For all of those who wander across this little account of mine, thank you for stopping by! I do hope you like what you see.

A happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it! Once again, I can be thankful for surviving a massive health scare in the form of lungs so full of clots that my doctors have no idea how I was still up and walking when one of my nurses finally got fed up with how badly I was breathing and threw me into an exam room to be seen. So much for having been diagnosed with bronchitis. Here is a tip for anyone seeking medical service. Don't go to urgent cares unless what you're suffering is obvious. Had I continued to believe bronchitis, I'd probably be dead now.

I would also like to thank the wonderful  jocarra for claiming my 40K pageview kiriban over on DeviantART! I managed to get a decent sketch done while I was strapped down to the hospital bed, so I shall have a lovely gryphon drawing done in the next several days. Then I need to get started on the two Christmas ideas I have.

Welcome to the 2015 holiday season!

Okay, so I've been seeing a lot of people whining and bitching about FA's new attempts at posting ads. So I'm just going to make one comment here and leave it at that.

Are they annoying? Yes. I don't trust ads of any kind. All of them have the potential to be virus magnets.

Is there a solution? Yes. Adblock the damn things, or whatever the hell your browser's equivalent is. Works like a charm, people!

What about the ugly open gaps where the ads used to be? Apparently there's a way those can be blocked too. But seriously, if your mental health depends so much on having the layout of your FA be perfectly spaced, then you probably need to seek counseling. It's a space. You blocked the ad already, and it isn't as though the gap is screen-tearing. Scroll beyond it and get on with your life.

That's my two cents. There may be a lot of reasons to complain about FA these days, but spaces in the website layout...not one of them. So sorry, if that's what concerns you, you aren't getting any sympathy from me.


EDIT: So recently I've been hearing that the newest string of adverts on FA involve links to human porn sites. Okay, I see the issue there. But again, Adblock is your solution. I've never seen a single one of them, and I am not going to. Why? ADBLOCK.

I also have a rebuttal. I hear people say "but what about the people who come here to look at my gallery? They might not have adblock!"

Okay, fine. But think of it this way. FA is known by 99% of the world for the fact that it hosts PORN. Why the flipping fucking hell do you have a primarily PORN-HOSTING site as a professional portfolio?? If you have a need for a gallery to link to for the sake of any clients or professional purpose, DON'T USE FA! Think about it! If your clients don't know what FA is about, it won't take them long to find out! Use a more professional hosting website, and keep FA's galleries to the clients who don't care about the porn...and probably watch you for the porn anyway.

For those of you that celebrate it, a very happy and food-filled day to you! I have to say, the thing I am most thankful for this year is that I didn't die. Apparently with my ITP followed by blood clots, I had several opportunities to do so. But I'm still alive and kicking, so that's an accomplishment, I think.

Welcome to the holiday season, folks!

For the past few months, I've been having trouble with my periods. Seriously heavy and disgusting. It finally starting catching up to me, to the point where I took myself to the ER where I work with what I was sure was the beginnings of anemia. They agreed with me, called my ob-gyn, started getting things ready for what I think is called an I + D, basically scraping out and cauterizing the lining of my uterus. But then my blood results came back.

I wasn't only dangerously anemic, I had a platelet count of 6000. To put that in perspective, a normal platelet count is anywhere from 150,000 to 400,000.

Originally they wanted to admit me to my hospital. But there were still some things about my blood results that weren't pointing in the right direction. So they transferred me to where I've been all week, a trauma center about 30 miles away. Two transfusions of blood, three transfusions of platelets, and more needles in me than I've ever seen pointed in my direction combined at any point in my life...yeah, it's been a grumpy week. My only saving grace was when the doctors finally confessed I was not going to be going home quickly, my parents brought me my gaming laptop. World of Warcraft has officially saved my sanity.

