And The Beat Goes On...

*dances around singing* Drums keep poundin' a rhythm to the brain ... lah-dee-dah-dee-dee ... lah-dee-dah-dee-da--huh? *notices you* OH, err ... h-hey there! Eheh ... umm ... oh yeah.

PWANG!

SO! We meet again, my lovelies! Felt like plopping down some updates just to that the "Open Letter" I posted up before wasn't at the top of the page anymore. That and I know all of you are just ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEATS, yearning to know my every move! .................... Stalkers.

Aaaaaaanyhoo, without further delay, let us mosey on over TO...

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THE DAILY NEWS, DAMNIT!!!

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Cough-Cough, Wheeze-Wheeze, Someone Come And Kill Me Please >_<;;

For the past week or so, I've suddenly developed this mysterious cough that keeps getting progressively worse and harder to surpress. It's not a cold because I have no other symptoms ... just this cough. It's beginning to worry me, I admit, and I'm highly considering getting this checked out by a doctor. I'm starting to think it's not just allergies, given how chronic it is, regardless of where I go. That and I'm hearing about other people around who are suffering similarly. I'm actually worried it might be some kind of fungal infection or a respiratory illness going around. This just ... REALLY isn't normal. I've never had this happen before. =/

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Suffering Can Be Its Own Reward

As I mentioned in my last FA journal, I've been art director of a "special ops" project for over 3 weeks now and we're finally nearing the end. The deadline's looming on the horizon, but we're making good time at a solid pace, so I'm not worried. RELIEVED ... but definitely not worried. For as much as I've complained about the process to my family and loved ones, though, I ... can't honestly say I haven't been ENJOYING it, really. At least in part. In fact, I think I might've found my calling.

My stepdad works for a company called Zimmerman Advertising as one of the executive directors there and just the other day, he was talking rather seriously with me about the project I've been working on and he's--much to MY surprise--rather impressed with the work I've done so far and how I've been keeping this thing going forward at a breakneck pace with great results. So much so that when I finally complete my 3D Animation course, complete my portfolio, and receive my certificate of completion ... he's prepared to put in a recommendation for me to work at the company! Umm ... oh my fucking god?

This is PRECISELY what I need to fund my game production project AND provide for my family. Here I thought that even with all my hard work and studying, I'd always be stuck as a starving artist, but ... I have an opportunity to not only get in at the ground floor ... but to HIT that floor running! I'm not gonna lie, I had a good long happy cry after that. I'm overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of my good fortune. And I hafta marvel at the universe's quirky sense of humor, too. For weeks this special project was driving me crazy and I couldn't wait for it to be over, but ... now? Now I gotta admit I'm ... seeing it through different eyes.

This could be my ... CAREER. Unifying artistic minds ... getting projects done ... collaborating with various types of talent ... an art director for a BIG company. This could be the big break I've been waiting for all along and never knew til now. That's ... immensely humbling. AND exciting. =3

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My Kitten's Keeper

LONG ENTRY IS LOOOOOOONG, PLEASE! Consider yourself warned! XD

Haven't had a chance to mention it yet, but my home-run little "foster center" for animals has hit MAXIMUM capacity for the first time ever in all the years I've been doing this. We have PHYSICALLY run of of places to comfortably and acceptably house all these lil' guys and gals. For awhile now, we were sitting at 6 foster cats and 2 kittens looking for homes. Now? We're sitting at a grand total of 6 foster cats and FOURTEEN kittens that need to get adopted. You heard right; that is a total count of 20 little mouths to feed (and around 5 litterboxes, since some of them share one and some are outdoor kitties) between aaaaaall of 'em. This requires some backstory.

For several years now, we have been caring for a growing "colony" of cats that have come to our property and we have befriended. One by one, we've been taking them to get them fixed, thus ensuring that the population is kept in check and it keeps the truly feral and dangerous/unfriendly tomcats away from our yard (we've also been helping with that by trapping them as often as possible and sending them off to rehabilitation shelters, in hopes that they might be domesticated; we simply can't help them).

The trouble with that process, though ... is that it takes time to win their trust enough to be able to put them into carriers and take them to the clinic. For two of our females, we weren't able to get to the point yet where we could handle them (we could PET them, but they refused to let us pick them up or guide them into the carrier) and before we were able to make a breakthrough, the notorious neighborhood tom got his paws on both of them (I've been trying to trap that bastard for months now >_<;;).

