I'm a lucky guy, blessed by good friends. This weekend has been a prime example of it!

After work yesterday I hooked up with Dustan, Lupie, Wolven and Anon prior to the Blue Moon Festival's Saturday night event, the music/fashion combo that whilst poorly rigged for sound was filled with exciting people and creative movements. From trippy bohemians to austere and beautiful Victoriana-era goths it was a feast for the eyes, the kind of event that strikes me with my creative naivete.

Was great seeing people like Clay Bear again, and catching Dustan (a contributor to the fashion on show, a good one at that) up there with others from the Newtown crew modelling and making it an even better night. Props to Smacky and crew for their gothy fabulosity, as well as Angel Kitty for being his usual straddling-the-line-between-fiendish-and-elegant self.

Fast forward to today and the culmination of a group bday present (thanks to everyone who contributed) in which Aussie Husky, Temba and myself went to the Capitol Theatre to see Wicked (after being so kind as to shout me to lunch at a lovely Japanese place nearby by the name of Yumei)! A review might come later, but to put it simply the main cast sung beautifully, comedy was balanced with an intelligent plot, the costumes were detailed and rich, the set was constructed well and suited for the tale being told...

And it somehow made me appreciate Bert Newton (who plays the Wizard of Oz). Craziness I know! Now I'm back at home, happy to see Zwabbe back and seemingly content with his reprieve from voyages to sea, and hearing a great bit of trance from Weasely.

I'm surrounded by creative and generous people, without whom I'd be a very unhappy person, so in this glow of warm and girly glee I'd like to say thanks to you all!

 

Furjam! Many thanks and congratulations to aussiehusky for organising Furjam and doing so with no discernible hitches. I only attended Friday and Saturday nights' events due to work on those days and other social plans today, but what I did see was good.

The Rose of Australia hotel in Erskineville was once again a good venue for Friday, though it's obviously straining at the number of people there, if the community gets any bigger that place is either to collapse or need some extensions on its Elbow Room.

Saturday was similarly good, with an abundance of junk food, entertainment and card games to keep people amused, and whilst hard to reach (as I hadn't been at Centennial Park beforehand) the Arcade Room at UNSW was nice and spacious enough for the group. Extra props go to Anthrax, the blue collar blue heeler, for a good comedy routine. His delivery's good, timing is better, though his choice of language would limit the venues he could play at before 9:30pm.

The rest of the weekend was spent partying and vegging with a friend and some acquaintances in Newtown, no better way to christen a new household than by having an insane all nighter there!

To everyone who participated in the goodness of the past few days, thanks. My only regret is that my head's been in entirely the wrong space lately, and I wasn't at all receptive to meeting any new friends or communicating much with the old ones. 

But the way I see it, something like Furjam's just a once off that serves to make the process of communication easier. One can meet new people and better know familiar ones any time, and it's best to do so when ready and willing.

The only concern I come away with is the ever lingering fear that for all my intellectual bravado and verbosity, I lack substance and initiative. Or to be succinct, I talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Still, the only time one can ever truly fail is if they give up. With that in mind, time to rest and try another day, best wishes to you all!

Hooray for new character pics, the face of which is seen as my new avatar, and for people aging!

This weekend marked the celebration of aussiehusky's birthday, with dinner at a nice Indian place in Chatswood, nibbles at his place and Harry Potter the next day. Thanks to him for both aging and for hosting an enjoyable evening, and to the as always enjoyable attendees (you know who you are!)

Harry Potter was good, but suffered from too much to show in too much/too little time (2.5 hrs is long for a movie, but short for the material) and often felt confusing or rushed.

Hooray for Temba being back from the US, glad to hear he didn't get mugged or eaten by roving hordes of wild unemployed stock traders. Good to see him and catch up, now for the vast crime spree we've been meaning to get around to!

Check out a musician by the name of La Roux who's doing the rounds on Youtube and in the UK at the moment, she's like David Bowie's love child, who got into a car crash with heavy 80s synth and modern production values. Very nice.

Anyway, off to rest I go, best to all of you and take care! 

A Wild Ram has appeared!

Do you: FIGHT, USE ITEM, RUN or READ JOURNAL?

You have chosen... FIGHT! You hit him with a stick! He likes it! Attack was ineffective!

You have chosen... USE ITEM! You used STRANGE CHEMICAL on him. He's dancing and rubbing furniture! Attack was ineffective!

