Hello everybody!

I notice my journals and interactions on here have been getting more and more sparse, and I think it's time to finally begin moving away from a platform I don't feel as strong a connection to as I once did. I basically only check the site every day out of habit, and I still never check my submissions, which are in the tens of thousands and growing.

I'm certainly not leaving because of any issue, it's just grown stagnant. July 20th, 2016 will be ten years that I've been on this website and I hope to be fully available and set up on other websites or services by then. It's gonna be a long move, with lots of probably unnecessary steps, but do know that I'll be giving plenty of notice and keeping in touch with as many ppl as I can!

The Toraie today is very different from the person I was ten years ago (because Toraie didn't exist), and while leaving this site means potentially losing some connections, we all have to carry on at some point.

See you guys around, and you'll hear from me soon!

I guess I should dust off this journals section and announce my intent to crash the Chicago scene in December >:3


It's my first time to the city and I'm reeeaallly super excited for it, so I'm actually going a few days early for sightseeing!
I know MFF is gonna be awesome, I've heard so many good things about it, but it's really gonna be the bonus to the end of an awesome vacation that I know I'm gonna have.
Flights are purchased, hotel room is organized, everything seems to be in place, so I just have to leave it to my meticulous planning skills to make sure it goes well :3c


Will I be seeing any of y'all there? I know MFF is a well-attended con but I dunno just how many people are going to make the trip after last year. I'm not concerned about that at all tbh!


Anyway if you know any extra exciting things to do in Chicago while I'm up there, please let me know, I'm cramming literally as many things as I can manage into this almost-week that I fully intend to be totally exhausted when I get back. It's gonna be amaaaaazing~!



*zooms away*

So a long long time ago (roughly 2009 through 2011) I owned a PS3.

I poured plenty of hours into games like Mirror's Edge, Blazblue...oh. That was pretty much it.

I had a couple downloaded PSN games that I'd turn on and play for a couple hours at a time, but for the most part it had turned into a $400 Netflix machine. This kinda got me down, as I realized I wasn't experiencing the same joy in games that I used to. Steam was alright, but I had to boot into Windows to play most games, and my laptop generally can't handle a whole lot at once.

I ended up selling it to my boss for something like $250, controllers and a couple games included.
I deactivated my account and dropped gaming in general for about the next three years, sporadically playing shmups on PC and barely even touching a console until the Wii U came out.
I could write a whole journal glorifying Nintendo for bringing back enjoyable games, oh man.

Anyway, I'm slowly getting back into the scene, and while I will never call myself a gamer (hashtags have ruined that for everybody) I do enjoy sitting on my ass and holding a controller a little bit more than I have been. If y'all wanna add me on anything at all, here's some info:

Nintendo ID: Toraie
Friend Code: 3883-7526-8202

Playstation Network ID: Tijgerhuis

Steam: Toraie

I'm not that big on co-op or multiplayer games because I'm legitimately terrible at most games, but if you need an extra channel of communication or wanna play something fun, I'm all over now.

hey okay i think these are actually kinda fun :P
plus, once you see this lovely gallery you'll want to enter too! *nudgenudge*

 ToxicPinku is having a raffle to celebrate 40+ watchers! I say more is better!
You can +watch and post a ref right here to enter:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15316159/

If you don't like to leave things up to chance, there's an affordable, sexy, 3-character YCH going on as well, so definitely give that a look!

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, and I'll have that Savannimals event schedule out in less than a week, I swear. :P I won't leave y'all hanging~

Obviously it's a super-condensed list, but they're all songs that either opened up worlds of music to me and influenced what I listen to now, or just stick in my memory for whatever reason.
They're listed in roughly the order that I would have found them.
I was pretty sheltered, I've only been listening to music for ~11 years so I found a lot of things out of order Either way, here we go:

Ravi Shankar - Rupak Tal
Timo Maas - Der Scheiber 1
Total Eclipse - Psychedelic Terrorist
遠山明孝 - The Moon and the Prince
Raico - 空カケアガル
Room - Rubb
Ryu☆ - rainbow rainbow
IOSYS - Marisa Stole The Precious Thing
De Schiedamse Schutters vs. Krimpens Gewald - Pokeherrie
Rotator - Black Flag
venetian snares - Második Galamb
ship going down - skabrös räpa
Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (hey, it had to be something)
Project Serendipity - Shriek
Igorrr - Tendon
[Eprom - Center of the Sun] (bonus track)
All of these are on youtube, I know you're not too lazy to copy+paste!

