looks like it would be a blast to make.

As plushes can take a while, I'm now closed for doing plush commissions until this batch is sewn up and shipped! I'll reopen right after next FC!

If anyone is really wanting a plush, or suit partials- let me know, and I can put you on a waiting-list- I'll put in five spots for now, so it's first-come first serve- I'll add more spots as needed.

Waiting-list for plushes and suit-partials:

 kilroy a firelizard plush.

 scarlitt a pretty striped tail of her dragon.

 reese- A large tiger plush.

 dustythemare- wants a pair of hooves after seeing the WIP for  clappy9

 anyadserval suit partial of her pretty Turkish Van Cat (handpaws, feet and head)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, I'm going through those annoying mood-swings again. Bother. I was a gloopy mess most of the afternoon (the breakdown from a full day yesterday of feeling vaguely ill, tired and mopey in general), mentally frozen, thinking that my art and efforts at making fun costumes for people were all a fraud (stupid, I know), that I didn't even exist to most folks (true, but not necessarily a bad thing- ya can't know everybody, though my gregarious nature certainly tries) and that I was a waste of time to deal with. Blah- stupid head chemicals...

But, this weekend was pretty cool, despite the first glimmerings of this month's emo-coaster: I went to Antheria with my mate, suited, hung out with some cool furs, was entertained by the silly shenanigans that went on (like the bridal-shower the suiters were told to stay away from. That is, until the bridal-shower attendees saw them and dragged 'em in for photo-ops!) and generally had a pretty good time.

Some highlights:

-Got to see  2gryphon be his crazy self.

-Loved the music of Matthew Ebel (seriously, this guy can WRITE and sing so well, it's scary).

-Chuckled at the fun Bucktown Tiger was having performing ("Kigurumi" had me laughing my tail off, it was so fun, and I'm NOT a fan of rap).

-Met Uncle Kage and listened to his stories (he really does have the weirdest stuff happen to him!).

-Played with a beach ball during Friday's dance with a bunch of funny characters.

-Finally got to meet one of all-time comic heroes Stan Sakai (we got the little lizard drawing he did during one of his panels- I stuck it on our living-room wall) and we got a signed copy of his graphic novel Yokai.

-Was pleasantly surprised to meet a fellow former Winnipegger (well, his parents were, anyway)- I can't remember his human name, but he goes by Spotteh on occasion. He's the owner of a gorgeously-done Serval Cat suit- the one with all the "muscles". Turns out he has prosopagnosia, too! So we chatted about that a bit and shared coping strategies for remembering people who's faces don't stick in our memories. *chuckles*

-Huggled and muggled various suiters

Hi to
 katalina
 dogbomb
Chance the red dragon {dunno if he has an FA})

-Had my obligatory SKAWEEEE over  beetlecat, just because I told her I would on her page some time back.

- bucktowntiger (in suit) and  jtigerclaw played keyboards and bass in the halls by the reg-desk for a couple of hours.

And lastly, got the happy surprise of the weekend: a high-end arts magazine I used to buy for the contacts of bead and materials-suppliers had an article about fursuiters! It seems that they found out that Antheria was happening at the beginning of American Crafts Week, so they timed some interviews with  qarrezel and (I think)  evilyena of Clockwork Creatures to appear in this month's issue. The magazine is Ornament and they show-case amazing, high-profile (in the arts world, anyway) artisans- mostly jewelry, but they write about textile and other artists, too- and it's a glossy, well-put together mag.

Some kind soul laid several copies on every open table in the hotel lobby and cafeteria room. Furs all over the hotel were reading a high-brow, good-natured and respectful article about the craft of building fursuits. Of the readers I happened to notice, they had definite smiles as they read. Awesome shit and I brought one of the mags home.

Fursuits are now starting to be looked on as high-end ART! How fucking cool is that?

Damn, with all the good press we've been getting lately (barring a few, um... notable exceptions *glares at Tyra Banks and the twits in the SoCal police departments with the Pedobear thing*), I wonder how the Fandom will handle not being pariahs anymore? *giggles*

Yeah, sometimes, I just need a reminder of how cool some folks are to cheer me up. My husband most of all- poor guy had to deal with my little meltdown today, and I wonder if my cruddly moodz scare him at all. I've been getting the Ugly Thoughts of late, and I'm doing my best to shut that shit down. He hugs me a lot and tries to remind me that he loves me. I've been stressing so much with this mood garbage that I've been getting one fuggin' cold-sore after another (stress of any kind is a trigger) and feeling vaguely sick on and off for weeks. It usually takes a day or two to clear out, then I can work again, and I chug happily along, making more weirdness for FC.

