Hello all!

As you may have noticed by my latest poll, I am trying to put together a contest to host right here on my little page! I'm still deciding between themes (it will definitely be one of the most-popular on the poll), but in the meantime I am putting out a call for judges and prize donators!

No matter the theme choice, the contest will be open to all digital and traditional artists as well as photographers. If you feel you are apt at judging a contest with those mediums, please note me! My only requirements are that you regularly sign into DA, and that you can pledge to have your decision on the winners in no later than 7 days after the contest ends.

As for prize donators- as long as you can deliver, we're golden! I'm donating subscriptions and journal features, but the more prizes we can get, the better this contest will be. So if you are feeling particularly generous this holiday season, please feel free to note me with what you'd like to donate. Remember, money is not necessary; personalized stamps, journal features or artistic dedications are fantasic prizes for contest winners! Whatever you can donate, we will accept, and plus I will love you forever.

If you know of anyone who would enjoy being a judge or donator, please pass on the link to my journal!

Any questions about the contest may be directed to me at any time. I will update with the contest theme ASAP!

literature account:
stock account:

Hello dears!

I want take this opportunity for some shameless self-promotion. As you may know I created a stock account some few months ago. My boyfriend and I have a huge collection of nature photographs (with more coming all the time) that just sit on our hard drive, so we're spreading the love. I would like to get the word out more on our account and see what you talented people can do with our pictures!

Here is a quick little cross-section of what we have to offer. I've got 200+ photos up there right now.
~abuseofstock



And there's PLENTY more where this came from.
So be a dear, take a quick second and give 'em a look! If you're an artist, remember us on your next graphic and see if we have what you're looking for.

Spread the word!!

literature account:
stock account:

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Tonight, I sit my couch in front of my television and have never in my life been more grateful and honored to be an American. Tonight, I watch the country that has been hiding its true soul for so long come out; I watch the country I’ve longed to love elect its first black president, and it truly brings tears to my eyes. I am so overwhelmed with emotion and strangely foreign feelings of hope that I can hardly manage to type this message.

To fully explain the emotional heaviness of this moment for me (beyond the obvious reasons), you will need a bit of background on my life. I was born into 1980’s middle-class America. I was not rich, but not poor. I had the benefit of being in a mixed-race school and neighborhood, and therefore never had the misfortune to succumb to racism. America, as best I can remember from being a child, was doing quite well by some standards. I didn’t have a college fund, and we weren’t rolling in the dough, but we took vacations, and had a nice new house, two cars, and I never went without food or clothing. I was a lucky child. But even from a young age, the America I was raised in, the America I was told people died defending, and that I should love with all my being, never seemed what it should be. I could not compare the America I lived in with the America my grandfather had fought for in World War II, nor my uncles in Vietnam. When my father’s father recanted stories about his immigration from Denmark, and how proud he was to be here, the America he came to seemed a different world, where things were still possible, people still fought and cared, and the ideals that had started this country still mattered. Ashamed as I was to say it, I seemed to be in a completely different country, where everyone was so self-absorbed and so unaware of their neighbors, let alone the nation, that I could not imagine us banning together to form a well-oiled bake sale. How could I possibly look at what was happening and see the bravery and strength that had gotten us through the Great Depression, or WWII?

I have watched us descend into a sort of awkward spiral in my short years: Desert Storm, Oklahoma City, the Unibomber and anthrax scares, 9/11 and the continuing Iraq War, Katrina, and the overall bitter eight years we have had to endure with Bush as president, including this latest crisis with the economy. It has been hard to be proud to be an American for me, and I admit this freely. Thanks to the economic boom in the 90’s, it seemed the lot of us had grown fat, decadent and lazy, everyone content with the terror and heartache, the starvation and the injustice, so long as they had their gadgets and money and flashy distractions. And it never ended; it just got worse, every year. Superficiality and cynicism reigned supreme. I was utterly convinced that the America I had learned about was gone forever, and thus, like millions of Americans, fell into a despair, watching the greatest nation in the world become a terribly sickening joke. And, maybe like many other Americans, I felt utterly alone in my sadness for my country. I felt change could not come, because no one cared enough to get off their ass and fight. You couldn't tear anyone away from their hamburgers or TV or high-paying corporate job long enough to notice the disease Lady Liberty was rife with. And therefore it became all too easy to fall into the abyss of despair, caring so much that you collapsed in on your own emotions and had to mentally walk away from it all.

But tonight, for the first time in my life, I am proud to be an American. Tonight, I cannot contain the feelings I have that America’s slate has just been if not wiped clean, then tidied up for the future. I feel endless possibilities. I feel that Americans like me, sick and tired and ready to fight, have finally risen up, because now we have someone who shares these frustrations, and who, for once, is ready to fight the machine that created them and bring back the principles, ideals and beliefs this country was founded on, and has since fought to protect. I feel that all the worst descriptions of us as hypocritical, selfish, lazy, spoiled brats may not apply for very much longer. I feel like I am finally a part of a country and a people that I can stand next to with pride and honor, knowing the fire in my heart for a better nation and a better world is no longer in my heart alone. The road ahead is no longer paved and planned, but empty and waiting for those who would shape it.

