I'm just putting this out there,
Where and how is the best way for putting a fursuit up for sale, that gets the most exposure, and most chance of success?

... NOT Tycho ;p

I'd never sell him, but I do have a certain Dutch Angel dragon by Skypro Costumes that I might want to sell.

Ever had one of those work days that just goes on forever? Today is one of those days. It's 10:30 and I am waiting for the ZOOM meeting to start. Most of the participants are ten time zones ahead of me, and I started work today at 7 AM. It's going to be one of "THOSE" sorts of summers, I think, where I'm on an aircraft jetting somewhere on the other side of the world every three weeks, and the rest of the time is spent here, furiously writing the reports and training materials for the next one. >sigh< Life's not bad , but I feel guilty when I'm sitting around watching TV or yobbing keyclicks onto a journal or blog like this one right now. Meeting starts in T-2 minutes and counting, I better re-launch ZOOM.

Hello FA friends,

A quick update - I am happy, relatively healthy, and doing well in Michigan, mostly by curtailing most of my social media consumption which has forced me to find pleasure in other things like:
1) Reading hard cover books, mostly Anne McCaffery. I bought and read all of her Dragonriders of Pern books, including the derivative works by her son and daughter.
2) Sold my yellow 2000 Honda VFR800fi Interceptor, and bought a Suzuki GSX1340R Hayabusa, which comes with a genuine hyperspace button.
3) Lots of side weekend trips with my wife of 30 years, either with the camper or with the Corvette.
4) Finally got an official full-time job at Michigan State University as the chief research engineer for the department. I'm doing a lot of coding, station installations, and less international travel.
5) Did I mention international travel? I added Uzbekistan to my list of countries, and cut through the center of Kazakhstan, past lake Baikal and past the Baikonur Cosmodrome. 2023 has other exciting firsts planned as well.
7) Sold the 2006 Avalanche to my son, and replaced it with a new Ford F150.
8) Excercised my creative streak by renovating two bedrooms with new walls and new flooring. Now I can finally start work on renovating the pole barn, I hope.

In all, life is pretty good.

We are now getting ready for my daughter and son-in-law to visit for the holidays, and he is going to help me re-organize the shop, and maybe string some new electrical wire in the pole barn. I need to get the wiring done before I can begin insulating the ceiling and walls.

I reactivated my twitter account, but my posting is reduced to just a couple of times per month. I look at it probably once a week. So far, that seems to be a good balance.

I also didn't completely shut off this Furaffinity account though I don't know why; I think I just don't want to completely leave you guys. It's a struggle I have you see, as the fandom really does marginalize & suppress CIS-normal people like me, yet I still care for many of those of you with whom I developed friendships.

What do I do with all of my time now, you might wonder? Well, I don't fursuit much, if at all anymore. The fetish reputation of the fandom caught up with me a few years ago and closed down a fair number of venues. Then COVID paranoia finished off the rest. So Tycho Aussie sits downstairs on a hanger, and probably needs a good brushing and dusting. I think I'll give him some love in the next few weeks, and try to get in a few photographs for old times sake. I still feel joy when I put on the fur. SO that's what I don't do -- Here's what I do do!

All three of my children have moved out of the house and started young-person careers. Oldest son is a self educated developer analyst for a tech company and he bought his own house. Middle child graduated college and is an environmental engineer for a paper company and she recently got married to a fantastic, hard-working guy. Neither of them do much on social media, and are busy just being a young couple. My youngest son got shut down from COVID and couldn't do online classes at the local college so he joined the USAF and is now happily helping to navigate UAV's on various search & rescue missions. He's almost done with his 12-month training program and will PCS soon to his permanent station.

I moved to a new house back in 2019, one with ten acres of forested land. So I spend my time cutting and splitting firewood, working on cutting some trails, removing overgrown invasive undergrowth, renovating the house, beating back the mice, bats, and chipmunks, groundhogs, and skunks that seem to want to move into the house with me.

