It's Been Awhile
It's been awhile since I've posted anything here but photos. Honestly not much to say other than 2020 has been a mixed bag of absolute hell and genuinely good times. My cross country move in 2019 was supposed to be the starting point of a new life, but depression rearing its ugly head at inopportune times and COVID screwing up almost every plan I had for 2020 have really put a damper on things. My health has been slowly declining and COVID has really kept me from properly addressing my depression, but I've still managed to indulge in a number of my hobbies which has helped keep me sane through the mess that the last 8 or 9 months have been and even managed to visit a few new areas for my photography despite everything else. That being said, I'm gladly looking forward to the end of the seemingly endless nightmare that has been 2020, and provided things don't continue to deteriorate into 2021, I have big plans for next year. Not so much in the way of travel or anything, COVID aside, but definitely big personal plans. I just need to keep my finances in order and avoid having any more stupid things happen to me. Wish me luck.
MLP: end of an era
Let me tell y'all a story. I'm just starting my second year at university, *way* back in 2011. I knew MLP:FiM was a thing but never bothered to check it out. Had too many things to worry about. College roommate comes to the dorm one day in early September *begging* me to watch it. He spends three weeks doing so, and I finally relent. Next thing I know, it's been three hours, I'm 8 episodes in to season 1, and I have work in 15 minutes. That December I became a formal member of the local brony community. I had no idea that those three hours were the beginning of something beautiful. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But I have *zero* regrets. The amazing brony community of Colorado back in those days helped me make, in some way or another, nearly every friend I have today. I've always loved to travel, and getting into the con circuit has allowed me to travel coast to coast. I was even fortunate enough to play staff for two different cons (security at the infamous LPU 2013 and VIP Relations Director of Denver's Running of the Leaves for it's entire run, as well as RotL's Co-Chair in 2015). This show had staved off depression and anxiety for years and allowed me to experience some truly *golden* years while I still could and at least set me on the path to achieving multiple life goals. It has reminded me about the good things in life and helped me keep my head up when things look grim. This past decade has been an absolutely *wild* ride that I would not trade for the world! We all knew this day would come eventually, and it sucks, but consider that we got 6 entire seasons beyond what it was originally slated for. This beautiful community kept this train alive far longer than anyone thought in the beginning. To say that I owe my life to this community and the show that fostered it would be an understatement. I have my entire current life, for better or worse, because of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and dammit if that isn't a fitting title. Friendship has truly been the only constant in my life and the only thing that really keeps me going these days, as depressing as that may sound. It's been hard to keep the feels at bay while I type this, but while I feel sadness that FiM has reached its end I will be forever grateful that it existed at all. Thank you, everyone, for friendship truly is magic.
Life in Oklahoma City
So it's the end of my first full day as an Oklahoma resident...and oh boy. Already I've noticed a number of fairly significant changes about myself and just how much a simple change in scenery has affected me.
First, I used to be something of a snackoholic back in Colorado. It's was almost compulsive. Sit at my desk, grab something to snack on while browsing the interwebz. Now, I realize that this could be just a result of having been so physically active over the last few days, but now I feel no such compulsion. I have a bag of chips at my desk right now and I feel no need or urge to open it up.
Second, and on a similar note, I no longer feel the need to reach for sugary drinks every time I feel thirsty. Back in Colorado, the idea of getting a glass of water for anything other than taking medication was almost repulsive but now I happily fill up a glass with ice cold water and down it almost in one go. Again, this could be attributed to all the physical labor I put in over the week, so we'll see if this trend continues.
Third, back in Colorado if the shower was anything less than two steps from scalding then it was too cold. Now a cool shower is actually quite relaxing!
Fourth, my default expression before was, at best, neutral but most people would call it 'glowering', shoulders hunched, the works. I didn't really realize it but I was always tense, always on guard...for what, I have no idea. But even after just a day here in OKC I feel much more relaxed and at ease. I can feel myself smiling naturally again. I don't feel as though everything and everyone out here is out to screw me over. Call me paranoid, but that's really how things felt for me in Colorado over the last few years.
Last, I actually feel motivated again. Over the last year or so, just the though of doing anything other than sitting at my desk was exhausting. Going to work took nearly all my inner resolve towards the end. It was bad enough that even crawling into bed (only a few feet away) from my desk took near monumental effort most days. Plenty of times I'd go shopping and I'd let anything that wasn't temperature sensitive just sit on my bed for hours before I would get around to putting them away. Now I'm happily unpacking box after box, the shopping gets put away almost immediately, and things are just really starting to feel *good* again.
I joked a few times that living in Colorado was killing me, but looking back on the last few years I'm half convinced that life there really was slowly killing me. The store I'll be working at here seems pretty relaxed and far less hectic, so I've got that to look forward to as well!
Outlook in OKC: Super positive!
RockyMountainFandoms is now live!
So without further ado, head on over to www.rockymountainfandoms.com/i… and help us build up this new community!
2015 Recap
So, not gonna lie, I've kinda lost interest in keeping up my account here. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop posting photos, but for the most part that's all I'm really going to be doing. I'm not a huge fan of a fair number of the changes that dA has been implementing lately (they all just seem needless and superficial, in my opinion), and given that I hardly write or create fractal art anymore and instead almost exclusively do location and weather photography lately means that this account will pretty much just become a depository of my photo work.
That being said, 2015 has been...well it's been a year. I can hardly believe that today's New Year's Eve. I started this year with high hopes and almost immediately went through one of the darkest times of my life. Not going to go into much detail about that, but let's just say that for the first half of the year I legitimately feared for my future for the first time in my life, and it wasn't fun. But that's all behind me now, and hopefully my past is where I can leave it!
2015 has been a tough and very stressful year, between significant changes at work, the aforementioned life issues, drama and struggles with Running of the Leaves, and my current living situation...2015 is both a year I'd love to forget but also a year I'll look fondly at for a long time. 2015 saw me traveling (almost literally) coast to coast for the first time in my life and my first time traveling to an international border. I went on only 4 legitimate storm chases but saw 2 tornadoes (one of which was the among the strongest in state history and touched down in my own home town!), and I went from being Director of VIP Relations in RotL Con to being Co-Chair of the entire event. I've also started collecting highway signs...haven't made much progress on that one though.
So let's take a look at where I've been this year...
26 states (Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland) plus my first glimpse at another country!
4 storm chases (across Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas), saw 2 tornadoes.
Moved from an apartment to a multi-story townhouse.
Saw/met Kamelot and Dragonforce at the Ogden Theater in Denver.
...and I think that about covers it. I'm hoping to start regularly going to the gym again to get back to where I was prior to college, and I think within 2 years I want to move out of Colorado, so I'll be working hard to make that a reality. I also have tickets to see Bullet for my Valentine in a little over a month at the Ogden, so that should be exciting!
