Plans for the New Year, the Annual Locking of the Entries

[tabbiewolf]

The holidays sent me ass over teakettle, though I DID spend all of yesterday drawing, which was pretty awesome and majorly satisfying. If I still owe you art or comics, they're on their way, I've just been totally in a "I'm spending this week having massive amounts of sex & snuggling with my hyena, fuck everything else (not literally)" mode.

Plans for the New Year: Taking a break from going to Anthrocon in 2013. The stress:fun ratio is starting to get unbalanced, and the money spent:money earned ratio, if similar to this year, will make it totally not worth my time. I made more money at FurFright - a significant amount more, a couple hundred bucks - and I didn't have to spend 18+ hours in the car and stay in a hotel and eat terrible pizza because everything else was closed or packed. Hell, if you figure it out, I made almost exactly half what I made at Anthrocon at ConnectiCon (with the help of fenris_lorsrai)…and at ConnectiCon, I was only selling buttons.

I also got a lot more interest in my booth at FurFright, and a lot more interest in my art! I sold several of my portfolios and quite a few more commissions and comic books (also a general interest in Jarlidium's other works, since they don't go to FurFright). At Anthrocon, I saw a lot of old friends and had several folks who've been commissioning me for years pop in…but really, it wasn't enough to make me want to go back. Plus, these folks know how to contact me online!

Let's face it, folks: we're inviting all the folks we'd be spending time with at Anthrocon to our wedding! Or, as it's currently known:


Going to get these printed up as magnets to send out for our Save the Dates. We figure we should start early since it's Memorial Day weekend and people start making plans early!

And yes, that registry info is live. Our wedding website/registry, which includes video of the proposal and awesome art by our amazing friends :) I'll be posting this every so often until the actual wedding date.

We're planning our honeymoon for the Food & Wine Festival, which is in the fall.

Plans for Being More Productive: I'm going to start a comic this year. I say this pretty much every year, but with my new Cintiq tablet and a whole lotta time on my hands, I really have no excuse (I haven't since October, really, but I blame the holidays). I might Livestream the development process, if anyone's interested in watching me fuck around with character designs and color schemes.

I also am looking into getting a local, part-time job. By "local" I mean "I can walk or ride a bike to it" and by "part-time" I mean "doesn't take up so much of my life that I ponder suicide the way The Job From Hell did." Spot and I still only have one car between us, and I've realized that all our fun weekends have added up to almost 30,000 miles on the car in the year we've owned it. That's quite a few tanks of gas! We'll be limiting our trips out to maybe once a month, and if/when I get my job, I'm thinking of investing in a Vespa or other motor scooter.

Ideally, I'll be able to get a job at a local print & design shop. I'm not putting too much hope into that, but it's what I love to do, and it's something I'm comfortable spending 6-8 hours a day doing.

Annual Locking of the Entries: Sometime in the coming week, I'll be doing a massive lockdown of all this year's journals. If there's anything you want to save to blackmail me later, do it now! And don't be freaked out when I lock everything down. It's been a yearly tradition for a while now, and I don't delete the entries -- I just make it so only I can view them!

Comments

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

If you're looking for bike, I've had good luck finding nice bikes at the dump/transfer station. Most will have a section by the tip where the put large items that are still fine for parts and they'll let you head off with those for free.

I got a beautiful English touring bike that way. Just needed new tires, which were less expensive than buying a crappy bike from Walmart. also, looked awesome.

For cake con, do you want cake topper?

[tabbiewolf.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the dump tip -- I'll have to head over there sometime and see what I can find! Probably a good thing to do in the spring when everyone's cleaning out their garages and sheds.

And a cake topper would be utterly amazing! I'm actually not sure how many cakes there will be...I was planning on making one, but then Lonnie said her mom can make one, and Falconeio said he was gonna bring one...SO MANY CAKES. It's gonna be amazing :D

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

I am assuming you would like your fursonas rather than realistic people faces. I can either kitbash the bodies (use standard groom and bride) or do custom. I just need longer lead time on full custom outfits.

and yes, finish would be food safe.

[tabbiewolf.livejournal.com]

Yep, hyena and cat-wolf preferred! I think everyone at the wedding will know about our furry selves, including my mom, who has decided that a big backyard party sounds way more fun than a traditional wedding.

I think the basic rule is, as it always is when folks do art for us, HAVE FUN! I'm not going to name specifics because I know that no matter what you do it will be amazingly awesome :D

[world-dancer.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year!

Sounds like you've got a good plan and things are looking up.

Best wishes, thanks for the present you left with Fenris, and I'm looking forward to "Meat & Cake Con" though I hope to see you before it.

[silent-o.livejournal.com]

I should probably lock down my oldest entries too. I was a really stupid kid.

[tabbiewolf.livejournal.com]

I do it as sort of a "closing the book" on the previous year. I don't mind looking back on my mistakes and reminding myself that they are the reason I am the way I am today, but stashing them on a shelf is a lot better than constantly telling myself I used to be an idiot.

I used to do it because I posted my Sketch of the Day project here, and wanted folks to buy the CDs (thus, making the art exclusive to the CDs), but it became a tradition separate from that :)

[corelog.livejournal.com]

You know you're always welcome to visit RainFurrest. I think (hope) you would enjoy yourself, and quite possibly make some decent coin. Enough to blunt the travel costs, anyways... *sheepish*

Anyways, just wanted to throw that out there (again). :)

[tabbiewolf.livejournal.com]

I WILL get there one day! In fact, if you want to be my art agent in 2013, I can promise to send some art for the art show...since I'm skipping Anthrocon, I have some pieces I started prep on this past year that can head towards Rainfurrest instead :)

The thing is, I want to see Seattle -- I've never been! -- and I don't want my first trip out there to be stuck in a convention hotel all weekend ;)

A 5-hour flight would be a lot less exhausting than a 9-hour drive, buuuut it probably is a bit more expensive. Fortunately, I know someone with frequent flyer miles. We shall see! Probably not this year, but maybe next!

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Oh darlin'... *cackles with glee, rubbing paws together*

Have we got something for you! Brand-new this year, several years in the making... Come see! And if you want more details, they're over here.

Now, tell me what you think of THEM apples! *grins*

Oh, but don't worry--if you don't come out to RainFurrest this year, I will happily volunteer to be your official art agent for the con. :) No problem!

[tabbiewolf.livejournal.com]

That...is an absolutely amazing package! And I know a thing or two about amazing packages ;)

But...Rainfurrest is RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of when we're planning our honeymoon for!

Still, that IS an amazing package offer. Will you guys be doing that NEXT year? Because that sounds like a great way to offer a convention trip! I'd much prefer to see the city I'm visiting AND make big bucks selling my art ;)

[corelog.livejournal.com]

I can't say with any authority what we'll be doing in future years. I would be very surprised, however, if we didn't have the package back. Depending on how well they do this year, that is to say.

But you know, even if we didn't bring the packages back, I know (as one who was involved in the design) how to recreate it. :) And would be happy to do so for any of my friends.

Well, this year or next, or the next after that. :) Whenever you wander this direction, let me know! And seriously--I volunteer 100% to be your art agent for RainFurrest. Email me some time, or I'll have to email you. :)

[genecatlow.livejournal.com]

Wish I could make that con (and wedding ^_^)

[tabbiewolf.livejournal.com]

Are you busy that weekend?

(We're sending out the Save the Dates SOON; it's Memorial Day weekend, so we know folks start making plans early!)