First and foremost, hope ya all had an exciting all hallow's eve last night (I can only say this because it's *technically* well after midnight where I live)

I've found a microproject that should help eat up some time while looking for a job. The other projects I mentioned a journal or two ago are still going on, but they are more... long-term. This will also be helping me pick up other programming languages hopefully as well.

I'm gonna try to make a Minecraft mod.

Probably one of the most stupid ideas in the universe right now, but, eh, why the hell not? Worst I could do is make the minecraft.jar file unusable and need to re-download it. Best, I make a mod that is adds more enjoyment to the game. Either way, it's gonna be an experience.

As it stands... I've already gotten together alot of the core stuff that will be in there and started branching out to a few ideas that would be nice additions to it. The core heart of the mod (which I have no idea why I'm mentioning here) is going to revolve around 2 types of physical energy(physical movement measured in rpt [revolutions per tick] & steam pressure measured in *tenatively* psi) and a variant of electrical energy (no idea what-so-ever as to what the units should be) with the majority of the stuff in it going *hopefully* around steam pressure and movement.

The tenative name is RD's Steamworks and, should I get all the stuff I'd like to working right, will be compatible with Railcraft, IndustrialCraft, BuildCraft, and a few other forge mods. On the off chance I'm going to get any questions about it,
Yes, I chose Forge and it's api specificly because of all the stuff it adds,
Yes, I will openly admit to watching Direwolf20 on youtube as well as a few twitch streams that are from the Pahicraft/Forgecraft server,
Yes, I am looking forward to the FTB Mod Pack http://www.feed-the-beast.com/,
No, I have no idea when this will be even minorly functional in any respect at the moment,
Yes, feel free to suggest stuff, just realize that if it doesn't fit with, what I can best describe as, an altered view on the lines of steampunk, it probably won't be going in,
Yes, I can show point you in a few directions as to what influences my definition of steampunk, a good starter is => http://girlgeniusonline.com/ along with some works by H. P. Lovecraft (Cthulian mythos ftw :p)
Yes, Clanks & Constructs are *PLANNED* as a potential addon once the main factory core is set-up (for those who don't know what either are : http://girlgeniusonline.com/info/glossary.php )
Yes, I will be working to make sure that it is a Bukkit-compatible plugin for those who might want it on SMP
No, I am not accepting any testers at the moment for the sheer reason that I am NOWHERE near that stage yet.
No, once it is done, I REFUSE permission for it to be part of Tekkit/Technic. Given my own issues and experiences in the past with the tekkit/technic client, I'd rather it not be part of that uber-buggy modpack.

On a further note concerning tekkit/technic, I've one question to ask. Why do so many people use it? Seriously, I really don't get why people auto-default to the modded client known as tekkit/technic. Concerning Tekkit directly, it's buggy as can be (had the client crash multiple times), unstable as hell (my minecraft crashed 12 times in one hour while using it, using a self-built modded client, I get no crashes for weeks), doesn't keep up with updates to the mods at all (Railcraft being a good example, they are missing over half the machines that were added in 1.2.5), and, for almost of the mods that are included in it, do not have the original mod author's permission to redistribute their mod (From what I've gathered, they've gotten a grand total of 2 mod authors who gave permission to them to include their mods out of the 28 default mods in Tekkit). You'd think they'd at least give the common courtesy of asking the mod authors, even if this is the internet?

Also, to continue going off on this tangent a bit more, how lazy can ya be when it comes to modding minecraft? Yeah, the original way is a bit of a pain in the arse the first time with 7zip/winrar and deleting the META-INF folder, but it's something that's really, really quick to pick up after ya do it 2-3 times. And if you can't be arsed to do that, well, there are other clients out there that you can use to get your mods into your minecraft like MultiMC ( http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic.....ows-linux-mac/ ) and Magic Launcher ( http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic.....-options-news/ ) which can add everything in for you. Personally, I prefer to do it the old-fasion way with winrar/7zip instead of using one of those launchers, though I will admit, it is nice to have the option out there.

Either way, before I go off any further on the tangent, I'd like to end that lil mini-rant with this. These are my views on tekkit/technic and modding in general. I really don't like the shady business that the creators of Tekkit are doing concerning their mod-pack, which is why I don't want my mod, when it is in a working state, to be a part of it.

Well, to get back to lighter topics, if only ya all knew what evil I have planned for this

as proven here...

https://www.facebook.com/gtplayers/.....=1&theater

I has a vita, and absolutely NO idea what to do with it. Still tinkering with it to try to figure it out and see what I can do for free with it till I get some kind of income.

With the closing of this week also comes the closing of another chapter of my life. It's nothing sour or bad. Hell, I should be overjoyed about it, but... I dunno...

That piece of paper I've been working hard for for the last few years. The nice shiny certificate that accredates my knowlege and skill. While I'm still technically waiting for it to arrive, I just,

ugh...

I really hate being at a loss for words, but I just feel out of sorts in the worst possible way. It's like... the whole world has been fading to odd shades of grey and nothing seems to inspire...

Going back through and re-reading what I've written, I realized I'm making no sense at the moment. The short of it is, I got my BFA in Computer Animation and have finally graduated from MIUAD and I've just slammed face first into what feels like a doozy of an art block.

It's not for a lack of ideas. I have qute a few things I'd love to start up and work on. It's just.. I dunno... Nothing seems to feel right. I still feel kinda burnt out from that last class and the porfolio review they had this past wednesday, but something keeps trying to drive me to doodle, draw, and generally work on something, yet, nothing seems to feel right about it.

Part of me is yelling "GO TO BED YA IDIOT, IT'S 1 F'KING 30 IN THE MORNING" while another side just compels me to silently sit and draw which soon has me clearing the canvas since it looks and feels like garbage.

It's maddening how this feels at the moment.... I want to start on something, anything, yet nothing seems to be coming out right.

I'd try opening for an iron artist, but, after the last 2 attempts at it netting me a grand total of takers, and requests/trades being about as dead, it makes me wonder why I even write journals. I get the occasional message from a few people, and, well, that's about it and I haven't even been getting messages from them either.

I dunno.... I guess it's just something that'll pass in a day or two. The art block I mean. Guess I'll just add another random journal to my pile and be done with it.

till next time...

Ras out

Despite not posting a journal for, what, months? I am still around. Just been in a lurker-status for a while. Things kinda backfired last quarter, but, up to this point, have been going well and I'm on track to finish at the end of this quarter.

That's not the reason I'm writing a journal at the moment though.

Two great individuals have passed on to join the stars above. One of them kissed the bounds of the stars while the other was content counting them for children across the world. If ya can't tell who I'm talking about, it's Neil Armstrong http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio.....7f0_story.html and Jerry Nelson http://www.bostonherald.com/track/c.....7&srvc=rss.

Everyone, I'm fairly certain by this point, knows who Neil Armstrong was and know of his voyage that got his bootprints on the moon. Jerry Nelson on the other hand may not be as recognizable unless you know of the Muppet character he played on Sesame Street, Count von Count.

To those of us who grew up knowing we can travel beyond this marble and could count the innumerable across the sky thanks to these two men, I can only say that we have 2 new stars in the night sky to look at and remember.

Uh... hioh all.

I am still around. Just been in a bit of a lurker mode for a while.

Nearing the end of my degree. One quarter to go.

Got alot of stuff on my plate. I'd like to say more about it, but, well, as things seem to be, I'm pretty much not active on any sites and it'll probably stay that way for a bit longer.

By now, I'm fairly certain EVERYONE who has had some access to the internet has seen the powerthirst commercial done by a few friends for college humor and youtube. If you haven't... what rock have you been hiding under? I'll have a link to it at the end of the journal.

Either way... the commercial advertised some fake energy drink and made some fairly ludicrous and quite laughable claims. Thanks to a recent champ they added to League of Legends (listen to xerath's joke/taunt, one of them is almost a direct ref to powerthirst) and went online looking for the video to watch it again. While googling it, I found out something quite interesting. ITS A REAL PRODUCT! I seriously could not believe it and still can't to be honest.

Apparently some Canadian firm thought that it might work as an energy drink, so they contacted the original creators to get a license for the name and to have them make a few more commercials for Powerthirst. This whole bit just got me to laugh my arse off. How lucky can you get to have something like this happen to you for an idea you came up with while drunk or something like that in college?

Just thought I'd put that bit of knowlege out there. I've a feeling others might already know about it, but this is about what I just found out :p so there...

I might edit/delete this later because of lameity and boredom of post.

either way, enjoy for now.

Original Powerthirst Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs
Powerthirst's home website: http://www.powerthirst.ca

Mostly just droping in a quick journal to say hi and to try to get one in before it another month passes.

So.... uh....

Hi

I live, I breathe, I'm semi-active, I'm reworking my website, I've got a ever-living s-ton of stuff to do for classes and it's 4:00 AM and I can't get to bed.

Aside from all that, how are you?

Edit: I've also been messing around in League of Legends. Fun game, feel free to look me up, though I will say now, don't expect me on too much for, oh, say... the next 5 months?

summoner name is rasiel draconis

and has been shocked by what he saw... Stop doing that!

I've got enough issues trying to convince him to cooperate with me for some future movies, let alone trying to explain in a clean way what the hell you are doing.


=====

Sorry... Being goofy, Was reworking Bing's facial rig, adding new features, etc, and, well, he now has fully-working pupil controls and a fully working blend system for both pupil and eye-brow general and individual movement. The pupil side of it was just me seeing if my expression for the eyebrow part of the rig would work in other areas.

Test successfull :)

New Icon is GO

Well... Iron artist thing flopped again. Oh well. It's closed. Regular commissions are still open and are not going to be changed any at the current time. Might lower the prices a bit, but as it stands, I don't make alot due to the cost of supplies, so not sure what to do there.

For the one person who voiced interest and others who might have bumped into the journals and had slight interest, feel free to add a reply to this journal with the idea you had in mind. Consider this journal a call for requests. Just got one rule when it comes to this. The rule is no smut. Plain and simple.

As far as how everything else is going, it all depends on what angle you're looking at things at. I keep trying to change my view and, at some angles, it looks pretty damn good. Other views, more to the meh side of things. There are a few that are just crappy as well, but I try to avoid looking at them at the moment unless absolutely needed.

For the good, I've started fleshing out parts of Bing's ( http://rasiel-draconis.deviantart.c.....-You-202000215 ) world and Phil ( http://rasiel-draconis.deviantart.c.....-Fox-168673886 ) finally has a world, albeit shared, with Bing and a full name and characteristics as well as having his story retooled and rewritten for a minor animation I'd like to work on soon. College has also been going fairly well as well, though I did fail one class (modeling 3) last quarter. I really didn't pay as much attention as I should have to it, but, on retrospect, I'm actually kinda happy I did fail it. I'd like to thank my teacher for the F (would have thanked her this quarter, but she's off on maternity leave[CONGRATS AGAIN GIGI should you ever see this journal]). Personal life has also been fairly sweet as, and I may get kicked in the arse when she reads this, I do believe I may have a girlfriend. We're trying to get an application comic together for an OCT which should be starting semi-soon being hosted by Artists at the Ready ( http://artists-at-the-ready.deviantart.com/ ).

For the bad, it all comes down to my time remaining at AI. I've basically got 2 and a half quarters before I should be finished (I REFUSE to fail another class) and, upon inspection of what work I do have done that is "porfolio/demo-reel worthy", I've noticed a distict lack in.. just about everything. This would be why I'm now going out of my way to get as much random pictures, animations, and other work done. All this is going to be rather limited next quarter though due to getting a rather... well, I wouldn't call him a bad teacher as he certainly knows everything he does teach... he's a teacher that just teaches poorly. That's probably the best way I can put it, and unfortuately, I've got him for Graphics Programming. Joy... There is more, but it is getting sorted out in it's own way, so I'm not too concered with it at the moment.

Either way, getting back on topic, Drop me a reply with your requests. There is no limit at the moment, mostly because I expect to get only one or two, so feel free to go nuts reader of this journal.

I just realize what the date is as I was getting offline for the night and I have but one simple request. Please keep your jokes to yourselves. I've never been much of a fan of today's date so I'd appreciate it if those pranks not spammed in my dirrection. I realize you might be contemplating putting up a "laeving foravarz" journal or "clik here for x y or z" link to a rickroll video for laughs, but those jokes get really, really, REALLY old the 2-3 hundredth time you've seen ANYONE do it let alone the second or third thousandth time. It's not cool, it's not funny, and most of that stuff became WAY overdone the first time it was done many, many years ago. Jokes DO NOT get funnier with repetition. They just make you look like an empty-headed twat whose trying to dig up graves that have lost their gravemarker, their casket, and the body that was intered as well.

The features aren't 100% done on it, there are some things that need uploading to it, and one entire section is still incomplete, but I need help to see where it breaks.

http://www.pdsteamworks.co.cc

Also, this being one of the known bugs, if the content doesn't load or the preloader fails (it's excessively rare now, but occasionally still happens), drop the www from the url and retry the site.

If you encounter any bugs, tell me. If you have an critiques of the site, Tell Me. If you have ANYTHING at all constructive to say about the site, TELL ME. At this point, I couldn't care less how because this site needs to be done for finals next week. This is just a sheer code test hence why it needs testing. If you do find a bug or have anything else to mention to me about it, feel free to either send me a message here or (if you can get to it) the email address on the site.

Also, in before anyone mentions them, the todo/bug list

- bg on html page needs finishing. (still creating this with photoshop)
- Occasional flash preloader fail. (no idea where this is failing, but seems to be happening less and less and only occurs when the www is in the url)
- no thumbnails under "Finished Works" and "3D Work" (need to upload the pictures and thumbnails as well as update xml list for those two sections)
- No name of site on the top of the screen/site (still coming up with the design for this as well as reworking things a bit)
- Thumbnails tend to stick and not work after a work is clicked on (old bug that should have been fixed but still seems to happen once every blue moon)
- Weird error message saying that I need flash (If you don't have flash, install Flash you smartarse twit. It's a FLASH based website. If you have flash, try updating it. Adobe did an update semi-recently to version 10.2)




Oh, and happy St Patricks day

Writing this for god-unknown reasons at 5:30 AM to clear off the last journal from the front page and question what dwindling sanity I have remaining after spending the better part of the last 2 nights almost entirely sleepless.

Concerning the last journal. Please excuse it. I had a mental lapse and slight breakdown. The ammount of stuff that has continuously been happening recently just pushed me a bit over the edge when they all compounded together along with a few other things that weren't mentioned in that journal and shan't be mentioned in detail in this one either.

While finals may be coming up, I do have an odd idea/favor/deal I'd like to put out on the table.

At the bottom of this journal, I'm going to paste my Iron Artist challenge info again. There are going to be a few modifications to how I'm going to handle it that I'm going to make note of up here.

- First thing first, IF you are on my friends list and/or you link to this journal in your journal, the IA price get's chopped in half. Meaning what was 2 dollars will then be 1 buck and so on.

- Secondly, should the list hit 100/go over 100, every person who got a spot in the inital 100 batch can request a pic for free. Should it extend beyond one 100 to 200+, the people in the second 100 set can also get a free request sketch. Cycle that whole bit ad-nauseum for 300+ and higher.

- Thirdly, digital animations may be on the table. That depends on time I have and compexity of animation. If I do em, these will be treated similar to commissions in the fact that you may view them and give approval on them before they are "completed". Expect price to be around 6 dollars.

- Fourthly, though payment is required upon completion and I'm following the WYSIWYG policy on this, If you notice a detail off or missing from your character, feel free to mention it to me. If I've got the time, I'll fix it.

- Lastly, at the end of next month, April 30, 2011, depending on how well this deal/idea/favor goes, my Iron Artist list will either be closed and the deal retracted or remain open and be extended. This may also change how my commissions are done as well around the same time.

The majority of any funds garnered from this endevor will be going toward school supplies and helping to pay for recent vet bills (still not getting any further into that topic).

Aside from the stuff above, the rest of the information below is 100% correct.

Original Iron Artist Information

Main details

To commission, send me a note with the details and contact info.
Clean commissions only.
No pre-approval before drawing completion. WYSIWYG.
No payment required till picture completed (I reserve the right to hold your picture till payment is received).
Physical pages will not be sent.
You may take as many slots as you'd like.
While completing this is a high priority, class/college work is higher, so be prepared to occasionally wait due to midterms/finals.

Prices

sketch + shading (example: http://rasiel-draconis.deviantart.c.....blin-166024648 http://rasiel-draconis.deviantart.c.....oise-166025972): $2.00 USD
sketch + shading & full color (example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5199450): $3.00 USD

Payment Methods

Check/money order prefered, but paypal acceptable.

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Adding a general warning here. I'm half asleep, but not tired and got alot swimming around in my head at the moment. For the most part, this is gonna be a giant mental vomit just to drop it all out on a table somewhere. Feel absolutely free to skip/ignore this journal as I'll probably remove it at some point after "waking up" later today.

Life, in general, seems to suck more and more as of late. The economy is still in the shitter and keeps dunking it's head underwater while flushing. Doesn't help things either when most people doing the hiring are either complete arseholes about who they want to hire or trying to keep some supposed "minority" quota in an area where the true minority is those considered to be the "majority". Seriously, how the hell can anyone DARE to put a help wanted ad up and then, when surrounded by people who really-really need a job, say "Sorry, we're looking for someone with 'x' + years of experience" or "We don't have a position for you at the moment due to your inability to speak 'insert language here'. Recently though, that is ALL I've been getting, even by those who did ask for an interview. And before anyone who actually might read this says "you haven't tried applying at 'x'", trust me when I say I have already. Here's a short list of the most recent rejections I haven't cleaned out of my email inbox yet. Kmart, Barnes and Noble, Home Depot, Publix, Sedano's, Burger King, McDonalds, Wendys, Game Stop, Regal Cinemas, White Castle, Toys R Us, 5 Guys, Babies R Us, Pearls, Michaels, Sears, JCPennys, Macy's, Nordstum, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Checkers, AMC Movie Theatre, Target, Miami Dade County Library System, and Staples. Every single one of those places were/are still hiring and that is just a FRACTION of the ever increasing amount I've been putting in all over the fucking place. The only one that was direct about their reason was Kmart and instead of giving me the ever typical tyrade of pre-generated emails that go "We're sorry 'insert name here',... but at the current time we have no open positions for you. We shall keep your application on hand for 'insert BOGUS amnt of time here' and get back to you if there are any openings." they had the balls to tell me flat out why they wouldn't hire me. The reason? I can't speak a lick of spanish. Go figure. I even applied for the one that was way the hell out of the way from my regular routes in one of the EXCESSIVELY few areas that speak mostly english only and I still get turned away. What the hell do I have to do to get some kind of job? Make a deal with satan? Become a prostitute? Sell my soul for 50 cents a week? I see all these places going up all the time with "Help Wanted" in the windows and yet they don't have even a toilet plunger job that they could stick me with? I'm nearing the point of giving up on trying to get a job anywhere down south of Orlando, let alone in the state of Florida.

It isn't just the job market either that is annoying. Between July 10th of 09 and now I've probably put in a good 30,000 if not more applications at various places, not just for part time, but for full, seasonal, and, when applicable, for temp jobs and volunteer work as well. All of it, and I mean ALL OF IT, has been rejected. I've gone to about 30 interviews and that's as far as any applications go. I've even tried doing personal freelance work and commissions and those have all failed about as spectacularly. Got a bit of work at the start, back when I was over at Miami Dade College, but even that was limited. What is it that makes getting a job soo damn elusive? Why is it that these places are almost always hiring, but never have a spot for someone who has kept an active and updated application stream going to them for the past 2 years? What is it?

From what I've gathered, due to friends, acquaintances, and others who have been around me, I'm fairly likable, keep a pleasant demeanor, and am typically a hard worker. Isn't that what most of these places are looking for? If it's grades, I'm not sure how much better I can make a GPA of 3.2-3.3 without starting from a clean slate. If it's appearance, I've really got no clue what they are looking for then. At a Subway mini-interview, I was overlooked for someone who a) wasn't clean shaven b) had a ripe stench about him that seems to just permeate the area and c) right before the mini-interview, I saw him stick his hand straight into his pants, pull out a slightly encrusted hand, then tried to quickly wipe off some of the rather foul crust against his pant leg before shaking the managers hand. I went by that subway 2 weeks later to see if anything was going on application wise and found the same guy working behind the counter. I've kept all subway applications to that store online only since.

Job woes aside, since I literally can't wrap my mind around why getting a job is being such a pain. There is more on my mind that has been troubling. Schoolwork, while some has been enjoyable this quarter, the greater majority, INcluding parts that should have been enjoyable, have been nothing more then a complete and utter pain in my arse. It doesn't help either that for the first time through out my whole time over there that I'm actually severely behind where I should be at in at least 1 class. No matter what I do to try to catch up, I always come out late and worse for the wear. There is almost no avoiding it now since the grand to do list for the class seems to be DOUBLING weekly now. The worst part about it though is that, aside from one small section that concerns Zbrush, the majority of it has me doing stuff that I'll rarely be doing after the class. Even the teacher has said that the class should be converted into a zbrush only class, yet, due to re-accreditation that will be going on with the college, the school itself can't do any major class overhauls unless it's been unanimously decided by the brainless academics board of directors who can make a change on a whim and make choices based on what they feel in their "years" of experience is worth keeping or removing from a program. Aside from cg for movies, WHICH, mind you are typically done completely in NURBS and NOT POLYGONS, when the hell will I have to worry about a high poly model? Expecially since I'm trying to gear all my talents that I'm gaining from there toward game design/creation? High poly models + game engines typically = computer/console crying and death.

I just don't know... The other issue thats been floating around in my head concerns a game that I've been turning to more and more recently as a way to relax, but has also decided to act up. Minecraft. For those who may not know, which I'm willing to bet is almost anyone\everyone who watches this account or happens to view this journal, I am one of the 2 owners and host for D3| Themed Build Server. For the past year+ of hosting, it's been a fun ride. I've met and made a ton of friends on there and have enjoyed a fairly happy, quiet, and drama-free server. I would also like to take this moment and personally thank Dadido3 and Ylt as well for granting me the chance to host a creative server with what may be one of the best creative mode server software programs out there and helping me with it. However, as of late, mostly due to the site being down, I can't play in my own server. And when I can play, I somehow get pulled into the middle of 30 different conversations, most of which seem to crop up at the same time. That time would also happen to fall in the middle of a griefer-storm affecting our guest box and generally tearing up the box and, as of late, bits of the rest of the map as well. We've almost always had adequate staffing for the server, so most of this wouldn't fall to one or two people, but since "Beta" has been released and a hacker hit us around november-december this past year, we're down to 2-4 ops (usually around 16-18) 1 admin (usually around 6-8), 1 Chief Admin, and a very jumpy Director who has been deranking, reranking, and kicking players over very random or minor reasons. I've told him to cut back and look at things through a few times now before jumping to a conclusion, yet a day or two later, he's back to his old methods.

It also doesn't help things when the other main owner goes WAY too far overboard with his jokes at times and starts griefing the map or tearing up the public build maps with his bot after we've EXPLICITLY told him to try to keep that kind of stuff to the map fun or on a temp map. As it stands, our current fg map has a hole network that seems to be growing after each time he signs online. It's a miracle that he hasn't destroyed more then one build so far due to his shenanigans. Then there is the new complaints and drama going on about a "hentai" sprite that has been created in a map called sprites. Personally, I see no issue with it and actually think it's a well executed bit of sprite work, but others have started nagging at me more and more recently to clear it from the map. As it stands, I've covered the bits and that seems to help quiet some, but it also enraged others. It seems like no matter what I do in there, it's never enough to keep the peace lately. I've seriously considered pulling the plug a few times now. Building can't be enjoyable when you can't build and have to deal with a seemingly ever expanding shitton of whiney pricks who can't understand things.

I'm just at a complete loss at the moment. There is more cycling through my head, but that there is the majority of it. Just getting all that out does seem to have helped the tension I was feeling, at least somewhat. I've got some complaints about flash and after effects too, but they are mostly just gripes about files being eaten when saved, and that is just something normal that I've had to deal with. Doesn't help when the file corruptions have been happening more often as of late, but still not enough to be truly pissed off about.

If you've made it all the way down here, congrats. Hope that potential baww fest I think I just wrote didn't bore ya to sleep, unless of course you were reading it to get sleepy. As for me, I'm going to mention that the iron artist thing is still open as well as commissions. Here are links to both.

Iron Artist thing: http://rasiel-draconis.deviantart.c.....rnal/32545826/
Commissions: http://rasiel-draconis.deviantart.c.....rnal/22403794/

why I don't feel like going to bed, so instead I'll put up a post and scan/upload some doodles I've been doing. I'm also fiddling around with some website code and a few other little odd and ends.

For those who might read this, how ya doing? Anything new with ya all? Anything interesting you're working on?

As far as new stuff on my end, it hasn't been a whole lot. Some house work is being done (minor leak found and re-roofing almost done), I'm being ignored by almost every company I sent in a job application for (to tell the truth, I'm beginning to prefer being ignored. Those "we're sorry, we don't have a position for you" letters and emails have been getting more and more snooty recently). Classwork is a b*tch at times, but, then again, what school work isn't that at times? And things have been generally quiet on all other fronts.

Also, mostly because it feels desired to be included, sorry about the relative non-submissions/activity. I've just never really been a socialite of any kind, except when it comes to friends, and even then my trap is usually shut unless I feel like I can add something to a conversation.

As a small side note, the 100 sketch/iron artist thing is still open. 2$ for a regular sketch, 3$ for color.

Aside from that, good morning, good after noon, good night.

Twas another trip 'round the sun,
that brought me here today,
upon this spinning marble I sit,
awaiting a brighter day.

happy bday to me :p

It begins again. Here is all you need to know...

<b>Main details</b>

To commission, send me a note with the details and contact info.
Clean commissions only.
No pre-approval before drawing completion. WYSIWYG.
No payment required till picture completed (I reserve the right to hold your picture till payment is received).
Physical pages will not be sent.
You may take as many slots as you'd like.
While completing this is a high priority, class/college work is higher, so be prepared to occasionally wait due to midterms/finals.

<b>Prices</b>

sketch + shading (example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3940082 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3940163): $2.00 USD
sketch + shading & full color (example: coming soon): $3.00 USD

<b>Payment Methods</b>

Check/money order prefered, but paypal acceptable.

<b>The Slots </b>

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For those who might have actually gone all the way down to the bottom, congrats. I'd also like to just mention that clay commissions are also still open. What it says above is essentially the same thing it says on the clay commission page, but less wordy. The only things that are up there that aren't a stipulation on the clay commission page are the lines about no pre-approval and the one about physical products not being sent. I will be resubmitting that journal soon with a "simplified" version of any extra stuff like the one above and (hopefully) a second update soon after with a new example or two. Here is the link once again for those who may want to see it. http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/577968/

I've been really busy.

I'll rustle up some stuff to upload sooner or later.

Midterms time again, dunno why I find myself sleepless and on here when I should be working on class work. Guess I'm just putting a shout out into the dark and hoping to get a response.

Also, once these midterms are up, I'm considering on trying to open up for the "100 sketches at bottom line prices" thing again. I'm thinking similar prices and scheme as before, just a buck more and cutting out the "shading" middle man. $2.00 per sketch w/ basic shading and $3.00 for full color w/ more detailed shading. While I may hate their service and have some distrust over some of the more recent stuff I've been hearing about them, payments will probably be mainly paypal based.

Also, for those who are interested in any of the clay stuff I do, I have been and will continue to be open for commissions: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/577968/ .

For those who might actually be wondering why I'm doing so much promo in a "I'm still here" journal, it's because of my main computer. It does still work, but I don't know for how much longer. It's been with me for a long time now, going on 6 as far as I can tell from the old reciept. Maya and all the programs I need for classes work fairly well on it. However, I've been having, for lack of a better term, glitches with it. Windows randomly close, programs close without warning, the yellow triangle saying all the system resources are taken up, etc, etc. No bsod's yet, but somehow, I don't think they are that far away. It has been a damn reliable computer, I've yet to have a bsod on it actually and it's been through alot over the past few years. It actually semi-pains me to see it slipping as it is now, but any more patches or fixes I do to it at this point are like trying to plug the holes in a sinking ship.

I've gotten a little bit of money coming in here and there from doing odd jobs for neighbors, but I'm far from the total that I need, expecially after a few patches I did decide to fix by replacing a few parts.

I saw the movie "How to Train your Dragon" from Dreamworks. I actually just got home from seeing it a little big ago and damn did they do a good job with it. The dragons were a tad more catlike in their actions, movements, and behaviors then I would have liked, but they we're all really well done. A definite must see, though the "Real D 3D" experience will probably NOT BE WORTH THE PRICE. I really don't know why soo many movies have been doing that hokey gimmick recently. It doesn't add all that much to the movie itself, but I digress. That rant is for another day.

Either way, when it comes out, GO SEE THE MOVIE. It is well worth going out of your way to see at least once, though I'm already making plans to see it a second time.

Also, only God almightly knows why the hell I'm writing this right now. I've got roughly 5 drawings that need working on, 2 modeling projects that need alot of work, and various other things that should be getting my attention right now since finals will be coming up really soon.

I know I'm 10 days late to actually wish anything happy new year, but happy new year anyway.

With that out of the way, please excuse me as I go into a mini-rant.

Father winter? WTF ARE YOU DOING!!?!?!?!?

I realize that this is the time of year that almost everyone in the northern hemisphere has cold weather, but this is getting ridiculous now. As a few at least know by now (and many more will know as soon as I finish this sentence) I live in Miami, Florida. Florida, y'know, the "sunshine state" where all the winter birds flock to when the ground starts getting white? I know most northern states are getting this much worse then we are, but we are still quite a bit colder then we should be. This morning, I checked the temperature outside as my mom and I went to church as it seemed a whole lot colder then it should be and do ya wanna know what the gauge said it was? 36 FREEKING DEGREES FAHRENHEIT (or 2.22 degrees Celcius for those who like metric). On the way to church, it got even better. It was semi-rainy/semi-snowey (yes, we had a few flurries of snow) yesterday and all that water had melted over the day and had FROZEN LAST NIGHT INTO BLACK ICE. Just as a slight reminder of everything this morning, we (my mom and I) drove to church this morning very cautiously over ice on the road in 36 degree (or 2.22 degree) weather in MIAMI.

Before any worries come up, we did make it though safe, there were some slip ups on the road by inexperienced drivers (read 90% of the people who get a licence down here), and we got home safe afterwards as well.

This weather is really screwed up, it is frusterating me more then usuall too because it is actually AFFECTING ME. Thanks to my older brother and an incident between us, snow and dry cold doesn't normally affect me. However, this weather is actually hitting me harder then usual because instead of it being the typical dry cold weather, it is a blustery HUMID COLD. Anyone that has been far enough south knows that there is almost always some moisture in the air and that usually makes things hotter then they might actually feel. As it turns out, the same can almost be said of the cold, but instead of it feeling 5-10 degrees warmer, it makes the breezes feel 10 - 20 degrees COLDER. I'm getting really tired and achy from getting out of my chair and having all my joints pop due to them setting themselves because of the cold.

I will say one thing that I thought was rather neat that has happened from this weather, if it keeps up, I might just have an ice rink in my back yard. This morning I checked the pool after getting home and there was a rather thin layer of ice on the surface. Not thick enough to stand on mind you, but just thick enough to give some resistance when you put your shoe on it.

Oh, and one more thing to say before I conclude this journal/rant. For those of you who still believe that the whole earth is warming up (aka "Global Warming"), you all can take that load of bull manure and shove it.

In honor of the day that is coming soon, I've got a few tiny things I'm working on, but, on the off chance that they don't pan out (as it appears they just might) I'd just like to drop in here, say happy holidays, and drop a link to two videos I watch at least once this time of year. One has my favorite holiday song in the world, the other, is just really funny song that happens to fit the holiday. One is done by someone who inspired me greatly through his comedy and jokes and the other is done by a great jokester who pokes at people comedically. I'll leave it up to you to figure out which is which.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGdrMOttV_s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6bvNV3bKUU

Also, as a semi-christmasy type present, the 4 of you who did fave the one piece I had asked about, send me a message with whatever you'd like as your request. I'm gonna do the pictures anyways. I know they haven't posted the results yet, but seeing as how few did take me up on my offer and seeing various journals being posted all over the place for the other pieces, I figure I didn't win, but I wanted to thank those who did contribute a fave. The requests will not be done in time for christmas though, mostly due to the other little project I'm working, but they will be done as soon as I can.

