News

So as per usual things have been hectic. Recently, I owe a lovely person a prize for winning a contest at supportyoungartists, a community I'm involved in. But my computer is giving me problems. Well, my PC is. My laptop muddles along at a fair pace, but is insufficient for what I need to accomplish.

I have recently shelled out an unnerving amount of money to get three of my rabbits spayed and neutered. Tomorow (really today) I go and get their stitches out. I'm apprehensive that it'll make them not want to eat again. I just got done fighting that battle! I'm terrified that I might have to fight it again! I'm anxious to return to my droll humdrum life.

Art's still slow, but I thought you guys deserved a somewhat new update at least. lol I know I don't really mess with the journals much here. I really only post like 5 things a year.

This Christmas, as some of you may have noticed, Candy Cain didn't get a make over. I felt that since the Christmas season was so undermined in every other aspect that it didn't really seem right to try to pathetically glorify it through a character revamp. IT's the first year in a very long time I haven't given her a new picture. And I only ever draw her once a year.. one picture once a year. But this Christmas was barely existent. It snuck up on me and left without consequence. (My family didn't even bother putting up a tree.)

New Years came and went, too. I was very ready for this year to be over with. And I'm hoping that this coming year will be the year that I achieve all my goals.

GOALS:
-Get accepted into grad school for Historic Germanic Linguistics or Speech Therapy
-Move into a one-bedroom apartment in the city that my graduate university will be in
-Get a job and save up money for grad school and apartment
-Get a job once I move and get into grad school, hopefully with medical insurance
-Get a boyfriend
-Get Dexter (the fourth bunny) neutered when he turns 6 months old
-Find a consistent vet for the bunnies to go to for ailments in new city
-upgrade cellphone plan to include texting if there's enough money for it
-try desperately not to worry so much over the little things and just go with the flow of life a little more (it'll be easier that way!)
-Get passport
-Attempt to save up money to go to Europe to visit
-Brush up on Spanish

Most of my goals are pretty simple. The hardest one will be attempting to get a boyfriend. It's been my new years resolution for YEARS and has never happened. (As in I've never had a boyfriend.... ever, yes.)

The end!!

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Commission Information:

Prize Commissions Disclaimer and Guidelines
If you're receiving a commission from me as some prize from a community, club, or because I am hosting a contest or whatever, then these are the guidelines that apply to you. Don't worry, they're really very simple when you get down to it.

1) One character request only. Groups are much harder to do.
2) No background of extreme detail. That's very time consuming.
3) Only to the artist's talents, as in don't request mecha, anthros, or whatever else I can't draw. (If you don't know what my style is, check the gallery. If you like it, yay!)
4) I refuse to draw porn, pedophilia, sex, violence, obscene nudity, rape, or any other deemed offensive material. I won't draw naked children doing nasty things to each other or themselves. If that's what you want, just put it out of your head right now. If it's a sexual fetish, it's dangerous ground. Bodily fluids and excretions are also a no go.
5) The resolution will never be over 1000 x 1000 pixels. It's more likely to expect 600 x 800, at 72 dpi. It's fine for web viewing.
6) Artist's interpretations are what I do. Every artist has a style. Every person has an idea. It's not my job to put your idea on paper EXACTLY as you see it. That's why YOU draw. I put my own spin on it. That's why it's my 'style' and no one else's!
7) I reserve the right to terminate the commission, even if it is a prize, if the winner is abusive, violent, threatening, sexually harassing me, unreasonably demanding, or incessantly attempts to extort me for a better deal than described above. Also this applies to people who are very offensive in ways of racism, sexism, or religious beliefs and are determined to make their opinions known to me. It's business, guys, it doesn't HAVE to be a personal meeting. I'd like it to be a chance to meet new people, but if you're a jerk I don't want to work with you anymore than the next person---especially for no money.
8) It's always ok to ask questions! The above rule applies to people who ask despite having been given clear and concise answers as to why or why not. I assure you I'm a very patient and friendly person to work with... unless you're being creepy and a jerk.
9) You are not required by law to accept my commission as a prize or out of obligation. I will not be offended or upset if you reject the prize. (Just in case that comes up.)
10) The specific artwork rendered is still © to CMK 2007. Please don't duplicate, sell, or otherwise make money off of my work without my permission. (You might be surprised how generous I am. I just want to know about it in case someone comes up and says, "hey, did you know so-and-so is doing this?") Don't claim the artwork as your own. If you use is elsewhere, you don't need permission for as long as you credit me. Just credit me. You may save the art on your computer, print it as many times as you'd like for personal enjoyment. Anything you do with the art that does not make money for your personal enjoyment is cool. Just credit me if someone sees it and/or asks about it. That's all I ask. (Artists need to eat, too.)

