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Last night I had an odd dream. I dreamed that I woke up into a new and different house. It was a little frightening at first, the house was huge and with large angled ceilings in the main entry way and stairs with no-guard rails. The room where I had awaken from was a slightly furnished room on the second of 3 floors. Poking my head out into the hallway there were a few rooms here and it looked like there might be another one across from the stairs on the same level.
I didn't know how I got there and my mind was fuzzy. I was struggling to remember and after a moment of exploring around, I found that the room I was in had a deck over looking some tall trees across the way. It was a slightly overcast day, my favorite, and stepping out onto the balcony deck brought me to find Rain Hopper (my roommate). He was pre-occupied talking on a cordless phone, and I didn't want to bother him. But just seeing him made me feel better.
I started to walk around the house a bit, going down the stairs to the level below where there was an open common area and I realized suddenly that this was "my" house. There really was no question as my and Rain's signature disarray was imprinted in the patterns of clutter strewn about.
I had only just reached the floor and was reeling through my memories to try to come up with how I had been here, what was this place, I felt like a senior citizen with Alzheimer’s. I didn't get any time to figure it out, however, as Rain peeked his head over the second floor and called out to me. He said we were going on a walk and I wasn't in a position to argue.
So as I was heading up the stairs, I noted the only obvious problem with this great house. There was what looked like a cracked support beam supporting the stairs and the overhang of the second level that had been artificially reinforced with a large rail beam like wood support wedged beneath it. Just looking at it made me nervous about it, but I went up the stairs quickly, just-in-case.
Rain wasted no time and went across from the stairs to what I thought held an extra room, but was in-fact, the front door. Snowy was there waiting to be taken out. Patiently laying there with her leash attached. Rain made some snide comment to snowy who got up and stretched in her usual way and I rushed to catch up, picking up the leash as we went out the door.
We went walking out front and down steps leading out to the street. The whole house seemed to be hosted in some kind of sharp decline from a side of a mountain. I had seen such things before, in places like Lake Tahoe. And the cleanliness of the air and the tall green trees would seem to collaborate the different locale.
I was lost in my own thoughts, but Rain just started talking about something I can't quite remember. But it seemed obvious he was picking up on some conversation I had not heard the beginning of. I didn't say much, mostly nodding. You know, doing the kinds of things you do when you can't remember someone or something someone else does. I slipped in, as coyly as I could, an innocent sounding question asking how long we had been in the house now. After he said two years, my heard nearly jumped.
See, I had only known Rain for two years. So either my memory was quite cleanly wiped back to a clearly memorable time (very unlikely) OR, I rationed silently, I was in an alternate reality.
The thought caused my heart to race and a hundred more questions to flood in. Are you sure? How could this be? And so on.
Again, I didn't get much time to think about that as snowy had veered off the sidewalk to the side of someone's old rotted wood fence, behind which there was a dog sniffing at the air intently. I was trying to pull her away and ended up closing the gap between me and her to get some better leverage. The neighbors dog got overly aggravated and started digging beneath the fence into an almost completed hole. I dragged Snowy way, almost shoving her back on the sidewalk while the Neighbor's dog squeezed under the fence and got free.
The dog barked angrily while I pushed Snowy with my legs to keep her away holding up my arm to guard myself. And with a big chomp he clamped onto my hand. At first the bite was sharp, but I knew better than to just rip it away. It didn't feel too bad after-all, maybe he was just nipping. But he tore away and the world slowed down while I saw the bone beneath on my pinky exposed.
I gulped lots of air and cradled my hand. Rain must have seen it because he came around from behind me and with a mighty kick launched that dog back a good 10 feet and into the fence with enough force to cause it to crack. I didn't see what happened to the dog, but his sound was no longer aggressive. The whole world seemed to turn bright white and throbbing as, I guess I must have passed out.
I woke up then. But I imagine that was like living in a parallel universe, a life that could have happened.
And except for the nasty bit of luck at the end, I think that house was ubber cool. Probably better than the furhouse I live in now. But... then again, maybe not. I didn't see a big theater room. *smiles*
-Waggs
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PARTY!!!
It's been a long hiatus but the party that rocked the mouse has returned. This time we're expecting all the old greats to come out and hang in a celebration that's long overdue.
http://www.furhouse.org
If you've never heard of and never been, the party is fantastic. It usually out-shines many other fur parties in style and quality. We try to go all out when we have our parties, and it shows.
We also have a dedicated theater room with a 100'' projection screen and dolby surround sound. Because we rock that much.
