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submitted by BalooUriza
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Hello Papabear,

I've written to you before about my boyfriend and him not getting a job and helping me out. Firstly, I wanted to say, that he's doing a bit better :3 He has a job now and even though he's not that great starting out, I feel like he'll do fine (I hope >.<). So thank you so much with your help on that matter. ^^

Now my question. So ... we've ben together for a year and almost 3 months now. We're very confident that we can continue to work things out together and some day get married. My only issue, is that I still feel like this is all ... temporary. I talked to him last night about it, and he said that in was still attached to my "safety net." That in the back of my head, I know that if something goes wrong, I can always go back to my parents and my old life and leave the fandom/move on. I feel like that thought is corrupting me. I've realized that a lot of our bickering we do, is because of something stupid that I didn't realize/made up; as if I want him to get mad at me and break up ... I don't know why this is happening. I feel awful and it's depressing me. I love my boyfriend. I honestly do. I just need help to get this thought out of my head because it's only going to make things worse for us and limit what I can do. 

If there's any advice our help you could give, that would be amazing, Papa Bear. Thank you so much for your time. 

Nature (age 19, Tennessee)

* * *

Hi, Nature,

I’m glad your boyfriend got a job and the two of you are doing better. It’s not at all surprising that you’re nervous about the stability of your life right now. Starting out on your own—even with a mate—can be nerve-wracking. I remember when I was fresh out of college and I left home and moved in with my mate, who had found a job working at a small college. I had a degree, but no real job and managed to find a part-time, minimum wage job at a factory. We lived in a small apartment and ate cheap food, but we managed. The key, of course, was being smart with the money we had and managing it well, which was something my mate handled very well.

Papabear recommends that the first thing you do is learn to manage your money and to try and save some for the future and emergencies. Have you ever heard of Suzy Orman? She’s great. She has a TV show and website all about personal finances. One of the things on the site is a calculator for tracking expenses http://www.suzeorman.com/suze-tools/expense-tracker/ for example. Check out her site. Another page that might be of interest is the cohabitation agreement page at http://www.suzeorman.com/resource-center/cohabitation-agreement/.

The reason I recommend this is that if you feel like you have a financial plan you will feel more at ease about life, which can only be good for you. You’re nervous right now because you don’t feel like you have a net to fall on if you slip off the tightrope. Instead of looking to your parents to hold that net up for you, weave it yourself. Since the main issue here isn’t love (we’re not talking Plan B in case he abandons you), then it’s gotta be money. 

(Oh, quick aside: when you are in a tricky financial state, the last thing you want is a baby. Please save family planning for a much later time when the two of you are financially comfortable.)

Back to finances: okay, so far we have budgeting and cohabitation agreement. The other factor is jobs. It’s great you’re both working; now you need to look forward to the future. You’re not going to be in your current jobs forever. Think about where you want to go and make plans accordingly. Also, educate yourself about your benefits (for Tennessee, go here http://www.tn.gov/labor-wfd/esdiv.shtml).

You also need to think about insurance, health and otherwise. If you have a health emergency, you sure as heck don’t want to have to figure this out at the same time you’re worried about one of you being sick. Assuming you’re rather low income at this point in your life, check out this page http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/states/tennessee/homeless/healthcare. I’m guessing you already know about car insurance, but the next thing you should consider is renters insurance if you have anything particularly valuable, such as computers or other electronics. Renters insurance is very cheap, but worth it in cases of theft, fire, etc.

When it comes to essentials, like food and clothing, there is a LOT you can do to save bucks. For food, try a store like Save-A-Lot which has the same food as Kroger (same company) at cheaper prices. If things are even tighter, in your area there is Angel Food Ministries, which provides low-cost, wholesome foods http://memphis.about.com/od/shopping/a/angelfoodministries.htm. Clothing-wise, shop at second-hand stores. You can buy good stuff there for a lot less than new.

Finally, avoid luxury purchases like video games and movies and eating out (although, in a pinch, there are some cheap restaurants in Memphis: http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/07/cheap-food-guide/). 