You have chosen... RUN! You ran right towards him! What a tard!

You must now READ JOURNAL!

So, liontemba celebrated his birthday this weekend, he's now in the twenty zone! Aside from losing teenage privileges like crashing into fruit stands and slitting his wrists, he's really not missing or gaining much from it, but he's one year closer to getting drunk in the USA! Legally anyway!

His lovely sister and her partner treated him and a few of us lucky enough to know him to a limo ride and excessive nomz and booze, much fun was had and I can safely say it was the first time I've ever really enjoyed Mexican food. Thanks again to them for springing for it all, and to Temba for aging! Oh and that whole being a good friend thing, yeah. He's had a tough time of it lately, so give him stuff!

Otherwise I caught up with atpaw and we darkened Menya's door once more, we learnt the valuable lesson of only ordering what you can eat, after eating takoyaki and garlic ramen I was pretty sure I might die from a painful albeit delicious stomach explosion. We must find the first Australian fur capable of eating their infamous Godzilla bowl (2kg+ of ramen, 29.90 unless you finish it in 30 minutes or less!).

Also got the Nintendo DS game Professor Layton and the Curious Village, a call back to the good ole' point and click adventure genre with a heavy dose of those brain-testing games that are all the rage, supplemented with nicely drawn storybook settings, accomplished voice acting and video, as well as enough unlockables and challenges to satisy an OCD sufferer.

You have READ JOURNAL. You have gained a level! Peace out!

From the depths of the weekend I strike at the savage heart of Monday!

Thanks to aussiehusky for hosting a lovely wine and cheese night, it was good to be there, and good to see everyone who showed up. Cheese was in excess as was wine, but the good kind of excess which makes one forget the lingering threat of study and work in the week to come.

After leaving Aussie's place dustandfox, Lupie, smacky_wolf, Zwabbe and I made a daring foray into the land known as Bondi, where forms of debauchery untold of in most realms took place. Thanks go to all involved for making the night as well as Sunday morning so amusing and memorable.

And for the purposes of displaying how I've been thinking lately, I had the strangest thought while walking home yesterday. It was a beautiful day, rather warm, the recent rain has made everything green and verdant, and I walked past a family showing their daughter how to ride a bike.

I have a mental process in which I imagine myself as two people to work out things that confuse me, and I had this depressing split between thinking how wonderful life was and how ugly the thought is that all that niceness and innocence will be crushed and spat out, as it has for everyone, and that  it's only a minority that ever really get those positives in the first place.

Ah well, time to jump back into the daily grind and ignore it all, aufwiedersehn! Best to you all!
 
 

Hmmm, I think I'm supposed to say something here. Is this keyboad working? TESTING, TESTING... Yeah, I think so...

Mardi Gras eh!? How was it? Don't ask me, I wasn't in it. Nothing against the spirit of the events or its participants, I just was so displeased with wading through the urine and waiting forever and a half and feeling like the bland tryhard amongst the eccentrics and pretty people that I thought a night of lazy debauchery was a better option.

Time spent with Aussie, Temba and Phoenix beforehand was good; even if I embarassed myself with Singstar, and found that Harley can do parts in songs that no biological male should be able to do. Muchas gracias to Temba for offering hospitality beforehand.

I think I made the right decision, I hope so, it's less clearcut than that hooker I picked up in Randwick and--- oh yeah, not supposed to talk about that.

Here's the score.

Barbary Lion, Thakur, Dustan, Lupie and whoever I'm forgetting did a great job of building the float and getting people organised. Give them much love and credit, or you shall surely be struck down by the Flying Spaghetti Monster! 

Thanks to Barbary, Harley, Tech and Yuumei for offering a good place for the afterparty, I hope your house hasn't suffered too badly as a result.

Apologies to the multitude of people I didn't speak to, I basically used the afterparty as one massive private wind-down with Dustan, Amaya, Zwabbe and at times Lupie, Barbary, Clay and Temba. This was not good behaviour, and emblamatic of the razor-edge level of douchebaggery that I've been honing lately.

I'm not turning into a Christian or a tee-totaller here, just realising that my love of mind alteration and strangeness is coming at the expense of the interaction and conversation I normally engage in. Even worse is the knowledge that I'm screwing good friends and/or interesting people out of courteous discourse, preferring to giggle to myself in a corner about the lovely patterns on the lamp.

