Furry!

So, I hear the puppy barking his head off a little earlier, and I was wondering just what the heck he was going at.
I get up, go to the door and ask, “Who is it?” with a hammer in my hand. With no answer, I look out the window, and see the FedEx guy driving off.

So, I pop out the door, and shout, “Hey!”, but it’s too late. He’s gone.

I look on the porch, and there’s a small box.

I see,

From: Draco
To: Xial

… and I end up giggling. lj:dracoemberwing:, a good, long time friend of mine, sent me his spare video card, so I can finally get away from the whole “DirectX enabled video card required” warnings of all my games.

I was running an old nVidia Riva TNT2 32 mb card.
Lump of ancient junk, really. Good for a machine that doesn’t need anything special, like a shell box or whatever, but that’s not what I needed.

Draco, thanks very muchly for the card. :3

A long time ago, I had this want. I wanted to write a bunch of stuff — short stories, and what not, put them together, and make a book or two out of it.

I just don’t quite know where I’d start with the whole thing, once I got the material written, or how much it’d cost.

Plus, what would I do with the book, once it was written? Where would I sell it? How would I sell it?

I’m not even sure what I’d put in the book at the moment, either.

Maybe I’d go back and dust off that old series I started years ago, clean it up, and make it into bookworthy material. Then I’d have a reason to finish part two of it, and move on to part three. But then comes the whole ‘finding a publisher’ bit, and paying their costs, and then hoping I could sell enough copies to at least break even.

I guess I’ll chew on this for a bit longer.

I’m sitting here tonight, just listening to random music out of my playlist.
December 4th / Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse [The Grey Album] came up while I was working on my blog a little.

It reminded me of Second Life, when I used to enjoy the world. I used to sit there for hours, with my own music playing as I dicked around with a bunch of prims, moving things and trying to build. It reminded me of when I used to be a ‘dancer’ for a club in Second Life. Never did anything really, really dirty, but I would buy something new to change my look each week when I danced, to give people new, interesting things to look at.
I spent a lot of Linden Dollars when I was getting started in SL. Money that I’m trying to make back now, though it’s not working so well, when I can barely get into the world to even build new things.

99 Problems / Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse [The Grey Album] reminds me of when our club was griefed for the first time. Someone thought it’d be cute to drop push/particle bombs through our roof onto the dancers, since I was the first furry dancer in that club, I’d wager. Didn’t do much to me, though I learned to turn particles down after this. I was sitting on something, and already had learned how to ‘throw’ my camera very well. I had spotted the guy, and asked the boss if I could give the guy chase, and a taste of his own artillery.
I was the owner of a M72A2 LAW in-world. If you know your weapons… that should tell you what happened.

Dirt Off Your Shoulder / Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse [The Grey Album] reminds me of the time just before we closed. We had moved to a new sim, hoping to escape the lag that was generated by being near not only a telehub, but right on the edge of one sim, and cornerwise from Netherbeck, a simulator that had a GIGANTIC mall owned by Anshe Chung gracing its presence. Sadly, that didn’t quite work, and our club was being strangled by some of the bigger players in Second Life.

Eventually, our owner expressed the difficulty that comes with having to foot the bill for large sums of land, losing the Linden bonus for hosting events, and having very little income since no one was shopping as a result of the economy change. She downsized, selling her land off, and closing down the club. I can’t say I blame her at all, given that I am downsizing my own holdings in Second Life.

Moment of Clarity / Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse [The Grey Album] defines, in my eyes, how things must come to a close as you figure out what is going on.
From that point, I stopped drifting around. I used to be a heavy events attender, but now, there’s not that much to attend.
I may hold my land in Second Life for a while, unless there were someone I could trust to hold my $8 land tier + $9.95 per month premium fee, but it’s pretty solid: Second Life, with all its changes, really isn’t for me anymore. I don’t have that much I enjoy in-world, save for talking to the few friends I talked into joining when it was fun, when there were events beyond Tringo, Blood 21, and Best Ass contests. I miss things like Primtionary, mostly due to timing constraints — seems that Primtionary events are held when I’m at work to pay for this damn account — and upstarts trying to get something new into the world.

