I have finally (and reluctantly) gotten a Facebook account. I have a personal account, which will likely have no updates on it. If you look at my history of posts here on FA, you'll see that I'm not much of a journal writer. If you want to send a friend request, please send me a note on FA or contact me on Skype.

I have also created a Facebook Page for Cirrus. It is here: https://www.facebook.com/CirrusSkyDragon That is more likely to be updated, but again, don't expect a lot of activity.

The real purpose for getting the account is to take charge of the RI Furs Facebook group and to be a part of the New England Furries/Therians group. The local furry events that I organize would benefit from the announcements I'll make there. Look for me on both groups.

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My last post was on February 1, so I haven't gotten around to talking about the conventions from this year.

  AnthroNewEngland was a blast! The staff did a great job with all of the events that weekend. No one expected the record-breaking attendance. The hotel was wonderful with some of the best staff I've experienced. I'm ready to come back in January.

Anthrocon this summer was great. I was able to meet more people than ever. The outdoor parade was a moment of magic for everyone involved and looks to be a new tradition. I almost didn't go because of a trip to Disneyland in California on the following weekend, but it was worth it to do the extended vacation.

  Furpocalypse is coming up in October. I'm really looking forward to that weekend.

The timing of Furpocalypse makes it possible for me to go to RI Comic-Con in the first weekend in November. The list of attending celebrities is huge and insane! I'm planning for a furry invasion to get a bunch of fursuiters from around New England and possibly do an impromptu parade in the outside hall of the convention center. Wish me luck.

Still too busy running   RhodeIslandFurs to update my own journals...

  Furpocalypse 2014 was awesome. IMO, it did still feel like Furfright, but that was a good thing. The torch has been passed, and I personally congratulated the staff for a great job on their first con.

I'm planning for   Furpocalypse 2015, but nothing has opened yet, i.e. hotel reservations and con registration.

  AnthroNewEngland is taking place in one month. I've been registered since last year and I'm excited for this one. I'm making plans to put myself onto other people's panels including one on how to make furmeets and a Furry Match Game panel. I'm still not certain who from Rhode Island is coming.

  Maltese_fur-con is coming back in August and I'm planning to go. They've learned from the last time, and it looks like it could work with a better location. I'm the defending second-place winner.

I'm going to make it to Anthrocon in July after all. (The "Viking Invasion" theme requires that dragons be there to fight them off...unless you subscribe to the HTTYD universe.) I've been given the okay at work to take two weeks off so I can fly from Pittsburgh straight to California so I can make it to Disneyland's 60th Anniversary. I'm part of a Disney fan club, and we have a convention that takes place in a hotel down the street from the park. (I was there for the 50th as well.)

I suck at updating my own account. As I've said before, there's not a whole lot of interesting furry things in my life so that's why I don't post to my account that often. (The  RhodeIslandFurs account on the other hand...)

Anyway, a quick rundown of convention stuff:

* Anthrocon 2014 was awesome as usual. As a Disney fan and collector, I was really happy to finally meet one of the Guests of Honor, voice actor Jim Cummings. Having been to AC before really helped in interacting with other attendees since I've met some of them before. My only two big complaints were that the events I wanted to attend alternated between the convention center and the hotel, so there was a lot of running back and forth and the ballroom events were scheduled around the dinner hours, so I had to bring bags of food into the hall.

* The Maltese Fur-con in August was an interesting experience. I referred to it as a minimalist convention because they had all the usual events (Opening/Closing Ceremonies, Dealer's Room, Talent Show, etc.) but almost no people were there. The choice of the hotel...It's a very nice hotel, but I still think it was the wrong hotel to get. However, interestingly, the location had an advantage: the use of local public transportation. There were many attendees who were there for their very first furry convention because they could take public transportation to get to this convention taking place "in their backyard" rather than driving two hours to get to Connecticut to attend FurFright. This is very good news for the organizers of Anthro New England which is taking place in Cambridge in February. Also, I think MFC gave the newbies a taste of what a larger convention is like, so that's good. The mystery theme was minimal and could have been more prominent. Participating in the mystery event was fun and actually made me think over the weekend, which was a good thing. And I did win second place. :) Overall, I think they did very well with what little they had and there's potential here, but there's no certainty right now if there is even going to be a second year.

* The Furpocalypse (2014) is coming this weekend. I'm so ready and excited for this. I'm attending for the whole time, arriving on Thursday and leaving on Monday. There aren't many panels I'll be going to. I'll volunteer again for the board game room, the fursuit games and possibly pre-registration on Thursday night. I'll be more visible this year because of...SCIENCE!