So as you can see, lots of experimenting and discovery in the beginning, finding music I actually liked rather than music that was forced on me.
It tapers off towards the end because I've settled into a good personal blend of genres, with an appreciation for just about anything.
Dance games and its online culture have *a lot* to do with this list.
I could do waaaaayy more than 15, but hey, couldn't we all.

Tag yourself if you want~

for the person who screencaps the 10k pageview for me

because like, normally I don't care about that (and half of them are probably me navigating to other people's pages because i'm too lazy to type) but it's still kinda cool

and I wanna try baking more since it has always defeated me in the past.

So it's probably not gonna happen for a bit but if you manage to cap it and show me, i will bake a special thing just for you, in lieu of an actual present. :U But i'll probably end up baking something anyway so nbd i just want to type something

Cabbages for everybody! (i love this song btw; all the characters are Mad Decent artists so it's actually a cartoon haha)

What would everyone say if I were to host a Tasting Night for various beverages?
Coffee, tea, wine, liquors, beer?

Those who know me know that I am a very passionate person when it comes to drinks, and I'd just like to share some of that appreciation if you guys are interested.

Should I split it up into classes or special-topic nights, or have mini-classes for each class of drink? I'd essentially teach you guys what to look for in quality beverages, and it'd be good practice for my FWA panel on the same topic. I'd love to practice on you guys!

Of course, the bottom line of drinking (alcoholic or not) is to enjoy it! If you don't like the way certain things taste, fine! If you drink coffee because of the caffeine, great!
It's all about what you like, and nobody's forcing you to "appreciate" anything just because it's expensive or single-origin or whatever.

If you are interested in those kinds of things, though, then these little sessions could be a good place to start!

I would introduce you to the history, regions, aspects and flavors of wine, tea, coffee and liquor, but don't worry - it's not as much information as you think! I plan to condense things down to a simple hour or two including tasting, again, as part of practice for my panel at FWA.

Would anyone be interested in coming over some night in the next few months for this?
I can do it with as little as two people or as many as ten, but much more than that may get expensive and I'd need a little cover charge for expenses.

Just let me know~
If you have honestly been curious about why I like the things I like, let me show you!

Tossing out an idea here and hoping it goes well :P

it goes a little something like this.

seriously though, I was just asked to be on board with a restaurant/bar/café as a full-time professional barista, and I couldn't be happier. It's a combination of all the jobs that I've had and enjoyed, and after three days of training (and roughly ten pages of notes), hearing that they want to keep me is a huge relief.

For those of you with some coffee knowledge, it's a rather upscale café with Rishi True Tea, Aeropress iced coffee, Kalita Wave pour-over (not Chemex but still awesome), and a beast of an espresso machine by La Marzocco. Everything will be made to order, meaning there is a whole repertoire of techniques to learn to make sure the customer gets the fresh, high-quality coffee or tea that they pay for (and they do pay quite a bit).

It's so much better than my previous jobs I can't even compare them, and it sounds like I'll be staying here a while. Everybody is fun and easy to work with, and I appreciate that more than anything (having a manager who is actually approachable is something you take for granted until you don't have it, and I have very much not had it.) The food is incredible, the coffee is pro-quality, and the staff is great. I can't ask much more from a job, especially one that offers a $2000+ wine tasting as part of training, hosted by the only Master Sommelier in GA (Getting paid to taste high-end wines? Possibly my favorite part).

