Even though I log into Deviant Art about once a day to check my messages, respond to posts and comments, and thank people who've favorited my page, I've not yet taken the time to sit down and share my big news with all of you guys - it's because I wanted to make sure not to just write a rushed entry, but actually take the time to share my news.

What's this big news, you ask? Well, you see, after living together with my "better half", Brian, for the past five (or was that, six?) years without killing or maiming one another, we figured we can probably manage to stand each other for some time to come, so we decided to finally get married.

We were married on March 24th in a small civil ceremony with some of our friends and co-workers in attendance. It was very nice and tasteful, nothing big, nothing fancy, and we did dinner at the local sushi restaurant afterward to celebrate.

No photos of the wedding for you guys to see (sorry, those go in the family album), but I will take a photo of our rings when I get the chance. We chose very simple stainless steel Claddagh rings, and that turned out to be a great choice. They're very comfortable and, more importantly, a whole heck of a lot more durable than gold bands.

In dog news, you may have noticed from my recent photo submissions that we've added a second dog to our family, a Belgian Malinois. Like our German Shepherd, she is a rescue, and she's come from a very difficult and abusive background where she was kept in the back yard, neglected, and used as a puppy factory to make a profit. Poor thing has ear tips that are fly-bitten so bad they have no hair, is missing most of her incisors, and has had her four canines filed down to dull them. She's had her jaw broken, with one piece of her lower lip missing, and another part hanging a little funny. She's still gorgeous, though, not to mention that she is an absolute sweetheart!

You can probably tell how skinny she still is from her photos - that is after having been at the shelter for five months and at our home for a week. She is now starting to put on some more weight, though, and looking real good. Like our GSD, she eats Taste of the Wild, which is a grain free dog food. It seems to be working real great on her, and her coat is absolutely gorgeous and shiny. A couple more pounds, and she won't even look like the same dog anymore.

We found her after looking for awhile for our next sport dog, since we can no longer herd with Abby due to her arthritis, and I think she's going to be a great match for any sport or activity we want to get into, with her super-crazy toy drive. She came to use pre-trained in Schutzhund and, even with her missing teeth and healed broken jaw, loves (loves!) to go at that bite sleeve!

In other news, the Army has decided to send us to the lovely state of New York, home of the country's most ridiculous gun laws (heck, you can't even buy pepper spray without doing paperwork on it!) and long winters, come this summer. If you notice lengthy quiet spells on my Deviant Art page this summer, it's probably because I'm in the process of moving, trying to get the Internet turned on in the new place, and all that other good stuff that goes along with this kind of move.

One good thing about this move is the fact that it doesn't look like it will be difficult to find a nice home up north, as there seem to be many available but, due to the depressed economy, not many people interested in buying. There are two houses we're seriously considering so far - one is a three year old modern log home, 2 bedroom with a den, on 2 acres, with another 74 acres around it belonging to the landlord (we would have use of that for walking the dogs, hunting, etc.); and the other is an older home, 4 bedroom, with a big yard that backs up to a reservoir where you can swim, boat, and fish.

The following links are completely random links from my great big file of links. I am going to add new random links with each blog entry, and maybe you guys will find some of them interesting or useful. There's no rhyme or reason to them, so just check them out and expect the unexpected.

• One Manga


• 24 Pet Watch


• Swing Dance Store


• Atlas Quest


• Blik Surface Graphics

Since I recently adopted a Belgian Malinois from the shelter, this month's journal feature is all about Belgian Malinois art. There weren't a whole lot of Malinois pieces to choose from since the breed is still quite uncommon in the United States, outside of working and sport dogs.

This past summer, I started riding again after a hiatus of about 10 years. That happened in a very round-about way, through Craig's List. I'd gone over to the farm to deliver the item I'd sold, we got to talking, and ended up agreeing that I'd come work on the farm in return for riding.

At first, I was shocked to find I was entirely out of practice. When I rode as a teenager, it was nothing for me to get onto a 17 hand thoroughbred. Now, after 10 years, getting on a 13.2 hand Welsh pony was ... uh ... yeah ... It was just a matter of practice, though.