If I could handle being in-world (that is: If I could double my RAM to 2 * 512 MB PC-2100, and get a better Video Card than this Geforce 4 MX 4000 sometime soon, without spending a fortune) for more than 20 minutes, perhaps I would finally try acting on my ‘Iron Chef’ like instincts. When someone held an ‘Iron Chef’ event clone (aptly named Plywood Chef), there was a large turnout. But I have yet to see that event reappear in the events list, which is pretty sad.

I’d love to have my very own ‘Kitchen Stadium’, with three ‘Iron Chefs’ of my own in Second Life. I’d love having lavish outfits designed for me for the weekly show. I’d love to be able to schedule it, guaranteed, for the same time, same day.
Perhaps this music is speaking to me: Allure / Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse [The Grey Album].

Then again, that would be awfully expensive for even me to pull off.

A short list of things I wanted to see (more often):
Prim, Lose or Draw (ie: Primtionary (Pictionary; Win, Lose, or Draw)
Jeopardy (The boards seem to all be gone now, and no one holds events pushing ‘em, it seems)
Scavenger hunts (spanning several simulators - Perhaps asking each participant to snap a picture of various landmarks, or seek out a number of landmarks all over the world, and giving them 90 minutes to do so).
Skydiving events. Enough said.

But, I ramble onward.

Some of you like helping people out.

If you’ve got some cash to spare, give this thread some attention.
When a person gets to the point of offering out their skills just to raise donations for their loved pets, it’s worth the attention.

Check it out, okay?

Addendum:
I feel I should mention that there’s a roughly one-half day time difference from myself - I’m on the east coast of the US. Balade is in New Zealand, should my memory serve me properly.

* Second Life now has free basic signups for first time users. Tell your friends about it. Send them through my referral link.
* I’m seeking additional employment or methods to earn funds, as always.
* I am currently disabling my instant messenger access. If you need me, there’s always email.
* I only poll email twice an hour now.
* I’m taking a break from real life, so I can get some of my worries and angsts off my chest. I owe too many bills this month, and with gas prices constantly on the up trend, I really can’t afford all of them. Hence me asking you all to have friends sign up for SL using my referral link. 12 signups, once cashed out is USD$41 or so. I’ll be able to afford my land tier and my account for a few more months if you do this now now now now now.
* I don’t want to worry all of you, nor do I wish to burden you all. This is why all I’m asking of you is to get any of your friends who have yet to ever sign up and play SL to sign up, and sign in at least once. They can hate the game and ditch it thereafter, if they’d like, but it costs $0 to sign up if you’ve never signed up before. They even take PayPal accounts for verification now.

Right. I’m gonna go dork around with my sleep clock.

Sometimes, it’s easier to sum up thoughts about things in one or two sentences per thought.

From the top, shall we?

lj:quoting_mungo:, my family loves the commission you mailed me as much as I love it. They actually think I should have that put on a shirt.

lj:n:, ’s about time. Why waste money on that project when it’s seriously showing no return?

Jammin’ Java crew, if they’re reading — Hey, sorry I’ve not been in for the past week or so. Tighter budget near the end of the month as I wrap up some of the larger bills. Hope business is going well.

Self-amusement can come from a single line.
(04:59) <Xial> slim to drama^Wnone. is my current source of amusement, especially as it defines much of my thoughts.

Ads are no good because I don’t get enough traffic to warrant them yet.
If I bothered to finish up scripting my Blogathon blog tomorrow, I’d be glad to take pledges for it.
I’m just working out the layout right now, although I may find myself using a canned one, because doing the assembly of code for it is giving me a bit of a headache.

I’d also be able to have a smaller, not very obtrusive ad in place, as well, so I can try to draw enough funds to make a donation myself. Since my blogathon blog is planned to be all about various kinds of pride (be it gay pride, furry pride, team pride, whatever), I’d hope that it would be read and some of the words I say are taken to heart.

Take note, advertisers, because on 6 August 2005, I will be participating in Blogathon, and that would be prime time to get exposure.

I need to harvest six bottles of Bawls, four cans of Rockstar Energy Cola, a couple of smoothies from Xtreme Juice, and a Chai Chiller from Jammin’ Java when this is all over and done with.
I also need lots of vitamins (pair of wheatgrass juice shots), and to dope up on Melatonin on the two nights before Blogathon 2005.