Aside from the nature of my recreational choices being an isolationist one, I find I've become more egotistical and prone to anger as of late. While I can placate myself with external pressures messing with me, it ultimately does no good as I'm alienating the people who enrich my life. So sorry to you guys, I'm gonna try purge myself of a few bad habits and hobbies, in the hope of patching up any wounds I've made. Much like that aforementioned hooker.


So then, cheers to the good people, and apologies for not being one of them lately, I wish you all well!

Welcome to your shegularly reduled gropram, your host I am, Jay Fear!

The weekend that was
Was most disturbing indeed
It inspired haiku

From humble beginnings of pleasant food and conversation with dustandfox, thakur, Lupie and Wolven, the flower of carnage blossomed into a night of debauched alteration with none other than smacky_wolf, Charles, Clay Bear and a special guest by the name of Christie.

While Charles and Clay absented themselves earlier, health or the velvet clutches of sleep beckoning, those left of us sought to utilise the night and our altered perspectives best as possible. From watching Speed Racer (it's absurd plot and special effects were made to suit those of heightened senses and dulled intellect, I think) to strobe lights and insane anime megamixes it was indulgent and technophilic.

Therefore, it was divine.

I remember the peak of night as being gazing out across the skyline from Smacky's window, to see the glittering and beautiful spires of Sydney. I imagined lurking in the sky above me was a hammer the span of the horizon twice over, threatening to crush me with the weight of creation physically manifested. I christened this hammer the Hammer of Time, and expect to see it as an ultra-rare drop on WoW soon enough.

Otherwise, no night is complete without quotes...

• "Holy crap, out of a coma, soaked in blood, shit's all messed up... Gonna need sunglasses for this one!" (When Beatrix awakes in Kill Bill Vol 1, symbolising the cycle of rebirth that is Paris Hilton)
• "There's no point crying over spilt milk, unless you spill it on your dead son." (From the webcomic Cyanide and Happiness)
• "Event Horizon could have been a good movie," "Yeah, but the Jurassic Park Man fucked it all up," (Me demonstrating my lack of film awareness, not remembering Sam Neill's name)

Hmm, so thanks to Dustan, Thakur, Lupie and Wolven for Saturday evening, and to Smacky, Charles, Clay and Christie for stretching that out to... well, just a few hours ago.

Now go outside and find something nice; a seaside vista, a flower or a dog that isn't licking itself... and revel in it. Lest the hammer of time fall and deprive you of the chance. Good night! 

POST ACTIVATED. Ready, set, go!

Right then, first up, this week was punctuated with stressing over education. It's looking like either another stint in TAFE (awaiting news on course viability and funding from the woman in charge) or waiting til June to do a bridging course for the Bachelors of Journalism at Wollongong Uni. Fingers crossed either way!

Next, dinner with aussiehusky and liontemba at the Jar Restaurant on Wednesday, a queer and quirky French restaurant located on Stanley Lane, near Crown Street and not far off Oxford Street. This knowledge of location didn't serve us at the time, the three of us co-conspirators in getting lost for a short while before hunting the place down. I had baked brie, walnut and apple salad, followed by parmesan/tomato spaghetti, followed by a lovely chocolate brick. Yeah, a brick, a cool, thick solid mass of chocolate. All were good and suitably frogtastic. Highlights were (obviously) time with friends, food I don't usually have and fair prices. Lowlights were poor Aus suffering from stomach woe and random crap floating in the water we got.

Last night was a barbecue/pool/booze event at Aussie's place, lots of meat and salads were served, amusing TV was shown and except for Temba blinding himself with pool grit, everyone seemed to be happy. Props to dustandfox and his wolf for showing up, despite their aversion to anything north of the harbour bridge! Cheers to Temba for being the driver despite not having eyes, and Aussie for hosting a nice night as usual.

Otherwise, I await a new ATM card, study info and a million dollars. Here's hoping! Take care and good wishes to all! 

That's right, Mister Chemical Experimentation and No Fetish Is Too Weird went to his first LAN party yesterday!

Hosted by weasely and atpaw (thanks muchly to the pair of you, especially the mustelid who got it going!) at their provinicial estate in Wollongong, the event was a lesson in 1) retro gaming, 2) the need to consider what games to play in advance, and 3) how the commoners should hurry up and get Left 4 Dead already. It was much fun, with a good turnout (12 or 13?) and a variety of talents, games and oddnesses on display (I rule at not ruling, seriously, it's a skill!)

