Minneapolis has been really nice and the people here very nice and friendly, but tomorrow its on the bus again to Pittsburgh. The time I've spent on the bus I do know this... after this trip NEVER AGAIN! I'll have to recount it sometime...

Pictures arrived just fine, though I've been spending a bit more on food than planned. Still, there's three weeks to go so who knows how the $$$ end will work out.

Yeesh, you leave this place a while, next thing you have 700 submissions to look at.

Haven't managed much sketching, but I did do a doodle of a sleeker dolphin form. Its OK, but a swimming one in the future would make for a nice pic. Had some really good ideas on expanding out the roo pic I did before with the suggestive tail stuff.

Looking forward to seeing folks at AC. May or may not do sketches there if the mood takes me. Usually no, but who knows. :) I think I'll force myself this year.

Well, I'm headed out tomorrow (technically today as its past midnight). I'm taking the month off and stopping to visit several friends in a couple cities, and hitting Anthrocon.

Take care all. I might be able to check in during the trip, but otherwise I won't be around to reply.

Well, that's it.

I will give to Dell that the customer support people I dealt with were generally pretty nice. However in the end there's not much in the way of a repair that could be done. So, I'm out an $800 monitor that was also my TV.

So, one more computer company off the list for now (I need to get a laptop for the fall). I just have this thing about if I get a lemon, then the company should be removed from consideration for more money from me. It would seem too much like rewarding them. Now it could be just random chance. Reviews on a lot of Dell products are pretty good, but at the same time those don't usually take into account extended use over a long period of time.

EDIT: I found a fairly cheap widescreen monitor on sale tonight that covers most of the bases of the old monitor for about $250CAD. So perhaps that's a bit of a silver lining.

Its not a good sign when you'd not take the trip if you knew then what you know now.

My nice monitor is rapidly getting worse. It started with some strobing ghosting when it started up, and then it went away after a while. A few days later and its doing it all the time. Its quite headache-inducing to be sure now. I'm trying to get answers out of Dell, but less than 2 years old and they don't list the model on their site?

I can be pretty sure now who I'm NOT going to get a laptop from (really need one when I go back to classes). %#*&*&# Dell!

Cover off a few things here...

So, going to Anthrocon. Pretty much everything is in place. I'll have a few things up in the artshow, so hopefully someone'll bid on them. :) I'm not doing any more pics than what has been posted. Would be too much pressure to finish off anything more right now.

I'll just be walking around most of the time. No I don't plan to have a table or be in Artists Alley to try and sell stuff. I tend not to be able to draw well at cons for whatever reason, so it'd be a waste of a space there. I'll TRY, so I might be spending some time in the ZOO working on stuff. If you can't find me, look there.

If you see me around and wanna say hi, by all means stop me and say hi. I don't bite. Be warned though I'm really bad with names so you'll have to remind me where you're from. Just remember there are many people out there with three or more identities depending on if you're talking about LJ, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN, FA, DA, RSVP, PDQ, BBQ....

Hugs and whatever are OK, as long as you ask.

Let me put it another way. Treat me as if I'm just another fan here. I don't really consider myself an artists, as much as a fan that learned to draw a bit. If you say or do anything wrong I'll just tell you to stop or tone it down, but I won't hold it against you. We all make mistakes time to time. Don't fret it.

And there's the picture http://www.furaffinity.net/view/285522/ so you know what I look like. ITs about a year old, but I've not really changed much. This should also fulfill the picture meme that's been going around. :D

Whew I really spoke too soon before. I've been really overwhelmed by the number of watches, favs, and comments. Though I still can't fathom why the silly photo got so many.

Anyhow I really want to thank all the new people that have added me to their watch list. Normally I go to each one and say thank you, but I'm going to have to short-cut this time as I've still got a lot to do before I go on vacation here. Also, how many of you really like those generic "thanks for the watch" messages that fill your page?