I'm gushing a bit, but I just wanted to share my excitement. I'll finally be getting back to a level of life that I'm happy with, as everything seems to be falling in place at just the right time.

Anyway, have fun this weekend, keep working on those t-shirt designs, and I'll see you guys soon! <3

I can't believe I'm just now discovering how cool SoFurry is.

I joined this site back when it was YiffStar (that's ~five years ago) but have hardly touched it since then. Maybe because the name is a little silly, or because I have trouble adjusting to new art sites, but I might try to be social over there maybe a little bit?

Anyway here:
https://toraie.sofurry.com/ in case you silly animal-head people want to add me!

don't worry, it's not us!

and are moving very very soon, and would appreciate some help packing up and unloading at their soon-to-be new house in Springfield (about 30m from Savannah proper). Congrats to these two on getting out of the rental trap and moving to buy a house! (okay technically we're moving their stuff to a temporary house while negotiations occur, but still. it's better than an apt)

There are lots of stairs so bring water/powerade/BEEG BICEPS *scrawny tiger flails around and carries one box at a time*

Again, not asking on Savannimals since it's a personal request, but any help is appreciated! I'm not sure when exactly we'll be doing the move but it should be soon!

Thanks guys!

hoo boy.

this shit is not easy.

It's strangely satisfying though, like I'm writing a biography and a resumé all in one. I get to tell people about Savannah's furry history and make a professional-looking site in the process, which scratches an itch I didn't know I had. Maybe that's why I've spent literally most of today editing these pages, which you are free to read and suggest additional information to put in:

http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Savannimals
http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Southern_Comfurt (the old group)
http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Savannah_Furs (the really old group!)

Soon to come are smaller pages on the River Street Fur Meets (which have been going on since 2009, believe it or not!), SCADFurs (which I may not be the best source of information for), and pages for POIs in the group. I consider it a project and a challenge, and as defeatdown pointed out, I'm spending more time on this than I probably would on my homework. NO RAGRETS.

Love y'all, tiger out.

i don't remember the last time i laughed this hard

maybe high school?

anyway, have the best video on the entire internet

Original title: "Mmbop."

---

Ohhh boy. Been a while since I've had a real journal, eh? However, this one's just kinda for fun. It does, however, mark a first in my life. Yes.

First time I wore my tail in public. Ohhhlawd. At the mall today, there was furfaggotry of the kind only Toraie can deliver. Really, because I was the only furfag equipped for such activites. I had my tail, and they had the DDR machine. We go good together.

My friend Madi had ownership of me for the day (by Gabu's permission <33), and I was commanded several things, don't you worry.

So at first I was just kinda gathering up the courage to sneak into the bathroom and change from IRL kid to my alter-ego Toraie! ...but that took a while. We had gone to Hot Topic (lololemo), GameStop and Spencer's (lololsex) and were basically just walking around bothering people before we wandered into the food court and I whipped out my tail and stuck it on, bell and everything. No looks yet. Walking back to Tilt (arcade place), I sure enough got my first "Oohshoot, dat boi he got a tail!"
...This /is/ Georgia, anyhow.

Playing DDR.
That was after a few rounds, so after that song I went ahead and did the first 45 seconds of Max 300 (Heavy) before stepping off and subsequently failing. Sweaty and aching in the legs (or at least I was), we head over to the bookstore to wrap things up. There, I offended several old people, grinned innocently at a lady who thought my tail was absolutely adorable, and ended up having to take the bell off.

Waiting to be picked up, Madi and I went out to triplesix in her car, that is, blasting music to where it can be heard 6 parking spots away (I checked personally.)

So that was my awesome day wearing my tail and collar (Madi forgot the leash), and it makes me want to wear that tail frickin' everywhere now.

Love to all~! <333

---

...

...


I might add this was before I'd ever met any kind of furry, I might have been sixteen (and therefore mallrat by default, and I'd already been on this godforsaken website for two years. o___o

Madi is no longer my friend, the arcade no longer exists (and Max 300 has never been difficult), and (thankfully?) I no longer have any sort of trepidation about wearing my tail in public. Lol. I guess the best thing I can say is that it wasn't sprinkled with emoticons everywhere. I think I'd gotten past that stage.