Thanks go to Temba for driving me down, I swear that cat's gonna have a breakdown someday, not sure if it's better to be mental or mechanical ;)

Food experiences whilst down there were... interesting. A long hunt around the shores of north 'Gong were met with fruitlessness until a kiosk/cafe near the beach. They somehow left everything that made my burger The Lot out, while still calling it (and charging me for) the lot, in comparison, Temba's burger actually had "the lot".

Is it wrong of me to have seen the row of LPG tanks near their counter and thought unseemly things?

Oddly enough, dinner at an establishment by the name of Roppongi with the remaining LANners that night, they similarly gave me a lesser/more expensive dish. I got some nibbles from diners who got too much, so all was well, but in a fit of masochistic rebellion I ate approximately a tube's worth of wasabi. Results were as could be predicted, watery eyes, throat closure, an unsettling feeling that an action could resut in horrid death etc. Many laughs were had, and I got to feel particularly random!

The drive home was beseiged by bad GPS (Temba should kill his phone service) and a random trip for shakes to the Sylvania McDonalds. Let it be known I enjoy such randomness!

LAN verdict? VERY, VERY geeky, but a way of indulging in a culture without being totally unsociable. Thanks to organisers/hosts/players/drivers/friends.

Unrelated news? Almost time for a meltdown!!!

Anyway peeps and meeps, take care, see you later!

 

Welcome to the vast grey expanse of my mind on this humid and weird weekend! First up, thanks to dustandfox for hosting a bitching birthday party (his own as a matter of fact, what a trooper!) His quiche was as fantastic as the rumours have put it as being, it was good to see his brother (now engaged!), as well as some friends who've been on foreign shores until recently.

It was also good to see Temba and Harley, even if the libations for the evening had left me in a state somewhere between drooling and lecherous. Cheers to Wolven for mingling with us, and to Lupie for being less trashy than I was for once!

On the dark side of the moon, I've spent my recovery day esconced in the ancient art of reading. In my journey across the battle scarred surfaces of the human condition, I found this gem of a short story by author Harlan Ellison, entitled 'I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream'.

Click HERE if you want to read it.

--WAITING FOR YOU TO FINISH--

Cheerful eh? I'd love to have met Mr Ellison; either his story is similar to Hideaki Anno's treatement of Neon Genesis Evangelion (the darkness and sadism that creeps in as the series goes on is actually a positive sign of artistic development and personal growth), or it's the expression of a fit of misanthropy and cynicism that would make Nietzchke cringe.

Have fun, and see you all next time!

Hey there, went to Taubu's birthday dinner at La Boheme here in Balmain last night; food was good, beer was good, apologies if I seemed like an asshole to those there, work's been harsh this week and I'd have probably been better off getting some more sleep at home.

Anyway, I'm here to open fire on some bigger issues. The fiery cannons of righteousness and self important verbosity must be levelled squarely at the insipid morons that seem to infiltrate our society like festering bed sores on neglected nursing home patients:

• A Man Gets Beheaded On A Crowded Bus - And for some reason everyone focused on running away, oh sure, they guarded the bus with crobwars and such so the police could arrest the fellow, but heaven forbid they'd have thought of saving the poor fellow who was suffering an unimaginably horrible death so close to them. "It was like something between a dog howling and a baby crying, I guess you could say," Caton said. "I don't think it will leave me for a while", is one quote that stuck with me. If you had enough time to find such descriptive phrasing for the gurgles of a man bleeding from a ragged hole in his neck, don't you think you could have been more attentive before?

Apologies for the vitreol here, but thinking about the number of murders, hijackings etc where individuals are too busy sobbing and being moronic about things to you know... save theirs or others' lives... makes me wonder how much most people actually think. And don't waste time saying "But Jay, how do you know you won't act like that?" I know I won't because I've been in situations where lives are at stake before, not many, but a few. There's time to cry and be an idiot after the event has passed.