It's bad enough I have the whole Cyclothymic Depression crud, but if I don't go outside often enough and let the sun do it's thing, I get all mopey. Then there's my period... Ugh. I swear, it's like it never ends. Kani suggested that maybe I need to get outside more- SADS is a weirdie of a mood-disorder- I'll get severely depressed if I don't get enough sun or vitamin D. Huh, maybe I should go sit outside with my cacti and make like a plant...

I'm hoping to be better tomorrow- got some sewing to do.

Cheers!

Because it's been derailed by a certain someone who has this bad habit of coming onto my pages and making the discussion about him and his problems with other dragon-folk. Doesn't actually address the stated topic, just somehow manages to turn it around so he can wiggle his personal ax he's always grinding on into the conversation. I'm frankly tired of it. He's not actually a bad guy, but he's more than a little wearing on the nerves when he whinges on about how people have screwed with him. And, because I can't be bothered to spend the literal weeks it would take to research his story, he is now relegating me to the ranks of all the other dragons who supposedly have fucked him over. Well.

It's bullshit, all of it. The whole thing is silly and nothing more than a stupid grudge the poor git just cannot let go. When someone is being as much of an ideological pitbull as he is on this one, obsessive topic, it's hard not to think that he has a few cogs missing from his machine.

I get long-winded arguments (I'm just as long-winded back) that circle around and around and eventually end up going nowhere, either because neither of us can see the other's point of view, or someone isn't willing to listen. It could be me, it could be him. I'm not going to speculate.

He's cut me loose as a friend, and I don't actually blame him for it- by his lights (however messed up I might think his views are, right or wrong), but it is a disappointment. I'm not sure what else to call it, really.

Anyway, enough of that.

Here's the journal re-post on the 10/10/10 Work Party. And, please, if folks want to comment, at least try to stick to the topic? I'd appreciate it. I'd appreciate it even more if folks actually got inspired by the 350.org people to get onto reducing their carbon-footprints and doing something to counteract the Climate-change caused by the actions of a few humans in a few countries where the shit is hitting the fan so hard, EVERYBODY suffers, not just the rich countries who caused the problem in the first place.

For anyone who might be in LA/San Fernando Valley area, there are quite a few individual events, but I'm hoping to get some of the local furs in on this particular one. I'm cross-posting this to a number of places.

Ok, the date for the Work Party global action day is fast approaching! I'm sending this out to anyone who might give a turnip: go here to find an event near you---> http://www.350.org/map

♥ ♥

Also, I have signed up for a local Work Party event here in LA (the cleanup at Haskell's Creek in the Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve was canceled because Heal The Bay had already held a clean-up there. Oops), and I'm hoping to interest some of the local Furs in attending. I've sent invites to some of you who know me on Facebook, and I'm re-iterating those invites in a more general way here.

Here is the new event page listing on 350.org: http://www.350.org/en/laurel-grove-.....n-farm-project It has links for their Facebook page, there's a map on the 350.org pages with instructions on how to get there.

For the Toy Soldiers among us: I've let them know that I might be having a few other folks come with me and that we might be in our Toy Soldier uniforms. I do suggest, however, that, since this is more of a larger community thing that we're helping to support, we keep the prop to a minimum- wear a Toy Soldier patch, pin or something, though, just to show your connection to the Good Doctor.

For the Furries: I love you all, and hope some of you will be in the area to help with the urban farm project- it's a one-day thing that might prove to be a longer-term project, at least for me. I'm very interested in the idea of growing some of my own food in my yard- when I get one, that is. I don't have a beef with anyone wearing a tail, just understand you're going to be outside , digging in the dirt. Tails are cool, just not practical. Wear comfy clothes, bring lots of water, snacks, sun-block and so on.

I'm gonna be taking pix!

Let's see a good turnout!

Murrah Mayhem! Out!

If the links don't work, I'll fix them in a moment. Copy-paste tends to scramble them.

The current line-up of people who are going to the Urban Farm Project: Myself,  sagehendrix and possibly

Anyone who's looked over my Artist Profile page has seen the waaay long list of stuff I can do and what I'm currently charging for my time. Here's the problem- I'm not making even a tenth of minimum-wage for the hours I put in.

See, this is a big dilemma for me. I don't want to chase folks off with high prices. I don't think my stuff really warrants high prices, either. So, when I put up my first pricing-list, I looked around to see what other folks asked for their work, low to high, and then tried for a compromise, tending toward the low-ball costs.

