Somebody said I probably should post on FA.

Dad died on May 29th, and I've been at mom's house from then until yesterday. I wrote the obituary and spoke at the memorial. Lot of work.

Just a lot to deal with, so I'm going to be mostly inactive on this site. I've been a little tired of drawing dragons for a while now. And I don't believe I owe anyone a commission, so I'm going to let the it all sit.

I'm much more active on DA, but I'll probably be taking a small break from that, too, until I can draw.

I'm around a bit on Skype but I honestly don't feel up to talking to people most of the time. If you need to get hold of me for any godforsaken reason, Twitter's probably your best bet.

Hey!

This is a shoutout. My friend  Ramos is doing themed commissions in celebration of the Witcher series! For just $40 you get your own romance card - and not only that, you get two versions - a 'clean' version and an 'uncensored' version!
Check out the ones he did for me:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16416832/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16416803/

Go check them out, commission them, give him support!

I'm leaving for a trip on Tuesday to see my family. Unfortunately, it is probably the last time I will see my father, and I am quite distressed about it. It will, at least, be the last time that he's... 'all there', so to speak. =/ For those unaware, my dad was diagnosed with a stage IV glioblastoma in December '13, which is a terminal cancer. It sucks. Everything about it sucks. Unfortunately, it's now recurring and beginning the inevitable.

Thanks to you guys and your awesome generosity with buying these scooties, I've earned enough money to treat my mom to a spa day while I'm out there! She totally deserves it, taking care of dad and working full time at the same time! Thank you guys so much. ;;

I'm not longer open for these, or anything else, until I return next Wednesday!

Again, thank you guys so much for your support and interest in these. ;;

This year was the worst year that I've ever experienced
WHICH MEANS THAT NEXT YEAR WILL ONLY BE BETTER

here's to an end to all this bullshit, and a brighter tomorrow



Still taking a massive break from art. Sorry to those that miss it! One day I hope to return, but I expect it to take many months.


Also plz cheer for Boise State in tomorrow's Fiesta Bowl!

Bahahah. =F

So on the offchance that anyone's interested in what's up in my life who isn't on my Twitter list, I'll do a little update here.

Going to see my parents went great. Their new house is gorgeous and brand new - granite countertops, kitchen island, two bathrooms, high ceilings... it's really no less than they deserve. Our old house was built by my dad's dad in the 40s or 50s - they were long overdue for something new.

It was also nice being helpful. But by far the nicest thing was seeing my family, especially dad, again. He's doing so good, so much better. Every time I see him he's improving. It's almost enough to give you hope that maybe the doctors were wrong, or that maybe my dad will be one of the few that live for more than a year.

That's how it gets you, though. Everything's fine and it strikes from nowhere, going off all the support group forums I've been on. So while I'm happy.. I'm trying not to be hopeful, which utterly sucks. I'm trying not to mourn him before he's dead, which is an easy cycle to fall into because I only see him maybe twice a year.

I think one of the most frustrating things is that I keep seeing scientific studies about all these experimental studies where they are able to shut down the glioblastoma cells, or prolong the victim's life, or slowly killing the tumor. It.. makes me angry, to think that if this had just happened a few years from now, there would be more options. That there might be a cure.

It was also frustrating, if a little amusing, at how his memory has deteriorated. Most of the time you really just have to sort of smile and nod along, because I don't want to frustrate him by reminding him. But it was a little silly when he, my husband, and I were talking about Skyrim, and in the middle of describing a quest, he pauses, then says "Oh, gosh, that reminds me of a game I like to play... what was it called... Skyrim!" And we sort of just had to smile and go "Oh yeah, that game! I like it!" and the conversation slowly circles back around.. xD

But anyways, more stuff.

