Exactly that. Time to add another number to the age count.
Kinda hard to celebrate properly though, when work has me sent on the other side of the world currently x.x

I had a huge backlog of stuff that I finally felt like uploading

sorrynotsorry

is the winner!
https://i.imgur.com/eukvRPE.png

I'll be reaching out to them first, and if i don't get a response in 48 hours, I'll move next down the list. Thanks again for your participation ♪

IT be my b-day today, time to tack another number on the age counter

For those of you who have been wondering and I have not reached out to you, recent news with me is that my mom passed away a few nights ago. She had a year long fight against her failing liver as the family tried to get her a new one. Fate played a cruel hand by taking her from us just two days from the time she was to receive the new one. Even worse, I had to make the call to pull her life support - My dad wasn't strong enough to say the words, and I figured I should spare him the burden of that as well. It's going to be difficult moving forward. There's still things to take care of. As usual, I need to set aside my emotional needs to do what's necessary for the family. Wish me easy passage in all this if you can.

One year ago to this day, I was leaving a hotel room on my way to Great Lakes to start boot camp in the US Navy. I was down on my luck, hardly any cash that I could properly hold on to, and saying my goodbyes to friends that I feared I might lose in my absence - having had that happen before in the past when I tried Air Force. I had been through many heartbreaks, letdowns, disappointments, etc. leading up to that moment where I felt like I had to jump into the unknown to make it anywhere with only a bare resemblance of a plan. I didn't really want to go back in the military after my rough experience with Air Force, but I knew I needed the education and training they provided to get the aviation job I wanted. So a year ago, I felt it was do or die.

Now one year later, on the exact same day, I have just passed my check ride and earned my qualification as aircrew - I'll be earning my wings and a promotion to E-4. In just one year, I've completely turned my situation around and feel confident about myself. In just one year, I've flown and seen more of the world than I have in my entire lifetime - with many more destinations planned. I still remember the days back when I felt stuck in college or stuck in that factory I was wasting away in envisioning some grand future where I wasn't in debt all the time, with my own place and not under my parents' roof because wages were never enough, traveling the world and seeing new places and meeting friends I felt were too far out of reach to see.

Even though I'm 30 years old, I feel like I've only just got my real start now. NOW, can I get around to doing the things I've wanted. Not all of them at this moment of course, there's still a little bit more road I got to cross, but man did I cross a LOT already. Take it from me: I've been through the ringer and had many low points in life, where it almost seems justified to kinda lay down and not put much effort anymore. That you're stuck where you are, and there's no need to struggle anymore. Those moments are but temporary - they don't last forever. BUT ... You need to keep struggling and have the determination to do something about it. It'll suck like hell in the moment, but you'll thank yourself later down the road once you cross it.

Welp, I've made it this far now. I don't even feel 30 to be honest (except whenever I do PT, then I know I feel old, lol). But yeah, i've come a long way, but I know there's still far too much I want to do and see out there. And thanks to this job I'm working hard to get through in the Navy, I'll have the means to make it and experience much more. But for now, huzzah, I circled the sun 30 times and survived.

Hey fellas.

I've finally completed boot camp after 4 - 5 months up near the Great Lakes. I sure was gone for a hot minute there, huh? I'm not fully done yet, I still have a bit more training to do for my specific role - that is, if they'll ever let me start it. I'm on backlog because they have too many other sailors trying to get training for aircrew, so I gotta wait for the bunch ahead of me to graduate and make room so that I can start my training. Sounds simple, but there have been people ahead of me waiting months just to start; it's not so fun of a wait either, as Covid has the base I'm staying at on lockdown. Nobody's been allowed to leave base for a few months now.

At least now I have my tablet here while I wait, so you can expect me to get back in the swing of things soon enough. I know I've chatted with a few folks already who know about my return. But yeah, it's good to be back. (kinda - sorta)

Tomorrow is the big day. I think I'm still numb to what's coming, I should be more anxious and nervous about what I'm getting myself into - especially since I know what to expect. But I'm not, hell I still have that feeling that today is just gonna be any regular day, even though I'll actually be going to the other side of the country for two months. Certainly a far cry from the scared shitless kid I was the first time I signed up. Maybe I am just well prepped this time, and there's nothing truly for me to worry over.

Well really, my only worry is about going in, and then coming out and finding everyone's left or moved on without me. Yeah, that one is certainly my biggest worry, since that's exactly what happened 10 years ago. To those reading this journal, please it's only gonna be two months. I'll be coming back eventually, and I hope those I hang out with are still here when I come back.

