Go now!

Ask this artist for a $10 headshot of your character. Help him build his portfolio. You won't be disappointed!

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/27058935/

I realize this is a little taboo around FA because there happens to be a subgroup of furries that are into 'cub' stuff.... ick....

But for my part - I'd really love to design some avatars for my two kiddos but suck at childlike features. My kids always just end up looking like midget adults. I'd love to see works from someone good at drawing toddler characters so I can get a feel for what I need to do to improve.

On a side note - what do we call Rhys' and Rowan's characters? Chions? Leetahs? They're definitely both going to have their mother's height based solely on their current percentiles, lol. But I picture Rhys being more of a cheetah with some lion features (he's tall, wirery and tough) and Rowan being the lion with cheetah traits (he's gonna be a bruiser, and he's got this puff of hair like a baby mane or something...)

From Ours to Yours - I hope the Holidays are treating you well and wish you the best in the New Year to come!

Lorna and I would official like to welcome Rhys Cooper Silipino into the world. He was born just before midnight on November 18th and weighed in at 6lbs 12oz. To say it was a quick delivery would be an understatement, lol.

I got home from work around 6pm and Lorna was just finishing up making some dinner; she'd be having some light contractions but those are pretty normal towards the end of pregnancy and had come and gone over the past couple weeks. Hard contractions hit around 8pm but no water had broken. She'd waited for a little bit to see if they would calm down but when they didn't we hit the hospital around 10pm. Water broke as I'm opening the car door to help her into the hospital. Into labor and delivery where they said she was about 2cm dilated (the dilation process can take hours - 10cm is the magic number for birth). They checked her again about an hour later and suddenly she was 9cm.

From there is was just a whirlwind of activity that led to only about 20 minutes of active labor. I say ONLY for me, but the truth is Lorna progressed to active labor so quickly she completely skipped over the window of opportunity to have an epidural. She was a little delirious in pain and kept asking for it, but the nurses and mid-wives were all like, Sorry! He's comin! Push it! So I got my hands crushed pretty good :) And at 11:58pm we had a little pink screaming bundle in our arms.

We left the hospital with our new family on Saturday morning and are settling into our routines here at home. Both Momma and Kiddo are doing great! :)

I'll get some pictures posted up in my 'scraps'

For those that care about these types of things - we had the anatomy scan a few weeks back and let all the Grandparents know with a little batch of cupcakes with colored icing in the middle. We're having a boy!

Now the really hard part is the fact that we had like 30 girls names picked out and like 3 boys names, lol. So we've been picking our brains trying to decide on possible names...

We don't want anything super common. We already know we aren't going to name the child after any family members. The more traditional Italian names all sound waaaaay too stereotypical.... BUT. Lorna is a Scotch/Irish name, so she started looking in that direction and it turns out that there are a wealth of awesome baby names to be had from that region.

The strangest/ most humorous bit about the names we are considering for a son is that A LOT of these names are ones I have used for characters in stories - I had a real pension for Gaelic names when working on Alesia. She spouted off Kade, Kaden and Kincaid before I told her that would a little weird being that close to Cinaed, lol.

I'd just as soon call him Turbocharger Prime Silipino - but I get no real say in this, lol!

So yeah - baby names are fun.

You know that moment when you take a night and dive back through your old folder of writing and story bits? You know you got something right when you get chills reading things you've written.

Folks, I am more than a little excited.

I really want to run screaming into the street but for reasons of self-preservation I can't do that. I don't really even have any close friends I can broach this subject with. So I am raving about it here - where I can do it peacefully and relatively quietly.

My wife has a great chest. This isn't really any surprise to me because I've become accustomed to it over the last 10 years - but it appears to be better than I thought!

For as long as I've known Lorna, she's shopped at and bought most of her bras from Victorias Secret. A lot of American women do that because they don't have many other options besides that and chain stores like Macy, etc. Most women have received fittings at those same stores. Stores that don't really acknowledge that cup sizes over DD exist, so it is in their best financial interest to say you fit into something that they sell. Well a lot of the time, they are lying, and a lot of women don't know that because there is an imposed stigma against anything crossing the DD threshold.