• Walmart Employee Crushed By Stampeding Shoppers - Disgusting. Really, does it need to be said? I wonder if anyone of those people in the first wave that killed the guy stopped their shopping? There's something hideously symbolic of modern consumer culture when someone's crushed by people charging for the newest Fuck Me Elmo doll. As much as I want to solely blame the unwashed masses of shoppers, I know that it's just as much retailers making the Black Friday shopping so hyped in the US, and loving the idea of those stampedes (you know, as advertising, "Great Bargains For Those Who Don't Die!")
• Mismanaged Car Companies Want More Money - Considering the companies asking for this $25 billion have lost several billion already in just the last quarter, I wonder just how much of that money is just going to be used to clear up debts and ensure the executives get to leave their bankrupted companies with nice fat bonuses in the half year or so it takes for the funds to run out again. 'Nuff said.

So then, I've got a bit of bile out of my system, I hope you guys had a laugh out of it. Remember, people suck! That's why I'm glad I'm not a people. And you guys are furs, so you're alright in my book too. Take care, and see you all on the dark side of the moon!

Amigos! It's time for the super happy fun time update from that Big Smokey Joe himself, Jay Fear!

Another big week was had, with long shifts at work, financial dramas and job applications during the working week to keep me occupied. On the weekend there wasweasely 's going away function at Ironic Chefaussiehusky 's abode up in Chavswood, I was successful in getting there despite the flow of short people and crazed Pacific Highway traffic that stood in my way.

We watched silly TV, binged on decent Indian takeaway, ate a nice pavlova made by the host himself and some participants stooped to playing Monopoly. I recall falling asleep on the couch after getting fed up with the real estate drama, I've had enough of that in reality!  Thanks again Aussie!

The rest of the weekend was spent back at base and with Perverted Fuzzballsdustandfox and Lupie, some or most of that time may have been spent in an altered state. Possibly. Ask the kittens that flooded my apartment, they'll tell you.

On a dark note, I think I'm getting run down by work and such lately. I haven't had a holiday in 2 YEARS! I'm only ever able to save a little at a time, enough to look forward to (hopefully) studying next year at UOW, so taking time off a job that's defined as casual (but in terms of structure is permanent part-time) means both no money and no job to come back to! Getting a new job wouldn't be that hard I'm sure, but annihilating savings and going back to square one financially so close to when I (hopefully) will be looking to moving south for university doesn't really sound feasible. Aside from not being all too healthy, with my sleep patterns messed up and such, it's also made me even snappier than I usually am. Any advice?

Ah well, til next we meet, I'm off in search of a great love! Sayonara and ride the funky walrus!</lj></lj></lj>

Our reporter, Jay Horatio Fear, went undercover at this epicentre of sin and lust to bring you a scathing report...

With transport for the night disturbingly punctual and easily found, your writer found himself at the Manning Bar, the location of the aforementioned bacchanale, earlier than expected at around 8:30pm. Upon meeting up with British rubber fur Gaz, your writer and local latex correspondent atpaw we entered the facility.

With ample space and a large and relatively well organised changing/storage room provided, the perverted participants were quickly able to don their devilish disguises and discard the trappings of their 'normal' lives. In the interests of better intergrating with the crowd, this reporter wore PVC boots, a latex top and collar, leather cuffs and PVC pants, solely for the sake of infiltration of course.

Some reported the music as 'sick' with occasional 'phat beats' being reported as having been dropped by the more knowledgable participants, though the decently affordable alcohol may have clouded their judgement. Volume levels were loud but with a large venue and fairly sized balcony there was space to retreat.

Interesting videos of previous or alternative fetish events were displayed on multiple screens throughout the night, with regular shows of fetish and alternative fashion from some notable names in the hive of sin. GOMU especially, with catsuits designed for breathplay or for use as straitjackets, was one to keep an eye out for, and was featured in an amusing stage show later in the evening.

Though the fashion on the show floor was nowhere near as notable as the fashion in the field, and it simply can't be left out. So, we encountered:

• Latex ponygirls with TENS machines and saddles
• Rubber superheros, wearing jackal masks!
• Several full body catsuits
• The Wild One's stunning model Madia(SP?) showing off their newest designs in PVC, thanks again for the interview "Patrick and Dave are such wonderful guys, a lot of fun to work with"
• Stunning and colourful latex pieces from UK designer Libidex, with notables being flesh toned/pattern suits and semi-translucent materials for a more... earthy look
• A group of women who managed to cross regal stable owner with S&M queen
• The queen of goth, Amaya of Fiend Magazine, as a tightly corseted gothic geisha
• And... gimps, geeks, soldiers, nurses, bears, queens, kings, bulls, monsters, masters, mistresses, amazons and many more who deserve more but can't be provided for in this article

