NO oil for the 1st time in 3 mo.! Tent. good news!

It’s about friggin’ time, is all I can say.  Even though I continue to sit on pins and needles as I await the end of the testing phase, for the first time in three months I had something to be hopeful towards in regards to the Gulf oil spill.  In viewing an article earlier today about the Indian Rupee finally getting it’s own monetary symbol, I clicked to go to the home page and saw their newest article, updated a scant 11 minutes before I’d seen it.

I quickly began searching other news articles and turned on CNN to see, with my own eyes, that the camera trained on the oil spill was, for the first time, void of oil spewing forth.

I almost couldn’t believe it, and of course, sobered as I heard it could be a temporary situation as pressurization tests are underway.  Ah, but that’s alright.  I don’t think anyone expected such immediately positive results so quickly, especially since it’s an integrity test.  What’s important right now is that true, positive progress has been made in containing the situation.  I know my nerves will be on end over the next few days as I await the final results of the testing and capping of the spill and I can only hope that it remains continually positive.

Because, quite frankly, we need to be over the containment process and move on to the pressing need to turn more attention to the massive clean up and, eventually, helping more people be able to go back to work.

I know I haven’t written any journals on the issue before today, so it may seem strange with this article coming out of the blue, but just chalk it up to the fact that I suck at writing journals consistently, lol.  I and my family have been very affected by the oil spill and I feel no shame in admitting that I cried today just at the thought that the spill had, for the time being at least, stopped.

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Awesome Stumblings.

Because I needed an update….

So, got behind in a few things again, but staying afloat fairly well.  Had to slow down on drawing because it started coming harder, but staying strong at least!  Should have a few art updates soonish.  The hardest has been catching up on old, promised arts, but I am getting there and HAVE gotten some drawn, which is sooooo friggin’ good!

The most important part, I think, is that I can say I actually drew something for myself!  I haven’t done that in a very, very long time.  It just feels wonderful!  Even if it was nothing special.  Even if it wasn’t a dear to my heart character.  It just felt wonderful and free!

So, expect some finished stuffs soonish.  Yoshi!  Anyway, now on to a few links to some awesome stuff while I have the chance.

I came across this in passing and was just amazed by the beauty of the layouts presented in this article.  I had been thinking lately of how “generic” most journals were becoming.  Mine own being subjected to this fault as well.  But I did want the freedom to change things up a bit, do something a little more than the norm.  These collected journals are beautiful and stunning and simply inspirational!  Magazine style FTW!

Go check them out @ Bringing the Magazine to the Web.

Also from NetTuts+, a wickedly awesome bit of coding that I’ve been waiting YEARS for!  A way to make one element have multiple borders.  No more needing to use background images for just a simple box section!  I’m planning on using this for the comments section here, for starters.  Since, apparently, I never coded it for the DiS v.15 layout.  Um… oops?

Anyway, you guys have to go check it out!  Quick Tip: Multiple Borders with Simple CSS

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Graduation luffs!

My sister’s High School Graduation is today!  =sniff sniff=  They grow up SO fast…. T__T

Now, there’s only one left, lol!  And it’s next year!  Well… only one left until someone starts having kids. ^_~

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And then there are those days….

When you come across something like this:  MMA Fighter Rips Out His Trainer Partner’s Heart.  Lol, heard about it on the radio this evening.  Here’s another article on it @ daily mail.  Beware, there’s a bit of gore involved in the news articles….

Also, still arting!  Which is beyond good.  Getting some older arts nearly finished to send out and show off.  I’m feeling a bit more and more relieved every day.  For the first time in nearly two years, I’m finally feeling a weight lifting from my shoulders!

And, on a lighter note, I’ll end with this beyond awesome vid!

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YEEE HAW!!!! And we have MOAR ARTS!

So, I decided to participate in an event on Menewsha.  I offered freebies and ended up doing a total of about four of them.  They were supposed to be just sketches, I swear!  I don’t know how this happened… geez, but I ended up will fully inked pieces.  >_<  Oh well, so my idea to “do sketches as quickly as possible” backfired on me.  However, I DID end up with four very lovely portraits!  There are some anatomical issues with them, I know, but I kept telling myself that I wasn’t suppose to worry too much over them, just get them DONE!  Ah well….

Anyway… in order of first to last, here they are! (These are the smaller, sig sized ones I made available.)  Enjoy!

…. I rather like them, myself! ^__^

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Wh00t, art excepted at Epilogue!

So, something has happened that has never happened before!  lol!  My work got accepted at Epilogue!  =promptly dies=  I’ve been trying for, well, ever since I joined, but every work I submitted always got denied.  I can’t blame them.  I mean, they had their evident flaws… but at the time they were my best works.  The piece I submitted two days ago is actually about 3-4 years old now, but still one, if not THE best of my traditional art pieces… and it got the green check of acceptance!   For the first time ever, thar be art in my drawers!  er… gallery!  =spazzes=

Feel free to go check it out: TasiaChiba @ Epilogue.net

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Moar I Can Haz Artings, Yes!

