It's another October 21st.

That means it's another birthday for myself.

I realized that I've been working the same job longer than the first half of my life, before I moved to Jacksonville to get away from a bad situation. So yeah, I'm a fool perhaps for being dedicated, but I'm not unhappy either. I'm just a bit tired, but it's late.

This year has been a mess. And hopefully it won't get worst. One can only hope.

So yeah, yay me.

Good night. Please vote (if you can).

--Salen, Lvl 49.

I heard Dragoneer wasn't doing well a few days ago. I wasn't paying too much attention at the time, as I was distracted by other things. And then when I woke up this morning, I drove to work, sat down, and there it was, on Telegram...

Dragoneer had passed away.

Diving into it, I found out the hospital that he'd gone to was like "Hey, we need money, can you come here so we can try find a way to help you pay for treatment" and he was like "I'm super-bad sick and laying down and no I can't just hop out of bed to come do B.S. paperwork." So they were like "Okay, we'll cancel this" and then about 4 hours later Dragoneer passed away from his illness.

What. The. FuDOOK?

The hospital basically murdered him with negligence.

And then I think back to Cetas; a friend of mine. He had all the treatments he could ever get, and yet when he went into surgery one day, an infection he received killed him. That was 5 years ago. And it still hurts. And here, a hospital didn't even try to help Dragoneer.

I'm so very tired, and sad right now.

I never really met Dragoneer before, but that doesn't mean I didn't know about him. He seemed like a really great guy. And he kept FA going when no-one-else could.

I'm sorry I never got to say "Hi" to you, to let you know that I still paid attention to what you were doing, even if I didn't message you on Bluesky. I'm just so very sad.

And... now I don't know what will happen to FA without him manning the helm.

I'm just so very sad...

--Salen

I've been playing around with the idea of doing some streaming on Twitch. Unfortunately, I have no idea who does Live2D modeling commissions here on FA (or elsewhere) to get a model of Salen done up all proper-like.

Don't ask me why I want to do it. I guess part of me just wants to give it a try. Maybe it'll be entertaining at the very least. But I figured I should ask if anyone had any suggestions on good folks to commission first.

Anyways, feel free to drop any info you might have.

Thanks.

--Salen

Just wanted to say I hope you all are having a great holiday. Things are quiet here, and I don’t have much to say. I hope everyone stays well into the new year.

Good night, happy holidays, and know I miss every one of you even if I don’t show it at times.

Salen

Yesterday was my birthday.

I wasn't around to say so, mostly because I went down to Orlando for TFCon. That's a lie. Bossasaur, a friend from Pittsburgh, he was going to TFCon. Me, I was going down there to hang out with him for the day and try and have a nice birthday with a few friends.

The Con was at the Doubletree... the same one where I got hit by a car in 2017.

So I took a birthday photo posing in front of the nice crosswalk which now has proper crosswalk signs, and illuminated street signs, and even a stoplight. So the place was much safer to walk across.

Mostly though, I was just there to hang out and relax away from home for a bit.

Boss got me an Effin' Birds Day planner, with autographed front page and custom birthday message. And I bought myself a plushie Turbofox and Petrorabbit that I named Nick and Judy. Part of me wishes I could have gotten the metal Aerialbot Harrier. It was so very pretty. But it was quite expensive, and while the Harrier is good, I prefer the F4 Phantom Aerialbot. There was other stuff too, but... overall, fine day.

We drove back home this morning, dropping Boss off at the Airport, and making our way back home here.

So yeah, fun times.

--Salen

Old-time webcomic readers might remember Accidental Centaurs. Some others might not. I just found out that John Lotshaw, artist and writer for the comic, passed away recently.

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/ind.....n-lotshaw-rip/

I always wondered when he'd be able to do more comics, tell his stories. And now I guess I will never get to hear more of his tales.

...Dook.

--Salen

Set Age + 1

I'm still tired. 2021 was rough. 2022 hasn't been a picnic either.

I'm tired. I haven't drawn much of anything in ages. I always felt like I hit a plateau in my skills as an artist, and while I'm a good colorist, others are better and I don't have anything I'd want to color anyways. It's been so long since I've done that.

I miss friends, both the ones who have passed on and then ones I just can't reach anymore. Sometimes I wonder if I was the reason they stopped talking with me. Sometimes I wonder if it was just life that got in the way. Are they well? Did they make it through Covid okay?

I talked with my mom and my aunt yesterday. ...........things are fine, I love them both, but I deleted a lot of stuff because it didn't make much sense, even to me.

Hurricane update news: Adjuster from the Insurance company is helping figure out what to do with the backyard fence. I'm gunna try to clean up the back yard some more and maybe clean the gutters back there tomorrow.

I didn't go to Megaplex this year, again. That made me sad, but I was worried about Covid still, and most all my friends who were there in 2019 were doing more local cons and wouldn't be able to make it. I don't blame them, but it is sad.

I'm not bad off. I'm just a tired ferret. I just wish I could find a nice spark. Or something. My inspiration is sort of **** right now.

That's enough from me.

Thanks,
Salen.

