It's not like being dead has stopped me from communicating before anyway, being a zombie and all. Though if I must be some kinda of undead, I can't say I really would want to be the gross rotty kind, even if some zombies aren't mentally impaired. I'd rather be a vampire, the only odor problems they have is smelling like freshly dug soil, and I like that smell anyway. Or even better, I could be one of those vaguely defined high-level spirit undead that just manifest whatever physical form they need. Those can be especially awesome. But, as per my standard operating procedure, I digress into insignificant rambling you couldn't care less about. The main point here is to acknowledge that I have been totally neglecting dA-related correspondence for a while and it is not due to my demise, as is often the first facetious reason posited regarding such disappearances. And in keeping with the spirit of following hallowed Internet tradition, having claimed I am still alive, I shall now offer a rundown of poor reasons and/or flimsy excuses for my absence.

Basically, it was a combination of a lot of things. My computer done gone and broke'd, that was pretty much what started it. It's not that it quit working at all, it just quit working reliably, sometimes refusing to boot up, randomly resetting, making weird crackly noises on the headphones, sometimes not recognizing hard drives it had, just randomly freezing up, and general weirdness. The symptoms pointed to many potential hardware issues, quite possibly in the motherboard. And with it being like four years old or more, just about everything was due for an upgrade anyway. So, getting caught up computer tech these days to make sure I chose reasonably good components took some time, not to mentioning assembling it all and getting it working and getting used to Windows 7. You know, the moving into a new computer routine, plus jumping up two Windows versions at once, which meant the fun of old software incompatibility. On that note, if anybody has extra, 64 bit versions of Photoshop CS5 Extended or 3DS Max 2012 lying around, or just large piles of cash in the way, I'd take 'em off your hands and be your best friend. New, and more importantly Win 7 compatible versions of those are even more expensive than last time I bought them... It's crazy, just guess what 3DS Max 2012 would cost, then google it. But don't do it while drinking, as you're liable to do a spit take. But not all software I had before was now incompatible, (unfortunately, only the cheap stuff transferred just fine though,) so of course I had to check out some PC games again to see how much better settings I could run on the new rig, that's very, very important. At that point, I'd been out of the online routine aside from checking email for a while and... You ever have those times you get out of a routine for whatever reason and don't feel like getting back in immediately? I just felt like putting off checking messages for a few more days, it couldn't hurt. But then you don't want to deal with what's piled up in your absence, so you put it off more... And that's where I was. Plus, right around then, the weather finally caught up to being Spring and it was time to deal with Spring yardwork. And I'd say, "self, you worked hard on the yard, you can put off dealing with catching up with stuff another day." Then I'd reply "well... If I say so..." Also my Internet connection was sometimes down all day anyway, and just started being reliable again this week. Until yesterday when it went down while I was typing this and never came back up, thus resulting in my posting this now. And of course, dA isn't the only online activity I had to catch up with. So anyway, it was a combination of particular factors outside my control, general life chaos, and my own online laziness that I am now trying to get back under control. There's no denying I could have been more diligent than I have been, but I can't be the only one who occasionally just wants to take a vacation from Internet chatter? Let he who has kept on top of messages for three or more years consecutively with no gaps or absences cast the first stone.

So, partial excuses and questionable rationale established, I now endeavor to gradually address overdue correspondence. In particular, though thus far apparently ignored, birthday greetings were much appreciated and I am sorry if my silence came across as callous. Of all the messages I have ignored for too long, those deserved acknowledgement the most. It may take a while to catch up though, so be patient. It should be easy, since it's not like you're probably sitting on pins and needles just waiting for me to reply anyway, right? This traditional wall o' text is already at least ten times more information than anybody would want or need anyway, I realize that. I just... can't... write a short journal. So it's for the best that I don't write many anyway, that way everybody is saved the time.