Then  malarue, a fellow building a full-suit for  clappy9, hit me with the challenge of making a pair of hooves for Rainfurrest. I'd never made hooves before, and I was itching to try it, but I suggested he go to other makers first, as I had no way of making them in the way he'd originally wanted (he wanted resin hooves that were hard and could have real horse-shoes attached- the resin kind horses use on concrete and other hard surfaces). I knew that many makers would be busy or closed for commissions right now as there are a bunch of conventions coming up in the next three months or so, and I told him of that possibility. Some did get back to him, giving him a quote of $120 or higher. Cool, I figured he might have his builder.

Then, like an idiot, I mentioned that I might be able to squeeze them in if I made them of hard foam instead of the resin he wanted (and that he might not be able to attach horse-shoes like he hoped to), what were 's measurements and colours? My bigger mistake: I offered to do it for $65.

Ok, my reasoning was that this was my first hooves-build- there were likely to be mistakes, problems, any number of issues. I might not be able to do them quickly enough and have to refund his money. I figured a big discount was fair because the potential for failure was high.

When the design-stage went off with no hitches, I thought maybe $65 wasn't too low a price after all. I could do this.

Then I ran into the snags:

-I had the hardest time finding a pair of slip-on sneakers or slippers in this kid's size that didn't cost stupid amounts of money (really, who the frak pays forty bucks for a pair of slip-ons?). That was $10 and over a day of work-hours wasted. Factor that in.

SOLUTION: Next shopping trip to LA's Fashion-District, I'm stopping off at one of the zapata places and getting some cheap slippers- they tend to be about five bucks a pair there. Get a bunch in different sizes for future feet-builds.

-Then, I ran out of the Barge glue I was using to make the layered heels. That stuff proved to be frakkin' impossible to find in any size other than 2 .oz tubes. Argh. One place had two-litre tubs of it, but they were fifty bucks. Yeep. So I ended up finding the cheapest place that had the tubes and got three of 'em. It was barely enough. Barge, four tubes: $25. Time wasted trying to find the crap: six hours.

SOLUTION: get a big container online- it's cheaper that way.

-Found out that the site that carried the fabric they were using had run out of the very colour I needed, and weren't getting any more until the end of Sept- after Rainfurrest- NOOOOO. Another trip, this time to JoAnne's, to find something similar (I lucked out, there- they had something very close, and cheap. Yaay) and get some other stuff I'd been needing anyway. Time: hour and half+ my back tire on my bike blowing out- RIGHT IN THE FRAKKIN' STORE (it generated an adorable comic, so I'm not too put out by it. I'll upload it soon). I had to walk part of the way home, while Kani, my so patient mate, rode his bike back to the apartment to get his car. I found a really cool enameled tile by the curb in my walk of shame, though.

SOLUTION: find wholesellers online, or in the Fashion-District. Show 'em my business license number, if they don't believe me (got treated rudely by one guy- now I'm itching to play the "bigger dick" game with the jerk. Probably shouldn't, though, but I HATE being sneered at by people I know are my intellectual inferiors- yes, that sounds arrogant, I realize. That guy really peeved me, though).

-*sighs in frustration*

-Then, after all of that, I was worried that the calf-area on the legs would be too tight on *head-desk* The deadline was fast approaching, then it was past, and I still had little niggling details to finish. Time: too much.

SOLUTION: remember to take into account that some fabrics don't stretch. Fuck, you'd think I know this by now. Yeesh.

I was beginning to feel as if this build was cursed and that maybe I should refund Mal's money... No. I refused to let it defeat me- I was going to finish this build, learn something from it and get them to him in time for his friend's Con...

-I ended up sending them Priority Post. Cost: $29 and change.

SOLUTION: Set earlier deadlines than the one the customer wants. Send project by their deadline.

And, all through this, Kani kept bugging me: "you should be charging at least $200, maybe even $250, for things like these..." His reasoning was that, on a fursuit with an average price of $1500 to $2100, dividing it up into roughly equal "parts", you get a rough ball-park price of $200 to $300 for the legs and feet. I found this a bit of a dubious sort of calculation, but then I thought about it: if I do digi-legs as "leg-sleeves", with the feet attached or built alongside them to be worn as a partial, what would the average builder charge? But, it was still in the back of my mind: "I can't raise my prices yet". It became the theme of his periodic naggings at me (the only thing that gets me snarly with him, really. Minor flaw, at worst) and a running fight for days that drove me batz.

I don't like fighting with my guy. See, I knew he was right in most of his take on this: I put in a lot of time for each piece, research-time counts, the money the customer pays goes into materials and other costs, designing-time, planning, re-dos when I fuck up (often enough to be a factor), all that driving around if we can't bundle the needed shopping-trip with other projects I need stuff for, and shipping.