Umm, don't know what else to say other than thank you. I'm hoping AC will go well. I'm hoping I get into the art show. I'm also hoping some of these sell. At the very least I will in the future offer prints I think for those that want them. I'll see about working out some sort of free shipping deal. I'll try and keep it cheap.

Commercial stuff aside though I really appreciate some of the comments. With most of the pictures I want to do something a little different than just the same ole static poses. Put in a joke. Use a different species. Something to mix it up a little. I'm really glad some of you have enjoyed some of this stuff. I'm not really an artist, I'm just a fan that learned to draw a little. It really tickles me when I manage to turn out something that someone really likes. That really makes my day.

OK, I'm going to reverse myself on what I just said in my last entry. Some are a wee bit low, but I did put up one picture that seemed to really hit a button. Maybe there just aren't enough elephants out there.

Buuut the big news.... I just won $250 for a picture I drew!!!!! WOO!!!!!!

Its the "Safe sex with inflatables" pic http://www.furaffinity.net/view/579747/. $250 was actually second prize, but hey, that's more than I've ever made on a picture. About 3X as much.

Well, I got my bus pass for the con today, so I'm fully committed to it now.

I was watching with interest the stats on the last two pics posted, because I like to see if I've hit something somewhat interesting. That doesn't appear to be the case. It also seems that female characters of mine don't generate much interest. Compared to the male put up at the same time, it was running muuuch higher in favs and views. Though the low response makes me a little concerned that I'll even cover costs this year. Typically I put $5 starting bid. This year $6 would cover matting materials so I'd set a minimum of $10. I have to sell a few to just cover that, plus there'll be mailing of this stuff to the US this year to avoid transporting it.

Oh maybe its just the lack of sleep taking.

OK, so as I finish off pics for AC I will be posting them here, one a day. The scans aren't THAT big because I would sorta like to try and sell prints in the unspecified future.

A big thanks to all the people that recently joined, and some of the very nice comments I got from one person commenting on the gallery page. I find it interesting how many added me after the round of deflation pictures. I may do a few more if the contest I entered goes well for me.

So, I've got until the 24th to get stuff ready for AC. I have up to 4 spaces for additional pictures. I have too many ideas in fact. Ah well, some will probably end up at FC.

OK, I'm slowly putting together pics for Anthrocon. I've got quite a few ideas already stocked up. Some I think will be worth trying, some not.

But I want to ask the people that actually seem to be interested in what I draw.... what do you think would be good to put up for the AC art show? Not just what you think sells, but what would YOU like to see.

Any particular species you'd like to see? (I don't think I'll be doing any cetaceans at this one, but I will for FC.)

Any particular theme?

Should I try something a little more strange like a liquid-shifting sort of pic? (probably a mature gallery thing)

I love "The Colbert Report", but its quotes like this that really make me laugh, smile and giggle....

"You can’t imagine *anything* more awful than multiple wives? What if one of those wives was a Minotaur? What if it was *gay* polygamy and they’re all dudes? Or what if they were gay Minotaurs? Mr. Romney, Presidents can’t have a failure of imagination. I imagine gay Minotaurs all the time."

So, is imagining gay minotaurs considered a qualification for president? Gee, hope so. ;)

Cross-posted to LiveJournal

So, my vacation time came up at work and now I have to figure out what days I'm taking ASAP so they can plan around it.

Basically here it is... taking about 1 month off. Probably a bit of the end of June, and most of July. Going to get a Greyhound pass for 1 month. I'll take in AC, and try and visit a few others.

Here's what I know:
1. Want to be in Pittsburgh and area before the con (perhaps weekend before)
2. Like to get up to Detroit area after the con for a few days
3. Want to get to Columbus, OH perhaps RIGHT after the con (then #2)
4. Want to stop in Minneapolis MN, either before the con or sometime after #2 or #3

Here's what I don't know:
1. Will probably have an extra week or so of possible travel after all that is done. Would anyone be able to put up with me or want a visit?
2. Still need 1 or 2 people for a room-share at AC.

