Currently Listening to: Returner (Gackt)
Request, Trade, & Commission Status: Closed indefinitely. Sorry.

Photos of my koi, other pets, etc can be found here --> [link]
Stats --> [link]
100 Q & A about me and artwork can be found here -->[link]

Today marks my 6th year here on DA and I wish I had the time to get back to my old ways. Graduate school has been eating about 95% of my time awake. I have drawn a little but have had absolutely no time to complete anything and upload it. Classes are from 8AM-5PM, not including commute time (60 miles/day) and studying. I will do my best; however, to update as soon as possible. In my last post, I described a project that I was working on entitled "Real Horses". I have only completed about half of the horses that I have ridden and/or worked with but I have temporarily put that on hold due to school. Only a little more than 1 month to go in this semester.

In addition to being extremely busy, a close uncle of mine appears to be losing his battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was rushed into the hospital on Sunday evening due to a very high fever. Once at the hospital, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and had a series of strokes not long after. He is currently unconscious and on morphine and the prognosis is not good. It has been extremely sad to see such a strong-bodied and strong-minded person decline like this but that is the nature of this disease. I had visited him the afternoon before he was rushed to the hospital and I’m kind of glad that I did (even though he has no memory of who I am anymore). After seeing my dad’s condition decline and his eventual death (though not due to the same condition), I don’t know if I can go back and visit my uncle. I’d rather remember him in his better days.

Now to add to this depressing post, I’m down to only 3 koi now. The Aermonas hydrophilia outbreak devastated my pond and slashed the population down to 2 (I have one koi in my large, indoor tank). This disease ended up producing neurological damage to the remaining koi as well as physical deformity. My Kin Matsuba, Naoto, has the least of the damage with a deformity to his lower jaw. My Ai Goromo, Kokoro, has ½ of her left pectoral fin missing, a scar on her head, and “grill” marks on her left side (she decided to jump out and “grill” herself on the protective grate. At least they have gotten over their spasticity. They have lost all memory of knowing how to feed from my hand and race madly around the pond when anyone approaches it.

Regarding requests/trades/commissions:
I have been receiving notes asking for me to draw people their favorite characters and/or original characters and then send my pictures to them without even as much as suggesting an art trade (these mainly being people without deviations in their galleries but tons of favorites). So far it has been non-watchers. I don't know why but I find this to be rather rude. As you can see, my journal always states my trade/request/commission status as closed. It's like that for a reason. I have done this because I am a graduate student and I really don't have as much time on my hands as I used to. When I do draw, I draw to relieve my stress. I draw things that I like. It helps me decompress after countless hours at college, studying and work. It irks me when I am asked to draw something for someone who has never commented on a piece of mine or devwatched me (and believe me, I have a good memory). And the way that I'm asked is like "draw this for me and send it to me". Seriously, it pisses me off. Once again, I DO NOT do requests so don't ask. For those of you who are my devwatchers I am sorry to say that I am also closed for these 3 things as well to you too. I know you enjoy my artwork but sadly must say no.

My time constrainsts also apply to trades and commissions. Additionally, I've been burned in the past when it comes to trades with people I do not personally know and don't want to risk this when monetary sums are involved.

Regarding Comments:
Every day I check my deviantArt messages to find that my box is flooded with parent comments to me. Most of these comments say "you're welcome" and similar messages. I cannot tell you how many of these I get each day (there have been 116 per day at tops). I really appreciate you enjoying my artwork and photos and I know that is is very polite in doing so but my message box gets so clogged that it takes me extra time to sift through all of the "you're welcomes" to respond to actual comments. I don't want to seem rude but could you refrain from sending parent comments stating "you're welcome" and the like? I will gladly respond to parent comments asking QUESTIONS. You all make me feel so loved here at DA that I feel bad about bringing this up but I feel that I should write this. Thank you for your understanding. ^_^

Another issue regarding comments is content. While constructive criticism is tollerated, snide, degrading, and outright nasty remarks are not. Please refrain from posting such remarks. I really do not appreciate them and would rather not raise my stress level any higher than it is when I see them in my inbox. So far, these comments have been on my ORIGINAL characters. Its not a character from an anime so there is no guideline of how I should be drawing it. Their design is purely my own and I may do what I wish. I find it unecessary for people to post such snide comments on something that they do not have any say over. I'm going to continue drawing my characters the way that I want. When posting, please consider the adage: If you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all.


~~RAIHA'S FISH:~~

Japanese Koi: Nakaji, Kokoro, Naoto, Yoshinobu, Fushimi, Ogimachi, Miyeko, Shigeru, Kiochi, Misahito
Common Goldfish: Dimitri, Habanero, Sparky, Saleen, Oscar
Shubunkin Goldfish: Dan Rou, Renshu, Fenfeng
Fantail Goldfish: Coconut, Apricot
Wakin Goldfish: Ying
Ryukin Goldfish: Shou
Siamese Flying Fox: Champi
Pearl Gourami: Pearlino
Australian Rainbowfish: Victoria, Hobart
Bettas: Oncidium, Kona, Azurite, Nigel
Synodontis eupterus Catfish: Spooky
Synodontis ocellifer Catfish: Caesar
Hoplo Catfish: Stormy
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As always, thank you for stopping by! Arigatogozaimasu