Anyway, if you want me to write to you when I'm in boot camp, this is the last time to pass me addresses. I haven't really received much, so plenty of space in my address book still.

Just a reminder that I've got one week left before I go in for boot camp for the Navy. As I said before in my last journal, if you'd like to write back and forth with me while I'm in, send me your mailing info. (Please do, I'd like to hear from folks while I'm going through hell, lol)

It's as the title says, I've only got one month left before I ship out to go through Navy's boot camp in November. I've put my two weeks notice at my current job and then I'll have two free weeks between Oct. 23 and Nov. 10. And then after that, I'll pretty much be unreachable for two months outside of snail mail, until I graduate and move on to my special job training. I do believe that the next phase will be more lax and I'll have access to internet and stuff at that point, but I'm not sure.

Either way, I'm hoping to use the two weeks I got wisely - not only to get some pre-training in, but also to spend some time with my friends among the community. If we haven't hung out in a while, this might be the last chance ya get for a good long while until midway through 2021, so don't be afraid to reach out to me, give me a holler.


Want to hear/write to the Shox in Basic Training?
So I've been through this before in Air Force 10 years ago and before going to bed I had the chance to write letters. Obviously, I only wrote back to family, but ehhh, I'm not really all that in touch with them these days (hence why I'm even reconsidering going back in military, if it means getting further away from them). So to my mutuals out there, the ones I talk to regularly or feel close to, if you'd like to get letters from me or write something back, let me know so I can collect them in an address book I'll take with me. For certain I'll have an easier time if I get to read a few things from friends during my time. IT would really mean a lot to me during that.

Hey there friends, Shark Week is almost upon us! Just like last year, I want to get a big project going and host a bunch of sharks together for all kinds of fun! I'm hoping to make this an reoccurring annual thing, but I need your participation to make it happen!


What is 'Shark Week with a Shox'?
The gist is for the entire duration of shark week, for each day I will post a featured shark character in artwork and short story - 7 shark characters, one for each day of the week!

It started really last year as a spur of the moment idea. I wanted to get more stuff with shark friends of mine and shark week felt like a good excuse to make that happen. IT also lets me stretch my writing muscles a bit as I gotta cram out a buncha stories to go with the artwork. I was lucky to have   koachellla on board last time who I felt like earned a showcase for helping me gather a huge following with my SL comms. But only recently did I get the idea of trying to make it bigger by having different artists for each year and hyping it up.


Featuring Artist
  Archery is this year's featured artist!


What Goes Down
All participants that are selected will have the opportunity to go 50/50 with me on getting artwork from Archery, and at the same time I will type a short story to go with each art piece. The artwork + story is WHATEVER YOU WANT. It can be safe, lewd, weird - so long as it's within reasonable boundaries and adheres to Archery's ToS, Will/Will Not Draw lists, anything goes!


How To Participate:
You simply need to post a comment down below with a reference of your shark character/sona. It has to be YOUR character. At June 20th, 6 characters will be selected by random (Archery has dibs on one slot with her own shark).

You will need these things ready if selected:
- A shark character (obviously, can't be shark week without the sharks)
- Funds (Costs will be subjected to Archery's prices. I would recommend having at least $50 on hand, her average cost for colored sketches)

EDIT: If you don't have a shark character, but are willing to have them 'sharkified' via transformation or alternate means, that is acceptable too, just make sure to make note of that in the comment posted. Other similar aquatics such as dolphins, whales or hybrids of those species are acceptable as well.

Often whenever I meet new folks they ask what the hell's a shox, or how did I come up with Rick? Well my friends, allow me to point you in the right direction with this handy little FAQ that I can link to folks without having to repeat myself over and over.


Q: So what even is a Shox?
A: That would be the magical and most likely impossible combination of a shark and a fox to make a hybrid (furry logic). Most folks will call them a shark doggo, which isn't inaccurate ... but that name is boring! Plus, I saw others calling their sharkdogs shoxes and that stuck out as cooler to me, so shox it is!


Q: Okay, so how did you come up with Rick?
A: While my art posts are fairly recent (relating to this journal, for those reading in the future), I've actually had the idea for Rick around 2013, just never had art of him. Before becoming a reporter, I also had a job as a lifeguard, as I'm an excellent swimmer and it's one of my biggest hobbies. My then current 'fursona' was just a plain old wolf, because I was unimaginative at the time and went with the default fur look.

