Holy jujubees...I'm 30.
What the fuck happened?

Cripes...how long has it been since I did one of these? Well, A lot to cover in this one...
First, I am very much employed at the moment...knock on wood there. Doing what, you may ask? Well, it's a little hard to describe it. So, for lack of anything better to say, it's a business that is currently attached to Eastern Colorado's booming oil industry. No, I don't work on those hazardous rigs themselves, but more like...provide services for them, EPA regulation shit. Yeah, the money is really decent, but the hours eat. Has killed my personal life deader than a can of spam. Still...good to be working.
Next...compy died. Yeah, the black brick finally ate the big one. A combination of age, software problems and overall system fatigue finally killed it dead. That was about three weeks back. Thankfully, I had the cash to pick up a brand new lappy for myself. It's a simple HP Pavilion g4, nothing fancy. Kinda wondering if I can get Skyrim to work on this without frying it's motherboard...
Third...I am thinking of getting back to writing. I might not have a lot of time, but I figure I might be able to eek out an hour here and there on some story ideas I've been having lately. Really wana get them on print before they slip away...getting older does that to ya. ...yes. I'm 29 now. I'm a grumpy ole lion! Smeg you!

Anyhow, for any parties interested, I'm still alive...and believe me, I am still alive.

Well, finally! For those who don't know, I have finally acquired my Class A CDL. Yes, after nearly 2 months of training, tons of class time, close to $5000 in tuition and so on (Not to mention the fuel costs), and hours of frustration while training on the range, I have passed and gotten my Class A (no endorsements this go round, sadly). What a relief, and now, more jobs are open to me, making the path to a career a reality for me! Just had to spread the word. Thank you, one and all.

Ok, some time has passed since the last journal. Well...that last job was a bust and a half. I will NOT be repeating that mistake again. Well, at least today came with some good news. I've passed the states verification test for job skills and am certified for 96% of all jobs I could apply for. Next step, acquire my Class A CDL and go from there. A few things seem to be evening out in life.
For anyone curious as to the status of any art or writings from me, That might be a little while yet till I get the time. Between testing for the state and starting CDL classes, my time is getting more eaten up than ever before. I do plan to start work on a few new pewter figures shortly, however. Finding a strange talent for it...

Well, employed once again. Yay me. No, it's still not flipping burgers (HATE food industry work), nor is is working at a game store (kind of a dream job for me). Nope. I've joined a profession that has gotten a really silly rap. I sell vacuums! No, I don't do the door to door shit. I come to a house AFTER you've agreed to a demo. Yeah, kinda silly, right? Still, it's a guaranteed paycheck of $2000 a month, salary, with extra if sales are actually made. No pressure, other than what I put on myself. I'd say that's kind of a sweet deal. In any case, that kind of money means I have a bit more leeway in buying power, so there might be more miniature mods coming from me, as well as stories to go with.

To those watching me (yeah, all two of ya), my thanks. Things start small and support means a lot.

Yeah, lost my job at the call center. Ordinarily, I'd be just fine with that, but the rent situation grows slightly grim. But, it's not like I can't go back. If it had been a policy thing, then I'd be totally screwed. But in this case it was a matter of numbers and I got axed. Meaning I can more than likely go back. *sigh* I do not like call centers.

On another note, my boredom has driven me to submit a couple clips of my own ridiculous voicing to YouTube. Check em out if you get the time.

Moving...I hate it. But that's a natural reaction for ANYone who has to suddenly pack up 8 years of accumulated crap and move to a new local. For me, it's not a significant move. Just a few blocks from my current domicile. Still...packing, cleaning, arrangements with realty companies... It gets to be a bit burdensome on the underemployed. Oh well. The new place will have plenty more room, and it's coming as a steal, being seized property. Guess we'll see how it all pans out in a couple weeks...

Now that I have your attention, I'm still alive.
Plenty of shit has gone down since my last journal, including a lot of transition in the job department. Course, anyone who lives in Colorado will tell you that the job market sucks, more so in Weld County. Oh well, so much for regret. I feel my old muse returning once more, driving me to get back to story writing and sprites. Not an easy feat considering my computer also took a rather serious nose dive about a month and a half ago. A crippling virus nearly ate the entirety of my hard drive and that included any stories I was working on at the time. I saved the sprite edits as THOSE are irreplaceable at this point.
So, here I am; underemployed, somewhat inspired, and confused. Business as usual for me! XD

Guess I'll join in at this point.
To all rabid Avatar fans: BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
I can't move more than 2 websites without tripping over something for that movie. While I did like it (its now tied with Return of the Jedi for favorite action movie and 3rd behind Spaceballs and Labyrinth for favorite movies of all time in my mind), I gotta laugh at the rabid fans of this thing and even chuckle at those who committed suicide over it. Ok, so this planet kinda sucks, and we'll all be dead in about 100 years or so. SO WHAT!?! Please feel free to get the smeg over it! Although, I still think the best part about any phenomenon like this is the parodies to follow. I'm still waiting on Weird Al to put out some song poking fun at this. And you know the RiffTrax folks are readying their best Smurf jokes for when it's available on DVD.
So, to James Cameron, thank you.
Thank you for providing drama fodder for many years to come.
Thank you for providing a wealth of 'blue ball' jokes that won't go away any time soon.
Thank you for taking the story of Pocahontas, and making it actually worth watching (fuck you, Disney).

Guess its getting harder out there. But I'm the kind you can knock down over and over. I'll still get up and fight back. One more job down...

"Goodnight, fair lady. And the flight of angels sing thee to thy rest."
I lost my great grandmother today...nuff said.

Well, no sooner do I loose my job as a security guard due to JBS managements *explitive* whims, then just before the end of October, I pick up a job as Fuel Clerk for Safeway. I though that the universe would want to limit my contact with flamible liquids. >:D Oh well. Its just been way hectic between that and planning to get back into karate. Yes, I have trained in 3 forms of martail arts and like kenpo the best. A defensive art.
But that does not mean I've given up on my other projects. Have a peek at my FreeScape.EXE ramble if you get the time. Its a pet project that I've been considering for a while now.

And after swearing that I would never get drawn into the trap of online gaming, I took a friends sugestion and gave Second Life a shot. I have not been able to walk away since. Danm...
This does not mean that my sprites are abandoned. In fact just putzing around on SL in various sandboxes has given me inspiration that I will be applying to my final personal sheet.

Greetings, all. The name is Windclaw, Ryu Sandstrom Windclaw to give my full monicer. I have come here to showcase some of my work in the fields of writing and spriting. Thats right, I'm technicly not a real artist as my drawing talent is nil and extends only to the realm of spriteing. As for my writing, well, I'll let you be the judge.