Hi everyone! I realize I've been gone for an abnormally extended period of time, but I'm back now. ^_^ Be forewarned; this might be a pretty big read once I get done typing. x3

The reason I was gone was because I transferred to the University in early January to finally start working on my Art major. I realized once I was there that I wouldn't have time to go online so I kind of just... dropped off the radar. I'm sorry I didn't leave any kind of notice, appoint anyone to take over my wikis, or let the ET guards know I'd be going. That was very irresponsible of me and I do appologise for that. But I am okay, I'm not hurt, and I'm not dead. xD I was really worried that some of you would think something happened to me. I was also worried that some of you would be angry that I left for so long. x.x I hope none of you are angry. That was never my intention. :3

But I've noticed that so many things have changed on Elftown since I've been here. Lots of new features I don't remember and some I probably haven't found yet. I was retired as a guard and as a council member, and I understand why, so I'm not angry. I expected it actually and it's for the best. I really should have done it myself before I left though. But anyway, it is nice to see all of you again and I hope to catch up as much as possible in the next few months because it's likely that I'll have to leave again once my next semester starts. I've gotten updates on a few of you, but there's a few more of you that I've got to hunt down and pester. >3 I've also got to do some wiki maintainence once I get done with some things at home. x.x

Now for something more appropriate for a diary. As for an update on me, I've been doing well in school. This past semester I had five classes, which were Design I, Drawing I, Art History I, Music Appreciation, and Social Psychology. I made three A's and two B's, which I am very happy about. :B Adjustment to dorm life was somewhat rough in the beginning, especially being on a co-ed floor, but it's really not so bad. Well aside from some of the drama queen neighbors and the drunken party girls being loud at 4 am. >.> BUT it's all managable. xD I probably had the best possible random room mate ever though. We had a lot in common and she wasn't a pain in the arse, so I was very relieved to have her as a room mate. I'm still going to try for a single room next semester though, just... because. <.< I made quite a few friends out there too in my classes and I'm hoping most of them are still living on campus next year.

I made a ton of neat art in my two studio classes too! I really feel that the work I did last semester has improved my skill and reawakened my love for realism. I've only got the work from one of my classes to show and some of it is too big to scan. Though I'm really proud of all the stuff I did there. We worked with acrylic paints, and all kinds of stuff which I usually don't get to use because I never have the money or motivation to buy the materials. I've got the work from that class, my Design class, though I really am more fond of the work I did in my Drawing class. We used charcoal in there and, going in, that was something I'd only used a handful of times. All of them are too big to scan though, so I'm going to have to figure something out once I get them back. Hopefully some of them will be chosen for the undergraduate art show in the Fall. ^_^ And as for free time art, I've got a little bit of that too. ;3 I've just got to figure out a better watermarking strategy before I post them.

Oh yeah! And my relationship is going very well with Glenn as it always has been. Everyone in my family is okay and all my pets are happy n' healthy. :3

And I think that's about all. O: I'm still trying to get back into my Elftown groove though and I'll be around if anyone wants to chat. I'll remind you all again that I'm not a guard anymore, but if you need advice, I'm still here. :3

Seven days. SEVEN. D: I haven't been away from Elftown that long, ever, except for when I went on vacation. But this college transfer stuff is more work than I thought it'd be. I have to make all kinds of appointments to get information together. I have to have a physical and maybe get shots. x_x; I hate shots. I've got to apply a second time for the School of Art that's a part of the college I applied to. I did get accepted into the college, by the way. :B I'll be moving over there in the Spring and I hope I get a single's dorm. I'm an only child, so I have those needs to be alone in a room. x3 But at least I'll be over there with Glenn. He's really lonely there and I'm really lonely here, so soon, that'll be fixed. But anyway, that's my short diary rant about life right now. I hope none of you were worried about my sudden dissapearance. :x

Well, it turns out that my kitty's condition wasn't even bad enough for surgery, but it was umelical hernia like I thought. The vet said it could stay the same throughout his life, or it could get worse and need surgery later on. It's an equal chance for both, but at least he gave me a more stable price range of between $75 and $120. So that's a relief. At least now I know it won't cost over $120 if he ever needs surgery. ^_^ But as of now, he's a perfectly healthy kitten and can go about his normal daily kitten activities. :3

A few of you know that on my birthday I found a very small kitten under my house and I've been taking care of him. Well just recently I've found that he has a problem. I'm fairly sure he has umbelical hernia. For those who don't know what that is, it's when the intestines and other tissue around the naval come out through the naval opening. It's still contained under his skin, but it can cause serious problems with his digestive system and generally is just not normal or healthy any way you look at it. His isn't too far progressed and doesn't seem to be serious, however, I'm not a vet. That's why I'll be taking him to one tomorrow and hopefully have a better idea of what's going to happen.