I also finally was able to buy my dream car, a low-mileage 2014 C7 Corvette. It's the carbon flash edition, red and black, with manual transmission, and is very fast. It's quick enough to tax my driving skills at the race track. I do not feel the need to make it faster - At least, not until I can find the time to practice often enough to use the horsepower. This car looks like it's already doing 100 MPH when standing still.

After giving up the anonymous fame chase of social media, I rediscovered the joy of playing games with my wife, going to weekly date nights, reading old science fiction novels that I have on my bookshelf. Rediscovering old hobbies that I put down ten years ago has been a joy. It's relaxing to read a book again. Same thing with working on building the workbench downstairs: It is done and looks fantastic. I rebuilt my reloading bench, and have even been spending some time on reloading some ammunition, something that is a fun and quiet way to pass time. I will post a few pictures in the next day or two, just for you few faithful friends who keep pinging me occasionally... I genuinely appreciate it, even if I don't return the favor. Rif Foxworthy, Shawn Skunk, Panzier, Keefur, Charleston Rat, Deval, Sparky.

- You guys, just to name a few. I appreciate your faithfulness and friendship.

I finally got fed up with the drama on Twitter and deactivated my account. The American media world and their perceptions of what this country is, and isn't, has gone crazy. It's only going to get worse, so I think I'm going to concentrate on spending my time offline with real people, like my kids, my aging parents, my neighbors, co-workers and friends. They are the people that I can trust. Online people are too "Dr, Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" for me these days, and you never know when someone is going to "screenshot" some part of a private conversation and share it out of context in order to stir up drama. It's just not worth the uncertainty. So, I am almost there. My Tychoaussie website is shut down, my facebook page is deactivated, and now my twitter. I'm happier without it now. I'm going to move back to a time where I got my news from a newspaper, and my contacts outside of work will be face to face. We'll play cards together, go work together, bicycle together, etcetera. And when I complain, argue, and debate with a good friend who happens to have different political beliefs than mine, I won't have to worry about them getting mad and start fabricating stories about me so they can feel good about exposing another demon. Internet friends are just not safe enough.

Hi all,
It's been a rather long year (or two?) ,
Just thought I would pop in and see what's shaking with some of my old furry friends.
Life's been moving on, and I haven't done hardly any fursuiting in like, a YEAR. Hence, no new pictures. Part of my issue is that my photographers are all grown up, become adults, and moved on to their own lives. The other part is just a divergence of interests. I'm spendign less time online, and more time in the forest, or renewing interests in old hobbies, like cars, motorcycles, and old-world crafting, and home improvements.

If you want to find me at Anthrocon, I will be staying at the Courtyard Marriott!
If you need to reach me and find out where I am, I'm on Telegram as Tychoaussie, and I am on twitter as Tychoaussie.
I expect to be posting on twitter when I am going to be out and in character as Tycho. I'm a lot different when in suit. I talk, walk ,and even think differently. Tycho has a slightly different personality than my every-day self. However, over the years, we have been merging. I am a little more animated, and Tycho is a little more casual.

Aethon is still finding himself. I will probably be experimenting with Aethon to see what emerges. He's not talkative like Tycho is! More cautious; maybe even a little PTSD-ish. So don't be too hyper and jump on his back or he might knock you down and go into fight/flight mode!

We arrive on the 4th and will stay until Monday.

Work and career have been keeping me away from things furry--- So has life, house, family, etcetera. Spending three and four months a year overseas on research assignments does that, I guess.

But in any event, it's a super-rare thing when I can go to a furry con. I wanted to let you know that I will be at Anthrocon this year. After that, it's probably going to be another eighteen long months until the next time! So...seek me out and find me at ANthrocon while you can! I'll be findable on twitter, mostly. That, and telegram. Same name: TychoAussie. It works on both platforms.

Maybe see you there? I'll be on the Friday night furry friendly cruise in fursuit, and at random other times. I might not do as much fursuiting as I used to at the cons - I plan on making this one a relaxed con, taking pictures, and watching the action. There's just so many new and excellent fursuiters out there, I plan on being a fursuiting fan more than a fursuiter. This part of my life is probably tapering down, I guess - Tycho Aussie is six years old and I just can't "do it all" like I used to think I could :) I think next year, I'll put the time into taking my car out racing at the race track again with some of my old racing friends. That scene is just as tight as the furry fandom. So I hope you look me up at Anthrocon and find me - it might be a couple years until I can return!