I had bunches of blood tests done, and a full-body CT scan to make sure I'm not spontaneously bleeding anywhere. They didn't find any bleeding. They found small lung nodules. A secondary finding, but of course that freaked out the doctors even more. Hematology started arguing with pulmonology about the need to get a biopsy done, but they couldn't risk such a delicate procedure with my platelets so low. So they had to find out the cause of the platelets first. Which meant a bone marrow biopsy. Which involved me being knocked for a loop while they drilled a needle into one of my pelvic bones. Didn't hurt, amazingly. And I barely remember anything about it. No nausea, which is a first for my experience with anesthesia.

The bone marrow biopsy gave me my diagnosis. Idiopathic thrombocytopenic pupura, or ITP. A fairly common autoimmune issue where my platelets are somehow marked for destruction the instant they are made and swallowed up by my spleen. First line of treatment is steroids and immunoglobulins to protect my platelets. But if that stops working, then my spleen will have to be removed.

For now, it seems as though I don't have to face any major surgery any time soon. The treatments are making my platelet counts go up on their own, but tonight is the big test. I haven't had any medicines or steroids all day. If my platelet count goes up from its current 44,000, I get to go home tomorrow and follow up outpatient. If not, then my spleen has to go, and I'm stuck here for another week or so. The pulmonologists seem to be calmed down now. They decided the nodules are too small to be really worried about. There is only one that's a candidate for biopsy right now anyway, and its in a place that would require something invasive to retrieve. Most of the doctors think it's just scar tissue, because every other test they ran for tumor indicators came back completely negative.

Right now, I have my fingers crossed to go home. I am getting tired of lying here, separated from my animals and my normal routine. Wish me luck!

Despite it being February, I need to start planning for next Halloween. Y'all remember that freaky demon mask I got from  phazonalloy.

Well, now I need something to go with it. So I really need a talented, dependable fursuit maker to help me design the rest of this monster beastie. Not looking for an entire body suit. My greatest interest would be from the hips down. I need someone to make me a pair of demon legs and feet that matches the general style of the mask.

Anybody know anyone that is available and open to help me with this? Price doesn't matter, but quality and timeliness does. I don't want to be on the waiting list for something that won't be done for a few years.

A very merry Christmas to one and all! I hope yours was safe and festive!

So what did Santa bring everyone? I got a new iPhone 5. Very happy as it has twice the memory of my old one. Now I don't have to delete songs off my library every time I want a new one...and I might even have space for a few apps now.

Well, back to the swing of life again, I guess. I have to admit I didn't really FEEL much of a Christmas spirit this year. It came, its gone, I have some new goodies. And in a few days the house will be back to normal. Maybe its because my family and I didn't have time for any extra holiday activities.

Oh well. There's always next year. Maybe if I start planning now I'll actually have decent ideas for presents by next December....

Might as well. You never know! As always, a wish granted for me is a wish given in return. To the best of my ability.

~Step 1~
Make a post in your journal containing your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple to really big. The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

If you wish for real-life things, make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where folks could get in touch with you.

~Step 2~
Surf around other lists to see who has posted their list. If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream for free--do it. You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call. There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special!

~Step 3~
The List

1) Another reader or two for my story epic The Event. I desperately need outside opinions, or this thing is never going to be finished. Sooo freaking stuck on the last book. I am posting it on its own dA page here: http://theeventsaga.deviantart.com/

2) Art of my characters from The Event.

3) A World of Warcraft time card.

4) Game currency, customs, or pretty much anything from the online breeding pet site Wajas.

5) To finally pay off the rest of my credit card balance.

6) A way to take my parents on a good vacation, particularly to Disney World or New York City.

7) Pepsi. That's my caffeine kick, but I am always running out!!

8) A part-time job I can do from home to help pay bills.

If there's anyone out there who really can grant me any of my physical wishes, please note me for my email!

My art is in a real slump right now. I need SOMETHING to get back on my toes again. So once again, I am going to ask for anyone who has a character they want drawn. I will draw basic portraits, flat color, full body, shading and background only if I feel like it. Just something to get me kickstarted again. If I get the inkling to do something more, I'll do it. But no guarantees.