For more embarrassing tales of teenage awkward little tigers (see what I did there), visit  triforceeternal! Guaranteed to provide ammunition for blackmail and/or teasing!

sup guys, dis tiger

we're gonna be moving out of the apartment that most of you have been to in the next couple weeks but uh

i'll be the only one around when the date comes because the NG drill falls on that weekend as well. :|||

anybody wanna come over on the Friday or Saturday after FWA (the 28th to pack up and the 29th to move) and help me pack up/move? We're moving from #319 to #324, so literally everything just has to go up one flight of stairs, and we should be able to get it all done in one day.

I'm not posting this on Savannimals because it's a personal request and not a meet, but anybody's welcome to show up as long as they help in some fashion (i'll have a checklist, and you're welcome to tackle as many tasks as you want, from taking down and rolling up posters, to stacking frames, boxing appliances or cleaning surfaces). The hardest part will be moving our washer+dryer, so that'll go first. It actually requires taking a door off its hinges, and I wasn't able to do it by myself last time.

i'll be rewarding you guys with either pizza or a home-cooked something, depending on the amount of furs i have to feed. also BYOB because what moving party is complete without alcohol?

Bring boxes/bins/rubbermaids/tac-boxes if you have any spares! It might not be far but the more we can get upstairs in one trip, the less time it'll take overall.

Thanks guys ilu ;w;

This is Roo....fear me and my buns.


You don't know it yet but I win. Like I always do.

many people seem to think the correct pronunciation is "toray."

they are in fact wrong - toraie is meant to be pronounced phonetically: "to'rai.é" with the extra syllable.

If we search for it on google, it'll surely tell us the correct pronunciation for this difficult name with far too many vowels:

http://imgur.com/0s2Ehvm



...




*cries forever*

Hey everyone <3 Couple things to say here - not everyone will be affected but I'd like to let y'all know nonetheless.


So first, the good news! I'm getting a decent amount back in tax returns this year, on top of my sizable tuition refund, so rather than be penniless like I have been since January, I have something in my pocket; enough to where I actually feel comfortable going grocery shopping and filling up my gas tank. I'm affording myself very few luxuries beyond that, for reasons mentioned below.


The other good news is that  defeatdown and I are moving! Our one-bedroom apartment, while cozy, is feeling smaller and smaller every day, and I haven't been getting the sense of attachment and "home" that I did last year. We looked at a couple local apartments, and a spectacular house that I would like more than anything to live in for the next 2 years.


It's a little above what we're willing to pay even with our combined income, but it has more than what we need to sustain ourselves: lots of space, privacy and a badass fuckin' kitchen. <3 The application process is kind of a pain so we've got a lot on our minds lately, and so this is where the bad news comes in:


We're 90% sure we can't make it to FWA this year. As comfortable and fun as that con is, as much as I call it my home convention, it's too much to think about at this point.


Short of winning the lottery or an inheritance windfall from a long-lost uncle in Nigeria, we just can't afford it and the stress it brings. There might be some merit in going as cheaply as we can, but we'd have to wait until closer to the convention date to be totally sure, and by then most options have already run out.


This doesn't mean that I won't see you guys or get to hang with all y'all! I plan on making some road trips once our financial situation has stabilized, so anybody who I'd potentially miss in March shouldn't count me out for the year entirely.


Now, this also makes me very sad for a couple reasons - it'd be my second con in a row that I've missed, and believe it or not, I need my fix! I feel absolutely at home around furries, whether or not I know them, and the atmosphere of a convention just can't be matched by anything. I tried to make passing up on FWA a last-ditch option, but the money doesn't add up to it, and priorities are priorities.