I used to love Christmas holidays, a long time ago. Somehow, about half a lifetime ago, that changed. I mean I don't hate Christmas or anything, but it always seems to have some element of obligation and stress associated with it. Opening Christmas gifts has always been a casual affair in our home, and we've never really tried to stuff the packages under the tree, except when the kids were really small. What my wife and I found is that none of my children have ever really been all that "wide awake, I cant wait to see what Santa brings!", and the toys didn't get played with all that much, except for one or two really special ones. My kids simply are content with a small selection of stuff. They seem to be like mom, and cherish experiences even more than commercial gee-haws. So, the motivation for me and the excitement of seeing them excited isn't really geared into the shopping or present openings on Christmas day. We have, instead, a Christmas week, where we'll do things like sledding, or bowling, or visiting friends. I'm hoping to spend New year's eve at a friend's house where we will eat snacks, and set up a target range and go shooting some guns. It'll be different, as we've never done that on the new years eve before. However, I think my kids will remember it, I hope, and cherish the experience.

There's one part of Christmas that I still love though. I love going to church, and singing the Christmas hymns, seeing the lights, and the candles. I like the sounds of the horns, and lighting the small candles as we turn down the sanctuary lights and sing Silent Night together. I really like that part of the worship service. This past Christmas day, my son and I even got to be part of the service, and we sang a duet together. His voice is now fine and full, with a range that is slightly deeper than mine. His skill and mastery of music is also now exceeding mine, with his five years of musical training with band and choir. It was a very rich experience to see the joy of the music as we harmonized there, along with the piano and flute.

We are trying to do some fursuiting, but it's significantly less than in years past. Perhaps the novelty has worn off, but for my family and friends, it's not as exciting for them to accompany me. I do however have a good friend and neighbor who has recently put down his lens as my photographer and donned a new fursuit. Crixans, who is on Deviant Art, decided to come with me to Anthrocon one year, and he liked it enough to go again the following year without me. After that, he decided to jump in and give fursuiting a go. It has been neat to see him step out of his comfort zone, and help out with some of the public charities here in the local area. I haven't been able to be at too many of them because they seem to always fall on a date when I have an out of state or out of country commitment. Which is making it hard to properly grow the Michigan Freelance Mascots! I'm still trying to figure out some ways to fix that...

Well I hope YOU have a fine holiday! Mine isn't bad mind you, just.... not quite stacking up to the memory of Christmas magic of yesteryear. Maybe it's that the memory gets sweeter with time. Anyway - I think I'll get off the keyboard and try making a few more of these winter memories.

Anthro Northwest turned out to be a lot of fun in the end. At first, it was a lot of work, as I had three or four panels to participate in, plus opening ceremonies, closing ceremonies, and other things. I didn't get to head out of the hotel very much, and I missed my chance for a Thai dinner with  kijani_lion like I wanted.

But...Everything turned out fine by Saturday night! I met up with  ino89777 and received my fursuit head for Aethon, and got to spend a lot of time in the fursuit lounge meeting and talking with all sorts of fursuiters, new, accomplished, young, and old.

One interesting thing that I bumbled into was the fursuit performance and singing panel by  QueenieDeerHart. That, and my hastily arranged fursuiter barbershop quartet for the talent show, got me re-interested in singing. So, I am now taking weekly lessons and concentrating on pop/lead vocal work for now. Mostly practicing with my old favorites from Journey, Styx, Boston, but we have added some Kansas to the repertoire and will be probably adding some Toto and Hall & Oates in there pretty soon. I've been also practicing some gospel duets with my son Jason and we will be singing on Christmas morning at our church.