* I'm already pre-registered for Anthro New England and the hotel was booked months ago. I have high hopes for this one. I completely support the staff running this.

* Anthrocon 2015 is actually up in the air for me right now because the following weekend (July 17) will see the 60th Anniversary of Disneyland in California. As a Disney fan, it's one of those things that only happens once that you have to experience. I was there for the 50th (WOW!), so it would make sense to come back for the next major anniversary milestone. Theoretically, I could do both AC and DL, but that would be two consecutive vacations, and I would be completely draining my vacation time for the year.

As I've said before, I don't post to my FA journal because there's not much happening in my life that's furry related that I'm willing to share. Of course, I'm more active while managing the  RhodeIslandFurs account and running the group. However, I'm way overdue in mentioning my convention plans for this year.

I will be attending Anthrocon in July. It will be my second time there. I am sharing a room with some locals from Massachusetts. I'm planning to volunteer again with the registration line on Thursday. I'm really excited that voice-over actor Jim Cummings will be there as a Guest of Honor, and I'm trying to find anything from my Disney collection to have him sign. I've found out that there will be both a Disneyana panel and a dragon meet and greet, so you can find me at both of them.

After that, in the first weekend of August, I will be attending a new convention in Boston called The Maltese Furcon. The organizers are saying that this convention will have a mystery storyline running throughout the weekend with characters played by the staff and volunteers. Attendees can get involved by trying to solve the mystery. It's certainly an ambitious idea, and I'm willing to check it out and give them a chance. I've asked to volunteer with registration, but I've not heard back from them.

I'm also attending the replacement for FurFright, Furpocalypse, that is taking place on Halloween weekend in Connecticut. My room's booked and once again, I'm sharing it with locals. I'm planning to volunteer there as well, so you'll likely see me in the game room and at the fursuit games.

Finally, in February 2015, there's yet another new convention starting up called Anthro New England. Even though it is only June, they have already opened up registration and the hotel room block at the Hyatt in Cambridge, MA. I'm excited for the organizers of this one, and I'm willing to promote it and give my support to them.

This FurFright report is almost a month late, but I have to post this before I put it off even further.

I had a great time at FurFright 2013, it went better than I expected, and there were no fire alarms or hurricanes this year!

As the leader of the  RhodeIslandFurs, my plan going into FurFright was to contact those furries from Rhode Island who haven't had the chance to attend our local meets and network with the other furry groups in New England. I was able to find more Rhode Islanders at this convention and at RI Comic-Con that was held on the following weekend, so I hope that the increase in membership helps the group overall. On Friday, there was a meet and greet panel for New England Furs. I actually suggested the idea of the panel to  Xiris who is the organizer of the  Massfurs and  NewEnglandFurs FA groups. This panel went better than I anticipated and the attendance was more than I expected. It was rather informal and a little chaotic, but we passed along ideas for possible future events and shared contact information for each state. There have been more and more furries crossing state lines to attend events in the past year, so hopefully, the amount of activities will pick up in New England.

Also, I had more interactions with convention attendees than I did in the last two years. That's probably because of all the contacts I've made in Massachusetts and New England in the last year and also the fact that this was my third time at FurFright.

I stuck with my local group of Rhode Islanders quite a lot and I scheduled a lunch with them, but I did not anticipate that some people wanted to attend the car show that was running at the same time. Once we were somewhat organized, the group somehow got split up and half of them went to the wrong Friendly's restaurant. Oops. I don't know if I'll do that again next year.

The hotel room that I got was on the backside of the building, so every night I heard noise from the nearby highway on-ramp and the overnight service trucks. With that all that noise and the anticipation of a pulled fire alarm, I kept waking up every hour. Next year, I'm going to ask for a room on the third or fourth floor.

I had the opportunity to volunteer again. I was in the board game room, helped with the Fursuit Games and worked in the charity auction. I had quite a bit of downtime on Sunday, and the auction allowed me to add just enough hours to get free registration for next year. I'm not sure if I'll volunteer so much next time.

Speaking of the Fursuit Games, it went off really well this year. It seemed more organized and moved faster. The highlight for me was the end of the Musical Chairs competition when  Mizuhiro_Neko and pinch chair-runner  JTigerclaw both crashed right in front of me to fight over the final chair.