Barack Obama has given us that hope. He gave our nation a chance to rise up and say “We will not be held down by the troubles of our past, or the failures of our leaders. We will not give up against the tyranny of terror or the prejudices of a few. We are no longer satisfied with the decadent and superficial happiness we have put up with for so long. We understand the hard work it took to build this country; we are not afraid to work hard to get it back. And we will prove it.”

America took that chance. We have voted in more than just our first black president, though effectively shattering endless amounts of pain, hate and mistakes of the past. We have voted in hope! We have voted to change, and we as a people have finally stood up to fight what has held us down. Now begins a long, hard road to rebuilding the country we love, the country that my grandfather came to and built my family, the country that so many have come to, to realize their own dreams.

I thank you, my fellow Americans, for giving our futures this opportunity. Thank you, President Elect Obama, for having the bravery and courage to run. It will take the hard work and cooperation of all of us to get back on our feet, but by God, we can do it.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time. I’ll see you on the battlefield.

literature account:
stock account:

Hello my lovelies!


Thank you to all who gave me good wishes on my vacation. I’m happy to report we had a safe and amazing time! I got to see the Appalachians and the Great Smoky Mountains in all their autumn glory; I got to visit Gatlinburg and take in the endless fun sights there; I had a fantastic time in my boyfriend’s hometown of Wise, VA, and meeting his family; and I got to fulfill a lifelong dream of visiting Atlanta, and more specifically, the Margaret Mitchell house where the epic novel Gone With The Wind was written! It truly was amazing, and I hope to upload some of the many pictures we took here soon.

On that same note, however, some sad news. When we arrived back home, I discovered that the power supply on my ancient computer (the one that houses all the resources, including Photoshop, for my art) has finally crapped out. So as of right now, I have no way of doing any sort of graphic art or photograph editing. This was (and continues to be) a very sad thing to come home to, and I’m still trying to cope. As of right now I don’t have a job (thanks economy!), so buying a new computer is still along way off, at least until I sustain some sort of regular employment again. I knew I needed a new computer, so I should have taken care of buying it a while ago, but for many reasons didn’t or couldn’t, and now it seems I’m paying for it. Needless to say, I don’t know when I will be posting graphics again. I debated posting this in a journal for the last week I’ve been home and finally figured I should tell you nice, loyal watchers of mine that it may be a while before you see any new work from me. This is very hard for me, as it is the second time I have been forced to stop my art in the last 5 years with no projected date of solution. Last time this happened, I didn’t touch a graphic for almost 2 years. I will definitely not let that happen again, but in any case, I’m quite upset that I cannot visualize all the ideas I have right now.

To help me cope with this, I have been focusing a lot more on my writing. For those who don’t know, I’ve been writing longer than I’ve been doing most anything else, and I currently have a large novel project I’ve been developing. I’m trying to see the silver lining of this mishap by taking the time I would be using on art and instead devoting it to research or writing on my novel. So far this has been a wonderful thing, and I’m excited to be in full swing with it again. It has definitely helped the pain of not being able to create visuals. For anyone interested, my literature works can be found at my other DA account, ~fallenidle, and you can expect a lot more shorter works/poems to be posted now.

To =ian-x I would like to extend my utmost apologizes for the delay this will cause on my contributions to his project of having graphic artists interpret his amazing photographs with their own style. I promise when I get back online with graphics, yours will be the first I work on!

Thanks to everyone for all your support, and I assure you it won’t be too long before I’m posting art again. I appreciate your patience and love at this difficult time. I also ask that you keep my little brother in your prayers; while on our trip, I was informed by my father that my brother's dog, Jaden, whom we've raised from a puppy, was tragically hit by a car and killed. My brother is taking it very hard, as you can expect, and he could use all the blessings we can give him.

And you bitches better have a rockin’ Halloween!

Hello my lovelies!

This will be my last journal update for at least two weeks; this coming Friday, my boyfriend and I are heading back to the southeast to visit his family. We are very excited, and I am stoked to meet the family of my dearest love. Plus, I've never been to the states we will be visiting (Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee...), so this is doubly exciting for me as a newcomer to the south. Of course, all the standard vacation rules apply: if you note me, please be aware I'll not be checking the 'net... if it's urgent, get a hold of me before this Thursday night! As soon as I hit the hay, I'm off the web for at least nine days, if not more. Keep that in mind, too, on replies to comments, favs, etc.

On that same note, I apologize deeply to all of you who have faved or watched me in the last two weeks; I don't know if it's my laptop or DA, but I've had nothing but issues every time I try to go though my routine of thanking the kind souls who support me individually. I get "cannot load page" errors, "cannot delete messages" errors, all sorts of shit, and so much of it that I am officially and absolutely frustrated to no end. I just don't have the time this week as I'm getting ready to go to also deal with DA's freakin' bugs. So please forgive this big, group, lame THANK YOU if you have faved or watched me in the past two weeks. I seriously appreciate it a whoooole lot, and I apologize for this bump.

Anywho, that's about all I've got right now kiddos, so you behave until I get back!