I found that there are surprisingly many muscles you don't use when you're not riding, and that they all hurt (a lot) when you get back into it. Especially after this past Sunday. Audacity and I spent about an hour trotting and cantering at various speeds, working on transitions from trot to canter and back, and stuff like that. Most people find that boring, but I kinda like it.

Since it's spring, it's time for my annual spring cleaning, and I've decided to clean out some of my manga. I know some of you guys read manga, so I figured I would offer them up here to see if anyone would like them. I have the following:

• Kaori Yuki's "Godchild", volumes 1 through 4


• Satomi Ikezawa's "Guru Guru Pon-Chan", complete (9 volumes)

Both of those sets are in very good condition. They've obviously been read, but they don't have dog-eared corners or any kind of damage. They're pretty nice looking, almost as good as new. I just never really got into Godchild - I don't like the artwork that much - and I'm just over Pon-chan.

I'm asking $20 for the Godchild series and $45 for all of the Pon-chan books together. $5 for shipping will get them to your doorstep anywhere in the US - for outside the US, please drop me a note so I can get an accurate shipping quote. I take PayPal and any major credit card (via PayPal, but you don't have to have an account). Please note me!

The following links are completely random links from my great big file of links. I am going to add new random links with each blog entry, and maybe you guys will find some of them interesting or useful. There's no rhyme or reason to them, so just check them out and expect the unexpected.

• Kurrent & Sutterlin Script


• Gutterfighting


• Motifake


• Primitive Earth Beads


• Wolfpack Gear

I realized that I haven't updated my Deviant Art journal since April 27, 2008, which was a few days after my tabby cat, Maus, passed away of liver failure at age 9. Well, he didn't "pass away". He had to be euthanized. At the emergency vet on a Saturday afternoon, no less. Poor little thing. In the end, euthanasia was quick. The vet injected the drugs while I cuddled him, and he went.

A couple of months later, we went and found ourselves a replacement tabby. Another ginger boy, just like Maus. Actually, he's so much like Maus, we've caught ourselves calling him Maus. *blush* We got him at eight weeks old, when he was this cute and adorable little striped furry thing.

Of course, he didn't stay that cute little stripey thing, though. No, he's grown into what my friend and riding coach Laura calls a "Grade A Large Kitty". She should know, most of her barn cats are Grade A Large Kitties! He's now this big ol' tomcat. (Never mind the sweater, that was our holiday photo.)

My riding coach bought the sweetest little perlino stallion a couple of weeks ago. He is just so pretty with the blue eyes and his soft pink nose. She got promptly bucked off the first time she tried to ride him and got a concussion in the process. He is gorgeous, though. I can't wait for a day with nice weather so I can get some photos of him. The last couple of times I've been, it was either raining or starting to get dark, and I haven't had a chance to take photos.

So I've gone and signed up to be an official Deviant Art beta tester, just like the other half a million official Deviant Art beta testers that are out there. Just like them, I mostly did it so I could get a first-hand look at the spiffy new user pages they're introducing, and I'm not disappointed.

You've probably noticed already that there are some extra things on my user page, like several features. And that things aren't quite in the same places where they used to be. That's because the new user page layouts let you do a whole lot of customizing. You can move things around, feature more than one piece, and preview more than just the last four images submitted to your gallery. And that's just to name a couple of things. I lurrrv it. And it's sleek and shiny.

The new user pages make me happy.

The following links are completely random links from my great big file of links. I am going to add new random links with each blog entry, and maybe you guys will find some of them interesting or useful. There's no rhyme or reason to them, so just check them out and expect the unexpected.

• How
  to wear a Sari


• Instructables


• Letterboxing North America


• Jam Paper


• 
  
  The Story of Dogs In Elk

This week's feature is all about using something you wouldn't traditionally think of as paint used to create amazing artwork: coffee. Yup, that's right. All of the featured images have been painted using coffee in various dilutions.