I had my reasons for not wanting to raise my prices: I'm just starting out, no one knows who I am, yet. My skills aren't professional (in my opinion), yet, either, but they're getting there with all the practice I'm getting The economy sucks ass. People in the Fandom don't have a lot of money to save for an expensive luxury like a fursuit or even just a tail, even during the good times. I remember all of the many, humiliating times when I couldn't afford a cup of fucking coffee, let alone some pretty I was hankering after. I remember one time I had a pair of pants on fucking layaway for four months...

I lost money on those hooves, but I don't regret it at all- I really hope likes them, that they fit comfortably and work well with his suit (I managed to get at least one of the colours in the same fur they were using for his suit- that lunatic green. I bought two yards of it- his hooves would only need a 1/2 yard, but the colour was perfect for Graver Gryphon), that they're well-made and will give my rep a good boost. The only part of that whole affair is that I had a huge fight with my husband, and that it got so heated I had to walk out for a while in order to calm down.

I've been an official business-owner since August of last year: Alien Eyes Creations is a listed business in the records, if you care to look. And, right now, I'm losing money because I'm still building my customer-base, suppliers and so on.

I gotta reduce my costs... I have a plan for that, though:

-find wholesalers to get my materials.

-bundle trips together- basically, when I go shopping for materials, do a trip for several projects at once. Less driving-time, less cost for gas.

-increase the number of hours I actually work in the week to get projects done sooner. I know that sounds like a decrease in $ overall, but it'll actually save money if I'm producing stuff faster. I tend to speed up the longer I'm working, dunno why. I get into a "groove" and things happen.

-increase prices by some fraction.

-Customer pays shipping (sorry guys)- thinking only on the smaller projects, maybe? I soak the shipping-cost of full-suits or heavy items? Shipping really cuts into the money I make, unfortunately, especially if I'm getting something to you as fast as I can afford to.

-do my builds and other pieces faster (this dovetails in with the work longer to earn more money thing). With practice, my skills are tightening up, builds are going smoother with fewer hitches, I'm "re-inventing the wheel" less as time goes on. Money saved when I don't have to spend a lot of time on research. If I've done one thing, and I come up with a better way later, I'll take that as part part of the learning-curve.

-repeated, similar projects can be done with re-used patterns. Less time spent making a first pattern for each piece- I can re-use, or modify existing patterns for something in a similar size or style (I'm thinking plushies, hand-paws, and tails, here- heads and body-suits would still be based off of a duct-tape dummy).

So, after the TL;DR, how do you guys feel about my raising my prices? Any suggestions on where I should go with this, ideas on cutting cost (without cutting quality), organizational strategies and so on?

Here's how it stands:

- paid up- eight-foot plush of a pal of his- pattern made and pieces cut out- sewing this week.

[EDIT]: like an idiot, I forgot - repairs and modification to Big Red.

- partially paid up, four foot plush of his friend

- partially paid up- two feet of cuteness.

-secret commish- partially paid up, and might get bumped up a slot because of a time-sensitive deadline.

As plushes can take a while, I'm now closed for doing plush commissions until this batch is sewn up and shipped! I'll reopen right after next FC!

If anyone is really wanting a plush, or suit partials- let me know, and I can put you on a waiting-list- I'll put in five spots for now, so it's first-come first serve- I'll add more spots as needed.

Waiting-list for plushes and suit-partials:

a firelizard plush.

a pretty striped tail of her dragon.

Still waiting on tail commish idea. She's got such a cool character, and the tail looks like it would be a blast to make.

A big plush for - but this one will probably be after FC.

- wants a pair of hooves after seeing the WIP for

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still open for "Murrahnated" badges or other fast art, if anyone is going to Further Confusion 2011, let me know, and I'll whomp up cuteness in a blink!

Cheers for now! I gotta finish those hoofies for !

I'm sure folks have seen the new logo-thingy today, where your cursor chases the balls of colour around the screen? *giggles* It's cute.

Yup, pointless journal is pointless. I'll be back in a bit with an edit for my commissions- and waiting-lists.

I was nosing about the forums and came across this thread: http://forums.furaffinity.net/threa.....1173-Sane-Furs

Read through some of the responses, but take note of the first post- the one that actually asks the question...

My response- yes, it's long, because I'm a horrible over-explaining nerd. Derp.

Wow. Just wow. I love questions like these...

But, before I get into my response to a soon-to-die topic, I'll toss this out for it's humorous truth:

"The definition of insanity is doing the same failed action repeatedly, expecting different results..."

And

"Normal is just a setting on a washing-machine."

With that out of the way, onward!

