Wolphy reminded me it was my people's special day. As tradition, I called my father and wished him a happy Pearl Harbor Day.

Also, as tradition, my father called me a gigantic ass.

Best. Son. Ever.

Or something like that anyway. Though he is more of a savaran instead.

Just look at the great photo of a re-creator as a cataphract astride his horse. I can only wonder how much time and money went into that armor.

For that matter, I wonder how a suit of full-body mail like that would go over someone with a furry pelt (like the pseudo-Iranian 'Varkanna' of Ardashir's world). I can only guess that they'd trim their fur close so it wouldn't catch.

Great set of links at the wiki-entry and a lovely picture. Guess I just wanted to share it with you all as I start working my way through NaNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month -- 30,000 words in December to finish the November novel. I better get cracking).

Best all!

As promised at Closing Ceremonies, we have posted a Feedback Survey for Midwest FurFest 2009 at http://www.furfest.org/survey

We would appreciate you taking the time to fill out the survey and help let us know what worked, what didn't, and how we can continue to make Midwest FurFest the best convention we possibly can! Just to sweeten the deal, we're throwing in a little bonus - one respondent's name will be chosen at random to receive a free night's stay at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, to be used any time before November 22, 2010 (which means you can use it at Midwest FurFest 2010!). Participation in the drawing requires you to enter your contact information, but it is strictly optional and is not required to complete the survey. We look forward to your responses, and thank you for your help in improving Midwest FurFest!

Further to my last post, I have thought about things with my family for several days. I was in a grumpy mood when I wrote the post, obviously, because the next day I didn't feel nearly as angsty about it.

When I am in a good mood, I think "Meh, what do I care? Let them say and do what they like, I'm over it. And it really won't be THAT bad to see them all for a few days!". That's the kind of attitude I'd LIKE to have.

Today, I was somewhere in between. I ended up replying to my sisters email and letting a little angst in, although I tried to keep it positive. We'll see what the reaction is, I guess.

The trouble is, I like to think I am getting fairly emotionally secure and secure in my sense of identity. When my mother can make me feel those old feelings again, it's a reminder that I am not as secure as I could be. On the positive side, I am much better than I used to be. Perhaps practice makes perfect?

I had a bit of a thought the other day. I like to say that my furry persona is more the 'real me'. However, that is a little too simplistic.

I've started to think that the 'real me' is somewhat amorphous. If such a thing exists, it is at quite a low level. At best, the real me is a collection of values and principles. I use the term 'values' loosely, to refer to anything that I believe in, the things which interest me and which I feel strongly about.

So I think I like my furry persona, not because it 'is' the real me, but because it is a voice through which I feel more able to express those values I hold dear. By the same token, if I adopt some kind of persona I don't like (say the kind of person I think my family wants to see), it feels wrong and fake because it reflects values that aren't a core part of me.

It's difficult to draw a line between 'core values' and the personas we adopt to interact with the world. But at times, I have definitely found myself pretending to be someone I didn't like.

It's entirely possible that these 'core values' change over time. It's also likely that if you tried to peel away the layers to find the true core, you would never find anything. It's hard to define what the 'essential me' really is. All I know is that right here, right now, there are a core set of values which just feel right.

Since I finally got around to editing it into an icon, I just had to point out my new "Kookie" icon, done for me by my fabulous and much-beloved animecat. The "postage" rate was added by me, since Kookie ALWAYS does things "first-class". XD

Plus, the artowrk just plain makes me smile. :)

Went to Florida, saw a Delta IV launch, consumed a case of Flying Dog and drank out of a urinal.

F'in tits weekend!

I finally saw the latest Star Trek film on Thursday night.

It is made of win, awesome, and explosions.

On that note, I crave something sweet....

Oh, the weather outside is frightful
but the Saints are so delightful
The Redskins are the next to know
12 and 0 12 and 0 12 and O

You must watch the result of Drew Brees' interception at about 2:10.

I'll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash you got in the drawer...

Laces out, Suisham.

...to get some of my art on your walls. There's nothing like artwork for a great personal gift. Avoid crass commercialism!

( Many more pictures behind the cut... )

After I paid for something last night the cashier said, "Good night."

It got me to thinking, I know: dangerous, why don't we use that as a salutation?

We use Good Morning, Good Afternoon and Good Evening as salutations but never as a dismissal (for lack of a better term).

Good Night is used as a dismissal, but never as a salutation.

Good Day can be used either way, but I think more of a dismissal then a salutation.

Why is this?

I think I'm going to like this place.

Okay, I don't have any real pix of yesterday's facial modifications to this costume, but here is the basic suit, minus the serape, hat, and gun. This pic is from Costume-Con in Hartford, Conn. Be kind please, it was a long time ago.


I thought it was pretty spiffy at the time, but now, well, let's just say I'm not happy with the head. Oh well, live and learn.

As to the fox suit I have, maybe one of these days I'll find it, pull it out, and get it photographed for acrhival purposes, but not til after the Holidays....

You're free.

It doesn't take a high-minded philosophy to come to this conclusion. It has always been this way. You can quit your job today. You can say as you please, do as you please. You can run away from anything and everything.

Society as it exists is sustained by our addiction to treatments for the symptoms of the human condition. The cost for these things is nothing more than that which we always have available - our humanity. The most powerful gods of our time - Respectability, Security, the warring twins Machismo and False Humility - are not the sorts that demand child sacrifices; it is us they eat.