Woo, 500 watchers. I'd really like to thank everyone that's decided to watch and continue to do so. Y'know one thing about a gallery system like this where you can see watchers and get comments and the like is a very encouraging system. Thanks all very much.



Now a meme..... (I don't want to post a meme just by itself). I wanted to do the soundtrack of your life one because, well, most of what I have on my MP3 player are soundtracks. So, just put it on random and take what comes here. I won't include the stand up comedy because its not music.....

Opening Credits: The Future (Leonard Cohen: nice one!)

Waking Up: The Car Chase (A Beautiful Mind: rather fitting track, despite the name)

First Day At School: "He's Not Dead/ Londo and Vir Get Briefed/ Recording the Centauri Attack ("Darkness Ascending-Babylon 5: somewhat dark, but sounds like something bad is afoot!)

Making Your New Best Friend: Virus Alert (Straight Outta Lynwood-Weird Al: LOL!)

Falling In Love: Looks Like a Suicide (Dances With Wolves Soundtrack -John Barry: LOL2!)

Breaking Up: No Stone Unturned (Rockapella -The Nylons: Interesting... somewhat appropriate)

Prom: Jurassic Park -Main Theme (John Williams: *giggles*)

Graduation: Passage of the Marshes (LOTR: Two Towers - Howard Shore : oh that is SOOO appropriate! :D )

Life's Okay: Return to Tatooine (StarWars: AOTC -John Williams)

Death of a Close Friend: Requiem (Princess Mononoke Soundtrack : Wow, good choice)

Mental Breakdown: Frank's Death (28 Days Later- John Murphy: Again, wow, another appropriate track)

Driving: Cantina Band (Star Wars Soundtrack- John Williams: LOL!)

Flashback: Manhattan Project (Rush: Yet again, the lyrics talk about the past, eerie.)

Getting Back Together: Cry of the Celts (Lord of the Dance- Ronan Hardiman)

Birth of Child: Anakin Defeats Sebulba (Star Wars, Phantom Menace- John Williams *giggles*)

Wedding Scene: Michael's Theme (The Godfather -Henry Mancini: ooooooh)

Car Accident: Victory (Lord of the Dance -Ronan Hardiman)

Final Battle: Plaza of Execution (Mask of Zorro- James Horner: well, at least its an action piece :) )

Death Scene: Anakin's Dream (SW: Revenge of the Sith -John Williams: somewhat appropriate in tone)

Funeral Song: Deal with the Dark Lord (SW: Empire Strikes Back- John Williams: again, not too bad)

End Credits: I Wanna Be a Producer (The Produces Soundtrack: *grins* Nice)

Thought I should mention this here as I'd been in a small panic about it before....

I've got full time employment until Sept 1, so I can make all the payments for things now, as long as I conserve in the next few months. This would even leave enough to get to AC, but I'm still unsure if I want to do it or not.

But this does mean I have the finances under control. A $200 rebate from the gov't car insurance company really really helped too, as did the electricity/water bill being over-estimated for several months leading to about a $200 credit from them as well. when that bill was cut about $40/mo for the upcoming months, well, that'll add up too.

So, I don't HAVE to do commissions anymore. For those that wanted them I will do them. No problems with that. If I do do AC though I'd want to have some stuff for the art show. I do want to thank the folks that did ask for commissions. *hugs out to people*

Its been a little while since I said something here. I had to stop working on commissions for much of the last two weeks or so as I put things together here. I'll get back to them this weekend.

I got a job offer. Less money, less time, and this was the best I could find after 9 MONTHS of searching! Not even a change of scenery. I'd move one room down from where I was working. *insert long line of swearing*

There's a time you have to realize that if you're getting nowhere in the rat race, you need to see if you can find a new maze to run. Today I got conformation of funding for a PhD program. With this, and a project where much of the ground work is already there and partly done, there will be no better time. For the short term, it'll be going into debt, but the long term prospects are for more opportunities with potentially much better pay prospects.

