Armadillos

Normally that'd be a pretty rotten combination for anyone in their right mind. I'm kind of reveling in the sensation, however, since it's the result of so much activity over a long, wintery weekend.

Friday night was a blast. hypersnazz came into the city and we saw Zero 7, a band he's really fond of, at the Metro. I have to say that for a downtempo group that seems to have a niche in the "spacing out or on drugs" demographic, it was a very cool show.

Saturday was filled with chores, but I got a good long swim in which made the day melt away.

Now on to the REALLY good stuff....

Sunday we went skiing! I know, it didn't look like ski weather, but Chestnut Mt. in Galena blew their own snow. They only opened a few runs, but they were perfect for the season opener. I spent a lot of the day getting comfortable skiing backwards. Still sorta working on it, but my transitions have really improved. Probably the best part of the day was watching Hux play around on his telemark skis. How anyone can do lunges down a mountain is beyond me. Just... ow.

And yesterday, after sleeping in and making a nice big breakfast we headed back to Vertical Endeavors to do a little "rock" climbing. I passed the belay exam so now I can officially top rope with people. And if they're nice to me, I won't even drop 'em! =P

It's been a really active few days, and I see no reason why that should stop just because I'm a little tight. After I'm done with this post I'll probably hit the gym. The only question is... afternoon spin class or standard cardio routine? Guess we'll see. :3

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/NIGHT-SHIFT-CHRISTMAS/article-1580028-detail/article.html

I'm one of them (Been told I must stay until 8), even though I work on checkouts and have to travel that evening.


*waves goodbye to the festive spirit, as it's obviously given up and left*

I have started looking for a new job

Pdawg wanted me to post this for him. Any help be greatly appreciated:

Hey question there was a guy at MFF 2009 doing custom license plates, he writes your furname, etc onto older license plates he has from different States, mostly graffiti style stuff.

Anyone know this guy or have contact info for him. I already payed the guy at MFF for the work and he hasn't contacted me in anyway, I am assuming he lost my contact info.

Would be nice to get what I payed for :)

EDIT: We found him :)

Fursuit bowling

Well, after the Mountain View Christmas tree lighting last Wednesday, there was Fursuit Bowling on Saturday in honor of Uck who is leaving for the rainy lands of Seattle. Without him, there will never be a reason to ever go to Moonlight Lanes again...until he comes back, that is.

Caspian was there, and without bumpers still managed to score 105 in his only game. That's quite a feat since his wings are just too damned big. Almost got a turkey, too. 2 strikes in a row, followed by a gutter ball, but then I picked up the spare! Still, no turkey. :<



Caspian letting loose a ball down the alley granny style.


Afterwards we all had a moderately tasty dinner at Bennigan's. This place didn't blink at a table for 30. You know why? The place was empty. Saturday night, and almost no one was there. Even by the time we left at around 8pm, there were plenty of open, empty free tables with no one waiting to sit down and eat. That place was hurting for business.

San Jose Holiday Parade

Woke my sorry ass up at 4:30am and dragged it down to downtown San Jose for yet another San Jose Holiday Parade with 'Critters (by|of|in|from) the Bay'. It was fun as usual, and it seemed the critters all enjoyed taking part. The crowd (and at least one announcer) was pretty enthusiastic this year, too.



22 critters this time around


I might have gone every year that CBTB has been there, but I only have photos from 5 out of the 8 times. I know I have video from one of those remaining 3 years, but I have no idea what records I might have of the other 2.

Hey question there was a guy at MFF 2009 doing custom license plates, he writes your furname, etc onto older license plates he has from different States, mostly graffiti style stuff.

Anyone know this guy or have contact info for him. I already payed the guy at MFF for the work and he hasn't contacted me in anyway, I am assuming he lost my contact info.

Would be nice to get what I payed for :)

So thousands of GSDs (yea Dire, take that!) valiantly serve as police, emergency and rescue dogs.

Then there's Chaos.

As posted by my baby's daddy, yesterday we came home to find our dog in quite the predicament (sorry about the lighting - the setup: doorway, recycling bin he tried to raid [and ironically did not even get open], dog).