A typical party evening starts in the early afternoon with a trickle of a few furs. We have a game room (or in this party's case, a game area) with TV's, classic console games, and computer games setup like a mini-convention. We sometimes have music running in the back on low so people can chat and feel the breeze or watch the fireworks from Disney. And the whole house is PG-safe. Perfect for young furs or bringing non-furs around to the idea that we're not so bad.
The food has historically been quite well spread, with consideration given to the different eating requirements of diabetics, vegetarians, carnivore, and of course the sweet tooth tigers. And party-go'ers are encouraged to bring their own selections to add to the menu. You can find pretty much anything there, well except alcohol(part of that whole PG thing).
We like to throw out all the stops with our parties, and I don't believe we've disappointed yet.
So if you're in the area, say within a few hundred miles, come on down!
-Waggs
Note: For those furs who actually are from a distance away and can't make it back safely, we provide sleeping space until morning.
Current Mood:  bouncy |
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Quote From Furry War Updates - Wolfegang Hello this is your guide to the furry fandom, Wolfegang. This post is somewhat similar to “I have a dream (of the first biological furry) because I had a dream last night, it was the year 2015 and my friend as you may know as Dante is standing behind a podium, which is in front of a lab in Washington D.C. and is giving a speech about how scientist created the first biological furry or what would I call a biofur (biofur=biological furry) and he calls my name and I step to th mic and scan the crowd, the crowd stands stunned as they look at what looks like a fox and a human combined, then all of a sudden the crowd cheers and I smile. “My fellow furs, I am what I am, I want to thank the scientist for doing this to me, and for all of you haters out there I have a few things to say to you. You can not kill what you did not create, you can’t kill me I’m untouchable, as some of you can see I thought ahead, there are snipers all over the buildings, protecting me from assassins. Ever since I was 15 years old I had a dream, I was called many names and they said it was impossible but I kept my dream alive by asking these scientists to find a way to make me a furry, you may not know this but this is a huge victory for the fandom and a huge loss for the haters, my dream is reality finally after 7 years of waiting, writing, and drawing. Now I have an offer to all of the furs who want to become what I am please come forward, anyone who wants to stay the way we are that’s fine I’ll see you at the next convention and next press confurence. Thank you for your attention, goodnight.”
That is what I’m going to say when I become the first biofur and more are to follow. Furhaters be afraid, be very afraid because if the war becomes real as well, you’ll have to face me and the army of biofurs.
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A lot of lifelong furries have a vision like this. My first time was way back when I was eleven or twelve. Its something I’ve revised and kept dreaming about until this very day.
Now-a-days I imagine Mitochondria size nano-machines designed to produce m-RNA chains like a real cell nucleolus, programmed externally to redirect cellular production to grow a human body into a real life furry one. Maybe even recognize illness and lost limbs or age and regenerate them.
Ignore the jerks out there, the world is full of them. And the sooner you ignore them, the sooner you get to enjoy working with others that share your dream, moving (albeit slowly) toward making it a reality.
Who knows, maybe the real-world wont be so harsh on furries when they finally become a real possibility. Especially if the regeneration process reduces age or cures illnesses which they suffer from. Heh, that would be something, seeing political old farts back-peddle to give an excuse for being at the front of the line when all their rhetoric would suggest they should be strongly opposed to it.
Even if people freak out, that’s not the end of the world. People may have strong emotions at first, but after a while they loosen up when they realize their personal beliefs aren’t really under attack. Take a look at Gay Marriage. In California, a few years ago, they actually passed a law banning it. Now it looks like the religious groups can’t find enough footing to overturn the California Supreme Court’s decision.
In that sense, the answer would never be to take the world on in a violent confrontation (although I have, on occasion, worried about such things myself at times). But you don’t lay down and die when there is opposition to your existence. You should stand firm on your intent to exist and to allow others to be like you, but you should give the mundanes time to adapt and understand that it isn’t what they would expect and it isn’t so bad.