Gotta LOVE some of the assumptions from some folks on here:
1-furries are all obsessed with porn
2-we're all "dog-fuckers"
3-we're all zoophiles
4-suiters like to have sex in suit
5-the "sane" ones are the trolls
6-furs have no social-skills, friends, jobs, lives, etc
7-we're all guys and have teh gay
8-think humans aren't animals
9-take the fandom too seriously IE: lifestylers, drama-llamas and so on
10-use the lingo all the time
11-think that mocking others for things you don't personally like is cool
12-think that a "hobby" isn't a potential "career"
13-we're all plushiphiles, diaper-furs, pedos etc
14- furry is a fetish or is something to be kept in the closet


Man, I just adore bullshit like that. Oy.

To me (and yes, this is just my opinion), this "sanity" is mostly defined by what the majority thinks is "normal" and "acceptable". Most people in this culture think it's a weird thing to do to have a giant bone through your nose and brightly-coloured face-paint, where, somewhere else, it's a necessary fashion-accessory. In one culture, women wear the corsets, in another, it's the men. Here, we think fat is generally ugly, in Africa, there's a culture where a woman isn't attractive until she weighs over 200 lbs. Beating your women is seen as disgusting here, but what about a place where there is a yearly ritual where the women demand that you whip them (usually a brother or other male relative- it's seen as a very physical way for the ladies to show their personal sacrifices and protection of their male family-members)? Here, you can protest the government, in some places, it's seen as crazy and potentially deadly to do so.

The definition of what's "sane", what's "attractive" and what's "normal" is so different, place to place, that the only real definition that I can personally come up with is: a "sane" person can get along with others. They can adapt to new situations- they're socially flexible. They don't need to have a ton of friends, but having the ability to even make one friend proves they have something likable about them to another being.

Now, to have some fun with the assumptions I found in this thread:

1-furries are all obsessed with porn: Uh no. Some like it, I've seen many who don't. I'm somewhere in the middle, and, from what I've seen, that's the vast majority. Pardon my own assumption here: I suspect that the ones who actually are "obsessed with porn" have either never gotten any sex in real life, or are simply... addicted to porn (either seriously addicted, as in needing an intervention, or it's just their personal kink). *shrug* One is self-correcting if they're at all social people, and the other is harmless unless their whole life revolves around it. Not insane.

2-we're all "dog-fuckers": how pleasant, an illogical judgment/assumption based on a few people who actually did something so stupid. I'm sure few Furries really think this- this one is mostly what we assume the public thinks about us. Notice that when someone is found to be shtupping their mutt/horse/what have you in real life and talks about it- we remove them from the group- we don't want 'em either! It's sane to remove dangerous elements from a society, whether by rehabilitation or ostracism.

3-we're all zoophiles: see above. We like anthropomorphic animals. By necessity, they have human traits. Some of us find that attractive (the animal part), so what? Doesn't make me wanna bone my cat. Liking anthro animals in erotic situations is not zoophilia, nor is it insane.

4-suiters like to have sex in suit: one of the more hilarious assumptions in this batch, to my mind. Anyone who's worn a suit can tell you: they're effing hot to wear! Imagine trying to have sex in a bulky personal sauna... Now, I know this doesn't stop some folks from finding fursuits erotic- to that, I say: "So what?" Some like it, some don't- not insane.

5-the "sane" ones are the trolls: to the people who say that, I say: spot the troll, anyone? *giggle* Seriously, mocking people is just rude- not cool at all. It's my observation that the people who do this on a regular basis have some self-esteem issues of their own. Yeah, "lookit that idiot, he's so fat, his Sailor Moon costume doesn't even fit him! Hurr, hurr, durr..." Picking on people for their "flaws" is just compensation for something you think you're missing in your life, even if you don't realize it, yet. In short, to the trolls: grow the fuck UP- you're not "cool", yer just a garden-variety jerk with less of a life than the people you mock for lulz.

6-furs have no social-skills, friends, jobs, lives, etc: I can say the same for a lot of people in other walks of life- this isn't restricted to Furry- it was something said of many non-mainstream fan groups in the past. It's just an impression people get when they see that most of the fans are young (too young to live on their own, yet), jobless (they're still in school), overweight (most people in this generation, sorry- nothing to do with hobbies or lack of friends, just bad diets), and their interests are only shared by a few in their area (the whole "no friends" impression). Being a Fur doesn't automatically mean you're a shiftless, overweight loser with no job or friends, sponging off yer mom, either.

7-we're all guys and have teh gay: man, us hetero/bi/poly/etc females really need to be more obvious. *chuckles* This is actually one canard I've heard pretty often: "I think there's more wiener than taco in this fandom". I think it's kind of a cute way of saying it, though. :)

8-think humans aren't animals: anyone who thinks this is only showing their ignorance of our origins. Basic, not even high-school biology: we're animals. Deal.