And speaking of JT, we all saw the surprise marriage proposal he staged for  Katalina during the Closing Ceremonies. I was sitting in the second row right behind their seats when it all went down. By coincidence, later that night, the two of them and their friends came into the same local restaurant that I went to, so I was able to congratulate them. I don't know them personally, but I'm so happy for them!

 Belicbear and his crew pulled off another great convention. There was some kind of vibe I sensed all weekend that everything was running smoothly and everyone was having a great time. I'm coming back again next year so I'll see you there!

I'm still alive. This is another overdue journal and my last one was posted in June. My explanation for why I don't post often comes down to three things: I'm too distracted by my online activities every night to type something up, I purposely choose to not post information about my personal life online, and I feel that my life is too boring for anyone to read about. These are the same reasons why I don't use social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.

All my furry activity comes from almost single-handedly running the  RhodeIslandFurs group. That is, I organize all of our events and manage the FA page. Fortunately, our membership has been increasing in the last few months. Hopefully, our attendance at FurFright will help get even more people to join us.

This past summer, I attended Anthrocon for the first time. I've wanted to attend at least one AC so I could experience it once in my life. I had so much fun there that I'm planning to go back next year. This con reaffirmed my position of being a fan of the Furry Fandom. I love the artists, personalities and characters that make up our fandom, and I was glad to finally meet some of them face-to-face after only having had online interactions with them, commissioning them or watching their FA journals. There was too much going on at once, so I unfortunately couldn't do and see everything. Pittsburgh is a wonderful, friendly city, and I'm glad I went there. Someone described it as Boston if it was surrounded by mountains.

I am attending my third  FurFright next weekend. I hope to volunteer in the board game room all weekend and for the fursuit games on Sunday morning. I will be attending a formal panel for the  NewEnglandFurs meet and greet on Friday after Opening Ceremonies. I am planning a lunch meet for the  RhodeIslandFurs on Saturday before the Fursuit Parade. Otherwise, I'll be roaming around the hotel the whole weekend. If you are also going to be there and if you get the chance, come say hi to me.

This is a long overdue journal since the last one was posted all the way back in November. My life is rather uneventful, so there's not much that happens to me that's Furry-related that I'm willing to talk about. That's really the big reason why I don't post on my own journal.

I'm the co-leader of the  RhodeIslandFurs. For a long time, I was just a meethost, but seeing that I have been able to continuously run and host my local furbowl every month and also arrange other furmeets, I was promoted a while back. The Rhode Island Furbowl has been running for over a year and is currently getting about twenty people to attend, even if some of those people are from Massachusetts. I'm in the process of setting up a variety of events for this summer.

For various reasons, I still do not have a fursuit...yet. I have a shortlist of about five suitmakers, with one standing out because of what this person has created in the past. I'm going to re-evaluate all five of them anyway. I'm not looking for quotes, but I have a general idea on the cost.

I'm going to attend Anthrocon 2013 next week. This will be my first AC. I registered as a Supersponsor, so I have a room at the Westin. I'm sharing it with several people over the weekend. I hope to meet some of the furries I've known from being online for the last few years. I hope to volunteer for the fursuit games and possibly help with Registration because not much happens on Wednesday and Thursday. Look for my dragon hat. If you're from Rhode Island, then you'll get a RI Furs flag badge from me if you can find me.

I'm also set to attend  FurFright 2013. I was able to grab a single-bed room at the Crowne Plaza before they sold out in about twenty minutes. I'm staying by myself unless I choose to share the room with any local furry that I can trust. I have discovered that the hotel can supply a visual fire alarm for me so I can be ready for FireFright 2013 at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning.


My parents and my brother know that I'm part of something called "Furry." I've explained to them that it's all about animal characters and the related artwork and stories, and they accept that because they know that I like cartoons. They also know that I'm the co-leader of a local group. However, I have not yet told them about my fursona and especially not about fursuits. They would think it's too weird for grown men and women to be running around in animal costumes (even though I would love to do the same thing). But I think I'll let my brother know about my fursona soon. He may get a kick out of it if I compare it to creating a character for a role playing game.

Let me get this out of the way first. I truly survived  FurFright 2012 because I slept through the fire alarm and evacuation.

In case you didn't hear, at about 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, someone decided to set off a fire extinguisher in a stairwell. After that, the alarms went off and everyone was evacuated out of the hotel. It's been jokingly referred to since as either FireFright, FireCon or the surprise block party.

