Oh boy, 2024 was a roller coaster of a year. There's been a lot of ups and downs this past year. I can only hope 2025 will be better. I will start with the ups.

Ups
I became a supervisor at work this past spring. My former supervisor took a job elsewhere and nominated me as acting supervisor. The actual supervisor role should open up as soon as the position reclassification goes through HR. It has taken an absurdly long time to happen though. It has been nice though as supervisor. I have trained one new employee so far and taken on a lot of responsibility.

Fursonacon: We moved to a new venue and omg I love it. So much more space but still small con feeling. Plus we finally broke 1000 attendees. Woooo! As the con continues to grow, I am learning more and more what I should do for my department (video games) forward.


Downs
My fiance lost his job early this year due to downsizing. That put a wrench into our wedding plans, which will now be next year (need to get on that). It took a few months for him to get a new job, plus he's making more money.

December just...kind of sucked. Fiance got pneumonia and I had to do everything. Cooking, cleaning, decorating. I should still try to go for a spa day soon to relax my mind and body. December wasn't done yet though. I learned my uncle got a staph infection after a recent surgery he went in for, and that put him in the hospital in critical condition. His chances of surviving were very slim and unfortunately he didn't make it, passing away yesterday. It's been pretty rough for my family.


I really hope 2025 shapes up to be much better. My partner and I will be getting married. We plan to go to Anthrocon again. Gonna take a nice honeymoon vacation somewhere. I am thinking Disney World. But yeah, unfortunately the orange turd will be back in office. I hope life is hell for him and his cronies. Anyway, may 2025 be a better year for us.

Hey all. Twitter has gone to shit. I barely post there nowadays and you know the reason why. Anyway, I'm over on Bluesky right here -> https://bsky.app/profile/lunao623.bsky.social

Feel free to follow me and I might follow back if I haven't already. See you there!

I can't believe Dragoneer is gone. He was such a pillar of the furry community, having made and maintained FurAffinity here. He was going through a lot with a lung infection and our Healthcare system unfortunately failed him.

If it weren't for FurAffinity, I may not have really discovered the furry community and joined it. It's been a big part of my life and I thank Dragoneer for creating and maintaining this site.

I only got to know him a little bit and was hoping to meet him someday.

Rest in peace my friend.

Hey all. Just want to tell you all that Fursonacon has moved to a new venue for next year, Aug 29-Sept 1 2024. It's a lot bigger and better than the old hotel we were at. I'm super excited for it and I hope to see you all there. All the info can be found on the website https://fursonacon.com/

Hey all. I finally got onto Blue Sky. If you're on there, please add me. Mine is lunao623.bsky.social

Good day all. I would like to post all my big 2023 vacation plans.

First off, my partner and I will be going to Disney World this Spring. After last year's hurricane canceled two of our days there, we are making it up. We're also bringing his mom with us for one of her bucketlist items. I just hope all goes well with her. It'll be a shorter vacation this time, only 3 days in the parks this time.

Next, we are confirmed for Anthrocon. We'll be staying in the Courtyard next to the con, making it much easier for fursuiting to and from. I am really excited and look forward to what Supersponsor brings as it will be our first time doing it.

And finally, I will be staffing Fursonacon again this September. I've been enjoying running the video game room and look forward to doing it again. I just hope no problems arise this year that are out of my control.

I hope to see you at the cons I will be attending.

I would like to get some more fatfur art of Lunao and wondering what artists that specialize in fatfurs are open for commissions. Thank you.

I think it may be time to get a new ref sheet of my fursona. I'd like one with clothes, updated features, and a NSFW version. Now I just need to find an artist I like.

I am seeing a ton of the YCH reminder submissions popping up on the main page and a lot of them are the same ones posted every day. Is anyone else getting tired of seeing them and not actual art? They also seem to be mostly poorly made porn or close-ups of the genitals which kind of defeats the purpose of a YCH if all you can see is a color of fur around them and don't know who the character is.

And it's not just those that I see flooding the site. There's also the wave of adoptables with their own reminders. I just did a quick look at the main page as of writing this journal and more than half the submissions are advertisements for YCH or adoptables with more than half of that being reminders. It's way too much!

Hey all. I'm looking to commission some telegram stickers but having some difficulty finding an artist that I like that is open for some. Does anyone have some good recommendations? Thank you.

It's finally happening. The maker I've been eyeing finally opened up commissions for fursuits and I jumped on it right away. I'm going with a full, digigrade fursuit from Dino Queen Creations. Hopefully by the time Fursonacon comes around I'll have my blue derg.