9-take the fandom too seriously IE: lifestylers, drama-llamas and so on: I'm not even sure what a "lifestyler" is, but drama-llamas are whiny sucks who'd be whiny sucks no matter what group they're in. Not specific to Furry, believe me! Anyone who's got severe self-esteem problems can get attached to a topic, hobby, whatever, and it becomes their life, but they also need to complain because they haven't learned any better method to deal with the problems that arise when you get more than two people in a room together. :p I've seen this happen with sports-fans and religious folks who just discovered that they loved the Steelers or Jesus. Wait a while, the fanaticism will burn out in the healthier ones. :)

10-use the lingo all the time: Really? Why is this even an issue? All groups develop a slang used as a way for members to recognize each other. If anything, this is NORMAL. So yeah, sure, some of us use the silly slang- 'cuz it's cute or just effing funny. Not insane.

11-think that mocking others for things you don't personally like is cool: see my comments on "trolls". Stupid, and sadly, all too "normal" in our culture, but not insane.

12-think that a "hobby" can't be a serious interest or isn't a potential "career": Yeah, right- tell that to the artists and suit-makers who make a living making Furry-related stuff. Go ahead. I'll wait.

13-we're all plushiphiles, diaper-furs, pedos, etc: the only things that truly bothers me in that whole list of "usual suspects" where things of a supposedly icky nature are concerned, are the pedos and the hopelessly fucked-up guys into bestiality. Those two are harmful to others, and should certainly be removed from any groups they find themselves in. No welcome to sublimated pedophilia disguised as "cub art", either, but that discussion has happened elsewhere. I don't personally give a flying fuck what a person does in the privacy of their own bedroom- it doesn't need to be discussed in public, unless you're at a fetish convention (yes, they exist), or with friends of similar interests. You get off on plushes? Fine. It's harmless- it hurts no one. You prefer children or your pets as sexual partners? Die in a fire, you frakking scumbag.

and, lastly, the one that I think is the saddest of them all:

14- furry is a fetish or is something that should be kept in the closet: WTF? When did we become so ashamed of the things we like that we think that this is a good option? Are we that afraid of ridicule? Honestly, it's an interest in anthropomorphic animal cartoons, anime, comics, and costumes. What the hell is wrong with THAT? Oh, the sex thing... Ok, tell me this: which is more silly, acknowledging that sex is part of our adult lives, and that we're sexually-oriented beings and that some of that sexual-interest happens to be involved with anthropomorphic characters, or thinking we should hide all reference to sex, that it is shameful to think about it, do it, or especially like it? The fact that we're mostly adults guarantees that many of our interests will get sexualized at some point. Why is this a shameful thing? Oh, yeah, one word: Puritans. Two more words: the church. That one thing- religion- has so much to answer for in the complete and utter fuckery they've done to our collective psychology. :( This negative view of Furry is so silly!


To end this list, few of the things we do as furry fans should be considered shameful by anyone- most of them wouldn't earn a glance in the so-called "regular" fetish communities out there. Sex is healthy, as is the occasional perusal of furry-related porn.

I've been called insane more times than I could count, for things ranging from the ridiculously trivial (purple shoelaces and matching hair), to serious-minded accusations ("jumping off a bridge won't solve your problems- get help!" I listened to 'em). I believe in many things this culture finds odd, or even bizarre: I'm an atheist who leans a bit toward reincarnation, think that gays should be allowed to marry and that poly-relationships should be the norm (multiple wives or multiple husbands).

Oh, and I tell people I'm into Furry stuff, too- it's nothing to be ashamed of- it's just an interest that I happen to be making a career out of, that's all. And yeah, maybe I take the Fandom "seriously"- more like that I take relations between people seriously- it's just that most of my current relations happen to be Furries. :)

Hey folks! Been kinda quiet, lately, but I actually have a full list of folks wanting plushies! Yay!

Here's how it stands:

 kilroy- paid up- eight-foot plush of a pal of his- making pattern now, and should be sewing within days.

[EDIT]: like an idiot, I forgot  robbob4- repairs and modification to Big Red.

 dranslin- partially paid up, four foot plush of his friend  darkvyce

 thorphax- partially paid up- was it two or four feet, for you, hon?

-secret commish- partially paid up, and might get bumped up a slot because of a time-sensitive deadline.

As plushes can take a while, I'm now closed for doing plush commissions until this batch is sewn up and shipped! I'll reopen right after next FC!

If anyone is really wanting a plush, or suit partials- let me know, and I can put you on a waiting-list- I'll put in five spots for now, so it's first-come first serve.

Waiting-list for plushes and suit-partials:

 kilroy a firelizard plush.

 scarlitt a pretty striped tail of her dragon.