There is one thing on your side that they can never be defeated. Once a furry takes that stand, it’s all over for the opposition. Because, history shows that once pandora’s box has been opened, it can never be closed.Current Mood:  thoughtful |
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Ok… The first time I was at a furry convention it was scary. Real scary. But also very exciting. Stepping foot into the hotel was like setting foot on an alien planet. The first thing that hit me were the ears and tails many were wearing and occasional fursuiter that would hobble past the lobby. It was so amazing to see that many people doing something I could never imagine having the courage to do myself. And they were all treating it like it was no big deal! The second thing to hit me was how friendly and open and accepting everyone was. I was still dressed in my work clothes and, being very very shy, I wasn’t looking to talk to anyone. But there must have been something about me that yelled, “first timer”, because random furs would just come up to me and I got huggs and was talking to them in poorly delivered sentances. The best part of it all was that I could finally be me. And it was not only accepted but encouraged. My first convention experience overwhelmed my senses, and for as brief a time as I had, it wasn’t enough. There was just so much to see and do. Artwork, books and movies I had no idea even existed strewn out for display in the dealers den; panels on all manner of furry topics; and there was entertainment shows too! It was an amazing experience and I promised myself I’d go to as many as I could. And then I went to FC for the first time. I was still a new fur, but that was the convention that changed me forever. There were furs all over the place, all having fun, willing to let me join in (even though i was far too shy for that) and then there was FCTV. Oh my god. Nothing is better for an introvert than to watch the happenings downstairs from the safety of his room and then, as the need to experience it builds to a critical mass, going downstairs and seeing it first hand. Damn that was cool. In many ways, meeting furs in real life (and in those numbers) was life altering. Especially when you’re out walking the neighboring restaurants looking for food with a group of furs. Ten or twenty all piling into a McDonalds causing some poor overly pertinacious mundane wrapped up in their own interpretation of the world, unable to process our existence, causing him to warp his face into a “this cannot be!” look that’s just priceless. And the best part is, after they see us for a few moments, its clear that our group is perhaps better adjusted than any they will ever know. That always made me smile. And it seems to be a staple of the furry culture. We treat each other like family, or better (depending on your perspective of “family”). Its what I’ve seen religions try to peddle when they hand out little flyers with old 50’s style sketch-work on them. Only they promise it will happen someday in the distant future. I get that at every convention. Over the years and countless conventions I’ve attended, I have experienced more of an ideal world than I could ever have imagined. I still kick myself for having missed out when I was a bit younger (mostly because I was afraid to actually go to one). So, my advice to you is, find a FurCon and go to it. Each one has their own mood and feeling, but they are all experiences that I will treasure. Oh, and by the way, there are more FurCons than just FC and AC. There are dozens of cons scattered throughout the year. Try to poke around wikifur.com for the dates of something coming up near you. Find help from local furs to help get you there. Stay at the hotel over the weekend, if you can. Only now I can say, the experience is well worth it.
Current Mood: reflectful |
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WARNING: Political Discussion Ahead The high percentage of voters out there supporting McCain don't seem to know much about his history or his positions. His nebulous and constantly flip-flopping ways actually help him keep everyone guessing what he's for or against. These people are not willing to spend a lot of time thinking about the man, his positions, or what will happen if he actually is elected. It is these same people that don't associate bush with McCain as "the same" and they hear rumors and innuendo about Obama on a regular enough basis to actually believe them no matter how ridiculous. I've talked to a few and they honestly tried to argue he's a secret Muslim born in another country that doesn't care about wounded troops and who wants only to be the worlds #1 liberal, raising taxes for all and to turn America into a socialist state. And you know what, if confronted with factual statements and arguments to the contrary they withdrawal but they don't abandon their positions. Right now it's like arguing to a bunch of people who believe the world is flat (in the days since actually going to the moon), and no matter how much evidence you show them, no matter what you try to argue, nothing gets through. So are these people acting on blind faith? 
McPope
Do they actually believe that McCain will be different from Bush in any kind of meaningful way? Do they at least believe in McCain's positions, or him as a person? If these people ARE acting on blind faith, that poses a big problem. Faith can't be reasoned with. You can't disprove faith. And even when your about to die as a direct consequence of a false belief in something, faith endures to the end. That's a powerful thing, both beautiful and deadly. And if that's why people still support McCain after all of his revealings so-far, that's going to make it hard to win any ground there. But what I think is actually showing here is that many of the people McCain is calling supporters are simply afraid of Obama, even though many of those would actually stand to benefit from his positions directly and in-directly. These people don't invest time or thought into politics and may nebulously pick-up who's better and who's worse without opening a newspaper or turning on a political show. They get their opinion by following the pack around them, who are bunches of the same like-minded people. They aren't the type to have a lot to argue about intelligently, and can't defend against the blatantly untrue statements made against Obama. Even if they were leaning toward Obama, the battle is being lost in that fickle group. I think the debates, and probably most importantly the first one, will make or break that demographic. Right now they don't care so much for their political position. It isn't time to make up their minds and they're not interested in "supporting" any side strongly. The bulk of their political positions are probably coming from short off-hand comments about one candidate or the other. If Obama wants to rack up poll points from this demographic (which I fear is much larger than I want to admit) before the debates, he needs a simple talking point that can be said in a few short words (even when paraphrased badly) that is recognized as true by just about everyone and that works to his favor. Something like an accomplishment that is uniquely his and puts the throw-down on anything McCain has done before. You'll have to use your imagination on what that could be. Maybe if Obama brokered an arrangement (acting as a senator) that helped the economy in some way? Perhaps by leveraging his huge support overseas to entice world leaders to make a deal with the US Senate? Anyhow, I can only hope that these people are not acting on blind faith in the GOP because the only way to win against blind faith is direct and unavoidable exposure to reality. Unfortunately, as it turns out, reality is pretty avoidable. Current Mood: contemplative |
| » FurHouse Housewarming Party |
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This past weekend me and my roommate Rain Hopper hosted a housewarming party on a whim. It was a major ordeal to pull everything together in the final week with the house not even completely furnished yet. Based on the responses we were getting we estimated that about 20 people would show. It turned out to be something more like 30.