This is what almost every countercultural movement has long since figured out. Bohemians, hippies and punks know we're free to not put up with anyone's shit, and that most people are just too scared to admit it.

The Bible tells us to give ourselves away, to make ourselves servants to Christ and to others. But how can we give what we are not already in possession of? And how can we choose to serve who we please when we are already bound to another master? It is only by traveling down the dangerous and unfamiliar road of asserting our own freedom that we can even hope to achieve this aim.

But that's not the whole story, is it? Despite romanticized versions some of us might have in our heads of the aforementioned subcultures, their more sensational attributions are not undeserved - drug addiction, STDs, violence, suicide, being a burden on society. The limit to our freedom to not put up with other people's shit lies precisely at the point where we must come face-to-face with our own. Dare I say, this is what Christianity is "about"?

When we free ourselves from the ties of Respectability and Security, what is left to be our master but the darkness of our own nature? Because surely this is something that wishes to dominate us, and surely this is something that can't just be wished away. What then if we free ourselves from our worldly masters, only to become slaves in our own minds?

The answer is the cart which Christians put before the horse. This is what Christ said is already taken care of: break away, follow him, and we will be free even from our own darkness. We will have the freedom to choose to serve who we will, the freedom of dignity to not allow ourselves to be devalued, the freedom of perspective to know joy even when things go wrong.

So yeah, this is nuts. The Bible doesn't deny it. In fact, it says if people don't think you're nuts, you're doing it wrong. Christians today have no reason to believe this stuff - much less to believe in miracles - because most of them have never seen it in action. They conform through self-deception - say, "if I had the faith, I'd live like that," while by their very statement admitting that they don't believe it's possible. Faith equals belief. It's an overcomplicated lie to think that what we believe is somehow distinct from how we live.

So what do we do? I, for one, want to be free. I've said it many times with only the vaguest notion of what it meant; reading what I've written, it seems much more clear. I want to be a Christian because I want to be free.

Read about the church in China, perhaps, to get an idea of what we're missing out on. Compare and contrast with the book of Acts, and perhaps it'll bring that text to life for you as well. Get cozy with counterculture, because you might find that some of the most ostensibly godless people in our society have figured out a lot of stuff that has eluded us. Dare to try not to put the cart before the horse, to free yourself instead of clinging to chains even as you beg God to break them.

And be warned, just being free makes you a freak.

I don't know if you've seen this pic:


When I saw it I thought of you. ;=3

More bodypaint and catsuit vids from Alex... (Yes i know some of you get tired of him =p )

It's a good thing I never throw anything away in terms of old costumes. Today I had a gig that called for a "dog". "Do you have a dog suit?" they asked. "I think I do." said I.
Of course, then I had to go and find it. Lo and behold, at the bottom of a box for nearly ten years, was my old black and white husky costume. I cleaned, brushed, and repaired it, did my best on the head to make it look cheerful, and did the gig.

Good news is that I made some much-needed money, and the client liked the character. The kids dug it, and everyone's happy.

However, I'm not gonna post pix. Aside from being old, he's much too mean looking, even with the new eyes. This guy will need a completely new head if I want to do more stuff with him. His current expression is far too stern to be a good kid's critter, and changing his facial structure would be more work than starting afresh. It's been a decade, and I can do better.

So, yes, I have a husky suit. And no, I won't be wearing it at a con. You can uncover your eyes now. :P

Saturday was a great hi-4 gig at a school Xmas event hosted by Kiwanis, starting with a 2-mule team carriage ride around the neighborhood with police escort! Then lotsa boingeyDancing with the kids for FerretCize! Many thanks to el_wereturkey as Ozzie Buzzifuzz: a hornet (often misidentified as a bee, the school's mascot), rapidtrabbit as Tenderheart, and Esopus the Dragon as Rukario.

Having succeeded at NaNoWriMo, I saw a list of other writing challenges they have, such as this: National Epic Poetry Month for May. Basically it's a challenge to write a 5,000 line epic poem in the month of May. Hmm, I wonder if anyone tried writing an epic poem that can be most quickly described as 'furry Persian heroic fantasy'? (Bascially, I'll try writing an epic poem about my pseudo-Iranian fox-wolf, Ardashir.)

Just one question for this: what qualifies as an 'epic' poem? I'm thinking they mean things like Beowulf, the Iliad, the Aeneid, the Shahnama (the Persian 'Book of Kings'), etc.

Can anyone give me any other examples? I've been thinking about taking a look at two of Chesterton's poems, 'Lepanto' and 'Ballad of the White Horse'. Any other recommendations?

Thanks and best all.

This is a new ginger tabby cat commission that I thought I should post here - we've just not had much time to post critters recently, but we're still working hard! That, or recent projects have been the type we cannot show until they air or until they hit the shelves.

This cat has a new kind of eye, new articulated jaw, and other new construction methods that I wanted to try out for certain applications. It all came out very well, and will be available for future mask releases.

Bosch, and Kenai look over Indy...

aaron_raccoon gave us a huge bag of his grandfather's Surprise Lilly bulbs. THOUSANDS of them. Today, We laid out some terracing stones on the hill where he is buried, and planted them there. In a couple seasons, Indy should have flowers.

Another song for Indy
Dante's Prayer - Lorena McKennitt



When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say
there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone


I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in
the light of the stars

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and fire

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me
Please remember me