Those sizes don't exist. Breasts that big aren't real. Blah blah blah... and I think I'm sick of it.

Lorna has been complaining for probably the past 8 months that her bras weren't fitting right. It was pretty obvious at certain times of the month that there was extra boob fighting to get over the cups. She just figured her bras were getting old, had shrunk in the wash, etc., so a couple weeks back we stopped at VS to buy her a new one. They fitted her again and put her right back in the size she had 3 of at home; 36DD. She shrugged and said, you're the experts and bought it only to have the same exact issues as the old ones.

My wife has enough body issues as is where her larger frame and height are concerned. She hates shopping purely based on the fact that most companies don't make cute clothing that's tall enough/ large enough. She's not fat, but 5'10" with broad shoulders as a woman is a hard type to find clothes for. I really didn't need her freaking out about popping out of the largest bras the only lingerie store she's ever been to sells. I truly want her to be comfortable with who she is. So I went digging for some answers myself.

There are (surprisingly to me) several companies out there who cater to the DD+ ladies and a lot of literature to be read about how VS and stores like them are terrible for figuring about exactly what size you really are. Most of this comes out of the UK originally, where they are much more accepting of ALL body types - but the movement is thankfully making it's splash here in the USA.

I showed Lorna what I was doing, what I had found and told her that we should probably take her to a specialty store and get a REAL sizing done. So last weekend we hopped on over to the local Nordstroms - which has a decent selection of offerings from Freya, Cleo and Panache. I know she was a little shell-shocked just looking at those bras on the shelf but to her credit she took a deep breath and said it's only a letter - I want to be comfortable for once. She was fitted, tried a few and walked out with a 38E - which was up until that point the best fitting bra she said she'd ever worn.

She had been a little miffed about having to buy a 38 band size and after just 1 week, it became pretty clear that it was a little too loose to last very long. So today we went out and found another local specialty shop with a larger selection (and a more helpful staff). After trying on some crazy number of different sizes and styles we walked out with 2 of the current best fitting bras she's ever worn in 36FF.

Yup. Double F.

And you know what? They aren't freak boobs. They don't really even look 'that' big. Her words, not mine. And she claims that this is one of those things where you don't even know you're being fitted wrong until you are truly fitted correctly. Until you have that moment of 'holy shit, this is what bras are supposed to feel like?' The major players in the bra market lie to people so they will sell more product. How 'bout that?

So Lorna's happy with purchases and she's comfortable at last. I am overjoyed to see that for a change. I wish I could have this much success finding answers to other problems, lol.

And you know what? It doesn't hurt that this cheetah can say his wife is a FF cup either ;P

If you are a former player of City. and you haven't checked these guys out yet. Do it.

http://www.missingworldsmedia.com/

Join. Comment. Support.

Maybe someday we'll have our stomping grounds back.

Go to this video on my YouTube Channel:

http://youtu.be/aRz9zrTWaU4

Watch it. Comment on it. Share it. And maybe with a little luck, I can be selected as one of the new 100 'Agents' to receive a 2014 Fiesta for 6 months.

The purpose of the Fiesta Movement is to raise public awareness of the car and it's capabilities. Agents will be given one of the new cars to compete in Ford issued challenges, roads trips, public events, etc., and share it with the world through social media and blogs. My hope is that I can procure one of the coveted new Fiesta ST performance models for my efforts.

Let's do this thing!

So, it has come to my attention recently that there will be an inaugural anthropomorphic convention here in Baltimore this April. Anyone I know planning on attending? Deciding if it's worth it to try and go to this one. I mean, it'll be like, less that 10 minutes from my apartment - but it's the first year for a new con and I know that can mean things don't run quite as smoothly as they do in subsequent years.

Well, started off with a bang but couldn't quit pull it off in the end. Mostly due to a really sucky work schedule at the end of the month and oh-yeah - MOVING. I think I managed to pull off a sketch for 20 out of the 31 days which I still don't think is too shabby!

