Sandrine

FCN is going to be out in goddamn Novi next year. That's it, I'm learning how to drive.

I...don't have much else to say. My life's been one big pile o' crazy these past couple weeks, leaving me with little time for recreational pursuits. It seems to have calmed down now, so soon there shall be Art!

Finally, I am on the FurAffinity. Check it out.

Well, despite my original intentions of being a Stealth Fur, I seem to be rapidly becoming a Militant Fur. Figures.

The problem is that anytime furries come up in conversation, as they do, I am unable to resist the urge to point out misconceptions and set people straight. This happened at my last house meeting. As a result, the meeting minutes contain the words, "NEWSFLASH: FURRIES=STAR TREK." Just like that, bolded and italicized and everything. What I actually said was something akin to, "It's a fandom, like Star Trek."

A similar thing happened last week, when I was hanging out with my fiancé, one of his housmates, and her boyfriend. That guy and I got into it, he flat-out asked me if I was a furry, and because things had gotten somewhat heated by that point, I shouted, "YES!"

...And then I half-covered my face in embarrassment. Then the guy's girlfriend reached over and skritched me. That's the part I find confusing, because it seems like such an oddly specific gesture (and this was definitely a skritch, not a reassuring pat or anything), yet she claims not to be a furry herself. I dunno. At any rate, it was sweet of her.

So I've been reading my way through the Something Positive archives. Things were looking good. Then I came to this strip.

Sigh.

I have returned!

The con was fantastic. When I first arrived, I was alone in the middle of a crowd, which is never a good situation for a socially inept beast such as myself. After awhile, though, I fell in with a group of people that included Echo, Slade, Sushikitten, Kat Drakon, RedAurora, and some others whose names unfortunately escape me. I attended panels on convention etiquette and fursuit design, played some Rock Band, and drew a few pictures. Around five p.m., my stomach politely informed me that I had not consumed anything that day but a bagel and a chocolate croissant, and that had been six hours prior, and therefore it was going to start digesting its own lining, if that was okay with me. It wasn't, so I ordered pizza.

After stuffing my face, I went for a swim, and then I went to see the variety show. I saw a fox fursuiter lip-synching to what I believe was an Elton John song (he had one of those fursuits where the jaw moves), Branwyn singing a song that he'd written, Nightclaw swinging a pair of fluorescent green balls around, and puppets doing various things.

Later that night came the Friday Night Flailing. Before the dance started, a bunch of us were waiting in the hallway, and the people getting things ready in the ballroom played "Still Alive" to test the sound equipment. What resulted was the dorkiest singalong I have ever been a part of. They let us in shortly after. Branywyn was DJing for the first hour, playing "furry-themed rock," which included "The Bad Touch" by the Bloodhound Gang, "Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me," and that Metallica song about the werewolves. Over the years, I've found that the key to having fun at dances is to be as unselfconscious as possible, and at this particular dance, I was the most uninhibited I've ever been. I jumped, spun, strutted, pelvic-thrusted, air-guitared, swung my tail around, and all manner of other things. After Branwyn's set ended, they kicked us out so that they could prepare the lasers for the next segment of the dance. I was tired and sweaty by that point, so I headed back to the room I was sharing with GreenReaper and another guy, showered, and went to bed.

On Saturday, I started off the day with a well-balanced breakfast, then sat down in the atrium to draw some more. I was soon joined by the group of friends I'd made the previous day. A couple of them put up signs advertising two-dollar sketches, so I did the same. Surprisingly, I actually sold one; Midway requested an otter, and when I asked him for something cool that the otter could be doing, one person suggested disco and another suggested diving into a pool. I asked Midway which he wanted, and he asked me to combine the two. The result was proclaimed "epic."

The day's other activities for me included more Rock Band, a panel on effective writing hosted by Uncle Kage, a viewing of Robin Hood, and stand-up comedy by Kage and 2 the Ranting Gryphon. 'Twas all very entertaining. At midnight there was another dance, this time with techno music and more of a rave atmosphere, complete with pretty lasers. I only hung around at this one for about half an hour, as I was tired and the music wasn't really my taste.