As a result, they both took pregnant at almost the exact same time. Maybe 2 weeks apart at MOST. For the longest time after they had both given birth, we saw NO sign of the kittens whatsoever and thought we may not ever see them until they were much older. BOY were we ever wrong...

About 3 weeks ago ... in the SAME DAY ... both mothers literally LEAD their kittens out of hiding to introduce them to us, already eager and willing to try solid food. The more tamed/trusting mother, Blackie, had the younger litter and thus we've already got her little ones fully-domesticated and EXTREMELY playful and social. They'll thankfully be VERY easy to get adopted. Their names are Bongo, Dottie, Rascal, Tiger, and Angel. The other mother cat, Polly, however is not as trusting as Blackie yet, and thus she and her babies are far more skittish. They come close when there's food and eat without fear, but they only allow the very LIGHTEST and BRIEFEST of touches. We're making progress, though, and they're getting much less fearful with each passing day. Their names aren't all picked out yet, but whe've named the largest and boldest male kitten Dezzy. Next blog I'll see about getting some pictures uploaded of both litters. They're truly gorgeous and beautiful little souls.

OHHHHH but it doesn't end there, though! NOPE!

See ... about a week ago I was getting home from dinner at Taco Bell at around 2am with my mate ... when I hear distressed kitten calls from the back patio of the condemned property across the street. My rescuer instincts kick in, of course, and I head over there with a keychain flashlight, trying to find the source of the desperate-sounding cries. Several minutes of searching later, I find them; a pair of nearly identical long-haired orange tabby twins ... can't be much older than the other kittens we've been looking after. Skin and bones. SCREAMING and crawling towards me for food. No mother in sight, nor other siblings. I literally burst into tears and gathered them into my arms with trembling hands, as my mate helped me take them back home across the street. I got them situated in a kennel with PLENTY of food, water, and a mini litterbox made from a Tupperware container. It wasn't until days later I happened upon a miraculous discovery ... BOTH kittens were, in fact, female. Now ... you gotta understand domestic feline genetics to understand the significance of this. The orange tabby fur coloration--much like the calico (black, white, and orange blotched) and tortoisseshell (black and orange blotched) colorations--are gender based. While calicos and torties are almost ALWAYS female, orange tabbies are almost ALWAYS male. TWO nearly identical (I say "nearly' because the only way to tell them apart is that one is a runt and thus slightly smaller than her sister) orange tabbies BOTH being female? This is like lightning striking in the same exact spot twice. They truly are miracle babies in more ways than one, for surely these sweet affectionate little girls would have perished if I'd not found them that night. We've named them Goldie and Sunny. Photos of them will be coming soon, too.

So as you can see, the Kitty Motel is COMPLETELY out of vacancies. It's ... a labor of love, but it's frightening, too. I need to get these babies into Forever Homes as soon as is humanly possible. If I come upon some other poor little ones that desperately need help ... I can't DO anything for them. Where would I keep them? With what money could I feed and care for them? I'm COMPLETELY tapped out, COMPLETELY out of lodging, and the ONLY reason I've been able to maintain such dutiful care of my little charges is with the amazing physical and financial assistance from my family. My mother, stepdad, mate, and grandparents, have ALL helped in one way or another, whether it's helping me buy food and litter or helping me feed and clean them all. Hell, even my aunt who doesn't live with us brought over a plus-sized bag of kitten chow the other day to help feed all these hungry bellies. I've been truly blessed. It's been a literal ARMY of caregivers.

I love them all dearly, don't get me wrong ... but it's been a LOT to keep up with, on top of everything else on my proverbial plate. >_<;;

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Whoo! So much typing! *blows smoke off pawpads* Weeeelp ... so ends another WAY-too-chatty episode oooooof...

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THE DAILY NEWS, DAMNIT!!!

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Stay sexy, ladies and gentlemen. ^_~

-- Synhowl, Your Busy-Busy Bearwolf

P.S.: Using some new temporary stand-on mood icons til I have the funds to get some custom ones made. Got tired of the old ones. XP

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Current Mood: frustrated

Current Music: Deadmau5 - Ghosts 'n' Stuff