Notorious members of the fur community, like Harley Coyote, were also spotted at the event, as were commonly caught figures in the fetish community. As should be expected... perverts... sin... evil... wrooooo--- *AAAGGGGHH*

Screw the reporter style, it was fanfuckingtastic. It was like someone grabbed me by the throat and stuffed sex down my throat until I couldn't have anymore. A union of music and craziness mixed with eccentric fashion and the comingled creativity and sexuality of several hundred people, the coaliton of all the redeeming qualities that human sexuality has to offer, a reminder of why the hell I put up with living in this soul-draining, polluted and overly-expensive city.

The fun of striking up random conversations with people about their clothes or who I was hanging up with was paralleled by the almost pioneering thrill of seeing new and disturbing concepts in fetish clothing. Getting snapped by a photographer for the Sydney Star Observer with other rubber boys was amusing, as was the feeling of sympathy that one gets when seeing someone ELSE not able to walk in their bloody overly large boots.

It's rare I go to such events and not have any regrets or grumbles and I can safely say that save for maybe not being able to stay awake and out longer, that I have none of those aforementioned negative sentiments.

So yeah, hooray for that. I hope you're all well, I need to go collapse now.

Hi guys, Katy Perry wrote a song about me...

"You change your mind, like a girl, changes clothes. Yeah you, PMS like a bitch, I would know. And you overthink, always speak critically...

I should know, that you're no good for me...

Cause you're hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out, you're up then you're down.

You're wrong when it's right, it's black and it's white. We fight, we break up; we kiss, we make up..."

Totally my song!

Anyway, going to Rubber Ball tonight with various perverted furs, it should be fun! This unusual bounciness is brought to you by caffeine, good weather and a decent day at work! Take care all!

IMAGINE: A heartwarming scene in which a man , facing his second divorce and financial ruin, is comforted by a friend...
 
ROSE: "Don't worry, your pain will turn into something far more beautiful eventually..."
ALAN: "Oh, what's that?"
ROSE: "Sweet resentment! White hot resentment, that inspires you to commit unspeakable acts of revenge!"

Ah, Rose from Two and a Half Men, it's like she was seperated from me at birth. A great way to live really, optimistic but stark raving mad!

So anyway, I had a big weekend, Hellfire on Friday night was good (thanks again to atpaw  for coming with me), lots of perversion and rubber and such. 'Twas a little sweaty and I had to be lame and go home early, with work facing me the next morning, but fun was had regardless. We will not go into how much the new boots and pants were!

Saturday night wasdustandfox's boss' birthday party, it was at a rubbishy little teppanyaki place, but was a lot of fun. I don't like the excuse of a "show" to distract me from less food, more mess at higher prices, but everyone was fun and slightly tanked or otherwise lubricated so it was alright. Seeing a friend I haven't seen in 4 years, back in my old country boy days, afterwards was a surprise and a plus.

Now, I'm feelin' like Rose from the aforementioned show. Don't ask why, I just am.

Hope you're all well, take care, and don't pet the lemur. 

Friday was the Lunarmorph alternative fashion parade, an event defined by...

1. Bad sound cues
2. Ticket bitches (damn you ticket bitches, you made us wait for 40 minutes and accused us of not having any when you had them in your damn hands!)
3. Generally good clothing (highlights were The Wild One with a Vegas/goth styling and a sexy dustandfox , Gallery Serpentine and Matt Bylett) 
4. Overpriced drinks
5. The presence of good friends (aforementioned fox, Lupie and Temba)
6. Weirdoes/perverts who were amusing

Saturday started with work, which is never to be discussed here. Following this I made my way hastily to Wollongong, to scope out atpaw and Weasely's new place. It's nice, a definite improvement for all concerned. A birthday party for an RL friend of the weasel's, being driven around absurdly tight mountain passes by the spotcat and breakfast by the beach were all highlights. Thanks again to the pair for hosting me, and to the cat for being an endless source of amusement.

The weather down that way was still grim, but not as bad as Sydney for the most part, though I did feel some precious things freeze solid in the chill air around Kiama. Returning on Monday evening to find that Balmain was blowing away was quite a surprise, with trees and signs scattering equally in the face of the massive winds.