I read online that this sort of thing can fix itself if it's not bad, but most of the time it requires surgery. So I'm preparing myself for the bill. :P I also read that the costs for such surgery can run between $35 and $300. ;-; My guess is that his will cost around $85.. and hopefully not more than that. Either way, my friends are willing to chip in and help if the bill is more than I expect. In the meanwhile I've been worrying to no end about him and I've put him in a modified TV box so he won't be jumping around, making his condition worse. I'm just going to be biting my nails until I can get an official "he'll be ok" from the vet. But I'll feel much better after he's been fixed.

Not to mention that I've got fall registration coming up for school and I have a very limited choice of what courses I can take. And I've been filling out scholorships and doing other things that need to be done around here. I'm also having to prepare for my boyfriend to go off to a different college. He'll be staying there in a dorm and I'll be here. He's not going too far away, but just far enough to where he can't afford to drive back and forth. It really...really sucks. BUT we'll only be separated for one semester, because I'll be transferring in the Spring to the same college. ^_^

But right now I'm just hit with so many stressful things. Heh. It never seems to end. XP But I'll get by. Anyway. That's my rant/update.

Well, today was my last day of school! :D The only problem is I'm slightly sick with a stomach bug. :P All the stress of the past weeks caught up to me I guess. But I'll still be able to draw. :B AND I'm back on Elftown! *rawr* >3

Update! I'm not sick anymore. X3 Yay immune system! :B

I'm going through a lot of crap right now and I can't do everything all at once, so I'm going to have to choose, and right now my schoolwork is more important. No offense Elftown, but I'm just too stressed. I will be back, but it might not be until the end of the semester. Please know that I'm not angry at anyone or anything, I'm just.. running ragged right now. I've been trying to be everywhere at once and it's just not working. :/

So I'll be back in the summer. Maybe with new art, I don't know. I'll post it if I have it. X3 I'll make sure to check in every now and then to see how people are doing and stuff though. Anyhoo, I guess this is the official beginning of my hiatus. Until later. :)

I've never claimed to be a poet or writer, but I wrote this one thing on something that I'd been thinking on for quite some time:

If I had all the time in the world I would,
learn everything,
do everything,
see everything,
know everything,
and experience all there is to experience.
But once I have observed, learned, and become perfect,
I will die of boredom and loneliness short after.

Today, on Nov. 9th, I picked up my pre-ordered copy of Halo 2. I took it home, impressed with the new additions and in awe of the possibilities of the game.

I came home, put it in my XBox, and made customized my character, very happy with the new character features. I selected my control preferences and prepared myself.

Then I played the game...

I discovered that I was rather unhappy with the overall presentation of the cinematic scenes in the very beginning. The transitions between the different scenes were not up to par by any means. The cinematic was still loading while it was playing through in some parts. :P Not very smooth at all. This tells me that they either didn't think people would notice, or didn't care because they were running out of time and had to push the game or something.

I was also unhappy with the weapons. They sound like toy guns for one. No blazing, deafening hail of gunfire... it was more like.. a toy cap gun. :/ The dual gun feature was a nice touch, though. The human sniper rifle doesn't have nearly as much power as it should and the alien one has way too much. The needles on the needler don't explode until later in the game and the rate of fire is exactly the same, even though they said they'd be faster on game previews. There are very few weapons that stood through to this game from the original one with the same design. I'm one of those "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of people. :P There are a few new covenant weapons that I DO like, like the carbine and the sniper rifle. I would have liked the freaking plasma sword more than I already do but it runs out and breaks...

