i've not been very active here or anywhere really except for keeping up with my post a day on tumblr. there really hasn't been much going on in my life anyway. christmas was good, cons are coming up in march, work is work and has taken over my life. i'm slowly working on uncanny for this year as well. i had a three day weekend this weekend and didn't really accomplish anything. yeah, that's how awesome my life is. i've been accomplishing less in my life than when i was unemployed a year ago. such a cheery thought.

.:more after the jump:.

on opinions in the hobby...

there are some people in this hobby i wish i could slap with a salmon...and then a frying pan...seriously, you are not an expert nor is your opinion the be all, end all. i respect your opinion, but stop preaching it like it is the only opinion people can have. if someone asks a question and people give answers, don't outright discount them because they aren't what you agree with. or don't jump in and tell someone how wrong they are because you think something is some way. most of all, don't speak as if you are an authority on what a company should do because they owe it to their customers.

disagree with me all you like, but check your facts, admit when you are wrong, and don't act like a jerk to someone because they are not 100% in line with what you have to say. because of people like that, there are more and more lurkers, there are confessions that can be pretty nasty or express being afraid to get into the hobby. there are people who are scared to step into discussions or go to meets, people who have had a bad experience and see this behavior and then assume that the rest of the people in the hobby are the same.

yes, i have my own opinions on things, but i try to be open to other opinions. i have had my mind changed about things i felt strongly on because i didn't immediately attack someone for having a difference of opinion. i let them speak and heard their argument; i learned and reformed my own opinion with that new knowledge. yes, i have participated in discussions and had my facts slightly off, but i have admitted i was wrong or apologized as needed and corrected my knowledge. i have watched as so much opined misinformation gets spouted as fact and my cautions and corrections are attacked that i mostly bite my tongue and don't comment anymore because saying things has done no good. i only offer my opinion publicly on most things anymore when asked and do not volunteer it freely.

all of this being said, think before you speak. if you are posting something about a company as a fact, check your facts first instead of posting conjecture as truth. don't brush someone's opinion off as wrong just because it is different, maybe they have greater experience or more facts about something than you.

if any of my followers or anyone reading this would like to engage in a discussion or has questions about anything, please feel free to contact me. if i don't know about something and can't answer a question, i'll try to point you in the right direction. if you simply wish to discuss something, i'm open to it. i like to share what small knowledge i have, meet people in the hobby, and learn from others' knowledge about things.

one year ago

one year ago i was out drinking with my coworkers saying goodbye. goodbye to the company that we had worked at for years, some longer than others. goodbye to our safe, comfortable lives. goodbye to the people that we had come to know and the work we liked. it was bittersweet and so we had a proper wake. we shared memories and stories, laughed and drank and ate. as much as i didn't like some of them, i still miss quite a few of the rest. i don't think anything was as sad as going in to work the next day as one of the transition team and having to deal with the interlopers. they were quiet and subdued as they took away the remnants of our livelihoods. the days that followed were too quiet, too somber.

i can't believe that it's been a year...more so, i can't believe that i miss that place so much.

falling apart

so it's been a little over a month since i last posted, but it has gone by so fast. my schedule now causes work to take up so much of my life that the days blur together. this is also the first weekend in a while that i haven't been out doing things. in the past month i've spent my weekends out and about seeing the tut exhibit, at doll meets, and at doll shows. i've been so busy on the weekends that i finally had to decide not to go anywhere this one. sadly, that meant i gave up going to steam-con yet again. but i won't be sad about that as going even for a day would have done more harm than good (i couldn't really move yesterday morning due to immense pain in my lower back - like, crippling pain).

.:more after the jump:.

four years and seven months...

after this much time and two previous tries, it has finally happened. everything has fallen into place and azerian is finally compete. or, well, nearly...he still needs to be painted, but we all know how that went...so now all i have to do is clean up his head and paint him. after this much time i'm hoping that most of the yellowing is the old style msc i sprayed him with ages ago...but i kinda doubt it. i've no idea if he was cleaned up during his adventure to england or not...or what else may have occurred. if it is all or mostly him, i'll be trying to lighten him a little. can't wait until his body mellows some! i'm loving the f60 body, though, and am so happy to have it for him. it is the body i wanted for him all along. now to go buy more dollheart for him...

.:more after the jump:.