By April, we'll be on track financially (gods be willing), so Megaplex (barring another trip to Wisco) and other furry events will definitely still be a thing, as well as the aforementioned road trips, so your resident purple tiger isn't completely tapped out of the scene!


love you guys, hope to see ya soon <3





Btw, if , or wants to contact me regarding setting up Savannimals events, now would be a great time. I'd love to have it taken off my mind for a while, but I don't feel like I'd be able to shunt the responsibility off to somebody whose judgment I don't trust 100%.

that there exists a young man in North America with two relatively large, perfectly functional, and not misshapen-in-any-way dicks.
(there are pictures if you're curious but they might make you extremely jealous if you're a dude, or even if you're not)

What's particularly neat is that he's totally chill about them like "Yeah I piss out of both, i just hold them in one hand when i go to the bathroom" but i guess if you're born with it you just have to live with what you got.

I dunno, I wanna get this guy a fursona something fierce. :UUU he's like an irl shark

but Tangled was better.

*audience gasping loudly*

Frozen was extremely pretty, the characters were more than memorable, but unfortunately, "Let It Go" is going to be the only thing the movie's known for in a couple years - but that's not to say it wasn't a great movie. It's worth seeing because it's Disney, and it's obvious that tons of heart goes into every film they make.

Tangled had a more widely varied color palette (gives a sense of adventure - Frozen felt confined to three locations: Erendale, snowy pass, and mountain), however, and more than one of the songs were reprised (an important aspect for developing characters and their relationships). Also, the music stopped two-thirds of the way into the movie! "Fixer-Upper" was cute and all, but it felt like there should be at least one more number before the credits (Demi Lovato can't do that song justice btw).

Of course, the two don't have to be compared at all, but they take place in the same universe and it makes me wonder whether there'll be a third installment with another princess in another kingdom.

Little movie critique for you guys because I'm probably gonna see it again!
Have a happy new year~ <3

i got a ticket for the long way 'round~

I watched Pitch Perfect with  defeatdown last night and oh wow. I got good-music chills way too many times.
After hearing from how good it was, I really got a hankering to watch it but I didn't expect such phenomenal music.


Not from the movie itself but the song is, and this is just a really awesome cover of it.

it's not even sunny out and it's too humid to wear anything else but a t-shirt and shorts. Winter started over a week ago. I'm not complaining at all, I love the fact I can do this but man

fuckin crazy-ass weather bein all weird and shit



play games with me on steam >:c

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5331883/

 todex has some wise words to share O: I don't think anyone watching me is like this, but it doesn't hurt to spread the message~

So in my habit of getting silly little presents for friends, I was thinking of some particularly close friends who have obviously been hanging around me too long and are curious about this whole furry thing.
Unprompted by me, they've come up with their own animal-head-person, and I think it'd be cool to get them a little doodle of what it might look like drawn out and solidified instead of just a description. From there it can only go downhill...

But yeah, to this end I'm looking for a sketch artist for two characters, nothing too fancy. Probably not even in color, just suggestions of color to get it down. I'll keep looking on my own, of course, but if you guys can help, that'd be great. Looking to pay about $8 each, since it's just a sketch, but anything within a reasonable range is fine, I'm not stingy. :3

Thanks for helping me out with this, guys! If you can recommend anyone (including yourself!), please comment~ <3

So I decided to join all you cool kids on Tumblr - I decided I was missing out on all the crazy stuff that happens. I made one a couple years ago and literally have done nothing, so I'm gonna start seeing if I can edge my way in slowly.

So give me some good blogs! Your own, friends', artists', interesting things, anything! I'm trying to dive right in and never come back up, because I've heard that's what this site does.

http://houseoftigers.tumblr.com/
http://houseoftigers.tumblr.com/
http://houseoftigers.tumblr.com/

Basically what I'm trying to do here is put myself back in a community instead of being a lurker everywhere - I check my Facebook, FA, Youtube, Soundcloud, and then I have nothing else to do on the internet. Rather than giving me another site endlessly scroll down, I'm actually kind of hoping I'll get sucked into the Tumblr community just I can give back and contribute.

See y'all there!