All art is at once surface and symbol

LORD SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED. Including Realmscon, which just finished after the beginning of this month. :o I've been using Plurk more often, that's why my journals have been collecting dust. I still read my flists, I've just been too lazy to post anything myself. And crossposting my fanfics is still a pain in the neck (which I still have to do for some fic, haha...) BUT I feel like I have to tell you the two most important things that happened in my life: Riley and Chara the chinchilla.

A few months after we buried Freddie, we contemplating getting another dog. Mom wasn't ready, I was, it was strange for everybody all around. One day, Dad told us to get in the car; the entire family is driving three hours to Laredo, TX. For a puppy.

Here's the story: a woman's grandparents had a pair of Bichon Frises who had puppies, and decided to give her one as a gift. But since her new puppy kept peeing everywhere and seemed incapable of being housebroken, she contemplated throwing him into the street. A friend of hers said, "NO DON'T DO THAT" and took him in herself. Unfortunately, this lady has a HUGE family of noisy kids to take care of, including her mother and sister and two pit bulls. So she offered to let us have the puppy for $400.

The poor guy shivered when we first met him. As soon as we carried him into the car and Dad closed the door to the driver's seat? He smiled at us for the first time and wagged his tail. My brother suggested we name him "Riley." :D

Riley was terrified of the grass at first. The suburbs where he was from didn't have grass at all and he wouldn't budge at all. When he did, he moved slowly like a cautious fawn. The next day though, he was romping around our yard like no tomorrow. He seemed unusually intelligent for a puppy; he'd follow us in the kitchen and wait for food to fall, which a puppy wouldn't learn until later. When we took him to the vet to catch him up on vaccinations and set a neuter appointment, we learned the truth; Riley is not a puppy. He's actually a year and seven months old! :o The lady probably lied to us about his age because she was worried we wouldn't take him otherwise. But of course we'd take him, we love him. ;; I only wish Freddie had been around to meet him.

Riley's definitely his own dog from Amanda & Freddie. While Amanda and Freddie didn't care much for toys, Riley loves them and ADORES chasing his frisbee. Amanda and Freddie love riding cars, but Riley will always shake when he's inside one. Amanda and Freddie hate being wet. Riley, on the other hand... as soon as Dad turns on the hose to water his plants? Riley immediately starts jumping again and again into the stream, play-barking and chasing the water around and trying to get drenched as much as possible. And he buzzes. Constantly.

Whenever any of us enter the room, whether it's waking up or looking for a snack, Riley gets excited, wags his tail, and gives us kisses. ;;

( Living the life of Riley )

Like Amanda and Freddie, Riley loves the chinchillas. Usually he comes into my room, wags his tail as he follows Frisk and Chara around the cage, trying to kiss them when they're close, and whimpers because he can't reach them.

Speaking of chinchillas, Chara was my present for my 28th birthday. :D Petco said she was the smallest chinchilla they ever had, so they doubted if she would live after I brought her home (which is weird because wtf if she's old enough to be weaned, she'll be just fine). While Chara had a hectic day and was scared of everything, I made sure to help her calm down and have as much space as possible. She hidden under the bottom platform of her cage for the first few days before she got confident enough to come out and play with Frisk (who treated her like she's her own kit). But yep, Chara's fine and growing bigger and stronger everyday! She's not terrified of everything anymore (she's even constantly teasing Riley by hopping up to him and deliberately backing up to make him suffer) and she's much easier to hold than Frisk. XD She's a little nipper though. Figures. :P Whenever it's Treat Time, she gives me this half-lidded look that says "GIMME." One of these days, I should take a picture of her and caption it with red text: * No raisins.

( Considering chinchillas love bathing in dust, it's kinda ironic I named her the way I did. )

So now, I have Riley, Frisk Chell Roberts, and Chara GLaDOS Roberts. Hurray!

Miyamoto clears up all those important Mario myths

The "Super Mario Bros. 3 is a stage play" myth is true! I always thought that was a cute theory that made a lot of sense. :o Also, the Internet is going to prep itself for Bowser/Shigeru mpreg, I just know it.

Earthbound is available on the Wii U for $10!

For those who own a Wii U, now's your chance to play this awesome classic! Now is the time to show Nintendo how much this game is treasured in other countries too. ;; *weeps because she can't afford a Wii U*

Persistence of Vision, a documentary about Richard Williams' quest to make The Thief and the Cobbler

Striving to make the greatest animated film of all time, visionary animator Richard Williams ('Who Framed Roger Rabbit') toiled for more than a quarter century on his masterpiece - only to have it torn from his hands. Filmmaker Kevin Schreck has woven together mind-blowing animation, rare archival footage, and exclusive interviews with key animators and artists who worked with Williams on his ill-fated magnum opus to bring this legendary story to the screen. A tale of creative genius gone horribly awry, PERSISTENCE OF VISION is the untold story of the greatest animated film never made.