I attended Keden and Azusis' wedding as Azu's best woman (AND I WAS THE BEST) and that was an absolute blast. I got to see some friends again and meet some new ones for the first time! I think one of the highlights of the wedding was hanging out with Keden's best woman after we finished packing things away and deciding that it was our duty, our RESPONSIBILITY, to drink the leftover opened wine and champagne and sitting down to do just that. xD

That was a super fun trip! I learned about and downloaded Waze, and a Sonariss followed us home, and then came to visit again this past weekend. We went to a pig roast! Omnomnom.

---

Onwards, to the art portion of the journal!
I recently tried something new with a simpler style of shading. It's a little messy at the moment but I'm thinking it is something that I can refine, with practice!
Example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/14636258/ (NSFW)
I'm tentatively opening up for a few of these for $25. They're single character with a minimal background, and can include couple of props. They don't take me especially long, especially if the pose is relatively simple.If anyone is interested, please send me a note!


Okay, that was a good experiment, but I'm still putting too much time into these for them to be worth it for me, unfortunately! Maybe later when I get faster. @.@

Otherwise, thus ends my update. I hope you all have been well!

This week I will depart for ID to visit my parents and help them move into a new house and generally help out with Errands and Things and whatever they want me to do. I'll be returning next week sometime. However! A week after I get home is the much anticipated wedding of Keden and Azusis in which I am involved, so I will be gone there! Not to mention Bakel and I will be celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary sometime in there too.

I'm so excited for these things. =] My mother and sister are going to help me find an appropriate dress for the wedding as well, since I'm severely lacking in female company for such things out here! I'm excited to see my dad again, too. Everyone says he's been much better since I last saw him, and I'm hoping that it's true.


I suppose that the point I'm trying to make, in my rum and coke induced haze, is that I'll be gone A Lot for the next few weeks and so art will be slow in the coming.
Not that it's been especially FAST lately; I picked up both Divinity: Original Sin, and a book I've been anticipating for yearsss, and have been thoroughly neglecting things. I'll try to work when I'm home and wrapped up in anything else, however!


In conclusion;
what'd you think about the Korra season finale?!

The con was a thing! It was nice.
This was the first year where I didn't try to make specific plans. It was so relaxing. When I was hungry, I ate, and anyone else that wanted to eat was welcome to join. I stayed up late, I slept in late, I got to read my book. And it was fucking glorious. I'm sorry that I wasn't more social, but honestly, after all the shit I'm going through, I REALLY needed a vacation to just do fuck all and relax. And I feel like I couldn't even fully do that, since I kept having panic attacks at least once a day!

I am happy to have met those of you who I did, and glad I hung out with the people I did! I adore you all so much and holy shit I was so flattered that there were people wearing badges I made for them, I was almost in tears. Anyways, if I didn't get to chill with you this year, there's always next year! Maybe I'll schedule time slots or something. =P Plan out a few dinners. I dunno. WE'LL SEE.



Up next in my life is more lawsuits, stress, family not talking about the inevitable, and maybe (!) working on a comic. We'll see!

I wrote up a bigger post, but it sounded way too 'woe-is-me' and sad and bummed out. SOOOO much easier to pretend I'm arrogant and fine.

Dad's glioblastoma is slowly killing him. my mother-in-law is suing us. I'm on antidepressants; it's cool, I found one that works after a few false starts. I'm not on hard drugs, I'm not drinking myself to sleep, I'm still alive.

If I don't seem all that... mentally 'there', it's just because I'm stressed. There's days when I get lost driving or don't understand questions or can't tell you my name. Sorry. Shit's fucked up.

But I've got two cats who are cool, a loving superhusband, and some of the best friends in the world who keep me from making dumb choices, like eating goldfish crackers for breakfast. (THANKS BAKEL)
My life might feel worse than anyone else's I really know of right now but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Except maybe my life minus those sucky parts. That'd be cool.

So unfortunately my update is not a happy one.

When they removed the tumors from my father's head, through testing, they found he has Stage IV brain cancer. His prognosis is about a year, give or take a few weeks/months.