The thing to keep in mind here is that your standard of living is not what it was when you lived with your parents. You’re going to need to watch money very closely and develop good financial habits, while you establish yourself as working adults.

If this sounds like a lot of boring adult stuff, it is. BUT it is incredibly important boring adult stuff and the sooner you get a handle on it, the more confident you will feel about making it in the adult world. When THAT happens, these fears you are currently having will dissipate and thoughts about going back home to Mom and Dad will go away. You will grow as a person, and that’s a great thing.

One more thing: the antidote for becoming a boring adult after you get all this money and bills thing in hand is to ... STAY FURRY! You can keep a youthful heart even as you become a responsible, mature, independent human being. Don’t use that child-like spirit of wonder and imagination!

Good luck!

Papabear

submitted by HarmonyHeartstrings
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submitted by Infamous0823
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submitted by PedigreeTheHusky
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submitted by neonthewolf
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submitted by The_Ninja_Nero
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So MFF is the the only con that it's being held anywhere near where I live and I would love to go, BUT, I don't have anyone to go with and the thought of wandering around my first con by myself doesn't sound too fun. So I thought it would be a nice idea to start a little meet up thread to see if anyone else had this same problem and would like to get to know some people and have someone to hang out with as soon as they get to the convention!

So share some stuff! Are you going to the convention? What days? Have you been to the MFF convention before? What kind of stuff are you into?

It would be awesome to have a nice group of people to meet up with at the convention!

submitted by burnerfa
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this is the face of boredom

submitted by kidinabearsuit
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submitted by Who-dis-asshole
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submitted by ArcaneTheWoof
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I decided it's time to have at least something on my FA, so I went to browse ref sheet comissions and damn, I can't afford to pay a few hundred dollars for that. I'm a mediocre artist at best but I figure a rough image is better than nothing.

Reason I'm asking here is because all of the ones I've found so far are either avians or canines.

submitted by furrraway
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[adjective][species] turns three today!  RandomWolf seems to have misunderstood what the party was all about, and brought all his graphs.  Too late now, though, he’s taking a mental census of the partygoers.  Art by the delightful Clair C., whom we have featured here before.

Hrmmm…

Thanks for sticking with us through the years!

submitted by Feebu
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So, I just remembered how insanely fun Just Cause 2 is in single player. It's I haven't touched the multiplayer released officially, but I think I'm wanting to get into it again. Anyone else play it?

submitted by Red-Fox14
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Things were moved out of the spots that they were... I know she knows, she probably knows that I know that she knows, but neither of us are going to bring it up because who wants to have that conversation?

Things are going to be awkward for a while...

submitted by StripedOtter
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So I was just wondering at what point did you start to consider yourself a Furry?

submitted by -ThisIsMy3rdAccount-
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Collectable medallions with a broad range of art…

Paw Coins Collectible Coins

Kickstarter ending 11/24/14

The word for the day is “Exonumia.”

One of the things I hope to see in endlessly refreshing Kickstarter is the next big con craze. And I know I won’t see it coming, or I’ll totally get it wrong. I thought that MaryMouse’s “Certified” badges were, well, kind of silly. And I’m pretty sure that if they were brought in front of the judge he’d say “Jury, do you find the defendant silly?” And there’d be a big “Yes we do your honor” and lots of flash-bulb photography, and MaryMouse would be forced to, I don’t know, hand out cupcakes in SoHo or something. But they’re a part of furry fandom culture now, and that’s really neat. And I’m pretty sure this is what MaryMouse does on weekends. Foxloft’s Tagua Totems were another, they’re pretty but seemed so specific and niche when they first came out–but you can wear them out and about and they’re nice art, I see three or four of them at even the little furry gatherings.

Both of these are ubiquitous in the fandom, or at least the slice I interact with. And both are really nice little shorthand signs for who we are when we’re not shambling, blunt-muzzled hairless chimpanzees, even if you might never get them exactly right (try finding a piece of costume jewelry to show that you’re, say, a foxtopus, meerkrab, or Mexican hairless). Something that expresses someone’s furry side, but isn’t too hard to mass produce, is going to be a winner.