The party was hugely successful though. Although we had bought way too much to drink (all non-alcoholic drinks, sodas, juices, fruit punch, etc.) we were able to provide for just about everyone who came.
The big hit at the party was our Entertainment Room, now dubbed the Theater. Earlier that week that room was totally empty and within a few days we had found the perfect couch, got the sound system configured and set (big thanks to Kips for helping), and filled the empty space of the room with bean bags and a few plush and drink holders. It was great. It was like a cross between a retro living room and a up and professional theater with surround sound.
We started by playing XBox 360 games in high definition on a 100'' diag. screen. As the night progressed, we watched movies and cartoons of various types. And although it seemed loud enough to wake the dead from the inside of the room, you could barely hear it once you closed the door. That's some excellent insulation.
The rest of the party was outside the Theater and they had a blast just talking and drawing and rejoicing in the food and drink. We had chicken, pizza, subway sandwiches, corndogs, and lots more. For desert there were 3 kinds of pie, cheesecake, and plain old junk food.
That party lasted until 3am when most finally dragged themselves out and back to their homes. A few stayed overnight. A few overdid it and had to stay and one had a flat tire.
Truly it was a blast.
Me and Rain are planning on doing it again. But we want to be careful not to compete with the hugely popular and regular PS party nearby.
May. 29th, 2006 @ 10:17 am
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| » CaliFur 2006 |
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This year I got to play a part in making the conbook. And, for any of those contributors that gave pieces and are reading this, thank you. The conbook was a big success and everyone loved it.
I especially want to thank CyberBear who helped me with the layout and the printing process.
It was certainly an adventure putting that thing together. One I probably should have recorded better so I could make a decent journal entry that people might find entertaining. But, oh well.
May. 8th, 2006 @ 10:14 am
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| » I almost had a car accident with the CEO of Disney |
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Ok, I know I'm not supposed to be proud of the fact I almost rear-ended the CEO of Disney while he was driving his 1.2 million dollar car, but I can't help it because it was the most perfect end to my week.
The last week and change has been jam packed so tight that I was only getting 2 hours of sleep and I still couldn't get it all done.
The week started with drama carried over from before as my soon to be roommate needed a place to stay and the house we were getting was not yet vacated. After some amazing negotiations between Pawfan and the people living there, my roommate Rain was able to sleep there before the handoff was complete. This saved Rain's butt as hotel costs were in the range of about 80$ a day.
While all that was shaping out and worrying me half to death I was working on the Con book driving all over Orange County to pickup artwork on CD and acting like a m
Over the weekend, me and Cyberbear were going to get together to finish it up and I was going to spend a chunk of my morning trying to furnish the now vacated house. So I got started early and went around to lots of different places finding nothing but crappy furniture or overly expensive furniture. But then we found one place that made and sold sofas. We were very pleasantly surprised that we found we could get custom made furniture (custom as is our own design, not just re-skinned) for dirt dirt cheap. It was a great find that I didn't think we'd find anywhere else, but then we found one place that was willing to sell us a dining room table, entertainment center stand, a bed and more for dirt cheap as well. The only condition was that we needed to pick it up and take it over right then.
So I did. We loaded it up and headed out and everything went ok. But what that little excursion cost me was time. I was now late to meet up with Cyberbear.
So I tore down the freeway trying to get there in time. About a half-hour to an hour in, I realized I had not brought my laptop nor any of the new artwork from the artists. There was no choice I had to go back. I decided I was taking too long so as soon as I got my laptop I tried beaming Cyberbear the files (which took forever) and then I tore back down the freeway to San Diego. Roughly a 2 hour drive.