The normal Monday ritual of TV and food with Dustan and Lupie yielded a fearsome (in a good way, tasty and such) burrito recipe from the fox and the wonderful little Studio Ghibli film "My Neighbours The Yamadas". It's a light and oddly rendered look at family life, made unique by a great musical score and a fantastic sense of humour. The bitter and cynical grandmother gives it a necessary shot of bitchiness, but it's still a sweet and joyful experience.

Next on my list of things to do:

• Continue/finish commissioned pictures
• Write reviews for a new site Temba and I are on, expect me to be (shock!) more evil than usual
• Waiting on uni news for next year
• Staving off negativity and drama in their many horrible forms

Second night of Furjam, thanks once more to aussiehusky for planning events and such.

Food was good, paying a bill in a restaurant full of furs wasn't as painful as one could expect it to be. Cinema didn't sound too good so went pubbing in Newtown with dustandfox, his boss and a good friend of theirs. Expensive but fun.

After crashing back at his place for a while for some sleazy anime and chemical sin, I rolled back here.

Tonight was also notable in that I watched some friendships on the rocks go even further, not mine actually, but friends of mine facing their own dramas. A shame to watch, and I wish them well.

This Furjam's been odd, mainly reminding me of how different some things are a year later, not sure for the better or worse. More on that if I feel like it.

Take care all, these are stormy seas. 

First night of Furjam last night, dinner/drinks at The Rose in Erskineville.

1. Furs were good, lots of new/unexpected faces
2. Food was good and surprisingly fast
3. Lots of people, public transport was hectic too
4. Bartender (the older one) was an arsehole

Thanks/props go to aussiehusky , the masochist organising this all. Anyone who thought I was high or drunk will be sorely disappointed, my usual misbehaviour was absent, in its place was a case of insomnia that left me somewhere in between The Sandman and zombies in terms of alertness.

Saturday was a day to remember.

No, it wasn't work (which was okay). No, it wasn't hanging out with moreth (which was fun).

It was going to smacky_wolf's new(ish) apartment for the first time, which was lovely, and I talked to his boyfriend Charles (who was lovely), and saw his lovely cat Muffin, and then he threw a lovely party.

And at this lovely party there were lovely people, and those lovely people had lovely little strawberries, which I had for the first time that night.

I'm not quite sure if what followed was lovely or not, I was a little frightened when the rooms started to expand and bend. I was disturbed when time started to dilate. I was shattered into pieces as I lost control of my senses, to the point that I was confusing taste with touch. Goth girls saved me from the pit of despair though; and with the help of Tetris, voluptuous children (a great band name if I've ever heard one) and a fuzzy blanket I was able to make sense of my surroundings once more.

From there I retreated to Smacky's bedroom with dustandfox, AKA The Retro Rocket, and we contemplated our shared vacation into sensory distortion. The rainbow ceiling, liquid floor and amorphous bed were wonderful companions on the journey, but I was more than glad to say farewell to them as we made our hasty retreat into the night. Oh, and thanks to Smacky for letting me steal his Venetians (which were lovely).

The morning from there was spent recuperating and watching The Muppet Show, oddly comforting yet satisfyingly surreal.

And after that, I ran home, and fell into a deep sleep, which was...
...
...
...
...
FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!

Here's hoping you're all well, take care and see you on the other side of the looking glass.

RANDOM POINT 1
I just saw an ad for The Next Top Supermodel on Channel Ten, in which one of the judges said that "stripping is not a part of modelling". I totally agree with that sentiment.

One is an industry based on debasing one's self in order to satisfy the baser needs of wealthy men, reliant on young women being objectified and mistreated.

The other is taking one's clothes off and dancing for money.

RANDOM POINT 2
I've stopped drinking. For any friends not aware I was... or maybe still am by medical definitions... an alcoholic. Drinking every night, or every second night, often alone, and often for no better reason than I felt an innate urge to do so. If someone sees me at a party reaching a shaky paw towards something containing alcohol, give me a slap on the head.

RANDOM POINT 3
Went to aussiehusky's BBQ last night, much geeky fun was had, mad props to the host as usual. Was good to catch up with the people there (especially the rarely seen Harley, the always amusing liontemba, and the ever-fun atpaw), as well as gorging on food from a rather nice Indian place nearby, staffed by a rather not-so-nice and not-so-Indian man. I do recall some crushing of certain people in Super Smash Brothers, but lets not linger on that too long huh?

I hope everyone's well, see you later!