I also better set up Staticize Reloaded before it happens… I don’t need a /. effect downing the server during Blogathon.
Any other users on this server that happen to read my blog, and happen to be participating in Bthon05, please generate static pages for the event!

I wish bthon would NOT host their IRC channel on Eris Free. They’d be better appreciated on things like… DarkMyst, I’d dare say.
Who needs botnets anyway?

I signed up for GameFly recently, and rented “Skies of Arcadia Legends” for my Gamecube.
I’m happy with the service, though I wish the games were shipped in something more substantial than a thin slip of paper, reinforced with whatever is in the envelope.
This makes organized game switching a bitch, because I can’t lose that envelope — I need it so I can mail back the game safely after I’m done.

I need to get back to work on FapChannel.
It could use more improvements, and if I ever learn DOM traversal, it will get those.

I’ve been at my current job just shy of a year. As long as I don’t mess up again, I’ll make it to vacation time.

My body is confused about a lot. I shall end this and begin sleeping, shortly.

I guess I should announce that I’ve written a script for the Greasemonkey extension.

For those of you who follow FChan, you’re probably quite aware that in general, the discussion threads are where you can find all the images, but conversely, that’s where much of the drama is. “Wah wah, do not post, blah blah blah, whatever”. Right.

FapChannel is designed for you to just pop in the thread, and see ONLY the thumbnails of images, which you may click to pass to another tab and look at the image, enhancing the ‘fappability’ of F(ap)Chan.

Have a look in the Spoogemonkey directory to see what’s going on, or install it by right-clicking this link and choosing ‘install user script’.

Easy enough, right?

To turn it off, just click the monkey in your status bar and refresh the page.

Happy birthday, lj:ngarewyrd:.

So, here’s why I’ve been quiet as of late:

* Haven’t felt like blogging.
* I’ve been in and out of the hospital twice in the past week or so.
* Pneumonia.
* Viral Infection.
* Vertigo.
* I’ve been in and out of Second Life a fair bit.
* I’m expanding my house.
* I’m adding a gallery for Furball to my house.
* I made the ‘clamshell’ image holders, with lights, for her gallery.
* I need to ask her how many horizontal pictures does she have, so I can compensate with horizontal frames along walls.
* I need to re-wallpaper her gallery floor.
* I need to export lj:mousran:’s commission, which I’m still working on.
* I’ve been perusing F-Chan and 4-Chan.
* I’ve been trying to put together a resume.
* I want to apply with Stream (AOL Call Center, Tech Support), since they offer better money, and probably 20 times less physical grunt work.
* I want to apply with any local businesses that’re looking for someone geek enough to handle some of their troubles.
* I’ve been helping Gushi out some.
* I need to get to where I’m sitting and focused again.
* I’ve been chewing on logical web development.
* I have an idea for a resume generator. It’s very ajax in its implementation.
* I haven’t decided on whether I want to try to eke it out in PHP, or wait for a couple of Perl books and do it that way to show I’ve learned something.
* I’ve been avoiding everyone on IM.
* Sorry, guys, but until I get better, and get less scatterbrained, it’s hard for me to handle conversation in a timely manner.

That sorta sums up everything for now, I think.

Right now, I’m just going to bed.

Y’know… if not resorting to namecalling and other things intended to debase your opponent is “being an asshole”, let me be the biggest one in the universe, then.

I know I’m heavy-handed in driving home the point that I dislike certain software or scripts.
I always have been.
And after a given piece of software or a script has misbehaved too far, I really won’t like it.
Winamp 2.x has caused me to BSOD on a number of occasions.
phpBB held a dangerous little bug in it for far too many versions, but no one cares to *update* or *patch*.
Result?
I don’t like either one of them (especially since I have to deal with users here using the latter. A lot).
Sure, I might visit a board that uses the latter from time to time, but that’s because I can’t control what a person can afford. I’ve noticed that I post more and pay more attention to Invision and vBulletin based Message Boards, whereas I tend to forget most boards that use phpBB2.