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The only new thing I've updated in the journal this time are the guidelines for the commissions won as prizes. This is relevant now so I'm revising and reposting my rules and regulations for commission work. No worries, though. It's really very on the ball and simple. Nothing about it should strike anyone sane as unreasonable.

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Commission Information:

Prize Commissions Disclaimer and Guidelines
If you're receiving a commission from me as some prize from a community, club, or because I am hosting a contest or whatever, then these are the guidelines that apply to you. Don't worry, they're really very simple when you get down to it.

1) One character request only. Groups are much harder to do.
2) No background of extreme detail. That's very time consuming.
3) Only to the artist's talents, as in don't request mecha, anthros, or whatever else I can't draw. (If you don't know what my style is, check the gallery. If you like it, yay!)
4) I refuse to draw porn, pedophilia, sex, violence, obscene nudity, rape, or any other deemed offensive material. I won't draw naked children doing nasty things to each other or themselves. If that's what you want, just put it out of your head right now. If it's a sexual fetish, it's dangerous ground. Bodily fluids and excretions are also a no go.
5) The resolution will never be over 1000 x 1000 pixels. It's more likely to expect 600 x 800, at 72 dpi. It's fine for web viewing.
6) Artist's interpretations are what I do. Every artist has a style. Every person has an idea. It's not my job to put your idea on paper EXACTLY as you see it. That's why YOU draw. I put my own spin on it. That's why it's my 'style' and no one else's!
7) I reserve the right to terminate the commission, even if it is a prize, if the winner is abusive, violent, threatening, sexually harassing me, unreasonably demanding, or incessantly attempts to extort me for a better deal than described above. Also this applies to people who are very offensive in ways of racism, sexism, or religious beliefs and are determined to make their opinions known to me. It's business, guys, it doesn't HAVE to be a personal meeting. I'd like it to be a chance to meet new people, but if you're a jerk I don't want to work with you anymore than the next person---especially for no money.
8) It's always ok to ask questions! The above rule applies to people who ask despite having been given clear and concise answers as to why or why not. I assure you I'm a very patient and friendly person to work with... unless you're being creepy and a jerk.
9) You are not required by law to accept my commission as a prize or out of obligation. I will not be offended or upset if you reject the prize. (Just in case that comes up.)
10) The specific artwork rendered is still © to CMK 2007. Please don't duplicate, sell, or otherwise make money off of my work without my permission. (You might be surprised how generous I am. I just want to know about it in case someone comes up and says, "hey, did you know so-and-so is doing this?") Don't claim the artwork as your own. If you use is elsewhere, you don't need permission for as long as you credit me. Just credit me. You may save the art on your computer, print it as many times as you'd like for personal enjoyment. Anything you do with the art that does not make money for your personal enjoyment is cool. Just credit me if someone sees it and/or asks about it. That's all I ask. (Artists need to eat, too.)

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It seems typical that I usually don't have much to update about. I have a live journal for that, really. And even then the lj goes through long droughts simply because my life just isn't that dramatic.

I recently moved into an apartment, so I'm away from my wretched home. I've only been here about two days but I can see already that live is changing for the better.

I'm still on this horrid quest to find a job and that's just not going very well at all. But still, sooner or later SOMETHING has to turn up. I just hope it's soon enough to actually feed myself. XD I'd love to have some money enough to know that I'll at least get to eat tomorrow.