Work is work, and I am still typing away on the thesis. Today I was analyzing a new experiment in which I ran my seismometer calibration system for about four hours, digiting lots of calibration signals and overlaying them in order to come up with a composite "spread" of the calibration uncertainty. Essentially, if I calculate a sensitivity at frequency "x" sixty times, I get sixty different answers. The "spread" between the highest and lowest values determines the uncertainty of the calibration. There is also a thing called the standard deviation, and this helps me determine the most likely "typical" variation about the mean. This is probably what I will publish as the "accuracy" of the calibration. It's actually a curve of a curve, since some frequencies are more accurate than others.

Hello everyone!
I'm still here in Michigan, doing what Aussie shepherds do. I'm still nipping at the heels of the last kid who is living in my house, and still working a regular job here at the university. Only, it's more research now, and having two of my three kids living on their own, my home is feeling a little bit empty. I am hoping to empty it out some more though, by purging some of the clutter that we no longer use. Old clothes, books, games, toys, knick-knacks that have no home shelf, etcetera. It's the stuff we hold onto because we think it has value, but not enough value that we actually dedicate a shelf or drawer for it. I want to be prepared for the eventual day when we decide to downsize from our 140 year old, three story, six bedroom house that costs a fortune to maintain. What I'd rather have is a smaller house, a bigger garage, and more land for running around on dirtbikes in order to stay exercised.

On November 8th through the 12th, I will be in Seattle, Washington for the Anthro Northwest con.
During that time, I will be part of three or four panels, some on international fursuiting, and others on how we have been integrating furry fandom into our lives such that it works for both parents and kids.

Maybe I will see you there!

-Tycho Aussie

See you later, everyone!
I'm off to Kyrgyzstan for a few weeks to do some more research. This time, I am traveling alone. It's two days of travel this time, with a lot of waiting around in airports. I probably won't bring Tycho Aussie with me on this trip, or maybe I will; I can't decide. I might want to travel light this time. However the flights are on Delta/KLM and Air Astana, and they are all pretty good about getting the luggage where it needs to go. I have five hours of waiting time in Amsterdam, and another eighteen hours in Almaty. Amsterdam will be nice, as I have enough miles to qualify for the Delta/KLM lounge where there is free food and a place to crash and rest my head. However Almaty isn't as luxurious, so I may want to get a taxi and find a hotel somewhere close, and do some walking. When I arrive in Kyrgyzstan, some friends are picking me up at the airport, and the next day we'll get to work at the seismic station where we will be working on some new station operating techniques. I am hopeful that maybe we can take a weekend trip up into the mountains where I can get in some sight seeing. If that is the case, then I will definitely want to bring Tycho Aussie along for some super-amazing photographs. I'm waiting to find out.

In other news, I have commissioned a new fursuit character and it is being constructed this fall. If you are planning on attending Anthro Northwest on November 7th in Seattle, you will get to see it's big debut!

I'm going to AnthroNW and we will be doing a panel on our efforts within International Fursuiting. Several of us are putting the multimedia panel presentation together over the summer, so it should be pretty good. I'll cover Central Asia, Reto is covering Europe, and we have a couple other guests that will cover things like fursuiting for missions in central and south America, and hopefully we will have some stories for you from places like Asia and India as well.

Good afternoon, furries!

This is just a heads-up that I will be in Austin, TX from Tuesday March 27 through the end of Friday. Does anyone know: Is Austin a furry-friendly town? I think I may bring Tycho Aussie along just in case.

You haven't heard from me very much as I've been working on university work and that's been keeping me preoccupied. It was so long since I last logged into FA that I actually forgot my new password. What's happening to me?? Am I growing up?

Hi Everyone!
It's been a month since I last had the opportunity to fursuit and today was just the PERFECT day to don my fursona and take the church youth group out for a sunday afternoon at the snow tubing hill. Me and Tom, our youth director took the church van and packed it with eight middle-schoolers and hit the sledding hill. Once we got there, I transformed into Tycho Aussie. Most of our youth have seen Tycho before, but there were a few initiates. It only took like, sixty seconds and it was all hugs, lots of clowning around, lots of "Sit boy, sit!" and the usual fun. The sledding hill was popular, with temperatures in the mid-20's, and lots of sunshine.