Things have been rough. I went and saw them over the holidays. Dad's doing remarkably well. You would not know, looking at him, that he had surgery the week before! He and I tried to keep things pretty normal for my mom, who isn't at all taking this well. But things are going pretty good; he is already through physical therapy and is now seeing an occupational therapist to work on his vision, which was pretty diminished by the surgery. He's in radiation this week, his only treatment of it, and is starting to take his chemo pill tonight. Otherwise he's recovering nicely; he can stand to have lights and the TV on, as well as sounds. Unfortunately he cannot read or play video games any longer, which breaks my heart, as they were two of his favorite hobbies.

As for me, I'm pretty sure I'm settling into a nice deep denial about everything and convincing myself that everything is fine.
I just don't know how to deal with the fact that someone I love so much and is so important to me has less than a year to live.
I don't really know what to do.


Anyways. Thanks for listening. To commissioners, thanks for letting me screw around and take my time. You seriously have no idea how much it helps me to screw around in a game with my friends to forget about everything else going on in my life.
To my friends... thank you. Seriously. Some days you are all that keeps me sane.

Well, life has certainly been a roller coaster for me this month, I hope it is going better for everyone else!

To put a long story short, we recently found out that my father has a tumor in his brain roughly the size of a golf ball. Unfortunately (and hopefully understandably?) this has made me not really interested in doing much. I'm thankful to no end to my friends for keeping me distracted with games and chat and to my husband, especially, for being my rock.

The point of this journal being that I am trying really super hard to get the two commissions I have with a Christmas deadline done before Christmas. Just because I'm having a shitty holiday doesn't mean anyone else should have to. However, tomorrow is the surgery and it's very likely that I will be flying across the country very soon.

To those of you in my queue who have not paid, I am unfortunately going to have to postpone work on your commissions. No hard feelings if you decide to cancel or go elsewhere; if not, I will let you know when I'm ready to continue work on your picture!
To those of you who have paid and/or have Christmas deadlines, I am gonna work my ass off, but on the off-chance that I don't quite make it, we will work something out between us involving either refunds or extra work.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

TUNNEL SNAKES RULE

Three years ago today, I got married to my best friend.
I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

<3

Alright! -Huff-

I'm all returned and settled in and caught up on stuff from when I was at Dragon*Con! I had a lot of fun, omgggg. I will probably be returning next year. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have wanted, nor did we attend a ton of panels, so it's just extra incentive to come back next time and be fully prepared. c.c

Shout outs to  galelai and  kinyin, who I met briefly during the convention. Sad we didn't get to hang out more, but everyone was pretty busy.

I should be back to work in the next couple days returning to commissions. I believe I am somewhat close to finished on two of them! Just add shading, right? c.c I'd also like to get the first couple things in my queue out of there and finished, so I might do those quickly. I'll have (Possibly?) another shaded picture to do, and then open for more - commissioners willing, anyways! xD


I think D*C more or less concludes conventioning for us for this year. MFF is a big *maybe* considering the hotel situation would be a hot mess, but we'll see~! I'd certainly enjoy seeing people there.

That's riiiiight, another convention!
I will be driving out to Atlanta, GA on Thursday with my husband, after a brief stop in Tennessee. We will be there with  kitsunia and helping her run her table as well as just generally attending the convention!

Is anyone else headed out that way? I'm so psyched; I had an absolute BLAST at GenCon and can't wait for this larger, nerdier convention! There's going to be so many things to go do and people to see and there's celebs there and you might have to peel me away from listening to Raphael Sbarge forever. =|

Ahem. Yes.
SOOOO anyone else headed there that would like to meet and stuff? =D

Also this is sort of a reminder for those waiting on art from me that I'll be gone for 4-5 days, though I'll try to have some progress done on EVERYBODY's pictures.

Commission information/TOS: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2768427/
Pricing guide: http://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/onisyra/

*Please keep in mind I have a convention to attend this week and will be unable to work for at least four days! Apologies in advance!*

These are first come, first serve, so send me a note if you're interested!



Slot 1:  ramos
Slot 2: Open!