Also, it will be a chance to reverse a past mistake. Due to "trusting" my past committee my past attempt fell apart, resulting in a Masters after waaaaay too long. That won't happen this time. I know what to do, how to multitask the situation. 3-4 years of hard work, but it will get done.

*cross posting to LJ*

So I got my new printer/scanner to replace the other one that died on me. Thanks to the generosity of my parents it ended up being my belated birthday gift. They really pulled my tail out of the fire on that one as it looked like I might have to spend $$$ on it to keep posting. In fact they were nice enough to see me get a nice Canon MP960.

DAMN but this thing prints copies that look better than the flippin' originals!

So, I'll be able to offer prints now of just about anything you see here, and probably some of the stuff I've got on other sites. I'm still trying to figure out what to ask for with this. I don't have much clue of the going rate and I sort of like to keep the price low. Would $6 be too much?

Also, working on commissions this week. It was a bad week here with little progress, but I hope one is finished and another 1-2 sketched out.

I'll answer, but I'm a dead end host for this meme, so nobody else is being infected.

The 1st player of this "game" starts with the topic "6 weird habits/things/hates about yourself" and people who get tagged MUST write a journal about their 6 weird habits/things/hates as well as state this rule clearly.

1. I have massive problems making eye contact with people. I try, but its very hard for me to gague. I always feel like I'm staring.
2. I have trouble initiating a conversation (shyness) yet I can do public speaking with no script with little stress.
3. I have an addiction to salt. I use quite a bit of it. I think it may be genetic because my grandmother and her father were identical in this respect.
4. I have a thing for webbed paws. Go figure. Related to that are things such as bat-like wings which really are just over-extended paws.
5. I have a serious problem with over-thinking situations, which can lead to depression or paralysis/indecisiveness. My mind races very easily. I cope with this by trying to distract myself with work, music, and a number of other things. When I'm not busy its much more difficult.
6. I have a thin skin with regard to insults. Critique of art or other things isn't a problem, but someone launching into a verbal attack on me can be very very painful, even if I know little of the person.

Seeing as I'm not passing this on, I'll give one more.
7. Given #6, I have a very very low regard for people when they engage in such insults, or mention violence. No "just kidding" or "I didn't really mean that" either. Words are precise things with a lot of impact (and no "nothing on the internet is serious" either. There are a lot of ex-politicians out there that I could cite as reasons that's BS). You pick your words carefully, consider them, and then use them.

OK, looks like I will be able to get a decent quality printer, thanks to a generous gift from the folks. This will put me in the position to offer prints of stuff.

So the questions I have are:

1) What is the going rate?
2) Would anybody actually be interested in prints of any of my pics posted here or elsewhere?

Woooo, finally made 5000 pageviews. Perhaps I should give a prize to the person that hit it...

Just one thing... When I went to check _I_ was #5000. :D

I want to thank the people that commissioned me. I've got 4 E-mailed requests (only E-mailed requests are considered "firm"). I've got sketches at various levels of done-ness for two (one close, another needing a lot of work). Hopefully I can get them closer to done this weekend. The rest of the week is turning out to be busy... namely two nights of 3-hour classes to learn a piece of software at work.

There have been some improvements in my situation though. I'll be getting a birthday gift from the folks in the form of a printer/scanner. I sort of need the combo because I do need a "copier" for a zine I contribute to and some other things. I'm looking more to something with very good print quality so I could offer up prints for some past pics. Any suggestions for a model? I'm leaning towards a Canon. Color laser has been sort of ruled out because reviews I've seen suggest that the quality might not be up there with an inkjet, and the cost tends to be quite nasty on the ones that are decent at images.