We worked all night on the conbook. Well past mine and cyber's bed time. And, at about 3am, we finished well enough to let it go to the printer. This gave Cyberbear a full 2 hours before he had to get ready for work. I wasn't doing much better having been up since 7am the morning before. So on the 2 hour drive back, I decided I was too dangerous on the road and I pulled over for 2 hours. I thought it was a nap, but after that I went back and it quickly became obvious that it was going to be my full night's rest for the day.
I did another full day dropping off the conbook and furnishing the house even more. By the end of which I was so exhausted I was almost delirious. But running out of time I tried one last trip for supplies when, driving on Ball (the street directly behind Disneyland and one of my cross streets for the new house) I almost rear ended a car as I lapsed into unconsciousness for about a second. I stopped myself and gave the car in front some distance. I wouldn't have thought anything of it except "too tired, must go home" but my roommate who was in the car noticed that it was a MayBach. Roughly a 1.2 million dollar car. The license plate read simply, "TDC CEO".
I said, "What do you think that stands for?" and Rain replied, "Uh, The Disney Company?" I was lucid enough at that point to whip out my digital camera and hand it to Rain Hopper who took a short little movie of the car. Needless to say, after that I handed the keys over to Rain and had him drive me home.
May. 3rd, 2006 @ 05:14 pm
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| » Busy little wolf |
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This is it; Hell Week. Last week was so hectic I didn't get a chance to post anything. This week is going to be worse.
But I'm not complaining. I like being needed and I like helping out. So having a hundred things to do doesn't bother me. Not being able to finish things that are important bother me. And when you have a hundred things going on at once, its real easy to loose something you would have rather kept.
The CaliFur convention is coming up real soon and I've been so busy with the new house and moving that I haven't worked too much on it. Thankfully I have Cyber Bear, who bailed me out last week by working on most of the designs. I get to pay him back this week by finishing it out with him.
The Furry Magazine has also been rather important to me. Although most of the time spent on it last week was on what I call, "Back End Stuff". Given we're waiting for articles to be finished and content to be submitted, the pressure was off the critical path stuff. Instead I worked on two website designs and a content management system for the staff. The bank stuff for the company itself was just a footnote of the week.
That's a lot. And there's a lot of detail I left out. But those are not the only things I did. There's one story still in development and it may crescendo into a climax. So, instead of telling you what I know so far, I'll wait until next time.
Anyway, this busy little wolf has to get back to work lest he get fired.
Apr. 24th, 2006 @ 01:20 pm
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| » Magic Mountain Furmeet |
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Sunday I had a promise to keep and I was going to keep it if it killed me. That promise was to go to Magic Mountain with some very special SoCal Furs. hehe, some promises can be fun to keep ;P
Anyway, it was funny because I got there two hours late and I spent it circling the park looking for anyone I could remember. I stopped random Six Flags workers and asked if they saw anyone with ears and tails go by. They looked at me like I was crazy and said "No".
I was honestly about to give up and leave when I got a call from Kitty who told me that they had car trouble and were just now approaching. By then it was four hours from opening and I realized that the whole crew was 2 hours behind me!
Well, we met up and had a lot of fun. And kitty got to ride her first REAL modern roller-coaster.
Check it out.
http://photobucket.com/g183/Waggs-Wolf/
Apr. 10th, 2006 @ 04:58 pm
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| » Fur from home... |
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Saturday morning sucked.
I've been helping a couple fur, Rain Hopper and Pawfan, find a place to live now that he's in Southern California having moved here from back east. Right now he's stuck in hotels so me and his other friends have been concerned with how much money he was spending. We knew he had to find a place to move fast.
On Wednesday he found a place that looked really good and asked me to come out to see. I did. And by chance the cleaning crew was there. We asked permission to go take a look around because we were supposed to have been able to do it earlier but Rain couldn't get there in time. The people cleaning said it was ok and so we went in and took a good look around. It needed a lot of work, but the design had a lot of promise. The neighborhood too was quite nice. And the price was low. I fell in love with the place myself and offered to sign on it and move in with the others.
We had a rescheduled appointment to meet up with the guy on Saturday and so we went to go see him and discuss options. The guy took one at me and Pawfan (Rain was at work) and his whole attitude changed. It was hard to get him to talk to us and it seemed like we were getting the brush off.
We tried to ask for details about renting or even possibly buying the place and he told us to call him back in a half-hour. It sounded like a brush off but eventually we drove off and called him back. When we called back it seemed he didn't want to talk to us at all. He wouldn't give us any details of the property. I called him back and left a message about the property, but he didn't call back.