I did this for someone on Menewsha because they were INCREDIBLY nice to me and sent me an awesome newbie package. I was so impressed by their kindness and generosity, even when they thought it wasn’t all that big a deal, that I just had to do something for her! This is Jennifer of Menewsha’s avatar and I really, REALLY hope she likes it!!!

I likes teh hair, YUMMMM!!!

For a MUCH larger viewing version, cleeeeek here: RAWR!

In later news…. MOAR ARTS ON TEH WAY!  YARRRR!!!

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FINALLY! Art Block Over NAO Yes?

In case you have missed the memo… I am arting again!  =cheers and shouts with joy=  To share just what I have been working on, here’s a few… just a taste!  I plan on keeping this up…. I must!  I can’t go back to long periods of nothing… never again!  So, say hello to some avatar arts I’ve done for me and my family, and some WIPs done for my sis and an art trade with Elegant Feather Duster of Menewsha!  wh00t!

Finished:

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

WIPs:

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

And… I have a few more WIPs that I haven’t even uploaded.  It’s a miracle, really!  =glows with delight=

And yeah, I know… all different sizes, lol!  But hey, I just wanted to show it all off!

Now… off to go fix some supperz, YARRRH!

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An ity bity update

an-ity-bity-update

Just a little update, nothing much. Kids were home for over a week for Easter Break so we split time up a lot. Trying my best to force myself to draw again. I miss it. BAD. The stress I’ve been under for so long has taken a toll on my ability TO draw… but I believe I can get back on track. Trying hard.

For that matter, I went looking for a reference photo for a piece I was thinking of. I sketched it last night and it’ll be of my Gaia Avatar for her profile page, but the idea is good enough for an art piece, so that’s my initial goal. Then the profile page, lol! Looked through Marcus Ranum‘s stock account on DA today and found a few pictures that will be nice to use to help finagle the more difficult parts of my sketch. I adore his stock photos! Much love, MUCH love!

Anyway, just taking things slowly, eating as healthy as I can, exercising as much as I can, and taking one day at a time!

And, of course, I am SO far behind in my work! IF I can get my ability to draw properly back, I have a few requests I have every intention of finalizing. I’ve got a few drawings I did awhile back that are just sitting in my art folders waiting to be finished. And I want them finished!

All in good time, of course! ^_~

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They said it couldn’t be done…

For decades they’ve been telling us it wasn’t possible.  Those who believed it were called quacks. Even the representative from NeuroSky states this is first level telepathy.  Hey, it’s all going to be a bit more believable in the near future, folks! ^_~  For now, I’ll settle with the truth that our brain waves can create enough of a signal to manipulate objects.  Rock on!

And I desperately want that Star Wars toy! *__*

Psycho jargon aside, this has great potentials.  Does series/movies such as Angelic Layer, The Matrix, and of course, Johnny Mnemonic come to mind?  Imagine the possibilities both good and bad.  I do, indeed see a revolution in the gaming industry shortly.  But, as hinted in CNN’s interview with NeuroSky and others, the potential for other uses could be fathomless.  Suddenly, I feel like all the long thought impossible theories of so many SF novels and movies seem far to plausible.  While I have always been one with an open mind, even I can’t think of all the possibilities to come.  For now, I’m excited with the developments currently taking place.

It’s certainly good advice for our National Security department to grow wise to the true possible utilization of this tool in ways they’ve yet to perceive.  Always be ready for anything, should be their motto.  But truthfully?  I say they’ve already developed this technology some time ago, though really, I still say the government needs more creative minds working for it.  (Stop getting rid of/not supporting the arts programs, you dolts!)  Though, I don’t believe we should use this technology for war.  We should be prepared for outside usage, however.  It could be a decade from now before it’s implementation becomes anything to be concerned about, but one shouldn’t wait for the inevitable.

In the end, the advancement of technology continues to show us both the pros and cons of its growth.  With an influx of great concepts comes the unforeseen negatives that we cannot simply ignore.  Such as, who would have thought that texting would lead to a medical condition we now call “Blackberry Thumb“?  Progress comes at great risks and we must keep pushing forward, but with a cautious air stepping out into that great unknown. 

And with regards to the great SF writers of old, even we can’t always imagine the turns our futures will take.  They told us ships that moved deep under the sea were impossible.  Ships that flew beyond the earth’s rims in the depths of the sky were improbable.  And A.I.?  Never in the realm of reality!  And yet, we have come closer to than ever to achieving just that, along with continuing the same philosophical and moral debates inherent in the concept.

In the end, we should remember that anything can be possible, open our minds to our rapidly changing world, and look forward to all the future may hold in store for us.

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