Anyone who wants a slot just post below with your refs or a good description. This is not first come first serve. I will draw what inspires me to draw, so please don't be offended if I don't choose you!

1) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11645996/
2) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11718896/
3) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11792125/
4)
5)
6)
7)
etc.

These will stay open until I decide otherwise. So let me know! If this journal is still here, it's still open.

I decided to answer my own question. I will be posting my story project mentioned in my previous journal online. However, since it has nothing to do with furries, I can't justify posting it to FA. So I have created its own DeviantART account. The prologue is already posted, with more to come.

Find it here:

http://theeventsaga.deviantart.com/
http://theeventsaga.deviantart.com/
http://theeventsaga.deviantart.com/
http://theeventsaga.deviantart.com/
http://theeventsaga.deviantart.com/

I'm really thinking about whether or not to post my multi-book story here on FA, if only to get a few more opinions on it. It isn't anything I am ever planning to publish. It's just something I work on when I'm bored. But it's been ongoing for almost four years now, and I am reaching the midpoint of the last major book (Book VIII). It would be a major undertaking, as these files are huge and I'd have to break them up, and then go through the effort of formatting them in Notepad so they don't post all screwed up (seriously, if anybody has a way to translate word documents to notepad, let me know!).

To get a sample of what they are like, check out my recent submission: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10623771/ This gives the premise of it.

I'd have to warn any potential readers that this thing is...well, full of everything you can imagine. In the way that there are multiple on multiple characters, places, situations, or just tidbits of hundreds of fandoms all throughout, from major arcs to mentions. The Oz books, of course, but there is also Lord of the Rings, some from the movie Stardust, a name borrowing from the Chronicles of Narnia, Toothless from HTTYD, etc. etc. And the whole thing starts off with a rewrite/ripoff of the movie Knowing starring Nicholas Cage. In fact, two of the major characters are borrowed from that movie, and appear all through the series.

Yes, it sounds insane. I personally think it all translates better on paper than it ever could with me explaining it here. You'd just have to read it and tell me whether or not I'm totally nuts.

If there is interest, I will post Book I here on my account. If people seem to like it, I'll make a separate account and put up the rest. But I need to hear from you! Would you be interested in glimpsing the imaginative workings of my brain? And see exactly where I am getting all this commission artwork from? Let me know!

I am currently offering a sale for full-body, inked portraits of any non-human character for $8-$10 depending on complexity. Examples are like this:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10540691/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9554146/

I can also potentially do just the linearts for $5. Note me or post here if you are interested!

Just for fun, I googled my name today. Turns out I'm a well-loved third grade teacher, an overexcited soccer mom, I work for an environmental agency in Wisconsin, I'm a high-end fashion designer, and I died three times.

....

And somewhere in all of that, there was a mention of the actual me, from some sort of weather article I wrote in middle school.

So...yay for common names!

Suppose there's no harm in putting up a few things here. As always, you list mine and I'll list yours! And a gift for a gift, most certainly. :)


1) Art. Gotta love art of my characters. I love you double more if it is art of my human characters. Ask me for refs and links!

2) A gift certificate to rodentpro.com. My slithery friends need to keep stocked with their tasty nummies.

3) A Cintiq or Wacom drawing tablet, or honestly any sort of tablet where I can draw on-screen.

4) Those delicious Danish butter cookies! They come in those round tins. LUUUUV them, but I can never seem to get enough!

5) Game currency or any sort of items or customs from the online pet game Wajas.

6) Gift certificate for Walmart. Work is changing uniform code come spring, and I'll need to get new work outfits.

7) World of Warcraft time cards/codes.

8) Someone to tell me how I can obtain the original Mass Effect game for my bro's PSP3. I want to play through the series with Urdnot Wrex still alive, dammit! :D

...one of them presents itself to you with massive...ah..."tummy trouble" all over its rear end and tail, and you scrub it off of them by hand without batting an eye because its too cold for the hose.

Ah, the things I do for my furry kids...