The overall handling of the character is sluggish and jerky, not nearly as smooth as in Halo. The melee attack has nearly no range to it, considering you have to be right up on the bad guy to even land a blow, which doesn't do nearly as much damage as it should due to your shiney new, and supposedly stronger armor. You also have no lifebar, only a shield bar. I don't like that just because I'm used to, and prefer the system on Halo.

On to vehicles. I've found that there is no way to tell if your vehicle is about to be destroyed or not. There's no vehicle lifebar, as if they expect you to just... know when you're about to explode. The vehicles also drive MUCH slower. Ghosts, Banshees, Scorpions... all go much slower than they did in Halo. The new boost on the Ghosts and banshees even has flaws. You can't turn very well while you're using it, which isn't so bad, but you also can't fire while using it, which isn't fesaible at all. You still can't kill drop ships. >/ The mortar tanks are grossly overpowered as well. I haven't tried out the warthogs yet.

There are a few things that I do like, however. Most of the covenant stuff is good. The plasma rifles only changed in looks. The covenant weapons in general are the best in the game, so far as I've seen. The covenant vehicles are still the best in the game. Banshees can now do tricks. :B A few cool points there. The covenant are vastly improved from Halo, unlike the humans and all their stuff.

My overall take of the game: Not tested enough and underprepared for the public. As I go along in the game, I've gotten used to some things, so I guess it's getting better, but it still doesn't change my first impression. I will probably grow to like the game more, but it was still a big dissapointment to me. They tried to put too much into the game and include too many new things and neglected some of the things that made the first Halo so great.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I think the music suits the game very well and the graphics are pretty nice too, if they'd ever load on time. X3

Edit: After playing the game for some time, I've grown to like the game more. Like anything new, it takes some getting used to. As I proceed farther into the game, I'm finding new addtions that I really like, but I'm not going to say what because that would ruin it for all of the Halo gamers that read this. But the multiplayer is just awesome in comparision to Halo 1. Better maps, new game settings, and they made it much more customizable. :B So many possibilities, especially since it's XBox Live compatable. I think I'll raise my rating:

Now off I go to obsess over it, like so many others. X3

Dood. I don't usually write diary entries here, but I've had one hellova day. X3

I start out waking up to my mom telling me that Glenn, my boyfriend, has a flat tire and may not make it to take me to class. He did make it, which wasn't so bad. Anyway, I went to class and did all that good stuff. :P

I knew that my dad was going to be putting a new, more powerful, circuit breaker in the house today and that the power to the house would be out until he finished with it. So I came home to no electricity or ANYTHING to amuse myself, and I wasn't in much of a drawing mood. X3 You'll also have to understand that the breaker they were replacing was in MY ROOM. >_>.. I took a rather long nap in the den on the couch and woke up to beating, banging, and drilling.

At that point, they decided it was time for a lunch break. So they went out and got food from our local BoJangles. :B But, seeing as though my day could only get worse, the people at the take out window screwed up JUST my order. >_< So I ate what I got.

A little later, my dad realized that he got the wrong parts for the breaker, but he had to get things working before the inspector came to see if everything was done properly. :P So me and my mom had to haul arse to get the parts, which were only available in a city that was 30 minutes away... We eventually got the parts and went back home. They put the parts in and restored power to the house around 3:30pm. :P

In the process of putting a more powerful breaker, they had to allow for it's size, which was much larger than the old one, so they had to cut a large portion of my wall out to make it fit. Cutting dry wall, if you know how that goes, makes a nice coating of dust on anything within a ten foot radius of the area, so everything in my room is covered in a white powder. Just about EVERYTHING in my room is black. >/ So I dusted for about an hour, sneezing violently from the dust. It's settled down to being barable now, but there's still some holes in the wall where they had to stick the cables n' stuff out.

So I've had a rather stressful, craptastic day, but I've had worse, so I'll stop my bitching. X3

I'm trying to make a website for all my art. I don't like having restrictions that elfwood has so I figure...I'll do it myself! :D

I'm doing pretty well for my first time EVER making a web page. I'm about 2/3 done with it. The whole thing is navigable but I have no main page. :o.. I suppose that would be a requirement. Everything else is good to go but I'm not tellin' the URL untill its completed 100%.