For those who don't know me, I am hard of hearing so I wear hearing aids. I take them off while I sleep, so obviously, I can't hear as much with them off. I do remember waking up at that time and hearing some noise (the alarm in the hallway). However, being that I was barely awake and already hearing random noises from my room over the weekend (the fan in the bathroom, the heater, trucks outside, etc.), I figured that this must also be some random noise from the hotel or another room. The last thing on my mind was a fire alarm. So I went back to sleep. It was not until the morning when I found out that the alarm went off and everyone was out of the building for about an hour.

This seriously freaks me out because if this was a real fire, I would have been in trouble or possibly dead. There was a smoke detector in the room which did not go off because there was no smoke. There were no lights or other visual cues to indicate that the alarms in the hallway were going off. I brought this up with the con staff and the hotel staff. I spoke to a Maintenance manager who said that people did knock on the doors, which is probably what woke me up in the first place.

I'm still trying to find out if I was the only person left in the building.


Anyway, about the con itself. I had a good time, but I feel that my experience at last year's con, my very first, was better. A lot of this year's panels did not interest me. My plan to do some volunteering was cut short. I did get a spot for the fursuit games, but the board game room was already booked and the only available spots were after 1 a.m., which was much too late for me. So I had a lot of downtime and wandered around everywhere. I was glad to see and say hi to the locals in Rhode Island and Massachusetts that I already knew. I was fortunate to do some networking and find some more locals who were not aware of  RhodeIslandFurs's presence.

I want to give props to  BelicBear and the rest of the FurFright staff for pulling off a well-run con despite the fire alarm and the impending Hurricane Sandy that caused half of the attendees to disappear on Sunday. Congratulations on ten years! And BTW, the hockey jerseys were a great idea!

At the end of September, I took another solo trip to Walt Disney World. It was a rather interesting trip that could be described as a comedy of errors. What I mean is that there were many little things that I saw as missed opportunities or mistakes on my part. Despite those petty thoughts, I had a good time.

I did something that I've never done before when I'm at the Disney theme parks: I slept in! I usually wake up early and try to get to a park when it first opens so I can make the most of my park time. But I was really tired after the second day, and I came to a realization that I didn't need to be there at opening. Even after I arrived at the Magic Kingdom two hours after it opened and with a shortened day because of the Halloween party at night, I was still able to hit all the major attractions. That happened in every park, but being a solo traveler helps because you can go wherever and whenever you want and you're not dragging along other people with you.

I took some time out to meet  YuchiCoyote at her new position at the Big Top Souvenirs store in the Magic Kingdom. It just opened that week and it's a wonderfully themed place.

Monday, October 1, was the 30th anniversary of the opening of Epcot. It's always fun to be at any park on an anniversary date, and the events of the day were rather low-key. There was limited edition merchandise, some historical panels with Imagineers and a special ceremony commemorating the date.

Speaking of merchandise, I was able to buy the highly sought after Oswald rabbit ears! I thought they wouldn't be available for another month. Only two places in all of Walt Disney World had them, and they sold out quickly.

I took a one-day side trip to Universal Studios. Their rides are some of the best in Orlando. I liked the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It has tons of details and I love butterbeer, but the area is too small. Yes, it is just a land, but I feel that they could have done something bigger the first time. They are expanding the concept to the Universal Studios park itself, but that won't open for another three years.


As far as  FurFright, I'll arrive at the Crowne Plaza tomorrow afternoon. I'm volunteering again, so you can expect to see me at the fursuit games and the board gaming room and maybe somewhere else. The lineup of panels does not interest me as much as it did last year, so I'll probably be wandering around more and hopefully meeting more people. I'm leaving on Monday, so I'm staying for the whole convention. Look for my dragon hat, and I'll see you there!

I don't post journals often because I don't have a lot of eventful things happening in my life and I get too distracted to actually write anything. I've got a moment, so I might as well mention some things.


Back in July, I went to Worcester, MA, to attend the How to Train Your Dragon Live tour. The show is a technical marvel and was fun. I paid for a VIP package called "Meet the Dragons" where the highlight is a backstage tour including the opportunity to see the dragons up close, but I was disappointed with the package. There was a meet and greet session with the actors who play Hiccup and Astrid, but it was too short. They barely gave me any merchandise in the gift bag, and I had to buy the rest of the souvenirs myself. The backstage tour itself was rather lame, and when we finally got to the giant dragon puppets, our group only had about 5 to 10 minutes to take as many pictures as we could. Overall, I feel that the package was overpriced for what I got in return. If you do have the opportunity to get a VIP package, I'd prefer that you get the lesser "Dragon Trainer" package. I have a lot of pictures, but almost all of them came out blurry because my cameras are horrible with action shots and low light scenes. At the very least, I'll post a picture of Toothless and myself. (Interestingly, while I was there, I actually met a furry named  Karannia. Shout out!)