We are so proud :P

So, Toby and i went out with Duncan and Takaza last night for dinner, since it was a good opportunity to go the night before my birthday, and consequently, the night before a crazy snowstorm rolled into town.

When we returned home, we were both deeply, deeply amused with what Chaos had been doing while we were out...

Here is your chance to talk all the smack about how Programming sucked this year ;)

So the guy snoring uncontrollably beside me is turning another year older today. Considering he's fresh out of surgery, this model is obviously falling apart. So I better start looking for a fresher, less smelly and less looking like Lace and/or Scribble boyfriend.

Love you darkwolph . Have a great birthday :)

Bored? Take a look at some pictures from the San Jose Holiday Parade I went to on Sunday.

MIDFUR!

Midfur was new to me, as was being on a plane, as well as going to Melbourne. All were somewhat scary at first but became experiences with their own unique charms.

The first I'll discuss is Midfur itself, I lack the energy or drive to do a day by bay, blow by blow account of the event, but suffice to say I was impressed by the ability of those behind it to merge a whole lot of odd elements (read: furs) into a workable event.

It was good to note that my teenage fascination with 2 the Ranting Gryphon is dead and buried, and that Uncle Kage's eerie voice seems to maintain that level of creepiness all the time.

I met quite a few interesting people, most of which were the nice kind of interesting, as opposed to the fat lady in spandex asking you how she looks version of the word.

Fursuiters were as fun as ever, props to Taubu, BC and Spence for being their lovely selves as is usual. Props to Dustan, Carnival, Ray Liehm and god knows how many other creative people were around to make things amusing and whimsical.

There was way too much drinking on Friday, but I'm alive and that's all that matters, anyway, Aussie was naughtier than I by far ;)

My verdict? Fun, but suffering from what Enigma refers to as the teenage phase of the event, too small to be a convention, too big to be a meet.

Planes were a new and frightening thing to me at first, my fear of heights being the reason, but after take off I could deal with it. Not a favourite experience but all the drama regarding airports didn't really seem to affect me. I like Virgin, fun company, I like the flying lady logos too.

And how was Melbourne? And the rivalry between it and Sydney?

As a Sydneysider I feel I can say it with all assurance.

Melbourne is better by far. Better looking, friendlier, more colourful, cooler in all ways as well as being better thought out by the people behind it. If it weren't for Federation Square I'd say it was an entirely beautiful place ;)

So fuck Sydney, it's an ugly, soulless mess of crass status symbols and wastage. I plan to be studying Professional Writing at RMIT before the year's out, or my name isn't... whatever the hell it is at the moment.

There's tons more to be said about restaurants and events and such, but that might come later, til now, peace out!

A certain Yote is becoming a crazy old bastard

Happy B-Day darkwolph

Two good things -- the moving truck finally arrived with my stuff today (whew!)

And more interestingly .. United showed up at about 7:40pm (no call, no email). They just buzzed my apartment and told me they had my bag.

Go figure, I got my suit back -- I don't care where the bag went or why it took a day to get here, its here now and fine.

I really appreciate everyone's support today. It was quite a freak-out being told "We're not sure where it is" .. instead of say .. "Its delayed or it's mis-routed etc.."

This base for this recipe was given to me by one of the fathers at Assumption Abbey in Richardton, North Dakota. I was privileged to break bread there on my way home from an Eastern adventure, and the borscht that was served in the refectory that day was absolutely divine. If the adjectives I'm using seem a bit skewed towards a community of religious, it's no coincidence... but however you slice it, the soup is out of this world. (Oops, I did it again...)

I've modified it just a tad, but I'm frightfully pleased with the way it came out.

BEET BORSCHT

1/2 lb. ground bison (optional)
2 cup chopped fresh beets
1 cup chopped celery (optional)
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions
2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (14 1/2 oz.) cans beef broth (I used 1 can beef and 1 can vegetable, just because
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 Tablespoon butter or margarine
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
sour cream or regular cream (optional)

In a saucepan, bring beets, carrots, onion, water and salt to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
If you're using the bison in this soup, brown the meat in a frying pan; add the browned meat, with all the juices, to the saucepan. (If you're substituting ground beef instead of bison, you may want to render off the fat first.)
Add broth, cabbage and butter; simmer (uncovered) for 15 minutes.
Just before serving, stir in lemon juice.
Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream if desired; or may be served with cream to add to taste.