The next morning I got a call from him and he had a totally different attitude. He was upbeat, talkative and communicative. And then I told him who I was, and it changed right back to Mr. Jerk. That's when I knew for certain he was a racist.
And that's what sucks. I find a place I can afford to move into (California is crazy-nuts on the housing costs where you can get a home for 600k you can find elsewhere in the country for about 20k) and the guy who I have to do business with is damn racist! Argh!
I spent a few hours driving around the city looking for other places and couldn't find anything. Not only does it suck for me, but it's actually hurting Rain Hopper.
*sighes* I guess I'll keep looking.
Apr. 9th, 2006 @ 08:38 am
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| » Furry Magazine... the adventure. |
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I've been gone for quite a long time. Not to some distant land and not from the net. I've been on an adventure ever since 2 the Ranting Gryphon proposed to me the idea of starting a Furry Magazine.
Its not your typical adventure. Its an adventure to a place that, at least for me, is totally new. It gives me a chance to serve the furry populace in its entirety.
For a while now, I've been itching to help the community at large with something that would give a little back to community. Not being an artist or an author, I needed something else. I just didn't know what.
Then 2 came by and proposed this idea for a Furry Magazine that was targeted at being the furry information center. No porn or other fringe stuff. Just the very lifestyle of furry itself and all the facets there-of.
I have never been a publisher myself, but I had a good idea what to expect. And I knew enough to know it wasn't going to be easy.
But I said 'Yes' and now I'm on a hell of a ride. Its a little like running a marathon race over an obstacle course where you both have to make it to the finish and get there before the hour is up. Its tough. It takes away from most of my spare moments. And those moments I do get are usually spent in a exhausted stupor.
But for however hard it has been, I'm loving it.
Mar. 27th, 2006 @ 11:12 pm
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| » PPMP Rocked! |
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PPMP "The Horror" was a blast I don't think I will have again for quite some time. I highly recommend it.
That said, don't fly United during crying baby season.
Anyway, here are the pictures and a few low-res videos from the convention.
http://photobucket.com/albums/g183/Waggs-Wolf/
Mar. 21st, 2006 @ 05:44 pm
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| » The flight from hell... |
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I'm back from PPMP. That's a good con. There's nothing like a few hundred furs bouncing around giving some guests a full-time "Disney" experience and freaking the crap out of others.
This is how it all started. I was finishing up the last day of the con by hanging out in the hotel lobby when a group of British tourists checked in. One woman in the group, in her 20's I would guess, staggered down the lobby walkway and then stopped cold. She screamed at the top of her lungs loud enough to wake the people in the top floor of the tower outside and she jumped back and curled up in fear. The furs and I looked at each other wondering what the hell could have freaked her out when she said, "What the HELL is that!?" directing her gaze at Laughing Hyena in full fursuit.
It was funny at first, but then as she continued to cower and avoided the big eyed smile of the fursuit as if he were death itself, it didn't seem that funny anymore. She was honestly scared to death. Her friends had to about drag her through the lobby out to the hotel rooms behind.
It was just a funny and disturbing moment that gave this year's theme of "The Horror" a new meaning for at least one hotel guest. Little did I know that I myself would experience a horror of my own. A small memento to follow me home from the convention.
The night went on until I finally had to excuse myself to leave for the airport shuttle which, for some reason had scheduled me to be picked up at 3am for a 7am flight. I cursed at that a little but figured, I'd just catch my sleep when I got to the airport.
The shuttle arrived a few minutes late but I didn't notice too much given I was sleeping where I stood having been up for the whole convention day prior. I loaded my gear into the van and it took off. I figured I'd take a little nap in the van but the driver kept talking to me to fill his time. We stopped and picked up two other guests from other hotels and with the larger audience they just talked louder as if to try to fill up the eerily empty streets with something other than the sound of nothing.
We arrived at the airport and I checked in. I found it immediately odd that the airport was so packed at 3 in the morning. But I dismissed it and head out for my gate. It must have been a half-mile of walking, unpacking, standing in spread eagle position, and re-packing and more walking before I finally got there. By then I was hungry, thirsty, and extremely tired. And although the airport had as many people as I've seen mid-day racing down the walkway, not a single restaurant or store within sight was open.
I was too tired to care. I just needed some sleep. I tried not to think about my hunger or thirst. So I straddled some airport seats to try to catch a quick nap. But I quickly found the seats were designed by evil corporate managers to have hard sharp metal armrests that jab you in the back and sink into your flesh when you try to lay across them. I tried using my jacket to cushion it and it was just no good. But even as I laid there, too tired to let the shooting pain in my back dissuade me from sleeping the TVs came on.