Also in July, I took a trip to Disneyland in California in order to attend a Disney convention as well. The convention was a day shorter than it usually runs, so I didn't have as much time in the parks as in the past. Our convention had a great lineup of guests, including Bill Farmer (voice of Goofy and Pluto) and Tony Anselmo (voice of Donald Duck), Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (the creators of Phineas and Ferb), legendary animator Glen Keane, several animators who worked on Aladdin, Marty Sklar (former President of Walt Disney Imagineering and 53-year veteran of the company) and Floyd Norman (retired animator and "Guest of OK" at Anthrocon 2008).

My aim for visiting the parks this time was to see all the new stuff, and the new additions to Disney California Adventure, Buena Vista Street and Cars Land, are incredible! These places show what Disney can do if they are willing to spend the money. Buena Vista Street gives the park's entrance a whole new vibe and energy. Cars Land is incredible, and they nailed every detail from Radiator Springs.

This was a solo trip, and while I have the freedom to go anywhere and do whatever I want, I always feel sad that no one is with me to experience all this. There were many times on this trip when I wished that members of my family or even some people in the Furry Fandom were with me so I could say to them, "Go here! Look at that! Meet this famous person!"


And I'm going to do it again very soon. This Wednesday, I'm leaving on a week-long trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. This is flat-out vacation time for me, and after this, I won't need to visit a Disney park for another three years. This particular trip coincides with the 30th anniversary of the opening of Epcot. (I was also there for the 25th.) I had hoped to use this trip as an opportunity to attend the Funday Pawpet Show in person, but  YappyFox is going to be away next weekend. I'll be hard to reach, but I can still get online with my phone.


When I come back, there's another RI Furbowl to run and then... FurFright 2012! See you all later!

I've had a bunch of things come up in the last week, so here's one journal with a couple of small updates.


FURFRIGHT WEEKEND
I was able to request more time off from work for later this year. I now officially have the days off for the entire weekend of  Furfright, and I've called the Crowne Plaza and extended my stay to cover Thursday night through Sunday night.


I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD! (Again.)
The other time off I requested was for another trip to Walt Disney World in Florida at the end of September. Yes, I already have a trip to Disneyland in California coming up next month, but this new trip is different. Both of these trips will cover my Disney park fix for the next two, maybe three years. Also, there's the possibility of arranging a visit to the Funday Pawpet Show. I'll need to talk to the right people and see if it's possible to coordinate schedules.


FURBOWLING LESSON
I've recently attended three different furbowls in a three-week period, and I've learned something, and it's not about how to bowl. Perhaps the most important thing to understand when running a furbowl is to keep a good relationship with the alley management. Don't be too pushy about your demands and respect that it is a business that needs to make money. I'm fortunate to have found a place that is open-minded and willing to allow fursuits on the lanes and let us stay a bit longer than the advertised time. However, as we get closer to the busy season in the fall, we need to be aware that other customers/parties want to use the alley as well and we'll have to stick to the advertised 90 minutes.


HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON TO SPEND MONEY
Speaking of bowling, I'm going to miss the opportunity to attend the next  MassFurBowl on July 14 because I've bought a VIP ticket to attend the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular tour in Worcester, MA. Yes, a VIP ticket is lot of money, but I've got second row seats, a bag of merchandise, a meet-and-greet with the cast and crew, and best of all, an up-close meeting with the dragons themselves. The downside is that no one will be able to come with me, so I'll have to take lots of pictures.


RISPCA MARVIN MEMORIAL WALK, 8/25
I've taken the opportunity to contact the RISPCA to find out how us  RhodeIslandFurs can donate to and participate in their annual Marvin Memorial Walk for the Animals taking place August 25. It's simply (and literally) a walk in the park. I need to see how we can arrange to collect money both online and offline. I'd love to see furries from outside of Rhode Island donate and participate as well. Also, it's an opportunity to hold a public furmeet and show off our charitable side. (Good furry press and all that.) I'd also love to see fursuiters come, but public fursuiting is obviously something that needs to be arranged ahead of time with the organizers, so a second or third E-mail will be needed. Here is the link to the online donation page. Nothing's been set up yet, but give it a week or so.