So what happened, is that after riding the slopes with the youth group a few times, someone asked Tom if they could borrow his dog and he laughed and said ...sure!! So, I spent a good portion of the afternoon sledding with kids, and dads, and people who weren't from our youth group, which was totally okay by me! The tubes are encased with a teflon skid on the bottom, and the snow was super fast today. In fact, I ended up getting cut down by a speeding tuber, & had my feet knocked out from under me, and I landed on my shoulder. No foul, no harm... but I sure made sure to look at what was coming down the slopes after that!

Anyway, totally good fun, people were giggling, kids were asking me stuff, joking, and wanting to sled with the dog. No problems, no drama, just good old fashioned, innocent fursuiting fun!

Next week I'll be in Grand Rapids at the Kids & Family Fun expo with some of our younger fursuiters. We've been invited as a group to come out and be part of the expo. They usually have some Cosplay people there too, all interacting with the kids. If you live in the area, there is more information on our facebook page, found at http://www.fursuiter.org

Anyway, take care, and have a good January!

I've spent close to 3 1/2 months in Kazakhstan this year, along with several other countries... I've been camping in the desert and my tent is almost cleaned of all traces of calcium carbonate. My colleague and I have been to the northeast corner to the farthest point west. We've been in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and I've probably forgotten a few others.

It will be good to spend some time at home. I miss my wife, she misses me, and two of my three kids moved out this fall. So many life changes - I missed home football games from the high school. It's a good thing that we now have facebook messenger, Telegram, twitter, and Skype! They served to help keep us together.

I hope you have liked the couple of photos I've posted. I had intended on putting up a photo a day, but in a lot of places that we've traveled, I didn't have internet. So, as we get into the swing of things, I hope to get you some more interesting stuff.
Call it a "reboot" if you will; as I rebuild my Furaffinity account. I'm following those who comment on my journals, shout page and pictures, because you are the ones who care enough to leave comments.

Twitter is nice enough, but I find that the 140 character limit does not lend itself to a wordy dog like me. I like to yap longer than that.

I was having lunch with my son the other day. He has taken the step of moving into his own apartment, which is good - because he wants to live his own life outisde the rules of his parents household, and that's one of the steps towards growing up. I went over to see his apartment and took him out to lunch and we were talking. I told him about how I had essentially shut down my furaffinity account, because of my concern over mismanagement, over-abundance of adult material (and the easy access that FA provides to pre-teens to that material), and my general uneasiness with supporting the success of the website by providing content.

He turned to me, and said "You know, when a leader leaves a vacuum, someone else steps in to take their place. Are you sure that is the right thing to do?".

I had to listen to him, and he made a crystal clear point that I couldn't deny. It's probably a poor decision on my part to just yank all my stuff and hide in my own office. I had an idea that I'd just move everything over to Weasyl, Deviantart, or something, and that just had not happened. Certainly Twitter isn't a suitable venue either. I just can't say things very well in 140 characters. In fact, I have found it quite easy to mis-step on Twitter.

Call it a TWI: Tweeting While Irritable.
140 characters doesn't let you make your point clearly sometimes and it can open you up to folks who love to jump to conclusions and get on the outrage train. In any case, I've learned these past few months that there is no perfect place, no perfect venue when it comes to the furry fandom. We have these systems and websites, each with their own deficiencies, but each with their own merits, too.

I don't want to leave a vacuum, and I do feel a calling to be a leader of SOME sort - even if it means getting called an 'elitist' for wanting to do so. In any event, over the next few months, I will probably re-post the best of my 500-some pieces of photography from the last five years of fursuiting; and I hope to continue generating new content over the next five years. Furaffinity might not be the perfect panacea , but it has YOU and me, and I do rather miss some of you!

Special thanks to Rif Foxworthy for the cards and letters of encouragement this summer. Those meant a lot!

You may now find me on Facebook and Weasyl.

If you wish to contact me, tweet to me on Twitter tychoaussie

Goodbye! I really hope that you do stay in contact!
I will miss many of you. Especially you,  Beastcub