Am I right with Mel Drake’s “Paw Coins” project? Hard to say without a crystal ball. But there’s a lot of the hallmarks here–individual enough to paint the fandom with a broad brush, a small enough collection to be manageable.

The general scope of the project: A series of a dozen medallions, textured enameled coins with a hole in the top, about the size of a US quarter (or a dog license). As the project base expands, new coins will come on line–Japanese themed coins, Egyptian designs, coins specific to interests, and so on, to create a modest range of designs that should appeal to a range of wearers.

One aspect of artist MelSkunk’s business plan that I particularly like is the idea of partnership designs–in addition to designs of her own, MelSkunk wants to use her coins to partner with other artists as an inexpensive promotional piece for their projects, a way to spread the word and share their work–maybe like the limited run of Kevin and Kell coins she talks about as a part of the Kickstarter.

A part of the plan I’m ambivalent about is the idea of the series being collectible. It seems like a double-edged sword. If you can somehow tap into the right-place-right-time magic of, say, beanie babies, you might really have a thing! the coins have rarity values assigned to them–so the kickstarter angel and trailblazer coins are both super-rare, print runs of 50. The 8 common designs of series one are in quantities of 500, limited but probably about the demand of the fandom…maybe. This is a bit of a gamble, to my mind. I’d be curious to know what the print run is on MaryMouse’s “CERTIFIED: RAVER” badge, for instance.

This gets me to one of my two big conflicts with the project–is it about furry identify play (“FIP”) or collectability? If it’s about FIP, the idea of a limited print run and the general focus on sets instead of single items are a handicap. The 100 rare kitsune pieces could get snapped up in two or three cons, and then, well, that one’s gone, and that’s part of the project’s plan, there won’t be another, but there’s probably more than 100 Kitsunes and Japanophiles that might want one–probably more than would want the dumpy blue fursuiter coin (not my favorite, it looks too much like a Bad Furry commemorative medallion).

The second guff I have with this is tied to the first–Melskunk’s concept of the project for the Kickstarter is sets, and they’re a little pricey! Looking at the first set of eight commons, I personally, being who I am–a cynical liberal gay dog–might want the sexy werewolf, I’ve got a dragon friend that might want the hoarding medallion, and after a couple of drinks I might wear the gay pride paw or use it for my key chain fob. The “Dog Person” I could take or leave, it’s the wrong sort of cute for me. I could give away the “cat person” and maaaybe the tiger, and I have no idea what I’d do with the American flag coin (it’s kind of pretty but I don’t like jingoism or rampant patriotism on principle) or the fursuiting coin. So that kind of leaves me with half the set that’s keepers. But because of the structure of the Kickstarter’s rewards, I can’t get those without buying the full set–so in the specific case of the Kickstarter I’ve blown $65 (the minimum for a set of commons) for three pieces I really like.

It just feels like a conflict of concepts. If the project is about the FIP, I’d like the sexy werewolf and gay pawprint, please, here’s my $12. If it’s about collectability, then sure, the entire set makes sense, but I don’t know if collectability is really a “thing,” you have to get really lucky and capture the right place and right time. Maybe at a convention merchant’s table you could do something like sets of two or three, one visible and the others hidden, or just sell them Foxloft Studios style as what they are, expressions of one’s inner dragon or otter or bear.

That being said, there’s a certain magic of specificity in a series of linked ideas–coins, fighting varmint badges, magnets, whatever–and customers might well want to collect a set–but they’re going to want to collect their set. Whether the Kickstarter meets its goal may well be tied to that conflict.

Note: Images used above are included to promote the work of crowdfunding artists, and are owned by the original creator.

 

 

submitted by ShitArchonXPR
[link] [4 comments]

I don't exactly play the game at all anyway, so I was thinking I could just make use of what I have to get some art. The game feels boring as hell now anyway.

Anyway, yeah, any good artists that take TF2 items as payment?

Edit: It seems that somehow people don't like this post. I'll take it down if its still in the blue after I wake up, I suppose...

submitted by psidra
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