Well, looks like Anthrocon is about a 10% probability. Aside from the unsure job situation...
(1) Need to get rid of debts. Projecting the months I have left out, I may just be able to do this by June when the job is set to end. Lot of belt tightening in that time.
(2) That was until I realized a $650-700 home insurance bill in the summer.
(3) My printer is now dead. I can scan, but that's it.

That doesn't even consider if I can get a loan for grad school (I think I can do this though because I do have some assets, but ones I don't want to sell, like my grandmother's house. Better to ask for organs than that.). I MIGHT be able to get to the con then if willing to take on more debt...

So, while I was thinking of keeping the commissions closed and do more of my own stuff I think I have to start taking of a few commissions to try and make the prospects a little less dire. I don't expect a lot from doing this, but it will help while I try to find a better solution.

If you were interested in a commission before I WILL be taking them now. standard prices are posted here... $20 inked single character, $30 colored. Additional characters are a bit more.

I will take single commissions on. I do this because if I agreed to 5 pics at once it'd overwhelm me and take forever to do. Doing 5, one at a time however is a very different thing for some reason. I also have one old trade I'm slowly working on so I need to work from one project to the other. I may refuse things that are harder if easier commissions are offered.

What I don't want is commissions to "support" me. If you want a picture, that's fine. No charity buys. There are people out there in much more dire need than I am.

Email to Terminotaur[at]gmail.com (I will NOT accept requests to other addresses, too many problems) (cross-posting to LiveJournal)

Two months of the year typically suck. August and February. I'm not talking weather, just that bad things tend to gravitate to these months for me. The fact that my sinuses are still in revolt probably doesn't do much to help things.

Depression has already set in this month. Its been very hard to motivate to do anything in the evenings this week. There's nothing I want to do. I just don't have the affect for it. "it" being talking, drawing, responding to E-mails, etc. Coming home and going to sleep isn't a healthy response to thing for me. I can't even manage enough interest to go to a move despite several in the theaters that I would probably want to see.

I was starting to make some progress on getting drawings done, having just about finished everything off, but when I've tried to sit down and draw the last two days I can't muster the interest. When I've doodled its come out good too, and the last two pics I posted to FA weren't too bad.

There's some other things going on too, but I'd either not mention them here (like to keep professional life divided from the art side) or else they might be mis-construed.

Just going to go quiet a while.

Still recovering from FC. It was an incredibly good con. Possibly the best one every. There were a few down sides, but the good outstripped the bad easily.

Sadly, coming back home has been a huge slap in the face. First, I appear to have picked up the inevitable con-crud, despite taking pains to avoid it. Several events probably didn't make it easy to avoid it.

Yesterday I found that an old friend (yet younger than me) had died. Its been quite a shock. We hadn't talked in the last few years, but just out of lack of opportunity, but its still really a shock and very very sad.

While I'm writing a rare journal entry here... who does those artists stubs on Wikifur? Most of it is correct for me, but I'm from Saskatchewan, not Ontario. Who the heck thought I was from Ontario? I tried to change it, but all I could do was change the links.

Well, seeing as I'm having troubles posting art here. I was just about to go to sleep (went out and saw Casino Royale tonight), when I got this idea I had to sketch out quick. Its really crappy, but I needed to get the idea down before I forgot.

Unless you've been living under a rock as of late you've seen the silly "soy makes you gay" article that's been floating around. I just can't help that think that now that we "know" this, couldn't we put it to use?

So, LJ link to see what it was I was thinking of....

http://terminotaur.livejournal.com/210991.html

Hopefully the firefight dies down soon here.

In the meantime I'm removing the people that said they were leaving. No malice in it, just a want to keep my watch list under control by removing the non-active accounts.

Can we all please just move on right now?

Whee. 400 watchers. Thanks all very much. :)

I'm working on stuff for three people at the same time right now so I hope a few more things will be up in the coming weeks. Its just hard to find the time after job hunting. Wish I could say that's going better, but over 100 resumes out and only 3 interviews.

If anyone has any connections in the biotech/ molecular biology/ biological laboratory world....