A Flurry of Winter Activity

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Hello my friends!

Been since the end of October that I made a journal entry of any kind, so I wanted to touch base in my limited way.  First and foremost I hope you and yours had a holiday season full of joy and wonder :) All the best to everyone and to those that came to rocky shores, the best healing thoughts and support I can muster.  :tighthug:

As for me the last few months has been quite busy and on the whole pretty cool.  A few valleys to go through, some will be a long walk, but walking is good for you, so I'm hopeful :)  In the Real World, been taking care of most of what I need to.  Farm of course (26 baby calves out frolicking in the snow with their mamas) and home.  Jan 9th Dad had his 92nd birthday.  Christmas brought us Sam, our new Great Pyrenees puppy :)  He's about 9 weeks old now and a 20lb football of fluff, energy, and pee :P He's learning quick though so hopefully the scamp will have us all trained in no time :D

Big developments at my business.  To those who don't know, my partners and I own a classic 80s video game arcade.  All original machines, no MAME or knockoffs.  No new stuff.  Good, solid, fun games that give meaning to the word classic:  Pac-Man, Frogger, Galaga, Missile Command, Spy Hunter, Tetris, Tron, etc...  $5 admission at the door, all the games are free to play with no time limit.   This summer we will be enjoying our Ten Year Anniversary.  It's been a great ride so far, but we've wanted to do more.  Looking at ways to expand.  Talked about new locations and whatnot, but an opportunity opened up and we grabbed it.  We're still at our same location, but the offices in the basement beneath us were vacant, so we took them over, cut a hole in the floor and had stairs built and now we're a classic 80s arcade with a Bonus Level :D  Allowed us to go from about fifty video games and eight pinball machines to eighty games and close to twenty pinballs, and our fire code capacity doubled :D  Plus two extra dedicated party rooms and a space for an 80s style lounge/living room where we show old 80s movies :D  Already we've had record nights so fingers crossed that this is going to be taking us to the next level in record time :D

For myself I've been trying my hand at being a little crafty :)  Earlier in the year I went down to Universal Studios and spent several days at their Harry Potter resorts, which was awesome.  Bought a wand there and I had won a couple wands in a couple contests at home, so I've been trying to come up with neat ways to display and all that, but then I got the notion of making some myself.  So I did :)

Wands by NICELabs

Not great, as I don't really know too much about staining and such, but for a first try I think I'm getting the hang of it.  We've got all sorts of interesting woods on our farm so I'm exploring :)  These (left to right) were made of Holly, Cedar, and the last two were Honey Locust (thorn).  I'm working on some more that are going to be Lilac and wild grape :)  Thinking about making a dozen or so for the upcoming gaming conventions I'll be going to to help raise money for the nonprofit gaming event I help put on in the fall :)

Now finally I'll turn my attentions to things here :)  I started doing a couple sci-fi pics featuring the OCs of a couple friends of mine and it really took off and developed into quite the storyline.  Doing a sort of alternate universe of the Racks View setting created by the lovely and talented :iconclairestrasza: I created the interstellar survey ship Racks view and her lovely crew.  Claire's OC is of course Captain and the sweet and gorgeous :iconcuria-dd: gracious let me us her OC Denise as part of the crew and finishing up were my own OCs of Khia and Margo.  It's really turned into a huge story of sexy peril, damsels in distress, lecherous alien monsters, intrigue and betrayal, humor and a few other thesaurus worthy adjectives :D  So much so that I've done over thirty more pics of the storyline.  As this is sexy peril, these extra scenes are well outside of the TOS of DA so I can't show them here, but I think they're good enough to compile the whole thing into an adult graphic novel of sorts and market it elsewhere :)  Hopefully in the next month or so I'll have it all finished and available at those adult venues.  Regardless it was a lot of fun and I'm definitely going to be revisiting this setting (with Claire and Denise's permission of course) and exploring others where the gals of Racks View do what they do best... get into trouble ;) 

It's been a few months since I've posted a journal and there's a backlog of recognitions so I wish to say I am deeply humbled and grateful for everyone who has shown interest in my works during that time, even though I haven't been able to say so when I should have.  Right now in my feedback alerts I have over 1700 notifications of favorites and Watches and Llamas and the like so please forgive my being overwhelmed by it all and not able to thank you all in the manner that you deserve.

109 people have added me to your DeviantWatches since my last posting.  Thank you all so very much.  I'm honored my works have captured your interest and I hope my humble attempts will continue to do so :)

By far my Racks View: New Horizons series has caused the most activity and I thank you all for the support and incentive you've given me to continue it :)

In the hundreds and hundreds of Favorites I've received (so weird to say that...) my gallery was explored widely, old and new stuff and I'm glad people have enjoyed the range of my works.  Of late, these seem to have been the most popular (15 or more new Favorites) and again I thank you :) 

Mature Content

Rings of Venus by NICELabs
 

Mature Content

Khia's Abduction by NICELabs
 

Mature Content

Pinup Revisited by NICELabs
 

Mature Content

Moondancers by NICELabs
 

I've fallen into the trap here at DA I think many are in, as I am in many groups here.  My deviation notices fill up so quickly it's a daunting task to keep up with all of the wonderful things you all share, so if I miss something or just quickly Favor it and don't comment, please forgive me.  It is not for lack of interest I assure you.  It's like running down a hill, picking flowers in an avalanche :D  The beauty is no less appreciated and enjoyed but I'm in danger of being buried at any second :D :P

On a final note, those that know me know I have weakness for puns.  Can't resist them.  They're my quiptonitie one might say ;)  Anyway, it's been a while since I've shared any and this one came to me out of the blue, so I'll pass it along for you to ponder:

It's been said that to a Dyslexic, "God" is "Dog".  Does that mean if they get upset and curse they shout "Dalmation!"  :D


Love to you all :)

John
© 2015 - 2024 NICELabs
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firestorm31z's avatar
read your january journal.

your arcade business.  I'm shocked that's its still running.    all the arcade sites in my area, Jefferson Parish & Orleans Parish, have gone out of business.  the only arcade games still playing  would be at the  AMC theaters.   $5.00 door fee, unlimited playing time with the games?  that's hell of a business plan.  I wonder why no one in my area thought of it.