I feel like over the years I have become more boring. I don't see myself as interesting as I used to be. Not as outgoing as I used to be. Could it be because of my new job? Maybe. Since I started it, my work life has become more of an office one. Sit in a chair all day, work on the computer, do boring stuff. Went from working records to doing GIS, which is more interesting. Before then, I was working in a zoological setting and was a much more interesting field, but that just didn't work out for me. I don't see as much excitement in my life anymore.

At home and with my friends, I feel like I am overshadowed, especially by my boyfriend. He's always cracking jokes or coming up with ideas and I'm sitting here with nothing really on my mind. When I speak, I feel like what I say doesn't go across that well. I feel like I am just there, enjoying the company of my friends but not contributing much. Could it be that my introverted self is coming back strong or am I just depressed? Maybe a bit of both. I have gained some weight due to work and maybe that's affecting my mood.

Thank you for listening to my random thoughts.

Oh man I can't believe fursonacon is only two months away now. Going to have so much fun at this local convention. I can't wait. Who all am I going to see there?

I finally got the remastered Spyro trilogy yesterday and I am loving it. Growing up, the Spyro games have been some of my favorites. I think I only owned the first game but I rented the other two often. Now playing them again in better graphics, it brought that nostalgia front and center. And with this new update came new models for everyone and I got to say, they made some really hot dragon daddies. From buff to fat, all of them are amazing. Love me some dragons.

I was reading a subreddit talking about stuff you miss from the early internet. It got me thinking and reminiscing about what I miss so here goes. Forums. Before corporate took over all of social media, there were forums everywhere. It was actually 2 forums that introduced me to the furry fandom. I was a part of a few forums for anime and cartoons. We were a community and I made some good friends. I also miss the old YouTube, back when you could post amv's and not worry about copyright strikes. Also YouTube wasn't so corporate with mainstream media over all the place.

What things from the early internet do you miss? Lemme hear what you have to say

This past weekend was Fursonacon's 2nd year and first time on their own. Though it be a small con with around 300 attendees, it was a success. I helped staff the video game room during the convention. Honestly, given my financial situation, if I didn't staff it I wouldn't have gone. I have too limited funds right now. Anyway staffing the video game room was pretty nice. Not too many furs didn't come in until Saturday where it got pretty busy. What was best about it though was that there was no con funk is the room. It smelled pretty decent.

As for outside of the game room, I hosted my panel about kemono anime and video games: stuff that predominately feature furry characters from Japan. I also went around to watch other panels people were doing.

There were two highlights of the con. One was meeting new furs and becoming good friends with them. I think these friendships will last a long time. The other thing was that I FINALLY GOT TO FURSUIT! A friend of mine, Tyr, had lent me one of his older wolf suits and I loved it. It was as hot and limited vision as I had expected but it didn't deter me from wanting a fursuit of my own. It made me want to get one even more, knowing what it's like. I got to walk in the fursuit parade, get in the group shot, and even get a fursuit badge.

Then on Sunday after we closed everything down, my department heat brought out Joust for furs to play. One person watching on the sidelines made a wager to those playing: whoever wins gets a free headshot badge of their fursona. Luckily I was one of those winners and so I will be getting one made by her. I am very thankful. Once I get it I will post it up here.

Anthrocon Meme

What day are you getting there? Where are you staying?
I am heading up there on Thursday. I am staying at the double Tree.

How are you Traveling?
In a car with some friends.

Who are you going with?
I am going with my boyfriend, Akutaba, and his girlfriend (4 people total)

What is the best way to find you?
I will be wearing my badge that looks like this http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6006736/. Also I will be wearing my tail that looks like this http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4533522/
Old i know but I don't have a tail of my fursona yet. One day.

What do you look like?
White dude, 5'10", might have my hair spiked or wearing a flat cap with buttons. Look for my badge with my sona on it.

Can I talk to you?
Yes! I would love to make new friends!

Can I touch you?
Permission first but I do accept hugs. I have no fursuit yet QQ

Can I give you stuff?
Sure I guess. So long as it is safe.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Call out "Lunao" with a wave

Can I come with you for food/etc?
Possibly. I do plan on getting dinner with friends, both new and old.

Can I buy you drinks?
Sure but know that I am taken. This water dragon enjoys some drinks.

Can I look in your sketchbook?
I don't have a sketchbook but I do have a small journal which I will be collecting sketches and autographs in.

Can I draw in your sketchbook?
See above

Can I take your picture?
Only if I can take yours.

As the title says, who all is going to Anthrocon this year? It's been 6 years since I last went and I am stoked to be going back this year. I would like to meet as many furs there as I can.