I'll work on some more uploads here in the next few days to the scraps section. Included are:

Tearlach "Mindblade" (from Season II)
Zoe "Curadora" (from Season II)
Kylie "Pop" (from Season II)
Slippy
Lorna
Cinaed "Midnight Sun" (from various)
Red Lantern Santa Claus (lolz - don't ask)


Oh - and Happy 2013 everyone!

First batch of random sketches for December uploaded. Including:

Duncan (from Alesia)
Saria "Flora" (from Alesia)
Sydney "Oasis" (from Alesia)
Effiona "Vision" (from Alesia)
Angelus "Hellcat" (from Alesia)
Makanshi (from Alesia)
Ciardha "Eclipse" (from various)
Solaris (from Shattered)
Oreo and Remy (pets)
Min Leigh (from Shattered)

Bought a new *smaller* sketchbook on Dec. 1st while out at Hobby Lobby. My goal for December is to sketch a page a day for the entire month. I'll probably start posting the results of my assault around the middle of the month.

BTW - Lorna and I are moving to a slightly smaller apartment in our neighborhood. We really don't want to leave the place we have; but this will save us $$$ every month while I'm still looking for a solid graphics job. Plus, this new place has a 2nd floor! That will be a first for us - and the cats should love having a place with stairs for the first time.

Walked up the street this past weekend - literally less than a mile from our apartment - to visit the Maryland Zoo at Baltimore for the first time. Lorna and I had been putting it off because we'd heard less-than-stellar revues about it, but were pleasantly surprised. Is it small? Yes. Does it look slightly underfunded? Yes. But they're hearts are in the right place, and despite some empty exhibits (not sure if it's for lack of animals or just because the normal animals don't do well in Maryland winter) it was a nice day trip.

Highlights were the giraffe house and (of course) the big cats. Being too cold for the two giraffe's they have to be outdoors all day they have an indoor exhibit that allows you to get REALLY up close and personal with them. There are walls around their stalls, but they aren't more than 8-9 feet tall. So the giraffes can stick their heads right over the top and into the area were the visitors are. And they seem to be a very curious pair as they checking us out just as much as we were checking them out. The pair of leopards they have were... interesting. The female certainly seemed to be 'in the mood' we'll call it, and if they male could talk, based on his body language he'd be saying "AGAIN honey? Come on, give me a little break!". She got a pounce and a slap on the hind quarters and she jumped the rocks to sulk for a little bit.

And then there were the two cheetahs they have (see my pics in the gallery). I always thought they were beautiful animals, but... wow. Again, the closest I've ever been to this animal. The Zoo has the male and female in adjoining cages that can be opened up into one. And those areas are MAYBE 3 feet off the walking path. And there is a plexiglass window in the one area that the animals can actually walk right up to (and they did). I've imagined the cheetah to be smaller in relation to other big cats - but the cheetah male was a big boy. They look like they are walking around on stilts with those long legs they have, heh. Body shape is built a lot like a Greyhound dog (for obvious physiological reasons) and the male especially was probably 4-4.5 feet tall at the shoulders.

We also had the opportunity to see the female stalk and chase the gazelles (which are in an enclosure directly across the walking path from the cheetahs. We initially saw the cheetah male stalking back and forth and looking into the other pen. We figured there was a second cheetah, but that it was in the 'house' at the back of the enclosures. Then BAM. The female comes bolting out of the tall rushes of grass in the center of her pen going full speed down the fence with a gazelle running the dickens on the other side of the walkway. The gazelle did an about face and ran the other way and the female cheetah whipped the tail around into a pivot and followed right after. They went back and forth for a minute or so until the female stopped and wandered over to the plexiglass to check us out. Could literally have touched her she was that close.

All in all, a good day. I think we'll definitely be heading back over the summer to see if more is opened up.

Sure, Iron Man is cool - but War Machine always seemed to be the cooler option for me. Just something about the design of a suit that has so many hidden weapons compartments that appeals to my inner geek

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/image.....e/HOT10374.jpg

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/image.....e/HOT10374.jpg

Just saw that item listed on BigBadToyStore.com today. Kinda got a little hard-on for it. Probably the same reason that I love the Heavyarms 'Custom' version of the mobile suit from the OVA Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz.