I don't care if "Thief and the Cobbler" had weak plot/characterization/dragged too much/etc. There's some things I do like about it and I'd be lying if I said I didn't believe it was historically important to the field of animation. I am SO paying to see this when it comes out.

Me, having feels about 2D animation? Naaaaaaaaah.

My Little Pony Fair and Convention 2012

Man, there's no way I'd be able to go. :P Unlike Bronycon which centers primarily around G4 and FiM (mainly the latter), My Little Pony Fair is the place to go if you're a collector. Probably for the best since I'd be broke in a millisecond anyway. I'LL BE DROWNING IN PONIES AND IT STILL WON'T BE ENOUGH.

I've been thinking of styling the hair of my G4 ponies, since I found nifty tutorials on getting cartoon hair such as Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. I wanted to make my HasbrOCs pretty too, so they'd have personalities and headcanons outside being expies of the Mane 6. Only one problem though... I was never exactly a fashionista growing up. When I was little, I didn't care about doing crazy things to doll's hair, since I'd basically comb it a couple times then leave it wild. While I've had my hair braided sometimes and it was awesome (I love having braids. ;;), I don't know how to braid myself. So being a hairstylist for my own ponies? Awkwaaaaaard. Practice makes perfect and all, but I'm terrified about cutting hair. I don't want to accidentally mutilate my ponies. :( I'm also torn between letting Blossomforth keep her gorgeous locks or cut that beauty away just so she'd look more like Blossomforth in the show. Aaaaaaaaugh, decisions decisions. I love Blossomforth's long hair, I don't want to chop it off. I want her to be more like Shaymin. *sob*

I guess this is the part where I explain my absence, huh?

It's been a wreck where I am. Namely Mom is at the worst of her hypo-manic stage again (and anyone who knows me understands that I do not use that word lightly) and it's been draining the hell out of me and given me lots of unhinged stress. I may have to move into Dad's office for real this time, but as long as Mom leaves me alone and never talks to me, I can gain some peace of mind. There's also been confusion involving my birth control meds, but I saw my gynocologist for that, so no worries.

Good things that kept me sane included Jimmy's 22nd birthday back on May 17th! Dad even got him a small present~ (We got him several WW2 books, including a memoir of the last Valkyrie) Jimmy and his mom and I ate at a glorious Italian restaurant, and its cheese pizza is absolutely amazing. The food was rich so we got stuffed right away and had to ask for leftover boxes. Then Jimmy and I cuddled at his house and we played Mario Party 3 in his honor before I went home.

Another thing I got to look forward to was art commissions. If Mom gets to go on her giant online shopping sprees, why can't I get myself something nice for a change? Both of them involve characters from my novel... and dear lord, I miss my novel and I want to start working on it again.

jazaaboo is an animator who uses her skills for a charites such as the speedgamers. You know that Pokemon video that I showed you several entries back? Yep, she made that. Unfortunately, she recently had to go to the hospital for emergency surgery, and a single night's stay costs $7000. That's American Health Care for ya. :/

Forwarding and spreading the word is fine and all, but I dunno. I felt like I had to do something. And $15 for a single colored sketch is easy. So I asked her to draw one of my main supporting characters: "Jelly Jane."

( Introducing Jelly Jane! )

( And the drawing itself. :o )

You can commission Jaz here. Her kindness is as great as her art and she deserves all the donations she can get. ;; You can even request a custom animation cell! :o

Originally posted by angearia at National Protest Against the War on Women

Originally posted by mountain_hiker at Wikipeda

"On November 25th, 2011, Voice Actor Dan Green's wife passed away after giving birth to the couples' twins, a son and a daughter.

While he has been comforted in this difficult time by the constant love and support of his family and friends, we, his fellow actors, realize that as the voice of Yu-Gi-Oh! and countless other characters, Dan has built a huge network of fans around the world. We felt it would be fitting to let those of you who may know Dan only by his voice share your thoughts and, if you wish, your financial and material support with him and his kids as they struggle to rebuild their lives together."

https://sites.google.com/site/thedangreenguestbook/

Dan Green is hit-or-miss for me regarding voices, but it's truly tragic something like this has happened. :( Best wishes to you, Dan. You and your kids have my support.

Creators of Adventure Time: What do you think of Bubblegum/Marceline?

I don't watch much television anymore (except MLP, and even then on YouTube), let alone Adventure Time, but the idea of a lesbian couple in a kid's cartoon being portrayed positively instead of freaky/weird? YES PLZ. Hell, the song Marceline sings is damned awesome.

Unfortunately, they've gotten a lot of flack from a ton of people about this and Cartoon Network had to take down the Behind the Scenes thing from its site. The homophobia splurged all over tumblr? Hoo boy.

Like watching television, I don't go out of my way to make phonecalls. But I called 917-408-3733 right away and gave my full support. That's not something I can ignore. It's friggin' 2011. It's time we recognized LGBT relationships, especially in kids' shows. I BELIEVE IN YOU, FLIST.