Last Saturday night saw the first Rhode Island Furbowl, organized by myself. While I don't have an exact count, I believe there were 19 or 20 people in attendance, including two fursuiters.

We in  RhodeIslandFurs have attended  MassFurBowl's events, and while we love the open invitation that we have, we just don't like the hour-and-a-half-long drive to Cape Cod. So I stepped up and volunteered to set up a local furbowl in Rhode Island.

Running the event was easy. The hardest part was finding an alley that would accommodate us. I went to about a dozen places and found one that not only worked for us with their facilities but also had a manager who was open-minded enough to allow fursuits on the lanes. So a lot of credit goes towards Marshall, the manager, and I called attention to him at the end of the night.

I was nervous because I wasn't sure how many people would show up and how people would act. I should not have worried. We had to make a good first impression, and we certainly did. Everything went very well and everyone had a great time.


Looking back, I have a few things to address for the next furbowl:

I need to make a better way to keep track of who attended and who paid for bowling. There were too many people coming and going, but the front desk helped out by letting me know how many in our group had paid. I should have printed out my spreadsheet instead of keeping it on my phone.

Based on suggestions, I'm going to move our lanes to the opposite end of the alley. While it was nice that we had the far end to ourselves and it was next to our changing room for the fursuiters, we still had to walk the length of the alley to get to everything. Next time, we'll be centrally located.

It looks like we'll have to establish a new food policy. While the food served at the alley was quite good, some people came into the event not trusting bowling alley food in general. They had to be convinced from others to find out if the food was okay. Some people even ordered out and got a pizza for themselves even though the alley already served pizza. Considering that the other parties in the alley that night brought their own food, I'm thinking that we can do the same. Next time, I'll make a note that you can bring your own food, but you are responsible for taking it away with you.


I'm hoping to run furbowls on the first or second Saturday of every month. I also hope that we get more people each time, possibly some to come on down from Massachusetts. Keep your eyes on the  RhodeIslandFurs page for any announcements. I'll see you all at the next meet!

The cancellation of my trip to Anthrocon this summer opened up the opportunity to once again take a trip that I've done before.

I'm a member of a group called the Disneyana Fan Club. As the name implies, we are fans of everything Disney. My local chapter has been around for almost ten years, but the national organization was founded in 1984. Every July, we hold a convention in a hotel down the street from Disneyland. For a few days, we have guest speakers, dinner events, in-park events and a "Show & Sale" where tons of Disney merchandise is available. Our special guests this year include Bill Farmer (voice of Goofy and Pluto), Marty Sklar (former president of Walt Disney Imagineering and 53-year veteran of the company), Susan Egan (voice of Megara in Hercules and the first Belle in Broadway's Beauty and the Beast), Margaret Kerry (original live action model for Tinker Bell (NOT Marilyn Monroe!)) and Floyd Norman (retired animator and "Guest of O.K." at Anthrocon 2008).

This will be my third trip to Disneyland. The first was in 2005 to coincide with the park's 50th anniversary, and the other was in 2009. I'm excited this time because this will be my first true vacation in three years and the construction at the Disney California Adventure park is just about done. I'll get to see the new Cars Land and Buena Vista Street areas and the World of Color nighttime show which was not there the last time.

In fact, Disney just released this video which pretty much describes my upcoming trip...

https://youtu.be/maJRy4wuPyo

Scratch that last journal. I had registered for Anthrocon 2012, but during Christmas, I found out that a cousin's wedding is taking place that same weekend. Family comes first, and this wedding is a big deal. I'm really disappointed that I'm not going to AC, and I had some interesting things that I had hoped to do. So now I'm waiting for my refund on registration to go through. Fortunately, that was as far as I got on planning this trip: No time off from work to re-negotiate, no airline tickets to cancel or carpooling commitments to break, and no hotel room to cancel.

Speaking of hotel rooms, I got caught up in the frenzy of recent news alerts, and I was able to book a room for FurFright 2012 at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, the same hotel that gave away my reserved room in 2011 and put me up in a Holiday Inn Express. (Yes, I'm still bitter about that, but hey, they gave me a two-night stay for free.) I wouldn't normally book something ten months in advance, but the opportunity presented itself to get in the main hotel. I just need to ask for the Friday of that weekend off from work.

