TMNT-Raph-fan

Hey Guys!

It seems I only like to make journal updates about every year. So, here I am again!

I re-read a few of my past journal updates and I feel like I tend to make promises I don't keep in these. Not on purpose. I just tend to lose inspiration for one thing or gain it even stronger for a different thing. Point is, for this update I'm going to stick to current projects and motivations, and not try to predict the future.

Starting off, I have officially left my day job. During the time I was away from the job, I and my therapist saw a huge improvement in my mental health, and we both agreed that returning to the job would have likely reversed most of the progress I've made. I will always be grateful for everything the job and the people there have done for me, however, because it wasn't the career I had hoped for myself, it felt very much like a dead end. I am currently very active in my job search for something in the animation industry and that is going to remain my number one priority until I succeed.

I have also made some lifestyle changes to improve myself and live a healthier life. One such change, aside from healthier diet and drinking more water, is reading more. I've been reading before going to bed to wind down and rest my eyes from all the screen time during the day, and that means I go to bed earlier. I still tend to stay up late, still working on getting my sleep schedule on track, but because I carve out a portion of my evening to dedicate to reading that's slightly less time to go towards other projects. (And yes, I am aware that I am posting this at 3 in the morning. A proper sleep schedule still vexes me. I'm working on it.)

Speaking of my other projects, I have ... too many things I want to do, but I am also trying not to pressure myself. I've learned too many times in the past that putting too much pressure on myself will lead me to burn out (shocker, I know), so I'm trying to get better at not doing that. And that means I'm going to follow where the inspiration goes and won't be able to give exact timelines on things. Not like I was really doing much of that before, but now I'm not going to pretend like I am.

Moving on to the actual projects, I'm going to give a quick run-down on what they are based on my current inspiration level for each.

1. I'm writing an original novel. I've only just got it started and it will be a long process ahead of me, but this is something I've wanted to do for a while. I'm not going to tell you what it's about. It's too early for that, I'm sorry. But this is going to be my big priority project for a while.

2. I'm writing a Fantastic Four fic for my twin OCs and it just keeps getting bigger. I have lost track of how long I've been writing this thing, but it's a lot of fun and I can't wait to finish so I can share it with you guys.

3. The TMNT 2012 re-write series that I have been working on is still going. I swear it is. I'm just struggling with the next story. I will let you know when I start writing it. Thank you for being so patient.

4. Romance & Doom. I want to continue with this, but as you can see it's low on my radar. I do plan on bringing it back, but I can't promise when and I can't promise it will have a regular schedule when it does. But again, you will be notified as changes happen.

5. My Crazy Life and 3 Teen Tools. As much as I hate to say it, I think these comics are in the past. I don't see myself reviving the 3TT, especially since I've had writers block for that project for several years. As for MCL, there is a slight chance I might give it a small revival run to finish up the remaining ideas I've collected, but I think I can safely say that once those ideas run out the comic will be officially retired.

And that is that. Anything else that I work on in between I don't really count as a project, just a work in progress. Like right now I have some sketches of Mash and Macy that I want to finish to give them an upgraded look. I'm also not working on these projects 24/7. As I said before, I've been reading more and I also like to relax with some video games or movies with the family every once in a while. But when inspiration hits, the list above is what I will be working on.

Thank you so much for reading if you made it this far. I will try to update more frequently in the future, but I will at least let you know about any major progress with my projects and job hunting.

Enjoy!

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while since I've made a journal.

Today I have a bit of a request. This Christmas I'm making a game of Family Feud into an advent calendar for my family, and I need volunteers to fill out a survey so there are answers for my family to guess.

The survey consists of 26 silly holiday-themed questions and there is no such thing as a wrong answer. Just type the first thing that comes to mind. The survey is also completely anonymous, so you won't be required (or even be able) to enter any personal information. You also don't need to answer every question. If you can't think of an answer or don't want to answer a question for any reason, you can respond with "pass" instead.

I'd greatly appreciate it if any of you filled it out and/or shared it with friends and family who might enjoy it as well. And I'll be sure to let everyone here play along at home. I'll post the question the night before (starting Nov 30) so you can place your guesses and then I'll post the top answers the next day.

Family Feud Survey

Thanks for reading!

Hey Guys!

Sorry I've been so quiet. Not to mention MerMay definitely got away from me. I just suddenly got a heavy feeling of being overwhelmed and that's put me in a real funk lately. I've lost the motivation required to finish the last few mermaid pieces, but I'm not giving up on them entirely. I'm going to post the sketches so you can at least see the ideas I had for those prompts and then I'll update them when I eventually finish the art. I just can't promise when that will happen.

I need a bit more time to sort myself out and deal with this funk, and then I'll be back with some more art. Or maybe a story. Depends on where the motivation takes me once I find it again. Thanks for all your patience.

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to give a little heads up. I experienced some minor technical difficulties earlier today and although I've since solved the problem it did take some amount of time to figure out the issue and apply the fix. This also generated a bit of stress for me on top of some other anxieties I've been dealing with this past week and I've come to the realization that I may be headed for a burnout. So I have decided that I need to take it easy to prevent that from happening.

That being said, Day 24 of my MerMay pieces will be delayed and I may later decide to take some extra time to complete the rest of the prompts. I don't plan on giving up entirely as I only have 8 left to go, but there's a chance some of the last ones will be posted during early June instead. It all depends on how I'm feeling in the following week.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Thanks to the technicians at Canada Computers my precious has been cured and returned to me!

I was partially correct that the symptoms were being caused by over heating, but the problem was actually some corruption in the software that was preventing the internal fan from revving up. The sensor was also off and reading the temp at much higher than it actually was, which is why it was restarting my laptop.

But they cleaned it out, flushed out the corruption, greased a few gears and my baby is once again purring like a kitten. And all for under $100. This is really the best case scenario that I could have hoped for.

I'm still taking a break from art to work on some of my fanfictions instead, but with my laptop back and operational I'll be online a bit more. I also did a few traditional sketches during the week that I might share a bit later.

That's all for now, though.

Enjoy!