Why did I BSOD in Winamp 2.x?
Because I used third party plugins that supported formats that Winamp didn’t play natively.
SPC, NSF, GYM, Vorbis (at that time, it wasn’t native, heh), PSF, ADX, etc etc. The NSF plugins were colossal violators of aesthetics, pointing out just how much of a hackjob the player is by adding in an additional bar at the bottom of the main window, overlapping the equalizer window. This, by the way, was all in the name of playing a subsong.

If you were me, would you find yourself asking, “Uhm, why aren’t they just listing all the (sub)songs in the playlist instead?” or just use that silly slider bar to hope you’ve got the right song?

Further, having plugins installed to play all my video game music made Winamp excessively flaky. For example, attempting to close Winamp caused it to hang in memory with these plugins installed.

Don’t tell me to “Go convert it all to MP3″, or “Stop listening to video game music, go buy a CD”, either — MP3 is a terrible format, full of licensing woes if you want to use it legally. I’d rip to Vorbis, if anything. However, the game music in its native format is quite often smaller than the resulting Vorbis files, making the former look attractive.

I hardly buy music, but at the same time, I rarely pirate any for myself.
Sure, if a song comes on the radio, and I really wanna hear it uncensored, I’ll download, listen a few times, then delete it. I’m not really into this stuff on the RIAAdio.

At any rate…

Does anyone happen to have a copy of most of the Winamp 2.x changelogs?
I’m trying to hunt down a bit of text saying that they fixed a hang on restart, but I lack changelogs, which makes this hard.

Iatro.

I’ve tried emailing you.
I’ve posted a private entry on my Livejournal that only you and people I’m sure know you can read, to try to relay my desire to contact you *to* you.

It’s been almost 10 months.
I haven’t received an email from you.
No sketch.
No request for information about the character.
No “Ugh, I’m suffering from art block. Please give me a little time.”

If you just wanted the cash, all you had to do was say so.

This is why I don’t like paying artists the full amount up front. I’m out of cash I could have spent on other things.
This makes me hurt.

-10 to Global.Trust;
Lesson learned: Send half, get sketch, send the rest. No matter what.

Something I’ve noticed is…
In the weblogging community — That is, the blogosphere — there are mechanisms that let us let everybody know “HI! I’VE UPDATED, COME LOOK!”

Whether it be Weblogs.com, Blo.gs, or any of the specialized services, there’s a place we can poke, say we’ve updated, and run like hell.

No such creature exists in the artistic world, and especially not for furry artists. Why hasn’t someone taken this idea, and run with it? Yeah, it’d require some money to pay for hosting for the pinging site, but all it’d take beyond that is:

* Artists procuring software that could send a ping (For example, we can actually take a copy of WordPress, add the ping server to the list here in the admin center, and make our usual posts. In fact, you’d probably just want to add one plugin that’s designed to make it easier on uploading, and maybe a ‘read more’ plugin of some sort, so the pictures don’t have to be loaded).
* (Optional) A program that any user on any platform can run that will allow them to make a similar ping, just in case they’re hosted somewhere that won’t allow them to run server-side scripts (php, perl, python, etc).
* A server with a script like what would be used at Weblogs.com or somewhere else. One that generates an RSS feed and an Atom feed.
* Categories to ping to.
** Why categories? Simple: Not everyone likes the same kind of stuff. Using scripts, and maybe even subdomains if necessary, it should be fairly easy. Probably standardize a set of keywords: male-male, male-female, female-female, herm-*, etc (I’ll detail this more later, perhaps), and have a user ping with this. Generate feeds with the resulting pings, and allow users to subscribe to the feeds. As it stands, one can already subscribe to a WordPress blog’s feed, should they find an artist using WP for their posting.

In fact… why not do something like this for pinging:
Let’s use one of my cheap domains for the idea: hermvixen.info is mine.
//artping.hermvixen.info/?genders=______&contents=______
I’m sure that, using case sensitivity, 26 letters ought to be enough to cover most couplings and fetishes and whatnot.
I mean, ?genders=mM should be obvious enough: Younger male, Adult male.
And ?contents=aoc could be easy, too - anal, oral, cumshot.