I haven't been doing much drawing lately other than the graphics for my site. I did do more tonberry variants. :D I did a tonberry knight and a baron tonberry. The baron is in a little fighter plane with a machine gun on it. It's SO cute. ^_^ But the only way to see it at the moment is on my website so tonberry fans'll have to wait.

I'm also VERY happy I'm on spring break right now. I don't go places for spring break. I think it's kind of silly. I like staying at home and doing things I've been wanting to do other than school work. :P

On another subject... I hope my cat has kittens soon. Well she's not mine.. but she may as well be. She pretty much lives here now because fuzzybutt is here. Fuzzybutt is my cat. He looks like a big squirrel. But anyway.. I want kittens! ;-; I love kittens. They're so cute and playful and, and, and.. I dunno. I want to see how many she has. I think she's gonna have between 4 and 6 cause she's gotten REALLY big for her size.

I think that's about it.

Oh. I love you puddin'. I can't seem to say that enough these days. :3

Hmn.. I think, by ratio, I've been the most drawing/art efficient in the past week than I ever have in my life. :o..

I completed six pictures, all with backgrounds or at least some tweaking in an art program. Some I did from start to finish all in one sitting. Some are pretty big too. O_o.. I still have a huge "to do" list though. A new anthro pirate picture is next on my list.. then..

... the infamous mechanical dragon. >3

I've started the dragon already but I only have it's head done. I've probably worked about six hours on that head... now I just have to finish the rest of it. :P

I've been running off of Elftown alone. Not that that's bad but.. I NEED Elfwood to be back online. O_O... I NEED to upload and I NEED to edit my page.

I'm going crazy. I have nothing to do. BLAH O_O..

Eh.. It'll be up tomorrow anyway.

Weedah. :3 I finished the Ice Queen Riona piccy for a friend. We have an art trade going and im a bit late on my part. :x I hope she isn't angry about that. It looks awesome though. I'll post it after I she sees it. It's only right that she gets the first look ;3

I'll prolly put it on my elfwood page after the site comes back up, giving her full credit for the character of course. :3

Today's been good. ::roll off::

Blogityblogityblog. School sucks and I'm tired. :P

Blarg. First day back to college after X-mas break. :P... My classes so far are ok but I have a highly stressful load for classes, mentally speaking. I have Psychology, Sociology, Literature Based Research, and Physics. O_o..I'm gonna be SO busy.. not nearly enough time to draw ;-; I have a 4 hour gap between my first and second classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and I have to wake up at 8am EVERY DAY, cept weekends,...That's something I hadn't had to do since I was in High School.. It sucks major goat arse. But oh well...I'll make it.. hopefully I'll pass with B's.. or A's.. A's are good. Yep. Well.. I'm tried and need a nap. ::snooze::

Christmas is here! :D And I got a bunch of stuff. I finally go an XBox and some games for it and Final Fantasy X-2 for the Playstation 2. Ah.. I'll be busy for about a month or two with all those games. ^-^ I'm kind of wondering when the moderators are gonna choose the winner of the christmas image competition cause christmas is almost over. :/ Eh... I guess it'll be ok. :3

Ah.. Christmas break. ::drawdrawdrawdraw::.. come January.. I'll have no hand. Just a lump of bone and flesh that resembles a hand... sort of. O_o...

My fanart page is FINALLY up! After weeks and weeks ;-; actually about 8 days. :o.. It looks a little skimpy. I need to draw more fanart to put in there. More Final Fantasy stuff. I love Final Fantasy. Maybe some anime stuff too. Who knows.. what ever comes out when the mood strikes me.

Waiting.. and waiting.. and waiting for my fanart page. ;-; I'm in about 400th place in que. SO CLOSE!... ::sigh:: I'm sure they're working their hardest to get all the stuff fixed properly..but I'm still impatient ;-;.. oh well. Maybe tomorrow.....

Sci-fi page is FINALLY up :D!! I'm also trying to get a Fanart page going. That'll take another week and a half to become viewable. There are a lot of things that will become colored over Christmas break. College takes up too much time >/ Anyhoo.. off to do a paper for english....

I am completely new to elftown and am scared and confused. I'll get it right someday but in the meantime I need to get my new Sci-fi page up, working, and half-way decient. :3