⚒ February & March Updates

February AND March updates?!! Yeah...cuz I'm cool like that...heh. (I actually just haven't had time to write anything yet 'til now lol.) I've been on a mini-hiatus from coding (making small edits here and there when I feel like it)...think of it as my long-needed vacation for finally putting together my website! So what's been going on with me since my last update? Maybe a few things...

First though, I want to announce that I have a few Ko-Fi commission slots open right now. Taxes blew me apart this year! Badly...so commissions and shares are appreciated especially while I'm in employment limbo right now. I'm offering the popular mid-century style icons and also testing the waters for animated volcano GIFs as these are the things I can draw and easily complete with the least amount of pressure.

And now...on to the updates...

I want to announce here that I got accepted into my geology PhD program of choice! Woohoo!!! I'll keep it vague, but I am basically going to be researching volcanic hazards. VERY exciting news cuz I've been trying for years to get into a fully-funded graduate program. I'll keep y'all updated on my journey!

I also applied for a few workshops so I'm crossing my fingers that I can get into them. It's all volcano monitoring related, so I really want to take part in them.

Aside from that, I've been slowly making graphics of each volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc lol. I've gotten through the Washington Cascades! And now...onto the Oregon Cascades...which is a LOT more than how many are in Washington...shudders At least I'm not drawing the San Francisco volcanic field and its 600+ vents...hahah...

Here comes the bulk of my update. The great news is that I think I finally am getting out of my art rut! Yes...the one that has been going on for like 2+ years...I don't really know what happened, but I've been having a lot of energy, a lot of ideas, and a lot of motivation to create again.

I've been self-teaching myself photography, one reason is so I can document landscapes and rocks/minerals for field work, but another reason is to use shots to make/find interesting compositions for my drawn art (Here is a great video tutorial I found that clearly teaches camera modes). I recently got a camera that is more suitable to the outdoor field work I do (Olympus Tough TG-6!) and I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with it. You can follow my photo journey/experimentation/whatever here. Even found out it has a mode for macrophotography! Check these photoes of my mineral specimens, all which are pretty small. Look at the detail! How cool is that?

(Click for full view)

I'm also picking up sewing so I can make plush dolls of my OCs (especially TB) and can take them on trips and take photos of them. Also, now that I'm a student again, I'm really looking forward to being able to use the art lab at my university...they have a risograph that I've been DYING to try out. Man, slow down Rock, this is a lot of creative stuff! But it's a bit weird how I'm suddenly having fun just creating again. I'm happy about it though. Will keep y'all updated on these projects!

Right now, I am running a new werewolf RP group, so I am pretty excited about it. After seeing the success of Outbreak, I decided to run another group with similar mechanics. This one is set in a dying shopping mall...with many surprises!

And I've been thinking a lot about my original story "Nonconformity" and "Uranium Rush" a lot lately too...I actually recently started working on fixing up my OC website. I have the older homepages archived, but isn't it so crazy how much I've improved at coding?

(Click for full view)

Due to some limiitations with certain sites and features, I remember jumping around from Neocities, Toyhou.se, Wix, Weebly, Carrd, and then back to Neocities for quite a bit in like 2017-2023 before coding finally clicked to me and I started seriously working on my OC site...resulting in the 3rd screenshot. For what it was, I was super proud of it because I figured a lot of neat tricks and was learning to get into the rhythm of HTML/CSS coding. Using the live preview in Phoenix Code definitely helped a lot!

Also yeah, this site of mine was left blank since 2017 LOL...I just didn't have anything I could think of for my personal site until like, now. I realized I can put just about any bullshit I wanted on my site and now that is what I do.

Some future works in mind for this site? I want to switch the font so it's my own handwriting at some point. While I like the current one I have, I think sometimes it's not as readable...and certain characters don't look very good. It bothers me so much!!! And maybe I'll find some time in these next few months to upload my art finally? Who knows...I busted my ass to make such a nice and fancy gallery only to not use it...tch.

Anyways, this site has gained a lot of attention since I started actively coding this current version of it and I just want to say I appreciate each and every one of you that decided to stop by at my humble little online space to browse my site, even if it's just for one page. Thank you so much for all your wonderful words and encouragement! I am very happy to be part of the indie web development community and am excited to see what everyone can create with their sites. Rock, signing out!