Eitherway, Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Kwanzaa, Spectactular Festivus, and all that other jazz that is usually said at this time of year.

All I need is anyone that reads this to do is one or both of two things.

1 Go onto deviantart and between now and the 22nd, fave this ( http://rasiel-draconis.deviantart.c.....king-146122222 ) piece.

2. If you do not have a DA account, please spread the word that this piece needs a few faves between now and the 22nd

That piece is my entry into the Wacom, Bring your vision to Life: Dreams Contest and, seeing as I didn't get into the semi's, I would like some help to get the "Community Choice".

Why would you want to fave it? Well, aside from giving me a very major helping hand, I am willing to do a full color & shading sketch/illustration of nearly anything (an example of a limit would be anything beyond tasteful nudity for a realistic character/person, I really don't want to have to explain to various family members why I'm drawing bits for someone) for everyone who does toss a fave on it or those who help and spread the word to get me a few faves between now and the due date if I win.

That is what I promise to do if I do get that prize. I know this is a drastic measure, and an quasi-insane longshot at this point since I'm not one of the semi-finalists, but this is better then doing nothing and just sitting on my rump the next week and waiting for a miracle to happen. So please, do spread the mesage and send me a message if you do so I can get your name down on the off chance this slightly less, but still amazing miracle does happen.

I've got stuff I can post, stuff I want to post, and stuff that will be ready to post soon. Things have been really busy on my end which is why things have been rather quiet this month. Had a few ideas for costumes (seeing as halloween is a few days away), but all require one thing that I am now really getting low on, money. Looks like I may have been right about this quarter being rather expensive. Luckily, I didn't have to get a new $500 SLR camera (though I did get a new point and shoot camera a few days ago that has those modes she requires for quite a bit less due to a sale), but between the clay, paint (oil, acrylic, and gouache), drawing pads, that new camera I just mentioned, and various other bits and bobs, I'm almost tapped out. If anyone wants a commission, be it sketch (which will probably be done quicker then the other option) or polymer clay sculpture, now is your best shot to get something cheap from me.

Sketches, depending on complexity, $1-3
Clay Statues, depending on size and complexity, $15-60
Clay Roses, $3 each, $16 for a half dozen* (6), and $33 for a bakers Dozen* (13)
(The roses might make good x-mas gifts for GFs/Mothers/Grandmothers and those take a while to make in batches, but come out good)
* Prices on dozen ahd half dozen sets are for SINGLE COLOR ROSES ONLY. Multi or marbled color roses are full price for each. The half dozen would be $18 for marbled and the baker's dozen would be $39 for marbled.

Either way, other then swatting the occasional moth that has been coming out of my wallet, things have been good. Busy as hell, but good.

Minor Update to say Happy Halloween and that I hope yours was more interesting and fun then mine!

I've got stuff I can post, stuff I want to post, and stuff that will be ready to post soon. Things have been really busy on my end which is why things have been rather quiet this month. Had a few ideas for costumes (seeing as halloween is a few days away), but all require one thing that I am now really getting low on, money. Looks like I may have been right about this quarter being rather expensive. Luckily, I didn't have to get a new $500 SLR camera (though I did get a new point and shoot camera a few days ago that has those modes she requires for quite a bit less due to a sale), but between the clay, paint (oil, acrylic, and gouache), drawing pads, that new camera I just mentioned, and various other bits and bobs, I'm almost tapped out. If anyone wants a commission, be it sketch (which will probably be done quicker then the other option) or polymer clay sculpture, now is your best shot to get something cheap from me.

Sketches, depending on complexity, $1-3
Clay Statues, depending on size and complexity, $15-60
Clay Roses, $3 each, $16 for a half dozen* (6), and $33 for a bakers Dozen* (13)

( ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ )
( ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll )
( These might make good x-mas gifts for GFs/Mothers/Grandmothers )
* Single Color roses only. Multi or marbled color roses are full price for each. The half dozen would be $18 for marbled and the baker's dozen would be $39 for marbled

Either way, other then swatting the occasional moth that has been coming out of my wallet, things have been good. Busy as hell, but good.

An old video granted, but still a really kickass one none the less that one of my teachers showed to us earlier as an example of charicature. I felt the need to share this because of how it looks.

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oepXF2B5NK4