"CNN Headline News Late Breaking Stories" blasted loud enough to shut out the flight announcements that would occasionally boom throughout the airport. And since that day was the anniversary of 3 years in Iraq, the news covered nothing but action packed scenes from Iraq with bombs going off and bullets shooting and quotes from Bush. It was like rusty nails being hammered into my ears, as if the metal spike in my back was not enough.
I tossed and turned trying to find a spot that didn't hurt so bad in hopes sleep could overcome all that was holding it back. But to add insult to injury, once the news of Iraq had finally ended, the only other thing they could think to talk about was, "And now our continuing series on Sleep Deprivation..." where they continued on to describe in detail how all my organs would eventually fail because I hadn't slept enough. I prayed for anything else to come on so I could try to shut out the worry creeping into my consciousness causing my concerns to pace back and forth inside my head. And that's when the news repeated starting again with Iraq and visuals of bombs, bullets, and Bush.
I knew then that I was in hell.
The hours passed like a LJ journal entry that wouldn't end, but finally they called for boarding. I collected my gear and dragged them to the back of the line which wrapped around the gate entrance and out into the airport walkway. Apparently I could no longer move as fast as everyone else. "That's alright." I thought to myself, "I'll just catch my sleep on the flight itself." I looked at the ticket proud that I had landed a window seat where I could shut the window and rest.
As I stood out there I heard them announce that people with baby carriages were invited to board first. I stood in horror as half the line I was in, got out of line, and proceeded to board. By the time they had finished boarding, I found myself at the front of the line. I gulped a dry knot in my throat as I handed the attendant my ticket and proceeded to board. I was thirsty, hungry, and unbelievably tired.
"My luck can't be that bad." I thought to myself. "With all the things that have gone wrong, I should get lucky at least once." It was an unanswered prayer because as I shuffled down the thin isle between the rows of seats what I saw horrified me.
The front of the plane was empty, the back of the plane was empty and the middle of the plane was packed with nothing else but kids of various ages below five and there trapped against the window was a single bare seat. I looked at my ticket with a hand that shook as if I had Parkinson's and there on my ticket was an unmistakable, "Seat: 18A".
I chuckled, that kind of chuckle you get when you realize your life is reenacting a poorly written sitcom. But then the funny went away as I loaded my bag in the overhead compartment and took my seat behind a kid standing on the airport seat as if it were a stool wearing a T-Shirt with "Fear Factor Live" advertised in bright yellow. I tried not to think it, but I did anyway, "I'm in hell."
And as I took my seat and the sound of the buckle clicked in my ears like the way a revolver chamber of a gun must do before you get executed, the seat was kicked forward and a whine of a young pissed off kid echoed in my ears and that distinctly foul sour milk vomit smell blew past my nose.
My eyes must have been bloodshot but they started to water with tears in the knowledge that I wouldn't get any sleep on that flight because I knew exactly what it would be like. Because, it was the flight from hell.
Mar. 21st, 2006 @ 09:15 am
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| » Fur House |
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Today I head off for PPMP in thrilling Orlando Florida (that's PawPet MegaPlex for the uninitiated). But my mind is not really on the trip or even the FurCon I planed to enjoy while out there.
What I'm spending my time thinking about is a few furs looking for a place to live near where I live. They're looking to start a new Fur House where they and anyone else who'll contribute will be welcome to live.
Moving is never easy. And if you're moving to Orange or LA County, like these furs, it can be downright shocking how much rent costs. So the challenge I'm being faced with is finding a place that a few furs can live for a long time with the traditional "crap wages" we tend to get.
I've already been looking for days. Even spent some time driving around Torrance and Garden Grove (two areas of interest) looking for more. But I'm not a realtor and I fear that I might not be able to finish in time.
If I don't get a place for them by the start of April, it could spell financial doom for at least one of my new friends.
And that's something I'm not about to let happen.
Mar. 15th, 2006 @ 09:49 am
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| » Pictures! |
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For any who might be interested, I recently posted the pictures from several furry events for all to see.
There are no thumbnails as of yet, and each picture is around 1.5 megs, but if you have the bandwidth or wanted to see some of these events it's available.
http://www.transfur.com/waggs/pictures
Events:
FC 2006
High Desert Fur Meet 2-4-06
Universal Studios Fur Meet 12-10-05
And more to come later.
Feb. 20th, 2006 @ 09:29 am
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| » Helping till it hurts... |
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Ouch.. Forgive me if this entry is a little screwed up but I'm still hung over from last night/morning's help a fur in need-a-thon.