Hey.

Didn't get directly hit by it here, but lost power for a few hours and the internet for over a day. Part of the back fence fell down. Need to tear down a bunch of plants that are growing back there, and see what it'll take to get the two sections of the fence fixed.

It's been a thing.

I'm fine though.

Others, not so much. I saw pics of how bad Fort Myers got hit when I got the internet back today. Oh man. I hate hurricanes.

--Salen

Did I ever do a birthday journal last year? I guess not. 2020 was sort of a lost year. For everyone I guess.

I got a new bed earlier in the year. This is good, since it allows me to sleep a bit more comfortably. Also, I lost a few friends over the last few years. Tygermoon was 6 years ago. Cetas as a year and a half ago. AraKaraath was just 9 months. Every day I feel a little bit more tired.

I miss friends who haven't died as well. You know, the type of friends you have for a while, and then... well... you just never hear from them. You always wonder how they're doing. But you don't know what to say, or even how to reach them to say it.

I guess I just feel bad this year.

2020 was rough. I don't think anyone would deny that. For so many, it was absolute garbage-tier. Maybe that's why I didn't create a journal for my birthday last year. I don't know.

All I know is I'm tired.

--Salen

Just read that he passed away.
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9751922/

I'm a bit speechless.

I do have one piece of artwork he did of Rhan & Lav and Tevon from over a decade ago. God, has it been that long?

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/2786383/

Rest in peace, AraKaraath. :(

I didn't want to bring it up yesterday, because I always get down on my b-day. So I didn't really think about making the journal till today. Honestly, I don't think I checked FA either, well except in the morning. But I was barely awake then.

So yeah, hit the double-4s yesterday. My poor right shoulder aches right now. The weather that brought tornados to Texas on Sunday night is going to arrive here this afternoon, and I can feel it. It's not bad, but it's annoying. Broken ferret is broken. Like my wrist. I got myself a nice wrist wrap to help with giving my wrist extra support and padding so my thumb hurts less. That hand cramp I got last December really messed my hand up. It took plenty of hot and cold treatment to get the tension to release, but that was in March. Since then, I've had mild pain in my tendons. It's been getting better, but I don't rebound like I used to, and so I'm more willing to let it keep healing slowly over time, than to let the doctor cortizone shot my tendinitus. Unlike my sinuses, where no amount of healing would fix my deviated septum, my wrist can and is getting better, albeit slowly. If the worst that I have to deal with is my wrist hurting at the end of the day and having to wear a wrap around my right wrist to keep it from hurting during the day, I'm sure I'll survive.

But yeah, things have been a bit of a mess as well.

I don't know what to say. I guess I'll just end this here. Hope you all are well. I miss so many of you. Ferrets miss all sorts of things.

--Salen

OMG FARFETCH'D IS GETTING A GALAR EVOLUTION! OMG!

https://twitter.com/pokemon/status/.....13578234384385

Now I might have to draw Mallary Stewart, my Farfetch'd PCA character, all evolved into Sirfetch'd.

Mallary Stewart reference: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/2534315/

Anyways, that's all. Geeking out is fun.

Megaplex was fun. It was really huge too. Like crazy. 3600 furs there and 40,000 dollars were raised for CARE. I had a lot of fun although poor Aureus/Snowdrift got a bad tooth ache during the last day. His root got infected through his sinuses and needed to get a root canal today.

Puzz and Rex were also there. They were fun to hang out with. And Puzz created "Crowd Funding" during the Charity Auction. That was... different.

Anyways just wanted to let folks know.

If you read his previous journal, you know he was going to have some serious medical treatment going on.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9133178/

He passed away from an infection he couldn't fight.

https://twitter.com/Ciraeon/status/.....87470214295553

I'm a little out of it right now. Sorry. He was an old friend I knew from my days on the Napping Cat's Dream and Gaming Guardians. I introduced him to one of my favorite artists, Rabid, for commissions. I was hoping Cetas would get better, but life isn't always fair.

He was 39.

And I don't know what to say.


--Salen

I'll keep this short and sweet since EVERYONE is making one of these journals.

Hi. I'm still alive. 2018 was a **** year. Maybe 2019 will be better. One could hope.

I hope everyone has a better year too.

--Salen

Hey, it's me. Salen.

It's my Birthday. Again. Seems like it was just last year when I had one of these.

Life has been... interesting since then.

I was still dealing with medical and shoulder issues from the surgery I had when I was struck by a car 2 months earlier. My lawyer was still a good 4-5 months from finalizing my case and all that jazz.

I still avoid eating sugar and stuff to keep my Blood Sugar levels in a normal level. Seriously, I would shiv someone if I could eat sugary foods with no-guilt involving it or having it mess me up physically. Shiiiiiiivvvvvvv....

Let's see, what else happened? Oh, I went and saw an ENT to look at my sinuses. My sinuses were a mess, and after a few thousand dollars, I can now breath through my nose like a normal person. No idea how my septum ended up so f'd up, but it was. But hey, breathing. Yay.