Missing AC 2012 is actually going to open up another vacation opportunity for me next summer, so we'll see what happens.

Just as the title says, I've pre-registered for Anthrocon 2012. Now come the tasks of requesting the time off from work (shouldn't be a problem), finding a form of transportation (carpool from Rhode Island, anyone?) and getting a hotel room (yeah, good luck with that). If it turns out that I can't make it, then I can always get a refund.

I attended my first furry convention last weekend,  FurFright 2011. It's the only local convention in the area and one of the biggest in the world. And despite going alone, I had a really good time!

But the phrase that best describes how this trip started is "If it's not one thing, it's another."

I caught a cold at work on Thursday. Just the thing I didn't want to have happen: get sick. And this was before I left! I couldn't sleep at all on Thursday night, and I still had to get up early on Friday morning because I chose to not take that day off.

On Friday, I felt better even though I was dead tired. I left directly from work to drive to FurFright. From where I was, the GPS on my phone told me to drive west on the Mass Pike and then south into Connecticut. However, where I went to get onto the Pike was jammed...for several miles...for no reason at all. There were no accidents anywhere, and then the traffic immediately lightened up. Despite my lack of sleep from the night before, I was surprisingly not tired while driving. What should have taken close to two hours wound up becoming two hours and forty minutes to get to Cromwell.

I got to the Crowne Plaza just before 8 p.m. to check in. And guess what? Despite having a confirmed reservation from a month and a half ago with paperwork in hand, the front desk decided that since they were overbooked with so many people who kept coming in since Thursday, they chose to give my room away to someone else. Oh, I was pissed. To make up for it, they offered to put me in a Holiday Inn Express that was about 10-15 minutes away and pay for the two-night room themselves. Well, having to travel back and forth was inconvenient, but on the bright side, I saved over $200. (And I really could have said to someone, "No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.")

The reservation mix-up caused me to miss the Furpocalypse show, so I first wandered around for a while to get the layout of the hotel. Part of me was saying, "What the hell am I doing here?" because a furry convention is not something that I've been raised to experience. I'm not a partier or a drinker. I'm more of a listener than a conversationalist. Also, besides my local group of furries, I don't personally know anyone in the fandom...rather, I know who they are; they just don't know who I am.

My plan was to volunteer for the convention since I've heard that volunteering is a great way to meet people and the con staff, especially for your first con. My first job was to man the board game room because board gaming is one of my hobbies. It was mostly uneventful but fun and everyone was nice and friendly. I worked until about 1:30 a.m. so I could drive to the Holiday Inn to crash. (So much for the 6-2-1 rule.)

Saturday was a different story and when everything began to turn for the better. I was still fighting off sickness and a lack of sleep; however, I began attending panels. Despite not having a fursuit myself, I chose to attend  JD_Puppy's fursuiting panels. I love costumed performers and with my dream of getting a fursuit someday, any bit of advice helps. There were other panels I attended throughout the day, and I wandered around the hallways to kill time between them. The fursuit parade and the after-parade gathering was fun, but when you have so many suits together in the same place, they all tend to blend in and you lose track of who's who. The Masquerade was great and started off with a lot of energy, but it seemed to lose steam as it went on. I give my appreciation to all of the acts onstage. I went back to the board game room for a second night of volunteering, and I got more involved in playing games with others.

When Sunday morning came, there was one thing that I really wanted to be involved in: helping out at the Fursuit Games. I've always wanted to be a host or a referee. I poked my nose in and asked around, and I was finally able to volunteer. This was the most fun I had during the whole weekend, and I was getting tired just being involved on the sidelines. It also provided some of the surreal moments of the con for me. I was playing air guitar to Blur's "Song 2" while standing in the middle of a game of Musical Chairs being played by 40 grown men and women all wearing giant fuzzy animal costumes. Let that sink in for a moment...CRAZY! Thanks to all the fursuiters for a fun time!

I killed more time around the hotel and in the board game room until the Closing Ceremonies and the Dead Dog Party. Despite the fact that the convention came to a close, the energy was still there. I didn't plan to stick around, but I did just to see what would happen next. The Dead Dog was happy chaos with everyone just milling around, chatting, dancing, letting off steam, and of course, Wag's head shaving as a reward for us breaking the charity goal...to the tune of a hundred people singing "Bohemian Rhapsody."