Ya know, I'm not normally one to have giant epiphanies all that often... I generally have too much useless knowledge to be blindsided by something... but I had one the other day.

I always used to think I didn't like clothes shopping. It always just seemed so tedious and I never really cared for lots of expensive 'trendy' stuff. But I see now that I just don't like clothes shopping for myself When I am asked to accompany the wife, however, I think I find the experience generally enjoyable... especially when we go shopping at certain places :D

Do I love wandering around the women's sections with and picking out things she would never wear because they were too tight and revealing? Absolutely! Why? Because Lorna generally doesn't like clothes shopping for herself. It tends to get her down because all of the cute trendy things she'd like to buy never come in a size that fits all of her. The cute stuff will fit her bottom half - the frumpy tenty ugly stuff fit her top half. And just being there and doing what I find enjoyable; imagining her in tight sexy stuff and pulling it off the racks to show her; always gets a reaction out of her and lets her know that although the world doesn't cater to women of her body type, I could never go for anything else.

For those keeping score. My lioness here is 5'9" (which is taller than me), a size 12, and a 36DD. That makes her too large (in the chest) for most of the misses and womens section in JCPennys and too small (everywhere but the bust) for 'Plus' sized stores like Lane Bryant.

Call it busty, call it curvy, voluptuous, whatever.
I don't really care.

It's what I like and I want to make her feel good about the way she looks - which is amazing by the way. She always tells me that 90% of the time she is fine with her body and that the 10% of the time she isn't is when she's shopping. It's my job to make that 10% more fun and bearable. And who knows - maybe some day I can talk her into doing a days worth of unmentionables shopping like Peter illustrated with his wife Whitney.
 PeterAndCompany

Armageddon isn't too far away! Hey - at least I get to have one more birthday before everything goes to hell, lol. Yay! Dec. 20th!

In all seriousness though - I hope you and yours have a great and safe evening. 2011 was nothing if not interesting and here's hoping 2012 brings enriching challenges, warranted success and good times for all.

Catch you all on the flip-side.

Just dumped my entire folder of sketches and doodles from 2001 into the scraps section. You'll find the horrible, the terrible and ugly in there - as well the first appearances of of some characters that are still going.

2001-2002 was my senior year of HS by the way.

scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps scraps

maybe you should just stop reading and go check the scraps?

Realized today that I had barely even a page of my stuff uploaded here. I'm looking to rectify that over the upcoming days.

Oh yeah. PM5k is back to their roots!

Title says it all. The funding for Lorna's job at the Hershey Medical Center ran out in December and the grant was not renewed. So, after searching for a while she landed an interview at the University of Maryland Baltimore campus and loved the place. She's back in cancer research which is where she really wants to stay.

And here we are in the fine city of Baltimore, MD. Neither of us figured we'd ever be living in a major city... EVER. But we have a nice little older neighborhood here with enormous old row-homes. This area has a lot of character and our apartment is awesome. Cats are still really freaked out by the sudden change of scenery, but they both have so much more room to run around this place!

That's all for now. Just about everything is unpacked now. Gonna finish setting our wireless hub for the apartment.

Entered into my first ever Auto-X event this past Sunday. WOW. That's about all I can say. Did I stack up against all the other drivers there? Not really, but that also wasn't the point. Auto-X is more about competing against yourself and building skill behind the wheel while learning your car better. I took 10 seconds off my time between the first and the last of the 5 runs. AND I didn't run off course or hit any cones! That's the real accomplishment :)

Definitely would do this again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM1BaLTM1jo

Kinda split at the moment on the new Linkin Park album. LOVE one song in particular: "The Catalyst", you can go look it up on FaceTube.... but the rest of it....

Might take a few play-throughs before I make a final judgment.

It's been in the mid and upper 90's for the past two days, and they expect this heat wave to last till Friday. This is the 4th stretch of weather close to 100 that we've had so far this summer, Humidity is hovering stable at 87%

This is all great and normal summer weather.... if we lived in Florida. The problem?

(in best King Leonidas voice) THIS. IS. PENNSYLVANIA!!!!!!!