I felt like I needed to REALLY make something that fit more at home with me, so I wanted something aquatic. IRL my nickname among a few of my friends was 'dolphin boy' because I always spent more of my swimming time under the water instead of on the surface (I averaged holding my breath for a minute and half each time, with my longest at 3 minutes. Even swam the length of two olympic-sized pools in one go). But a dolphin didn't feel like much of a predator, which I wanted to go for, and a shark felt more viable.

Sharks were cool, but I still liked being a canine with fur, so I flt stuck between the two. After a while I told myself 'dude, just make a hybrid. So many others already did so.' And so I played around with designs and that's how Rick came to fruition.


Q: Well that's neat, but the name Rick Marks is rather boring
A: I know it is, shut up; I'm crap when it comes to imagining names. In fact, the name didn't even come from me, it was when me and friend took a vacation to the beach. He had this thing where he would crash in larger parties and pretend we were invited, and there was one beach party he wanted to go attend. He told me we needed fake names so that if anything crazy happened, nobody could track us down afterwards. So he gave me the fake name Rick Marks because it's somewhat similar to my IRL name but different. So that's what I use for Rick.


Q: So is that all to Rick? A fake name and because you wanted an aquatic character?
A: Not at all, my friends! Despite the rather unimaginative origins, I still built plenty of lore to share ... Which I won't bother typing again and just copypasta from F-list where I first made it:

Early Life
Rick was born to a tribal shark mother that had eloped with a male fox that had passed by their remote home island somewhere in the Pacific. While most of him was indeed shark - having gills, the fin and tail along with the teeth - he also possessed fox qualities such as short fur over his shark skin, a more canine-shaped snout and fur pattern. Sine the island he grew up on was fairly remote, his tribe had no connections to the civilized world and he was raised much like a native islander. Everyone around him was of shark heritage, so he stuck out like a sore thumb, but they did not treat him any different from themselves, raising him as a hunter/gatherer as per tradition of the males in the tribe. He was certainly more intelligent and inquisitive than the rest of his tribe, another trait from his fox father. He had that gut feeling that there was more to the world than just the island they lived on. Once he was of age of 18, he went on a lone voyage, swimming across the ocean and hopping form island to island to learn more about the world.

Becoming Civilized
Eventually he reached a nearby main continent and discovered that there was culture and civilization on a massive scale, a shell shock to his beliefs on the island. He truly was a small fish in a much bigger ocean now. If he felt like an outcast back on his island, now with him walking around the streets of a city wearing nothing but a loincloth and holding a crude spear for hunting, he felt very alienated. Still, he had the desire to learn and fit in, so he did what he could, traveling around and doing labor for people in exchange for new clothing, a few words of English, food, ad eventually books to read and cash when he learned what they were. While still learning all of this, he still kept to his roots of a hunter, living off the land in the woods near streams and rivers. Then one day, he strayed a little too close to a Navy training camp while they were out training in the same shores he had been occupying and a confrontation ensued.

He was eventually caught after 4 days of MPs tracking him down, thinking he was attempting espionage. The military interrogated him, learning who Rick was and why he was so far from home. Instead of deporting him, they were impressed with his ability to evade them so long out in the water, and they offered him a deal: They would give him a home to live in, pay him and educate him - in return, he was to draft in the Navy as Special Teams, working as a scout and infiltrating high priority targets to gather intel for them. He agreed to these terms, mostly for the opportunity to be taught more.


Soooo there you have it. He's a tribal boi that's struggling to adapt to the modern world and winging it as he goes along. Socially, he can be a bit awkward as he's not used to certain customs, slang, or normal hip stuff - Hell, he's still getting used to TVs. But he tries to overcome this, despite his slightly broken English, by being as charismatic as he can muster.


Q: Well sweet .... Wait, was he born called Rick then?
A: Nope! He does have a tribal name ... But I'm not gonna tell you - and no, it's not because I don't know it. I DO have one for him, I just choose to withhold it unless you're one of his closest pals. As for canonically how he was named Rick, remember when I mentioned in the lore that Rick got involved in the Navy and is part of a team? Well, have you also watched Samurai Jack and remembered how he got his name?

It's basically like that; his teammates couldn't bother calling him his actual name all the time and stuck him with Rick - A FAKE NAME GIVEN BY HIS FRIENDS, HO MY GOD IT'S LIKE IRL!