I finally got a cellphone, though I got the cheapest plan possible which equates to only 7.5 hours of day-time talk time a month. Yes, it's laughably small but it's what I could afford for only $40/month. (I'm not entirely sure when I'll be getting a job, y'know? And I still gotta feed my bunnies.) Alas, at least I'm staying rent-free because my roommates are very charitable people.

Also, I've recently joined this club . I'm set to write up an article on proportion or, really, whatever else needs to be talked about once everyone has their questions submitted. I'm very excited. This is exactly the sort of thing I love to do.


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I just got back from New York where I was nursing my dying aunt. She died before we left to go home. She had been very sick for a long time with a brain tumor and lung cancer which attached to her shoulder. It was an exhausting experience.

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The economic status of South Carolina is horrible. I'm still job-searching even though I've been out of college for 10 months. I worked for a little over two months at Dairy Queen for seasonal work I was desperate enough for money. (My mom had a heart attack and we were out some finances.) But that's over and done with. She's back to work. She was out for two and a half months which put a huge dent in our barely-stable financial situation. Now, of course, it's not stable at all and I expect it to take several months before it stabilizes even remotely.

It'd be nice if I could get a job and, at least, pay for myself. I'd really like to have gas in my car, vet visits for my pets, and the comfort of knowing when I get booted off my mom's health insurance in September, I'll actually be able to afford my own somehow---if not through the company itself. But that seems to be a fairly grandiose dream out here in the boondocks.

But there isn't much that I expect from a state that has, apparently, the highest high school drop out rate in the United States. And, on top of that, of the small percentage of students who manage to graduate high school AND decide they want to go to college, we have the lowest SAT scores of the nation. It doesn't surprise me that most of the interviewers and bosses in this area are terrified of education. They're afraid that someone with a degree is going to come in and take their job, I suppose. If you sound and look educated (and you're not someone's cousin) you're pretty much screwed.

Currently, I've topped having applied to over 30 different companies... and over 40 different positions. All were positions I was suited for. Out of all those I had two interviews and three rejection letters. (Yeah, only three. They didn't even have the dignity to send them out most of the time. And that's something I consider very unprofessional.)

So, currently I have nothing better to do with my life than sit around and apply to jobs and hope that I get one. In the mean time I find myself really missing college. I feel like I'm not doing anything or going anywhere now that I'm not in any classes. I've taken up running a role playing game... and then co-story telling another one for my friend. I've joined a read-along livejournal community for Harry Potter books, in anticipation for the last book coming out in July. They put up a reading schedule so you can follow along and it will take you up until the day the book comes out. I'm having to hold myself back from reading too quickly. (For those of you who want to join, it just started yesterday on the 12th: [link] . There's still time to catch up!)

As it stands I am financially broke. If I were actually making an effort to live off my art I could seriously understand the whole "starving artist" shtick. But I'm not. I'm not really thinking anyone would really want to pay me money for anime-style character illustrations (at least not in this area and not in quantities enough to pay for life). But I sure do miss having consistent food. I've lost 40 lbs since May and none of it intentionally. I haven't joined a gym and I've NEVER dieted before in my life. But I HAVE been starving. Occasionally, I'll find myself having gone two days without having had anything beyond a glass of skim milk and a piece of toast. And it's simply because we don't have much else in the house. Mom's pay day is a glorious day indeed because it means food. It's like harvest time in some story set in old Celtic Ireland or something.

It's at times like these that I find boyfriends would be fortuitous. Though, really, I'd never take advantage of someone. It'd just be nice to know that, if nothing else, I'd have a dude lookin' out for me and making SURE that I got food. Until then, I get to mooch off of my best friend Anne-Marie. But mooching off of her just feels guilty. There's no real way to immediately pay her back. At least with a boyfriend there are other means of being thankful than awkwardly saying "I'm sorry. Wish I could afford it myself." Ha ha ha...

Well, I think this is the longest journal entry I've ever written. And with that, it ends. Finite.

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