Still waiting on  talakestreal's tail commish idea. She's got such a cool character, and the tail looks like it would be a blast to make.

A big plush for - but this one will probably be after FC.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still open for "Murrahnated" badges or other fast art, if anyone is going to Further Confusion 2011, let me know, and I'll whomp up cuteness in a blink!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Request:

This fellow--->  malarue is on a serious hunt for someone to make him a pair of cool horsie hooves, in resin, preferably, or to maybe sell him the parts to put them together himself. He noted me with the idea, and as I don't have any resin and his feet need to be done in a very short time-line (needs 'em by Sept 15th, a week before Rainfurrest), I told him I didn't think I could do it. Now I feel bad for turning the poor guy down! O__o

Anyway, I suggested a bunch of good makers who might be able to help him out, but they might not have a slot for him, as most of them are likely to be busy creating suits for Rainfurrest, Antheria and Further Confusion.

I've offered to make a set of hooves using foam and hardened fabrics, if he was ok with that (he was hoping to be able to attach resin horse-shoes to the feet so they'd clip-clop nicely), as I can do that in that time-frame, but mentioned I'd post about his dilemma here, too, in hopes folks might be able to help him out.

So, post here, or on his shouts-page with ideas and let's see if we can get this fellow some hooves!

First this:http://www.makikoitoh.com/journal/s.....ons-last-words

I didn't know who he was, at first- names aren't something I'm very good at remembering, and I hadn't seen any of his films... except Paprika. I loved that film, and the musical score entranced both  kanis and myself for it's hallucinogenic and melodic qualities.

He passed away yesterday of pancreatic cancer at the age of 46. He had some forewarning, and so was able to write this touching goodbye to his family, co-workers and fans.

Farewell, Satoshi-san, you and your vision will be missed.


Now this: http://www.geekosystem.com/studio-ghibli-closing/

Well, I've heard that Miyazaki-san is known to occasionally hype that he's gonna retire (he did, briefly, but couldn't stay away from the film-making- his mind is just too fertile with neat ideas to draw), so I'm pretty sure Ghibli won't close any time soon, that, and Miyazaki-san will stop making movies only when he dies. But, I hope this isn't really a worry for them, as one of the things that got me into anime/manga in the first place was his Castle In The Sky/Nausicaa series. Stuff that brilliant should, by all rights, continue to entertain and inspire for years to come.

Sheesh, and I was upset yesterday over a blackout that destroyed an hour-and-a-half's work on one of my plushie concept-sketches. This trumps it, I think. It's still annoying to have to start over, though. Poo.

...but heck, it's too cool not to repost it: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4296204/

He doesn't draw, he doesn't make anything. He writes and fursuits on random days and his handler takes photos.  dogbomb this journal is for you and how effing cool you are.

THIS is what should be representing this Fandom!

Enjoy, folks- and yeah, I almost guarantee, you'll have some trouble seeing your screen in a few minutes of clicking that link, if you haven't already.

I snagged this from to relieve me boredom for a moment or two. After looking over my answers, maybe I'm not so "vanilla" after all. >^__^<

Anal on Males
*purrs*

Anal on Females
*enjoys it personally, but not watching it- doesn't like the female form, much, especially her own*

Breasts
*shrugs* Don' care.

Breast Expansion
*laughs* WTF? Sounds painful.

Weight Gain
Nuh-UH, brother! I hatez my fatty bitz.

Bondage
*purrs*

Clothing
Hmm- not sure how to answer this bit. Clothes are fun, but not always smexy. A tentative yes?

Leather
*loves the smell*

Stockings
They're cute. Especially if they're rainbow stockings... Not sexy, tho.

Shoe/Boots
Meh. I love shoes and boots, but for clothing and costume, not for snoggin'.

Suit and Tie
The more severe, the better. Costume, though, not sure about the sexual aspect.

Muscle, Male
Not hyper muscle, but yum.

Muscle, Female
The only female form that gets me purring. Dunno why.

Herm
Amusing, but I don't tend to fap to it... at least, not often.

Cub/Shota
NO.

Baby/Diaper
HELL NO

Transformation
Amusing, though not really sexy to me, but if it's written or drawn well... Yum.

Macro/Micro
*doesn't really get this one*

Impregnation
Not really my thing, but it's fun to play out with a certain someone.

Pregnancy
See above.

Lactation
Mehh.

Anal Vore
WTF? Weird-as-knees-on-a-fish, so no.

Soul Vore
Another WTF from me. Can't imagine this as arousing.

Cock Vore
*laughs uproariously*

Standard Soft Vore
It's cute, what can I say? Not sure if it turns me on, though. It might, in the right situation.