I remember a time in my life when I used to update these journals every couple of days. And have witty or interesting things to say. Where oh where has that person gone?

Well, I can say I have been busy this year. Buut not much of any real interest, at least not enough to get into vivid detail here. I did do my Halloween side job again this year, which is always a blast. But I wouldn't be very good at describing most of the good parts. Let's just say I did a lot better at making people jump, scream, run for their lives, and wet themselves. And all with just a bandana and an unloaded shotgun. Good times!

Perhaps in time I will be able to get back into the swing of journal writing. But until then, my lovely watchers, rest assured that I still exist. I'm doing alright.

Baba could use some spare change. If y'all been liking the series of anthro portraits I've been posting in my gallery, I will happily make one for you for a very low price! Single character full colors are only $8!

PRICES:
Color:
*One character, full body, background = $8
+$3 per extra character
**Maximum 3 characters per portrait

Flat Sketch:
*One character, full body, clean sketch = $4
+$2 per extra character
**Maximum 4 characters per portrait

Payment by Paypal only. Will draw anything and everything except humans, tame to XXX and everything in between.


SLOTS:

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Okay, so after finishing the last two images in my gallery, I've decided I want to try and make a series of characters in costume, to give me much needed practice drawing clothes, props, and in shading and background and all that other stuff. Since I cannot guarantee I will make it very far into the series...if at all...I will not be offering them as commissions. I am looking for volunteers instead. Let me borrow your character for a few days, dress them up however I want, and hand them back all pretty and new. That means free, fully finished art for you!

This is not first come, first serve. I will take the characters that strike my fancy as my muse desires it. Again, this is no guarantee that it will be done. But I want the options there just in case this miracle streak of desire to draw continues.

The series as it stands (finished, planned, etc.):

1) Ankara as a grandma with a shotgun (Halloween costume)-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6845494
2) Zy as a pirate (PotC inspired)-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6876302
3) Ayame as a (surprise!) for Moro-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6890111
4) Unicorn in a Saw-type trap for Dragontalon-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6899427
5) Hypno as Indiana Jones...with glasses! for Hypnoflow-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6955957
6) Zev for Freakshowzev-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7090479/
7) Lunar as a Marine for Lunar_Helixcon-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6933411
8) Huzante as a surfer for Huzante Huskerton-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6993864
9) Timmy Trent for Chipmunkboy92-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7161338
10) Resho as himself (need some serious spell-drawing practice)
11) Kage as some sort of futuristic soldier thing...still waiting for a picture to pop in my head on this one
12) Ralphia for Puunchy-->http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6997715
13) A Synx.
14) Because I can't do portraits without doing one of Rahmor too!!
15) Her character....i'll get an idea eventually!
etc...
etc...

((This is the list as it stands now. If you've commented and do not see your name here, don't give up hope! You might still get your turn. These are just the ones that poked at my muse as I was reading through them. My muse might come around again soon and picture something for your character.))

If you want on the list, comment with a ref of your character and I'll see what I can do! Remember, this series is for anthros only. I will take all types of characters except humans. And since this is fA, I will do naughty if I feel like it.

Also, if you have an idea for a costume theme for your character, let me know. But that does not guarantee that's what they'll be dressed in. But an idea is always good to work with, as I rarely have ones of my own.

Ugh....I can't seem to draw anything that's to my liking lately. It seems my own tastes in what makes a sketch good enough to get to scanning and uploading up and decided to jump forward about a thousand miles ahead of my skill level. My current sketch book is about 90% filled with half-done sketches that I will probably never get around to scanning in, because I'm too lazy to do it. Even just to make one of those gigantic sketch dump images.

My most recent work of art I wanted to do was a beautiful image memorializing the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I had that thing in the bag...and then my computer ate it. I think that was the point everything I started churning out began to look like crud. The sketch itself is still done...but I doubt i'll ever get around to recoloring it. *sigh*

Though honestly, I hardly doubt anyone in either of the galleries I post to even pay much attention to the stuff I post, whether it be crap or something Leonardo DaVinci would faint over. If I get even one response to this journal, frankly, I'll be amazed.