Sorry for reposting. 8( I'm a dirty, filthy reposter. -Sobs in a corner-

I guess AC was a while ago, whoops.

I'm headed to Indianapolis for GenCon this week! Is anyone else going? Or has anyone else ever gone and can tell me about it or some fun things to do at it? Or fun things to do in the area in general? 8D
I'm excited, my first non-furry con! <3

I had an amazing time at AC! 8D

First off I'd like to give a shout out to the people I met at the con and spent a significant amount of time with:
, , and ! <3 Amg you guys are a blast, and congrats to Sookta and Keedot on their engagement!!!


I spent almost an OBNOXIOUS amount of time with  bakel,  naetholix,  kitsunia,  renix,  sixshades, and  suriz. Special appearances were made by  distortedgirl66 and her boy, and  graffitidragon!

Sorry if I left anybody out because my memory suckssss, but I think these badass mofos chilled with us the most!

Some of the highlights of the con were... well, honestly, eating with people. I had Thai food for the first time and OH MY GOD it was amazing and jesus christ I realized I left it back at the hotel. Oh well. I had pad thai and it was too spicy for me, I'll ask for a milder version!
Another great event was going to Beer Church. Whoa, that food. I had pierogies in a garlic cream sauce with tomatoes and bacon, and I think I might have died. Renix and I also shared some glorious bison corn dogs.

I can't really keep track of ALL THE THINGS that were said and done but I surprised myself by having a super good time. I think everyone I met really contributed, even if we just said 'sup' in passing! I got to sit around at Kit's table and bother people, walk around and bother people, sit in rooms and bother people...

...lots of bothering people. =>

Seriously. I think this might be the most fun I've ever had at a con, and it's only going to get better.

I guess I can do this meme, since it's close enough to AC!

Where are you staying?
Omni

What day are you getting there?
Wed, July 3rd

Who will you be rooming with?
Our room consists of:  kitsunia -  naetholix -  bakel - and myself!

Who will you hang out with during the convention?
The people I am rooming with, mostly, as well as  renix,  sixshades,  distortedgirl66,  graffitidragon and many moar!

What is the best way to find you?
Sending me a direct message on twitter is the best way, since it makes my phone vibrate! My username is excidium_
Orrr finding one of the people in this journal with icons, since they all have ways of contacting me or the people I'll be with!

Are there any panels you might be attending?
It is doubtful, though I may wander into one or two by mistake and end up staying!

What do you look like?
Imagine the hairiest girl you've ever seen. Now slap on a bitchy resting face and probably a hat. And a bottle of 'coke'. Ta-daaa~

Will you be suiting?
Nope!

Do you do free art?
Unlikely!

Do you do trades?
Absolutely!

Do you do badges/commissions?
Unfortunately not, since most of my stuff is done digitally. HOWEVER, cash > paypal, so if you wanna work out something in personnn for me to work on after the con, then by all means!

What is your gender?
I am a she.

How tall are you?
5'5 ish?

Can I talk to you?
Sure! I love being talked to.

Can I touch you?
Handshakes! Hugs if we've met before, perhaps...

Can I visit your room?
Being invited to our room is a great honor accorded to few! Especially since you need positive votes from each member of the Sage and Sexy Council of Room ###.
So... yes, buuut only if we invite you. c.c

Can I buy you drinks?
I'd probably blush myself to death and die if someone bought me a drink. xD

Can I give you stuff?
Sure, unless it's a cold. I don't like colds.
Then this happens to you: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10325436/

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
I dunno. Hugs if we've met before, snuggles... dunno. Never really been in that sort of situation.

Are you nice?
I try.. =< But, y'know. Bitchy resting face and all. http://youtu.be/3v98CPXNiSk

How long are you going?
Until Monday, I believe! You have a long time to find me. There might be a prize~

Do you have an artist table?
Noooope! I ams rebel.

Will you be going to parties?
Perhapsssss..

Will you be performing?
Being AROUND me is like being at a performance, please.