In the morning, as I was getting ready to leave, I realized that I didn't know where my coat was. I went to the front desk to see if anyone had turned it in; they hadn't. At that point, I looked out the window and saw that it was fucking snowing. I looked around the atrium a bit on the offchance that it was lying around. Having failed to find it, I did the best thing I could think of to keep warm, which was to put on all of the shirts I'd brought with me (five of them, mostly T-shirts). I'm still kind of pissed at myself. It's not just the coat I lost, either; my iPod was in one of the pockets.

Ah well. On a more cheerful note, you can check out all my cool fursuit pictures here.

All is in readiness for the con. Or, well, most. I haven't packed my bags yet, but my ears, tail, and conbadge are all made. Next time I post, I shall likely be at the hotel.

Unfortunately, I'll have to leave early on Sunday morning for brunch with my parents--it's my dad's birthday, and this is my opportunity to announce my engagement to them. I haven't told them yet because I've been waiting to see them in person. Anyway, at least most of the events I'm excited about are on Friday and Saturday, and my job will not prevent me from missing the opening ceremony.

A sentence I never thought I'd type:

Today I drew a really hot bobcat.

Today I was looking at a bunch of Ursula Vernon's art and I got the urge to draw some anthropomorphic animals other than my own fursona, so I did a character design for a comic I may or may not start drawing. This particular character's name is Zara, and she's an albino ball python. At this particular point it time, I don't think she'll end up being the comic's protagonist, but she's damn fun to draw. I've noticed a lot of people draw arms on anthropomorphic snakes, but in the interest of semi-realism, I gave mine a collar with a nifty pair of robot arms on it. This was mostly inspired by that one episode of Futurama where Beck's disembodied head used a similar pair of robot arms to hold a harmonica.

When I was a kid, our school would often have these assemblies where someone from a zoo would come and bring a bunch of neat animals to show us, and it seemed like they always had an albino python. I usually volunteered to go up and hold them, because even then I loved snakes. That's probably why Zara is an albino. As for why she's a ball python, specifically--I've known a few people who had those as pets, and they're really cute.

I really wish I had a scanner. I'll probably wind up going to one of the university computer labs around here to utilize one of theirs.

Last night I told my boyfriend I was a furry. His response was "I don't care," which was pretty much what I'd been hoping for. He didn't even know what furries were until a few weeks ago, and since he got it from me rather than CSI, he got the real definition rather than the skewed one. Last night, I explained the negative stigma placed on furries by the media, so he'd understand why I was a little hesitant about telling him. Still, he's indifferent, and he recognizes that as someone who used to LARP, he's in no position to cast aspersions on anyone else's hobbies.

I don't really plan on telling anybody else unless they ask. I don't live with my parents, so they don't need to know, and at this point I don't have any friends with a large enough stake in my life for this to affect them.

Furry webcomics.

There are so many of them.

Heaven, I'm in heaven....

Even before I got into the fandom, some of the nicest people I ever met on the internet were furries. As of yet, nobody has done anything to dispel that impression. Many thanks to the folks who've friended me so far, and to everyone who commented on my community posts with helpful links and words of goodwill.

On another note, it turns out there's a con happening in my hometown in April. If I've got nothing else going on that weekend, I will surely attend. I'll have to make myself some accessories within the next few weeks.

Since my first post was private and I intend to keep it that way, I suppose I should write up an introduction that can actually be read by people.

I'm a Turkish Van, which is a breed of cats known for liking water more than most. I'm very energetic and physical--my hobbies include swimming, running, hiking, and just about any other activity along those lines that isn't a competitive sport. I also enjoy books and music quite a lot. Generally, I'm pretty easygoing, but I can be aggressive when pushed. I love solitude and companionship in equal measure. I can be a little shy at first, but I warm up to people fairly easily.

So that's me. How 'bout you?