I'm not bitching, I'm actually pretty proud. You see, in the past 24 hours I've driven over 300 miles all over Southern California, I've helped a total a four furs find joy for their valentines day holiday, and I partied long enough for my body to kick itself in the ass till it hurts. And I loved every moment of it.
There are people out there that'll tell you to give and be the beacon of your little community. But when they encourage it, they make sure everyone knows their giving and they announce it like they're trying to drum up support for the most giving egotistical person award. You also get people that say that giving is a responsibility of those that have something more than someone else.
I'm neither. I believe that giving should be done for its own reasons. You give to help someone. Period. Not for praise, not so that they'll like you, and not so that you'll like yourself. Give when someone you actually care about could actually use some help. And when you do give, if at all possible, make it as anonymous as you can. Expect NOTHING in return. The best giving person will be like lady luck. She can be sweet, but everyone knows that her cycles are more hay-wire than a bi-polar speed addict. She can turn bitch so fast you'd swear she has multiple personality disorder.
People need to make their own lives. If you help them too much, you end up hurting them. That why the best way to help someone is to make them believe they're not being helped at all.
Why am I even putting all this down at all? Well, I had fun and this is my day. And, me being the way I am, I'm half afraid if I don't at least write it down somewhere I'll forget it myself. Besides, I know no one reads this journal, and even if they do, is not like I can hide it. Hell, I drove four furs around. They saw me, talked to me, watched my little in-drive movies on my iPod. Can't hide this one.
Er... uh, I knew I was planning to say what happened; I just sort-of went on a tangent. Sorry.
So anyway, down here in Orange County California we have this furry get-together every month or so near where I live and this time the theme was going to be Valentine's day. I thought it was important to get as many furs together as possible for this get-together, especially today. So when somefur posted on the message board that they needed a ride, I thought it was only right that I let them know that if they couldn't find a ride that I'd do it for them.
Well, one thing led to another and next thing I know I'm suddenly scheduled to drive several furs from several corners of LA and Orange County. The only problem was their distance from each other and they all had to be at the same party at the same time. I did the math and it turned out each fur would spend about an hour to an hour and a half in the car at a time. So I planned ahead and loaded my iPod with the latest season of Drawn Together and bought one of those CD to Stereo cassette tapes so I could play it on my car's sound system.
We had a blast the whole way up and back. Oh, I didn't actually watch myself. I was driving, after all. But I could hear it and everyone else laugh. I just played it over in my mind as I drove. Probably shouldn't have gone that far though as I kept missing my turn-offs. I didn't get back until 4:30am which would make it a 21 hour day for me. I'm getting old, I can't do those kinds of hours anymore. But I sure loved trying.
*phew* Well, I got that load off my chest. This had to of been the best fur party I've been to in years, and most of the best stuff didn't even happen at the party. I'm glad to of helped out so much to those furs, but if the pounding of my head is any indication, I'll think I'll have to tone it back a bit next time.
Feb. 12th, 2006 @ 02:25 pm
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| » Bee sting |
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Today I found out I'm not allergic to bees by getting a real world test, directly to my face.
The story is simple; Out walking the dog. Dog sees some fuzzy critter run for a bush. Dog runs for the bush. Out of the bush comes a tiny cloud of insects. Tiny insects circle dog. Dog and owner are chased away batting invisible heat seeking pigmi darts zapping at every exposed area.
Even fur was no defense against these bastards.
Bee stings happen, and although it does suck, that's not what concerns me. Its these new Africanized bees that have been invading the U.S. recently. Have you heard about these? These bees freely cross our border and start to "infect" our european bees and all of a sudden, these every day honey bees become mean mothers.
They wont just sting you if you get close to a hive or if you disturb it, they'll attack if you so much as look at one funny or if you happen to be in the way when one goes by. And if you're targeted by one, and there are others near-by, they'll come out after you in force. Soon you'll have the whole buzz light-year brigade after your ass to sting you to infinity and beyond.
What the hell could be affecting our bees so much that they become little kamikaze nazis? Is there some reincarnation of hitler buzzing around trying to start Bug War 3? Are they just pissed off about Bush's international policy?
Whatever the reason, something needs to be done about these things. Someone needs to find out exactly why european bees are so easy to insight hatred in and why they don't like us so we can stop more attacks from happening.
Feb. 5th, 2006 @ 03:51 pm
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| » First Post |
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The first-time is almost always the worst time, so I'm going to keep this short.
Hi.
Is that short enough?
Jan. 28th, 2006 @ 11:36 am
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waggs_wolf's journal