I know, I know, it's been a while since I've done anything with this deviantArt account. Well, I take that back, I check the site almost every day for new art and add favorites to my list as I see fit, but I haven't really been very forthcoming with putting up any of my own work. Really lame, I know, but I have been living a pretty crazy busy life in the last year or so. A short overview:

-- Graduated from the University of Maine with my Bachelor of Arts in English: Creative Writing. Final cumulative GPA of 3.92, Summa cum laude designation, Highest Honors awarded from the University of Maine Honors College for my Honors Thesis, "My Nation", a 292-page novel.
-- Began a diet and workout program immediately after graduation; current weight loss: nearly 70 pounds as of October 23rd, 2006.
-- Accepted at the University of Maine for Graduate Studies towards a Master of Arts in English: Creative Writing.
-- Returned to Japan at the end of May 2006 through the beginning of June 2006.
-- Agreed to a teaching assistantship at the University of Maine to have my tuition covered and teach my own section of ENG 101, College Composition.
-- Started broadcasting my own radio show, 夢の中 [Yume no Naka], on the University of Maine's campus radio station, WMEB 91.9FM -- Listen online here: [link] -- Show site here: [link]

And that doesn't even take into account the day-to-day craziness that I go through on a pretty usual basis.

I do have more pictures of the beautiful country of Japan from my trip earlier this year, so I'll be getting back to uploading more artwork in the coming days and weeks. Once I start getting back into writing short pieces, I'll probably throw some of those up here as well, just as a way to get motivated about writing again.