So...the other day I deleted my Ferzu account. That place there was just too toxic of a community for me to be in. In the beginning the site was fun and everyone got along pretty fine but one day not long into it things went downhill pretty fast. I'm not sure how it started but suddenly there was some hate directed at cis people, they were confused and fought back, only to lose in the end. From there the toxicity grew as "popufurs" grew in power by claiming to be champions of progressiveness, when in reality they were pretty much the alt-left. They were aggressive and violent in their ideals and anyone who had a different opinion than them they did not like and bullied them through mob justice behavior, which is against the rules there but the admins didn't seem to care. This behavior wasn't just at toxic trolls who spewed transphobic and racist comments just to get a kick but also at undeserving members of the furry community like fatfurs, gainers, babyfurs and other not-so-popular segments of the furry fandom. It's that that I can't stand. The alt-left popufurs there rallied others behind their ideals to disparage and bully other users. I couldn't stand it any longer and I just had to leave. I tried talk some sense into them but they were so set in their views that nothing can change them.

I did see and hear as I was leaving the site that they got a taste of their own medicine as it involved the site's policy of uploading pics that aren't your own.

On my way home from the movies tonight I encountered something...unusual. It was a car with license plate AG DRGN. For those unfamiliar, it says silver dragon. Now this is unusual because not long ago I saw another car with license plate AU DRGN, gold dragon. Is this pure coincidence or something a bit more? Will I see a copper or platinum dragon next?

This year's Nekocon was a blast! For those who don't know, Nekocon is an anime convention but this year, the small start up furry con, Fursonacon, had some events in it.

To help represent my fellow furs, I hosted a panel that combines furries and anime in what is known as kemono, the Japanese equivalent of furry. I talked about various anime and video games from Japan that predominately feature furry characters such as The Boy and the Beast, Kaiketsu Zorori, Solatorobo, and Tail Concerto. The turnout for my panel was pretty nice and I was glad it went to well, with the exception of my mate's laptop randomly turning off in the middle of it. He needs to get that replaced while the warranty is still good. Anyway, I think I will try to improve upon my panel for other conventions like say, Anthrocon next year.

The rest of the con went pretty well too. I went to a few panels my friends made as well as some big ones. The Virginia Living Museum was this year's charity and they had a few panels. One was on different native species in which we got to touch a skunk, and the other was on wolves. From the dealers room I got some sweet light-up cyber shades, some figurines and a poster.

On Saturday I cosplayed as Shiroe from Log Horizon. I made some needed improvements/adjustments to the costume this year to make it more in line with how the costume should be. To check it out, I have a pic up on my main page.

All in all I would have to say it was a very fun con even though I saw less friends there. Next year I might try staffing it.

A new furry social site opened up a few days ago. It has a feel similar to facebook. You have a global newsfeed which you see posts from all furs, as well as a local and one in which you see posts of those you follow. It's pretty neat. Check it out if you like and please use my referral code.

https://ferzu.com/go/r/0f622c

I am thankful to my old boss at Busch Gardens. Without that push she gave me, I wouldn't have thought about going back to school to complete my GIS certificate. Yes that push was her firing me but it made me realize just how much of a dead-end job that was. I wasn't going anywhere. Not up or horizontally within the company, I didn't hear anything from zoos I applied to.

Now here I am, with one more day of class to go until I get my certificate. I have a staffing agency that will help me locate a job as soon as I get my certificate. Things are finally starting to come around now. I am real hopeful that I can find a good GIS job within a month now. It would be awesome if I can before my birthday, which was also sort of when I lost my job.

I've been looking for a job for quite a while now, whether it's part-time or full-time and sadly I haven't had much success in finding one. I did have a temporary job at Toys R Us during the holiday season but that ended after Christmas. I know I haven't been looking at every possibility for a job, just mostly in my kind of field. I've tried zoos, pet stores, vets, and all sorts of GIS related jobs but none have been fruitful. I can sort of see the GIS ones as I don't have my GIS certificate yet, which I will complete in May this year. The other places I just don't see why I am not even getting called for an interview. It's like my experience in the Busch Gardens zoo department is worthless. Hell it was even worthless to moving up inside the company because of all the damn favoritism being played there.

I really need to step up my game so I can get some sort of job for now. I've even tried places like my local bank and a froyo place. I have to start looking beyond my comfort zone but even there are some places I refuse to work at, even though I will probably get a job with them, like Walmart. I'm not a fan of fast food or restaurants. I've done my time already and I say no more.

To those that read this, I thank you for your time to listen to my venting. I've been feeling depressed and frustrated for a while and just need to get my feelings out there somehow.

I got back from seeing Zootopia today and that movie was amazing. I am definitely seeing it again. I'm not going to write a review of it for the sake of not spoiling anything. If you haven't seen it yet, I would definitely recommend it.