May 21st, 2020
Guess I should update this Journal, since the last was in 2019.
Many things have gone down yet again, but mostly good this time around. I'm finally working myself into a good place, both physically and mentally. I've been expanding my horizon's in different areas and been coping with things in different ways, but the demons still rear their ugly heads every now and then.
My divorce and legal issues seem to have subsided for the most part; everything has been finalized and settled with the kids (until the ex decides to do something dumb-yet again).
Working towards building my monster computer to do anything i want.
Modifying my 'inherited' house and bringing it up to spec that i want.
And while most think i should be in a really good spot; what people don't account for are the past demons and worries. It'll be awhile before i'm comfortable to move on socially- but i'm thankful to have really close and good friends, particularly DarkAngelsRhapsody. If it weren't for her, I'd probably would have lost myself into an abyss of shit. But Through our friendship with it's many ups and downs- I've pushed and stretched my own creative limits and I'm actually dabbling into song writing (no, I'm not posting nor sharing any of it, cause it all sucks) and I'm not going to flood the internet with more crappy song writing. I'll leave that to the experts (like Dark 
).
As for this new DA layout and system, honestly, wtf? It's horrible. It feels like they put Jon Ivy, a hardware designer, in-charge of web interface design. It's not intuitive at all, not easy to figure out, kinda like Windows 10, with all the necessary stuff burried below and all the bullshit right ontop (like ads).
Ugh, maybe after another year, they'll make this interface less abysmal, but knowing how everything is trending towards 'more bullshitic'. likely not.
It's Mid 2019...Already?
Another update
Like before, it's been a long ass time. Only this time, more things have gone down.
14 months after I wrote the 2016 Journal, my wife walked out on me and to make a long story short, divorce with two children. It has not been a pleasant experience to say the list (she's also making everything extremely difficult).
In the time space since [the wife] walked out, I've self published 5 more books; one of which was a collaboration with Tara, over at darkangelsrhapsody.deviantart.…. (BTW, she does amazing backgrounds for characters and rendered landscapes).
Heather The Elementalist trilogy:
matts-shortstories.droppages.c…
Witches & Wizards Series (second and onwards collaboration)
matts-shortstories.droppages.c…
I also was unemployed during the first long stretch of my divorce (about 7 months of unemployment), but that allowed me to get into contact with another artist/Author named Mark Stone, who introduced me to Daz3D studio. The software is hands down awesome. My earlier works kinda suck, but i've gotten better with it and have loads of fun with it.
Anyways, also moved to another house and just trying to live one day at a time.
Update - January 25th, 2016
I'm getting back into Photoshop as of lately, which is nice. And because of that, I've completed all 7 of the book covers for my book series that I'm going to be publishing hopefully sometime in the near future [self publish via epub]. I won't be displaying them until I've got the first book published. I'm revisiting a few old pieces [that I never submitted because I can do them so much better].
Another update is that I finally graduated Immaculata University with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. I've been trying to get through that since 2009 and just recently graduated this past month.
My family of three is now a family of four.
I've got a kick ass job that not only allows me to use my CADD (computer aided drafting and design) skills, but it also allows me to use my IT background, among other skill sets that I have in the computer realm. So that's all good and dandy.
My life is coming to order and things are going with the flow of time.
![[HTTYD Stamp] Dragons Logo by CanineHybrid](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/2c855774-6f94-498e-a973-397929bec40b/d65jsp0-628e8d52-c4ea-4141-83b9-c2602835dcd3.gif?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzJjODU1Nzc0LTZmOTQtNDk4ZS1hOTczLTM5NzkyOWJlYzQwYlwvZDY1anNwMC02MjhlOGQ1Mi1jNGVhLTQxNDEtODNiOS1jMjYwMjgzNWRjZDMuZ2lmIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.1sw8TQCtkJmBFC9Cn7_YZ8RXcDe1764_6I1sImh87vM)
<da:thumb id="122009341"/>
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If anybody knows who created this, please let me know.
I find this image well done and just jaw dropping awesome.
"Holding the Fire"
It can be found here Desktop Nexus
Time for an Update...
My time is split between family, school and my book series.
A seven part book series being worked on. I'm literally doing all the work in-house; drawing the covers, writing the books and doing editing. I've decided to take away the titles and build suspense. When I go to publish, I'll be uploading the artwork here for people to see.
What else was there... little boy is nearly 4...OH! I have a baby girl! She's nearly 7 months old.
(What you see is what you get)
Too Bad the image I have as my desktop isn't on Deviant art, otherwise I'd put it in here. You find it, let me know...
But that certainly won't stop me from linking it.Girl Holding Fire