I’ll detail this sometime later. Right now, I need sleep.

P_Moss is such a sweetie.
I received my commission via Express mail today.

I don’t think she had to do that, though, so I’ve reimbursed her via mail. By the time she reads this, the payment will have already arrived.

I feel a little happier finding auctions on FurBid now.

I’m giving away GMail invites.
I have 2 invites for GMail to give away.
I just want a little sketchy-doodle in exchange, really. Doesn’t have to be super-fancy work of art. Doesn’t have to be inked or colored, or anything. I just want to put a face to the description, really.

Before clicking, I will say that the descriptions are somewhat adult in nature, so please, do not click if you’d be offended.

The first is something I’d like to see a little scribble of. Nothing too wild, really.
“Winged White Vixen”

The other is also something that would make me smile. There are two descriptions on this one. Feel free to choose one or the other, as either one would make me happy.
“…In those jeans~”

Thanks :3

Back to Florida I go. Hup-hup.

As some of you are aware, In a week, I’ll be moving to Minnesota to be with lj:forsolei:.
This means I have a bus trip rolling right up, in 8 days or so.

And I want this and this. I want to get it before I ship my computer off, but I don’t think it’ll be possible. All I want is to be able to tote a few games on the bus with me, since I’m going 1777 miles via Greyhound, and I’ve yet to check what the battery in this GBA SP is.
(If I find that I hate it, I’ll likely trade the thing in. I think the back just screws on to keep batteries from falling out at a drop…?)

So this is where I beg. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, furs, this one is for you who like to help people:
1-2 character dutch commission (everyone wins) - She recently lost her purse, and is in need of money (and in my opinion, a better bank and email address).

If you’re looking for a commish, she’s only asking $30 for 1-2 characters. Just add a little more, though, whatever you can spare. Hell, you can even point her to this entry if you need or want to. But help her out. I know what it’s like to lose the plastic, but I’ve been fortunate enough to not have it used (Thank Dog).

Thanks.

What in the hell is it with furries who can draw and Yerf?

Some of them act like they will DIE without getting into Yerf.
God damn, but come on, people, it’s just another website, with more furry artwork. Sure, no smut, but still. It’s not like it’s that important. If you really wanna be “in”, you create your own website, with Gushi Systems Hosting, and link to each other.
Sure, it costs money, but there isn’t a such thing as a free ride, anymore. Just pass up on buying those $400 colored pencils for a month longer, and put $68.95 into having your own place on the net, ok? I will never look at your art if it’s on Yerf, guaranteed, because I just don’t care for Yerf. Hell, for that matter, I don’t even look at Side7, either. I’ll look at the VCL for some artists, but I’d rather just look at your website, and go from there.

Bleh, but who’m I trying to talk to? No one even cares. They just want to “be in”.

I spend too much time on IRC.
I end up in conversations like this:

[00:00] <@Xial[slp]> [23:57] <@Xial[slp]> Women + saddles + horse hair butt plugs = Kinky fun night, playing pony. X3
[00:00] <@Xial[slp]> Think that, in reverse.
[00:00] <@Xial[slp]> Though the plug may have to be rethought, if she’s got a no parts.
[00:00] <Nulike> Horses + saddles + women butt plugs?
[00:00] <Nulike> X.x
[00:01] <Nulike> *women hair
[00:01] <@JB> Xial wants to ride his wimmin in all the wrong ways.
[00:01] <@Xial[slp]> XD
[00:01] <@MKendora> OMG! Nulike gets POINTS!
[00:01] <Nulike> Is there a record for THAT? o.o
[00:01] <YenenWHAT> :o?
[00:02] <@MKendora> Xial, was Nulike’s remark not sick, disturbing, and generally the kind of thing that you have in your porn collection?

I could, of course, only reply in the fashion I’m well known for.

[00:02] <@Xial[slp]> Matt: [a]
[00:02] <@JB> Nulike, there probably is. But only in the most metaphorical of senses.
[00:02] <@Xial[slp]> (work safe)
[00:02] <YenenWHAT> eek
[00:02] <YenenWHAT> doug winger :X
[00:02] <YenenWHAT> how is doug winger work safe
[00:02] <YenenWHAT> :/
[00:02] <@Xial[slp]> YenenWHAT: No whammadoodles.
[00:02] <+Keiron> YenenWHAT has a point.
[00:02] <@JB> I really doubt anyone keeps records for ACTUAL riding of women.
[00:02] <YenenWHAT> ;o
[00:02] <@MKendora> HAW!
[00:02] <@Xial[slp]> That alone makes it work safe.
[00:03] <@Xial[slp]> I had to find that picture when Nulike said that. XD

It’s worth a shit and a giggle, at least.

For those of you who’ve visited me via a link Radio submitted to you on your forums in this thread, Hi!
He’s mostly correct:
I’m fat, black, bisexual, do HTML, and do play around on MUCKs. I, however, DO NOT fursuit. Sure, I’ve wanted to try it once or twice, but I live in Florida. I’d only be half-willing to do it in this weather, since it’s actually getting colder. You wouldn’t catch me parading around in a suit in the middle of summer.
I’m not keen on heat stroke.

I’d also like to add to the facts:
Radio seems to be obsessed with me. I honestly wonder if he’s in the closet over the whole furry thing, or might be bi-curious, given how much he needs to talk about me. If you want to, feel free to peruse my archives, and count how many times I have really given him a mention.

With this said, Hi. Commenting is enabled. URLs trump Email addresses when commenting, and spambot protection is built into WordPress. If you use Mozilla, Opera, or any other browser that accepts Alternate stylesheets, feel free to try them out. If you use IE, Don’t. And I Don’t Work for America’s Drive-In. (see category: work)

Have a nice day, and I look forward to your comments.

Adult Furbid auction: Set of 3 etched glasses.
I swear… Moldred needs to quit trying to buy all of Furbid at once, and let other people get some of these. Sheesh. He’s as bad as… Hell with it. I’ll be watching this, and I will not bid if it goes over $41. I fucking FUCKING want these.

NEVAR AGAIN, SAH.

I just worked eight days in a row at Target.
The result? I fell asleep, face down, on the wrong end of my bed, before 10pm, but fortunately after my vixen called me.

I woke up at around midnight, though.
With double leg cramps. Yes. Both legs cramped up at once.
I actually (shock! horror) started whining. I can’t stand the pain that leg cramps give me, and both legs doing it at once really hurts. I tried to get up, but walking was rendered difficult, at best, by the cramps.
Here’s what amazes me. My mother actually came in to see what was wrong, found out that it was leg cramps, told me to lay down again, and got me about 0.5 ounces of vinegar to drink, as well as applied Icy Hot to each leg. (Note: The cramps were so strong that bending at the knees was impossible. imagine trying to get back into bed this way. Tiiiiimmmmm-berrrrrrrr!)

For those of you who’re unaware of what vinegar has to do with leg cramps…
Vinegar is a really good source of potassium, which helps cramps go away. Though it tastes dog awful and burns going down, the effect it has is nearly immediate. Within a few minutes of drinking the vinegar, my legs stopped hurting so badly, that I settled down into a half-asleep state. That’s when I felt her rubbing down my legs. After that, all went black until I woke up for a short block at about 3am.

Anyhow. I’m spending the day, catching up on emails I should’ve sent a week ago.
Mousran, if you’re reading this, Email me your mailing address again? I’m going to reimburse you for the commission, since I couldn’t deliver as scheduled. I’ll still work on the story to completion, but I don’t feel right charging you, and then not being able to deliver when I said I would. Also, add a method of reimbursement that you’re comfortable with. I can do Paypal, Money Orders, or Cash, though cash is a last-resort option for me.

Next time, I’ll try not to switch sources of employment in the middle of a commission. The stress it involves is enough to crush me.

Anyhow… I’m gonna go find some other potassium-loaded foods, and eat those. My leg muscles’re still pretty sore.

–before I go, however:
I got my Christmas present from Fancia (no link Update your journal, dear :P) a bit early.
Care to see it?
Read the rest of this entry »

A commission by Rose*Quoll (adult);
A commission by Sneakerfox (adult);
My wishlist at Target (May need IE to view :()

Also, happy (belated) yerfday to the DigiVix. :3