FurFright was better than what I expected. Everyone was nice and friendly. I didn't witness any furcon horror stories. While I wasn't staying at the main hotel, I could tell that the staff had a fun time hosting us. (I saw them wearing ears at the front desk!) I want to once again thank  BelicBear and the rest of the con staff for pulling off a such wonderful event.

My only regret of the whole con is that I didn't meet more people. It's hard to meet someone when you don't know who they are or what they look like. To everyone who I did meet, I'm glad I did, and I hope that we stay in touch in some way. For those who were there that I didn't get the chance to see, I hope that we talk or meet up soon.

I had enough volunteer hours to get free registration for next year, so this dragon will see you all again at FF X!

I must be lucky today. I should go buy a Powerball ticket.

Last week, I attempted to book a room for FurFright. I wound up getting a room at the Super 8 down the street. I also went online to sign up for a waitlist at the Crowne Plaza, the main hotel.

Last night, on a whim, I decided to call the hotel directly this morning to ask about the waitlist and how it works. Instead, the person on the phone said they did not have a waitlist, and I'd have to check back often to see if something opens up. (The usual advice to get a room at a crowded hotel is to call back repeatedly and hope for a cancellation as you get closer to the event.) So, of course, while I'm on the phone with Reservations, I asked if anything was open. And he said yes.

*jaw drops*

Yes, yes, absolutely yes, I'd like to book a room!

So because of rather fortunate timing, I am now in the main hotel for FurFright!

Let this be a lesson to you all. For those of you without a room yet, there's still hope. I was starting to feel that it would be impossible to get this. I can only imagine how insane it'll be to get any room for Anthrocon next year.




Cirrus
(Feeling sky high!)

After a rather lengthy period of unemployment, I finally have a new job. All I'll say is that it pays very well, and I hope to be with the company for a long time.

I just finally received finished character art from  lennymutt. This new reference art and badge art are posted in my gallery as well as hers. I had been looking for someone who could improve upon my original artwork (which is also in my gallery) with the potential for using it towards making a suit, and I was referred to her. I'm so glad that she did this for me, and she did a wonderful job!

Because I've started a new job, I've had to cancel a trip to Walt Disney World and Orlando that was planned for late September, but this opened up a better chance to attend  FurFright this year. I'll be arriving on Friday night. I would love to show up earlier, but it's just not reasonable to take a day off after being on the job for just two months. I have pre-registered, but booking the hotel has been tricky about 45 days before the event. I've gotten a room at the Super 8 down the street, but I'm also hoping that someone cancels at the Crowne Plaza. Since everything appears to be booked solid both inside and outside of the room block, it doesn't seem likely. I'll keep you all updated.

As I mentioned in my profile, I'm not a blogger or someone who would tend to keep a journal, but in the last few weeks since joining FA, I thought about something, and I'd love to tell you all about it.

Before I finally decided to join the fandom in the summer of 2009, I actually spent a few years lurking...well, pretty much everywhere. I call it when I was "outside of the outer circle." I've watched many videos on YouTube, viewed pictures and artwork, and read journals and message board posts. Through all of this, I became a fan of the fandom and then later chose to join it.

But I've barely done anything in these last two years for various reasons. The only thing I've done of any significance has been being a member of the audience of the Funday Pawpet Show every Sunday night. I know a lot about who you all are, but I still consider myself a newbie in the eyes of the fandom.

It was only in the last several months that I finally got around to setting up various accounts and making more contact with others. After I set up this FA account, I took my list of subscriptions from my YouTube account and set up a massive list of watches for about seventy people. I figured that this would just be something to fill up my account and get some activity going and not much would come from it.

But then the messages started coming in right away. Not only have I gotten kind notes from people who are in the FPS audience, but also from people whom I've admired over the years who don't really know who I am. And a few of you have even added me to your watch lists.

All this attention for me? Little ol' me? Why, I'm a nobody. I'm not an artist. I'm not a fursuiter (yet). I haven't been to any conventions so far. I'm just another face in the crowd.

Yet here are these people who were nice enough to take a moment to send me a simple "Thank you for the watch" or a "Welcome!" message.

I know that the fandom is a very friendly group, and it really shows in your responses to me. It's been said that the members of the Furry Fandom are fans of each other, and it's true. If you are on my watch list right now, then either you know me from the FPS audience or you are someone who I have been a fan of for a long time.

I want to say to the fandom at large that I thank you so much for the warm welcomes. I really appreciate those of you who took the time to reach out to me, even with a simple note. In a small way, you've made me feel special.