Standard Hard Vore
*roots around in the brain-pan for her true feelings and comes up confused* I don't think so. It doesn't disgust me, so I guess that means it's OK, just not turned on by it.

Paw/Foot
Sensual stuff, foot-massage. A well-shaped set of paws is very nice.

Incest
I threatened to kill people for this... NO. But, that said, I've read some... interesting stories that softened my view somewhat. The characters were both adults and they knew what they were doing... Doesn't squick me as much, now.

Clonecest
*thinks this is hilarious... and kinda raunchy... in a good way*

Yuri (F/F)
Not a fan of the ladies, unless they're cut- see "female- muscle" above.

Yaoi (M/M)
Definitely a turn-on.

Hetero (M/F)
Ditto.

Girly Boys
androgyny FTW.

Butch Girls
YES

Mind Control
Could be fun... if I'm the one doing the controlling. I don't trust anyone enough to try it the other way around.

Rape
HELL NO. Threatened role-play rape that turns sensual is a yes, though.

Uniform
*grins wide* I'm especially fond of certain military-type uniforms, but nurse, doctor and police are fun, too.

Orgy
Watching, yes, participating, no.

Subbing/Domming
>^___^< to both, oddly enough.

Biting
*growls happily*

Defloration
Sex just... wouldn't be anything without it, so I'd guess I'd have to say yes? That, and several of my early experiences were me taking theirs. *is considering having a clump of cherries tattooed somewhere*

Solo Masturbation; Male
Yup.

Solo Masturbation; Female
My own? Yes. Watching? Not so much.

Scat
EWWWWW! EWWWWWW! GAWDZ, PLEASE WASH!!!!!

Inflation
*doesn't get the appeal of this one, but thinks it's cute*

Fat/Pudge
Some- skinny is awful, though. *likes to pet softer hides with a nice fatty layer to them*

Tech
Hmmmmm... *entertains that thought... and finds it... entertaining* not sure, actually. Probably, in the right circumstances. Hmmm, sex-robots that know what technique is for...

Watersports
*is indifferent*

Glasses
considering that the majority of people need them to see, they just aren't "sexy" to me.

Tentacles
*finds them amusing... and fun to think about*

Oviposition
*whistles, glancing side-wise*

Masochism
Yes, but I REALLY have to TRUST you, because it feels really cool at the right pressure, the right timing and so on and so easily hurt like hell. Regular pain, I don't like. At all.

Sadism
I'm actually afraid of injuring the person, so no.

Partial Nudity
It's skin. Mehhh.

Gore
Vampire and werewolf style, yes. Gratuitous, al la slasher/snuff flicks, NO.

Snuff
FUCK NO

Hyper
Nah.

Zoophilia
Yes. (Don't start in on me over this. Dog-rapist no, feral animal [i]roleplayer, yes.)[/i]<-- I'm leaving  sixshades's answer in, because it perfectly reflects how I feel about zoo stuff. There are species I find attractive that way- this does NOT mean I will EVER try it in real life. Roleplay ONLY.

Electricity
Hmmmm... Mild electric shock feels neat, but I'm not sure if it would, um... turn me on. *giggle* I'd love to find out, though. Those violet wand things are awesome, from what I've heard.

She-males
*drools* Sorry. *wipes her chin*

Cross-dressing
YUM

Oral
I have this gag-reflex... Ugh.

Asphyxiation
Seems too hazardous to be fun. *thinks of all the people she's heard of who are DEAD because if it*

Wet-look
*shrugs, wondering if she's thinking of the right thing*

Mud/Quicksand etc
I love the texture of smooth mud, but I don't think it's sexy.

Sinking
HELLZ NO- that would be fucking terrifying.

Spooge
Remember that gag-reflex? Even the scent of it sets it off. NO.

Tickling
on the receiving end, fun, giving can be fun, too- if the person likes it. Sadly, my hubby doesn't.

Vomit
Right up there with diapers: UGH, HELL NO. WTF is wrong with you?

Body hair
Love it, hubby doesn't. Hypertrichosis is one mutation I'd gladly run my fingers through.

Older men/women
Depends on the individual, frankly. Healthy, well-toned? Yes. Hobbling on a cane and saggy? Nope.

Skinny figure
The only feelings this elicits are urges to feed the poor, starving thing.

Needles/pricking
*has a mild phobia of needles, even though she likes to watch the techs draw the blood and has several piercings and one tattoo* Claw-pricking, even digging in hard? OH YES!

There ya go. Maybe I should try to draw something- cleaning my work-room for the least week has burned me out a bit, I think. Yes, it was THAT messy. LOL