Makes 8 servings.

For perfection, serve with hot buttered scones and honey.

Not sure if this is of any interest or even allowed here. So, I apologize if I'm overstepping my bounds with this post. I have a decent amount of feline/fuzzy ears available for purchase, left over from my last show. The ears come from and have resided in a smoke free, and practically animal free home. I own a ratty but he isn't near any of my materials or finished products.

The ears are adjustable in position, when it comes to the head bands they are attched to. One can slide them as close or far apart as desired. The fur I work with comes from distinctivefabrics.com, and I use antipill fleece for lining the insides. I'm asking 25.00 per ear set. This covers your shipping costs within the USA. Purchase 2 ear sets and I lower it from $50 to 45.00. This still covers shipping fees.

I have feedback left on my furbid account as well as my personal sales journal. If you care to see this, and are seriously interested, please comment or message me here or on deviant art.

Images of the available ears can be found here:
http://squeekymoonkin.deviantart.com/art/Moving-Sale-140848283

PS I also have a few feline tails still available and ready to be shipped out as well.

While many people remember December 7th as the date that Japan became the mortal enemy of the US, it has a different meaning for my family. I kind of mentioned in my Thanksgiving day post. Dec 7, 1941 marks a transition date for my father's family living in South Korea.

It was the beginning of the end of Japanese rule over Korea and the start of South Korea. My grandfather (father's father) lived under the control of the Japanese since he was born. His family even had a Japanese last name and was forced to speak Japanese when in public and in grade school. At those times, it was hard for Koreans to get an education beyond grammer school because it was made too expensive.

But this Japanese control did have one benefit. My grandfather was able to travel to Japan and pickup many tinkering skills related to engines and machines, including a rice huller. He create a diesel-powered rice huller in his local village in Korea. With this machine, he quickly created his fortune. This let him take care of his family. My father picked up a few of his tinkering skills as was able to get a better education.

With the US coming into World War II and eventually ridding the southern part of Korea of the Japanese, my father was then free to continue his education in a semi-independant Korea and eventually South Korea. Unfortunately, grandfather did lose his fortune during the Korean War. But that's a different story.

So while being oppressed by conquerors is usually a bad thing, there can be that rare opportunity that can change an entire family.

Hi folks!

So back when hotel reservations first opened, I went ahead and got a full 2 room suite, the one with a master room with kingsize bed, then attached second room with two full beds.

Unfortunately the folks who were going in with me have had to back out. SO! I'm looking for someone who is interested in upgrading to the suite who may have not gotten in earlier! Even better if you have just a regular hotel room I could swap to! If not no worries, I can make other arrangements. I just can't afford a full suite by myself, and would like to save the cancelation fees.

If anyone's interested, or know of someone who's interested, let me know!

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Greetings everyone.

MFF has come and gone. I’m still trying to get things back to normal.

I wanted to thank everyone who donated towards the project. I have a ton of cardboard cut out and will be assembling the packages soon to mail out the remaining donation tags in between the house transition that’s been happening at home.

For those wondering what the project was about, it was inspired from a number of things. Partly Codex from a random conversation involving being silly and pondering if someone put a “Made In China” tag on fursuits, the Dorsai’s tag and release, and the large present tags that were at Megaplex this year.

( About each tag. )

( What's does the stuff on the front and back of the tags mean? )

After reading Kodi's post on how United lost his fursuit, I started reflecting on United Airlines. Now, I'm a 150k plus President's Club member with Continental (yeah, I'm kind of a big deal). Sometimes the airports I go to do not have a Continental club, so I have to use United. On the whole, the people working the United clubs are worthless. They never know anything... they are never behind the bar when I need a drink. Also, they charge for their booze where Continental does not.
Lost bags, crap service... I hope Continental never merges with them!!