There is an empty seat in the trombone section tonight.

Richard Blonigan, affectionately known by me as Mr. B, was a man who wasn't related by any bond of blood, but was family all the same. More than an uncle, closer to a father - despite the fact that I have two others, my dad and stepfather, Brad. He was a musician, a salesman, a wonderful scoundrel, a generous heart, and master storyteller. He gave me his couch for three years, a haven to gather myself, and a kick in the butt when I needed it. It meant the world to me when he told me he was proud of me at my graduation from the AHT program at Hartnell.

He passed away in his sleep this morning after a few days of illness. It was unexpected - he had gotten worse in one respect, but had improved in so many others. I thought I would have years yet to listen to his stories, to laugh at his jokes and impersonations. To conspire with him against my mother. Laughter was a part of being around Mr. B. You couldn't help it.

I have so much to say about him, and right now I can't speak. I can barely type.

Dammit. More when I can do so without the screen being blurry.

Yup. Con Crud hit me again. At least this time it was right after instead of during. Still, I haven't shaken off the last of it even now.

The Con itself was much fun. I got a lot of drawing in - some good, some obviously showing my sleep deprivation and that I'd been drawing for hours too long to have any good judgment on what I was doing. I'll be completely redoing some of those pics. I did, however, also manage to get them scanned, and some others I'd had waiting from before the con as well, and have posted them to my DA and FA galleries. I've pretty much completed the free sketch meme... for everyone who told me what they wanted.
*Eyes Tanamin and the Witchie One meaningfully*
*Also eyes Djarums meaningfully, as there's a birthday picture being owed, but no decision as to subject has been forthcoming*

Panel stuff

The minotaur panel went well - not quite as lively a bunch as last time, but not bumps on a log either, and my co-panelist Graveyard Greg kept me on my toes. Or off-balance, one of the two, but in a good way. I still don't like public speaking and tend to babble. He limited the amount of babble coming from my end of the table. The number of people went up too, at eight, and half of those were just "bovine curious". This is a good thing. The more interest, the more possibility of garnering more minotaur sorts out there in the fandom. Hey, I can hope.

I need to refresh myself on my info though. I made a few errors when answering a question about other cultures and any bovine sorts they had. Time to brush up on my research. Maybe add a page to the outline of 'If these questions are asked, here's the answers' type thing. Yeah, I know, I've been saying that I probably won't do the panel again next year, but it went so well this year that I think I will, after all.

More Con stuff

It was an art-buying year for me. I hit the Dealer's Den and spent more on prints and a couple awesome originals than I ever have, but got some really gorgeous stuff I'd admired for a while. But oh, I lusted after more. So much fantastic bovine art, and not necessarily Tauren, either. I also bought my first ever con-badges. Man though, you have to practically camp outside the doors to get to Dark Natasha. Three days I tried, and finally, I managed to snag a badge. I'll go for a sketch in my book next year. I'm going to bring a big stick to beat the others away with. :P

But squeee! Dark Natasha art! She's one of my favorite artists.




And Airu! Man, I love how she does snarly. The woman is amazing with markers, and ye gods, damn fast. I really wish this showed how vibrant the colors are, but alas, this is the best the scanner could do.

...and there's more, but because of a lovely set of screw-ups with my schedule at work, which I will gripe about later, I have to go. To be continued later.