Do you have prints/CDs?
No.

Will you have art in the Art Show? General or Adult sections?
Nope.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Since 'Oni' tends to be one of those noises you hear a lot at cons, I honestly tune it out. It's really best to approach me and tap me on the shoulder or get right in my face.

Can I look in your sketchbook?
Sure!

Can I draw in your sketchbook?
Absolutely!

Can I come with you for food/fun/etc?
You're welcome to ask, but please don't be offended if we say no, or if we ask you to not invite friends! People have a tendency to bring along 5-10 of their closest friends, and I prefer to keep a smaller group.

Can I take your picture?
Only if you want your camera broken. ... by my looks. Not my fist. =F

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
I can have GOALS at a con?? Gosh, I don't know. Have fun with the people I want to have fun with. Maybe get to be closer friends with a few people. To not be killed by Renix.



AS AN ASIDE.

If I've done you a GrumpyLoaf and you will be at this convention, let me know if you'd like a badge made! I'll be printing + laminating some.

My username is 'excidium'! I'm going for a Morrowind-ish name theme for all of my dragons. So far I got lucky and had a clutch of three, although all are females! Luckily they are all gorgeous shades of brown. Seems as though I will have to trade for or try to find a male somewhere!

For those that don't know, Flight Rising is a sort of Neopets-ish site based on dragon breeding! Right now it's open for Kickstarter backers only, but it will open for the public on Friday!

Please add me! 8D I hope to see you there.
Fanarts might be in the future. =F

http://flightrising.com

So my queue is finally empty, thanks in no large part to my slow ass! xD So before I open for a few more commissions, I'd like to take a few trades!

As I've said before, I don't really care what your skill level is, as long as you put effort into your half. I also don't mind if you're an artist or a writer! I'm fine with either. I'd mostly be looking for somebody to draw/write about one or both of my characters, Oni and Ary, in either feral or anthro (or maybe human!) form.

I'd like to get some variety in, and not a ton of full-shaded-with-background images. Maybe a few flat colored pictures or sketches, and one or two larger projects?


I dunno. =V I'm open to many things!

If you're interested, go ahead and leave a comment! If you want to leave one with your character ref, and what you'd be looking for me to do, as well as what type of picture (or if you don't mind which!), that'd be cool too. It will NOT be first come first serve. I'll try and give it a full day before I decide, so as not to leave out the non night owls amongst us! ;D And then after a day I'll send notes to peoples.


EDIT: Sorry guys, I am LE SLOWWWWW
It's my dream to trade with EVERYONE ON HEREEEE and maybe I can start working down that list soon. >D Will try and send notes out soon!

Those that know me know that I don't do a ton of pimping. I am, however, going to direct your attention towards my friend  kitsunia, who is having some great deals on art, AND a raffle! Just repost her journal for a chance at free arts!
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4493429/

Here's some of her deals:
-Badges with gold leaf. Yup, that's REAL gold, so it's worth the price and PERFECT for characters who adore jewelry and gold.. I'm looking at you, dagrons. =|
-Free sketches with purchase of a larger image. See her journal for details of different options!
-BUY ONE GET ONE FREE PINUP IMAGES!!!

Not to mention various other discounts that you'll just have to visit her page and see!

---

Back on the subject of ME (sorry, sorry, I'm self centered!), I'm starting to try and get my commission tab organized. I'm so happy that the site's brought it back! I'm having trouble organizing it, though! I feel as if I should submit example pics of every possible commission I can do. Does anyone else have their commission tabs worked on? I'd love to see if you do, please leave a comment so that myself and others can stand around and gape at your page! Plus hey, I guess it could be free advertising!

I'm interested in opening up for a couple commissions after I'm done working on my remaining image, but I'm mostly worried no one will be interested. Reassure meeeee ;;

I'm also actually kind of interested in doing some trades, perhaps before I open for commissions - just for practice, both on my technique and possibly drawing some non-dragon or some anthro or taur things. I'll make another journal announcing it when I'm ready, but I hope people are interested! I don't care about skill level; as long as you put honest-to-god effort into your picture, well then, so shall I! And it doesn't need to be art, either! I'll trade art for stories or even for goods like books or whatnot!

And I guess, since it is TMI Tuesday, I will end things on a TMI note:
I recently purchased some LunaBeads and I am thoroughly enjoying them. ;D

I haven't journal'd in a while!

I've been catching up pretty well on loafs and getting those done at a steady pace. I'm also trying to take a few larger commissions alongside them. Hopefully I can complete them in a timely manner! I'd love to make a sheet and openly take commissions, but I still don't quite feel up to that point yet.

Those of you on my Twitter already know (and are probably very tired of hearing about!) that I've started dieting and going to the gym lately! Actually, I've been hitting the gym pretty regularly (minus a sick week) for a few weeks now, but the calorie counting is new. I'm trying to stick to 1200 calories a day or less, and so far, I've been doing great! Just over 800 my first day, and 1100 the second. I'm also drinking a ton of water, mostly to ward off the empty stomach pangs!

Does anyone have any input on good snacks or foods that might be low calorie? So far I've found that frozen grapes are great, and I plan on dehydrating some apples and bananas into 'chips' for quick snacks.



Oh, and just as a reminder! I have an art-twitter that I update fairly frequently, so feel free to give it a +watch if you're interested in WIPs and stream notices! It's a much friendlier place than my personal twitter, I promise! ;]

Oops, I almost forgot that I am going and had not let anyone know!

1) What time are you arriving?
Sometime Thursday

2) Who are you rooming with?
Room of Awesome -  bakel,  renix,  madame.

3) Where are you staying?
Somewhere in the Hilton.

4) What specific plans do you have?
I don't know! ;; Honestly, my plans are to spend lots of time in town and doing touristy crap.

5) Do you go to room parties?
Only the finest soirées.

6) Do you drink?
I am incredibly easily tempted by a Red Bull. If you're trying to ask about like alcohol: yes.

7) Are you approachable?
Maybe? I'm generally in some sort of group of people, being a wallflower.

8) Will you do something in my sketchbook (paid/request/etc)
Only if you bribe me and it piques my interest.

9) Can I tag along to your social gatherings/parties/food goings?
You are welcome to ask! I prefer a smaller gathering, however. If I invite you, please don't also invite along fifteen of your closest friends.

10) Where can I find you?
You won't, I'll probably find you. Or look for the aforementioned roommates, I'm going to be somewhere around them.

11) When do you leave?
I... sometime? Eventually? Sometime Monday, I think.


If you'd like to get in contact with meeeee:
Leave a note/comment or tweet/DM excidium_ (but make sure your account isn't protected, or I won't be able to see it!)

I am lending my tablet away to a friend who is in need of its assistance!
Therefore there will be no art or WIPs or streams from me for the next couple of weeks!

Let me know if this presents a problem for anyone and we will work something out~

I feel like I've about reached the end of the lifespan of the adorable and mean grumploaf! I have one, and am looking to get at least three more so I can make a submission; however, I will take as many as people sign up for.

Examples:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9478010/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9424094/

-They are $15.
-Can be any quad animal or anthro! Canines, felines, and dragons work especially well!
-You may either come up with your own saying, or I have a 'master list' of great grumpy quotes.


Also, applying to anyone who either already has or is interested in having a GrumpLoafBadge!
For $5, I will print, cut, and laminate your GrumpLoaf. You have the option of keeping it as its square meme-ish state and keeping the phrases on them, or instead having it display your name only. Or, if you'd prefer, I can try an image-only type badge cut out all formfitting. Meme styled badges with swears miiiight have to be censored, sadly.
I will hand deliver these at FC! If you'd like to have it mailed/shipped to you, however, I would ask that you cover the cost of the postage.


Send me a note if you are interested in one or both of these! 8D

Current List:
- Jacel
- Mrewl
- Halou
- DrachenHero