I stopped hosting this site a while ago, but I missed running it and posting updates and stuff, so I recently brought it back online. I forgot how much work it takes to get a site up when doing all the design and configurating everything yourself, plus I forgot some of the code I had figured out before, but luckily I had some notes from the last time. Anyways, wow..so much has happened in the last year! I guess the first notable thing that comes to mind is Mowgli, the husky I found in a barn. next to a local community center. The people of the center thought he was a coyote and were going to call animal control to deal with him. I was curious so I went to the barn to see for myself. That first encounter with him isn't easily forgotten. He walked out of the barn slightly defensively - clearly he had claimed the barn for himself and no one else. He wasn't aggressive, just apprehensive. He would walk up close to me, but wouldn't let me touch him. Also, I thought he was blind and maybe that's why he was acting that way! His eyes can look bright white in the sun because they are light blue, so when his pupil shrinks he looks blind! Also, I assumed someone had left him there and he was used to humans, but he didn't act that way. Also, he didn't have a collar and later when I took him home, he found out he didn't have a chip either. The vet and I suspected he had been out there for some time as he also badly had worms, but now he is healthy and oh so sweet. It took a long time to gain his trust, but every day he gets more cudly and trusts me more and more. I'm so lucky to have found him and for him to trust me. That was December 2024. When Spring arrived, I moved out of my apartment and into my brother's "guest house." Really it was just a minature little house without a kitchen or bathroom. It wasn't as bad as it seems - his house and back door were only ~20 feet from the place, so it was easy to use the bathroom and kitchen. I was luckly he could help me out because rent was getting out of control. They tried to increase my rent about 50% which I just couldn't do. I was already overpaying for that place. The hardest part living in such circumstances was also having three large dogs. But I've lived in more challenging conditions and the dogs have always kept me company! The next big event was graduating in May. Overall, I'm glad I got my PhD, mainly because that was the first time I chose a major life decision on my own without any input from my parents, but it required me giving up the family business (though I wasn't happy there anyway). Also, my undergrad was scattered and a-typical, but the PhD was for me, more like how an undergrad should have been, or at least how I expected it to be. I explored a lot of various interests, met friends, lived close to campus and studied all the time, went to a few parties - all the things I thought an undergrad should do. I also explored my sexuality and identity, so I guess I feel that for me, my PhD was when I started to become my own person and understand who I was because before that I lived at my parents house and didn't have much direction and after that I worked for the family business and wasn't in the best emotional/mental state. So because of this, I typically view my PhD as more important for me personally than academically. Ok, what else in 2025.. I attended my first pride event in June! That was a great experience. It was a wholesome and family oriented event, not like what someone might think who is surrounded by incessant homophobic conservative voices. Also in June I found a job at the university where I graduated from. It was stressful job searching which I had to start immediately after graduating because there was absolutely no money. Actually I even had to sell some things to my brother to stay at his place. Oh! also I had started an internship at a childrens research hospital in January which was quite eye opening as I hadn't really worked or even seen a world-class facility before. I would have liked to have stayed for a long term position, but I was so desperate to find a job that when I was given a possible opportunity at my university, I quit the internship a month early so I could focus on getting that position as I had to learn some systems I had never worked with before to demonstrate I was capable of doing the work. It was such a relief to get confirmation of that position! Shortly after starting though, I had a bad break up with someone I had been seeing since mid to late 2024. It was best for us both that we ended the relationship, but it was very, very difficult for me to accept and recover. I realized that many of the problems we had that weren't due do our incompatabilty were due to my behavior and some unresolved issues. Shortly after we ended that relationship I struggled with alcohol and depression for a bit, but got into therapy and benefited greatly from that - just realizing I needed to go and actually getting in the car to go was healing in itself. I think when you need help and you truly recognize that and try to get that help, you can really start to heal and understand yourself better. TBH, I'm a completely different person than who I had been for so long. Having these events happen and finally dealing with years worth of unresolved issues has dramatically improved my life. Another big event in July, was my decision to transition. I had been thinking how transitioning would look for me for maybe a year or so, but never actually thought I would medically transition. I might characterize it more like I was flirting with transitioning, but during the begining of 2025 I caught myself saying things online to friends like "if only there was a button I could press.." not realizing that is a super common statement many eggs make before realizing they are trans. When I found that out, as well as discovered some other statements I had made and feelings I had, I started medically transitioning, and that was in mid-July! am so, so happy I did - choosing to transition medically through HRT has been the most healthy and important action I have ever chosen to take and it has helped me beyond what I can express in this post. I will definitely be blogging about that soon as I have a journal full about my experience and first few months on HRT and would love to share that experience here. Also in July, right before I transitioned like a week before maybe, I moved in with my friend. We were both uncertain how living together would play out because we had dated in the past and it wasn't the healthiest relationship. Also I have three dogs and she a dog also, but we have now lived together for ~ 6 months and I am very happy living with her, happier than I thought I would be. It started out a little rocky because of our past and because I was still struggling with drinking, emotional issues, and transitioning on top of having recently started a new job, but we have both been working on ourselves and I think us two living together and choosing to maintain a stricly platonic friendship and being there for each other has helped both of us become better people and become more patient and learn how to live with another person respectfully. Living with another person can be very fulfilling and enojyable, but it can also go south very quickly if either party becomes intolerable to live with, doesn't think about the other person's needs and refuses to make sacrifices for them. I'm excited to blog about this experience later as well! Other notable, but less dramatic events have been I'm at the point with my fur head where I can start to stich and line the head with fur. I wanted to be further along at this point, but there has been so much going on it has been difficult to find time to set up the equipment and do it, but I'll update soon about about that progress once I get started. I have made much progress on it since my last post, though. I also opened an Etsy store back in October maybe, or November..can't really remember but I sell stickers there. I plan on selling other things like fur-related stuff and artwork..not really intending to make any money, but I like to make things and give them to people. Maybe I'll sell things at cost so if someone sees something they want they will be able to easily aquire it. My new job is going well and I think I'll be there for another year at least. I'd like the ability to move out of the South and live somewhere else for a while (such as Seattle), but I'm not really in a place to do that just yet..plus I'm happy at the moment and still have a little more personal growth to do here first. I know at some point I'll need to move on, but right now this is where I am and that is just fine. I'll update again soon goons.
Finally finished the pentester path on Hack the Box Academy! I started this journey last May and took about 6 months off because of PhD related work, but I was determined to finish the course this semester no matter what! It's a good feeling to be finished. Now all that's left is to study for the CPTS exam and pass it. I'll probably spend some time this spring/summer studying and practicing labs on HTB Labs before I take the exam. I know I'm still not comfortable with everything I've learned so far, but with a little extra work I'll be ready to smash it!
I recently started to build my first fursuit! I've always been interested in the fandom, but never went beyond curious until recently. I finished my bucket head base a few days ago which is just the start of the entire process. Finishing the entire suit will take a lot of work and the learning of new skills (such as sewing), but I'm looking foward to the building process and the day I can finally wear the suit that I will have built myself! Big thanks to Skye at Skyhighstudios for her tutorials. Check out her YouTube channel!
Testing the Blog. Are we live? Are we live?!