My AC broke at the beginning of September. It sprang a leak and would have cost 1 grand just to refill it. I spent 5 grand to get a new, bigger, better, more efficient unit than to fix the one that was limping along. It sucked for a few days, and cost quite a bit, but it ended up okay.

Uh, not much else to mention. Megaplex was fine this year. No car/ferret-involved weirdness to worry about. It was fun. I feel old though. The game room has grown up so much. The whole con is bigger than the last Anthrocon I went to (which was the last one in Philly). So yeah, not sure if it's just me, or just being an old ferret....

...yeah, I'm old. 43 years old. Now I'm grey-on-grey ferret instead of just normal grey ferret.

Uh, I don't know what else to mention. Oh, and the reason I never mentioned my accident at Megaplex last year... that was lawyer asking me to keep it pretty mum until the settlement. It was... interesting. And not something I suggest others do. It's not fun. Interesting. Not fun. Uh... yeah, I'll stop now.


--Salen

Bethesda released the new Fallout 76 perk and progression video and well... here's the video. Go watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsAyw9YQwtM

Back? Mutations? OMG! I had my Fallout 3 kangaroo sketch years ago, and now I can finally play as him? What sketch? Oh, here, let me link that too.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2616280/

Also, mild neurological impairment? Are you saying kangaroo mutants aren't smart, Mr. Vault-Tec Narrator? That's fightin' words!

Oh yeah, before I left to go on vacation in Orlando, I probably should have mentioned that I was going there because it was for my Birthday.

Yeah, that was last Saturday, btw.

Sorry, I forgot to mention this yesterday, when I got back home, and today was a day off to recoup and do stuff I usually do on the weekends.

So yeah, here's a relevant ASDF Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xniR1GN69U

Anyways, I had lots of fun, went to the Pandora section of Animal Kingdom, and didn't get hit by a car this time. I'm making progress. Also, Flight Of Passage is really awesome. And they have FastPasses available for it now. Was very fun.

So yeah, I'm good. Thanks for asking. Anyways, time for another wild ride around the sun.

My Grandma passed away just a bit after 10:30pm last night.

I'm fine. I'm sad. But she was old, and she lived her life how she wanted, where she wanted. I was hoping no news was good news, but it wasn't to be in this regard.

I just felt... I should mention it, since I mentioned her last post.

She was the toughest, fiestyest Granny of all time. And I'm going to miss her.

--Salen

1. I got power a while back. Things are fine here.

2. Roy Calbeck has pretty much gone bonkers and frankly I don't care what he thinks about me. He got VERY accusitorial at me on Twitter and frankly I should have blocked him at the very start instead of engaging with him. He's gone all Alt-Right cray-cray.

He said I "just want to be on the right side of history". FYI, yes, because being for the KKK and Neo-Nazis is NEVER the right side of history. Ever. So yeah

But he's going to go tilt at windmills and try to sue FA because "they support terrorists".

3. My grandma is in the hospital right now. She's doing better than she was at the start of the week, but it's been a bit rough though.

4. Eh, I hope everyone else is okay.

That's all. I won't waste any more energy on this journal. Carry on, citizens.

No power at the house. But otherwise everything is fine. Anyways, I'm not sure when JEA will get power back to me, but I have power here at work, so that's a small plus.

Anyways, no need to worry about me.

Thanks for all the well-wishes and hopes for me to be safe. Will be by when I can.

--Salen

Seems Calbeck wants to sue FA/IMVA because they changed the CoC to disallow hate groups and what not.

Journal: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8406645/

WTF?

How hard is it to NOT post hate speech or be part of hate groups? Also... because there's ALWAYS a relevant XKCD, here's a relevant XKCD...

https://xkcd.com/1357/

Then again, this won't be the first dumb lawsuit Calbeck has filed against a company that has no chance of winning: https://www.law360.com/articles/288853

I'd break out the lawn chair and popcorn, but hurricane.

Hey,

Just want to let folks know that I'm fine so far. Hurricane Irma will probably be its closest to me sometime around Monday morning, and we'll be getting at least hurricane force winds in the area. Probably will lose power, but I'm not in the main path of the hurricane (anymore).

So yeah, hopefully things will be okay on Tuesday and stuff.

On a side note, I'd rather be hit by a hurricane than hit by a car. My shoulder still feels weird and numb at times.

Anyways, I got food and water, so I'll be fine.

--Salen

Hey.

Some of you might know, some maybe not.

I got hit by a car on Saturday night at Megaplex. Spent the last few days at the Orlando Health trauma center, trying to recover enough to leave. Finally left yesterday. Links to facebook posts since well, you can see what happened to me:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?.....=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?.....=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?.....=3&theater

Right clavical was broken, so I can barely move my right arm. And I'm on Oxycoton. And my face went into the lady's rear view mirror. I look like helll.

I'm okay. Just very tired, and occasionally nauseous. was having lots of fun until the accident.

...salen

Going to Megaplex today.

Having a slight case of nervousness as I go over what I have packed and if I missed anything I might need. Yay for vacation stress.

Ferrets are weird like that. If you're there, hopefully I'll see you there.

--Salen