I don't plan on leaving my art galleries or giving up drawing...it's just that there is a good probability that anything I try to draw for the forseeable future will end up dying before it's even finished because I can't get it to look right, and then lose interest.

I would make an effort to create a sketch dump image...but then I realize that there's also a good probability nobody will bother to look at it....so why bother? *sigh again*

Guh, I hate art slumps.

And here I thought the only thing i had to worry about here in Virginia was the occassional tornado.

But seriously....a 5.9 earthquake?!?!

Now I gotta go make sure everything on my property is still standing.

So my birthday was on the 4th. Pretty much uneventful. My brother thought it was funny to get me a new set of doorknobs for a present. At least he also installed them on my bedroom door, so that was nice. Somehow, my mom found the money to get me a ticket to go see Wicked at the Kennedy Center, so I am very happy for that! Those tickets are so fricken expensive. It's almost cheaper just to go to New York and see it there. I've seen Wicked in NY before, but I love that show so much. I've been dying to see it again. And the main actors in this one are supposed to be just as good as Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenowith were. Plus, it's a third row center seat. So...yeah. Much happiness there. We also lit fireworks, as usual. And my sister-in-law brought me a birthday cake shaped like a dragon. I need to see if the pictures survived. She had 26 candles all bunched together, and when she lit them they caught the front part of the cake on fire. So my picture with it is me leaning away in horror. My brother actually had to pour water on them to put it out. But there was plenty of cake leftover to enjoy.

And again, the county fair is fast approaching. As always, I am planning on entering my chocolate chip cookies. I also have several entries in my gallery that will be submitted into the digital art contest again this year. Hoping for another best in show. I had intentions on making a pen and ink entry, and writing entries, but we'll see if they get done. I don't have any ideas for them yet. And the day to enter all entries is the 11th.

And for anyone with dogs or cats, hear me out on this. My gang of yorkies has a chronic yearly problem with fleas, particularly Rocky. But this year, Walmart started selling Pet Armor Plus, the new generic equivalent to Frontline. I swear, that stuff works amazingly. I have not seen one single flea or tick on any of my dogs since I started using it. And my area is having a horrific year for ticks. And it is about $35 bucks cheaper per box than Frontline. No other vet-sold medication works as well as Pet Armor does. And trust me, I've tried them ALL over the years.

That's all that's happening on the homefront for me.

Guess how I found out it was there!

...

Yeah. Hurts like a sonofabitch, but luckily nothing was broken. Just as sore as all hell right now. And I know I'll be feeling it worse in the morning.

So yeah. Took a ten foot fall through a hole. How was your day?

It HASN'T. Big. Fucking. Surprise. I really can't wait for the day I meet someone who actually believed the old bastard who predicted it. I'll take great pleasure in laughing in their faces.

Some people travelled across country. Some people gave away all their stuff and emptied their bank accounts. Well, let's all us sane people come together and give them the old Nelson "ha ha!"

TD;LR: The world didn't end yesterday.

I am not going to say much on this absolutely RIDICULOUS topic, because if I get started, I'll max out the word limit on these journal entries really quick. But...seriously. Some crackpot old fart starts saying the world is ending, and people are taking him seriously enough to advertise it EVERYWHERE?!

So here's what I'm going to be doing when the world is "ending" tomorrow. I'll be in front of my TV getting ready to watch the Preakness. And as soon as it doesn't end, I hope somebody finds a nice nail-studded bat and beats that old man shitless.

My dog will properly predict the end of the world in his crap before that old man gets it right.

And if anybody who actually believes him happens to read this, you're a bloody fucking moron.

The Bible says the Rapture is coming. That's fine. But it isn't some crackpot who's going to be predicting it.

It was my birthday yesterday. I got a barbecue grill. Now I can learn to barbecue my own steaks!

Just FYI...toodles!