XylidineGriffin

This year I resolve to:
Maintain my current weight (because I reached my weight goal last year.)
Continue my resolution that I made 2 years ago of growing my hair out really long (8" to go, that's about a year and 4 months if I don't cut it and the ends remain perfect.(<-not likely))
Clear up my skin. This year was the worst it's ever been, I think.
Get another, better job.
Practice my violin, no really, for reals this time.
Hang out with my sugar gliders more.
Make more amazing things!! (and then post pictures of them here!)

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My one and only Sister:
My friends:
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Clubs that are awesome!!:

I wish I had some better news for everyone but most of it kinda sucks. Let's see if I can remember it in chronological order.

So the reason I kind of dropped off the face of Deviant-art was because of everything I had to do to finalize becoming an EMT. I had to do my clinicals, get 5 shots, do two background checks, drug tests, do a practical test, do a state test, do CPR training then wait for my card to get to me, then register with the state. It was such a hassle but I got it all done and I am now an EMT. Now I just need to get IV therapy certified.

My dog, Jack, who is in my deviantID picture, died at the start of August. He was 10 and he had a very rapid attack of hemangiosarcoma cancer and had to be put down. My other dog, Maia, was left all alone for a few weeks but we got a new dog named Rebel. He's a black and white Husky/Malamute mix and he'll be 5 on Jan 2nd. Maia just turned 9 two days ago but Rebel can still get her to play with him sometimes.

I didn't get the ski patrol job at Keystone. I'll just have to try out for next year.

My grandmother on my dad's side of the family died the Monday before Thanksgiving. She was 90.

I'm getting better at playing my violin, still not practicing enough though. The school started a string ensemble and that seems to be helping me.

I found out I'm allergic to cats, dog hair, dust mites, juniper trees, and grass. This probably explains why my sinuses have been congested 24/7 since I was a kid. I just kind of got used to not being able to breathe through my nose and wondered how other people could. My job doesn't offer health insurance anymore to part-timers because of Obama-care so I have no insurance to cover payment for allergy shots so there's nothing I can really do about this right now.

I got rid of my fish tank. I hated cleaning it!

I lost 15 lbs with the help of UP24 by Jawbone. I'm back to what I weighed in high school!

I've been trying so hard to make a working hot-wire cutter but I've been having lots of problems like not being able to make the wire hot enough before it breaks. I just need to figure out the kind of wire to use.

What is this even? What happened to this?

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My one and only Sister:
My friends:
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Clubs that are awesome!!:

Hello all my new watchers!!!! Thank you so much for showing an interest in my art over the last 6 months! It is because of you that I have finally done something that I have been putting off for a long time. That's right, I changed my username. Originally I didn't want to spend money on DeviantArt because I thought it might just be a waste. $29.99 for a year just so I can change my username? No way! But by ing and ing you all have shown me that DA is not a waste. So, thank you!!

Now on to other life news...
End of March start of April I tried out for a ski patrol position at two different Colorado resorts, Breckenridge and Keystone, I didn't get accepted at Breck but I got on the wait-list at Keystone!! The people on the wait-list are like the back-ups. If a current ski patrol employee decides not to come back for the next season for whatever reason (they have until August to decide) or if one of the new hires can't be hired (didn't get EMT certified in time or just decided they didn't want the job) then I would be one of the people they would call next. This means I'm getting my EMT-basic certification right now. I'm about half way through and I think I'm doing pretty well.

So, on to the statuses of my new year's resolutions...
-I have lost a little weight, not the ten pounds I was hoping for but I'm about half way there. I had to quit Krav Maga though because it was at the same time as my EMT classes. I started Yoga at a place that is much closer so that should help.
-I have not practiced my violin any more than usual, which is never. I'm pretty sure my teacher can tell. I wonder if she secretly talks about me as her "problem student." I don't care. I still like learning stuff about music and the violin even if I don't practice. It's just so different from anything else I've ever learned.
-The picture posting is going well, as you can tell. I did get behind these last three weeks but I made up for it and got back on track.
-I still need to hang out with my sugar gliders more. Between classes and work it's hard though. Sorry guys.
-A thing I made was I added LED strip lights to the built in shelves on the wall behind my bed. My bedroom has no windows so it's always dark. There was an old florescent light fixture over the middle shelf but there were 7 other shelves that were completely dark. So I took out the florescent fixture and replaced it with an LED balast and wired in strip lights to all the shelves. That took me like 3 days of sanding, drilling, and soldering and then one day to trouble shoot it (some screws were loose and some connections were dirty) but I did it! And it looks amazing!! It looks like the whole wall is glowing! And nothing caught on fire or shorted out. It was great practice and I have some even bigger projects lined up if I ever get the time to do them.

How do I do journal skins?! I kind of know some CSS coding but I could still use some help.

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My one and only Sister:
My friends:
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Clubs that are awesome!!:

I guess it's time for my annual post because that seems to be how often I post things here. Well, no more! Here is my list of resolutions:
- Loose 10 lbs. via going to Krav Maga at least 3 times a week (job permitting.)
- Practice my violin more, as in, at all would be more than I'm doing now.
- Actually post some of the pictures I take. At least 1 picture per week. I have taken enough of them that this shouldn't be a problem.
- Hang out with my sugar gliders more. They need more attention than I give them, and they're so adorable!
- Make something (or lots of things) awesome!

I heard somewhere that writing these down helps you feel more committed to do them or something. Also posting them publicly will make you guys (peer pressure) help me keep to them because you can yell at me if I don't do them, and there's a possibility that that might help motivate me to do them.

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My one and only Sister:
My friends:
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Clubs that are awesome!!:

So I got a job back at the start of September working for Rhino Staging. What does Rhino do you ask? We set up events like concerts (Rob Zombie at first bank center and Madonna at the Pepsi center) and we set up corporate events too at hotels (basically whenever you see truss or lights or big projector screens, we set those up). Sometimes they let me be a video camera operator too, which is exactly what I want to do! Though I'd rather be filming animals, this is a step in the right direction.

I'm getting sugar gliders!!! A pair of course and I have the names already picked out (I had them picked out years ago). The cage is already built so the hard part's over. Now I just need to get everything to go in it.

What would you, the reader, think if I made mechanical bird wings and other animatronic parts (tails and maybe anthro legs) and sold them to you? Mostly I'm interested in a market for the wings. They could be any kind of limb wing (bird, bat, or faux pterodactyl) or I could make them steam punk or Da Vinci or elemental or anything I could put on a bird skeleton frame. I don't know how expensive they'd be though. I'm willing to learn Arduino for this so give me some motivation here!

<- bird!



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My one and only Sister:
My friends:
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Clubs that are awesome!!: