In a little over a week, we will be saying goodbye to 2009, and hello to 2010, hoping that the new year will be better than the old, however, we also reflect on all of the lights that were extinguished, and say, 'these were people that did something with their lives,' and in some cases 'thank God we no longer have to hear from them,' perhaps that may be true, but all that pass are missed by loved ones, and those that were close to them, here are a few:


Michael Jackson: The King of Pop, accidential overdose of prescription painkillers.

Walter Cronkite: CBS anchorman for over 40 years, massive heart attack.

Patrick Swayze: Actor, famous for his role as Johnny Castle in the 1987 hit movie "Dirty Dancing," Pancreatic Cancer.

Farrah Fawcett: Actress, and model, famous for her pinup pictures in the mid 70's, and for her role in the hit television series "Charile's Angels," cancer.

Dom DeLuise: Comic actor, famous for his movies with Burt Reynolds, massive heart attack.

Paul Harvey: News commentator, famous for his tagline 'Now you know . . . the rest of the story." Stroke.

Bea Arthur: Comic actress, known for her roles in the television series' "Maude," and "The Golden Girls," Massive heart attack.

Ed McMahon: For many years, the announcer on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," and famous for his tagline "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" Complications from pneumonia.

Ricardo Montalban: Spanish actor, known for his role as Mr. Roark in the television series "Fantasy Island," complications of advancing age.

Soupy Sales: Comic actor, known for being an early television childrens favorite, also known for having a pie thrown into his face in almost every take of his famous childrens show. Advancing age, and several illnesses.

Karl Malden: Actor, known for his American Express commercials, and famous for creating the tagline "Don't leave home without it." Massive heart attack.

David Carradine: Actor, known for his role in the television series "Kung Fu," and the movie "Kill Bill." Suicide.

Mary Travers: Folk singer, along with Peter Yarrow, and Paul Stookey, formed the trio Peter Paul and Mary. Leukemia.

Les Paul: Music Pioneer, famous for developing the first working solid body electric guitar, the resulting experiment would develop the guitar made by Gibson U.S.A. that now bears his name. Massive heart attack.

Roy Disney: Longtime CEO of the Walt Disney Company, and brother of Walt Disney. Stroke

"Captian" Lou Albano: Actor, and former professional wrestler, famous for managing several tag team champions in WWE (then WWF) during it's popular 1980's run, and would later play Mario in "The Super Mario Brothers Super Show," Brain Anuerism.

"England" Dan Seals: Musician, one half of the musical duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, also the younger brother of Jim Seals of the musical duo Seals and Crofts. Massive heart attack.

Brittany Murphy: Actress, played in movies such as "Clueless," "Girl, Inturrupted," "8 Mile," and "Don't Say a Word." Heart attack.

Oral Roberts: Televangelist, and founder of Oral Roberts University. Heart attack.

and

James Whitmore Jr.: Actor. Known during the 1970's for playing a one man act where he would play certian historical figures, such as Adm. William F. "Bull" Halsey, and Will Rogers. Stroke.

There's an old saying in the world that goes "You are your own worst critic," and to be honest, I think it's true.

Take for example myself. Whenever I get an idea for a story in my head, I will continually critique it over, and over again, until I feel that it's presentable to the world. Some would call it obsession, I call it presenting a quality story, something I have noticed, on several of the fanfic sites on the net, seems to be sorely lacking. With the exception of a few dynamite writers out there, there is not enough quality fics in any genere, and to be honest, it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. Folks, please, just because you have a computer, and a word processor program, doesn't mean you can pump out quality fanfics with little effort into them, writing a quality story takes a lot of time, effort, and a ton of work. Several of the stories I have written over the last four years have taken up tons of my time, for example, there is one story I have written, and posted, that took me two years of work, from conception, to final product. The story underwent several changes, and rewrites, until it became the finished product you can find on fanfiction.net today, something that I think needs a lot of work on the newer generation of writers cropping up on the fansites. I'm not knocking anyone for the work they put up, but please, try to put a little more of your own ideas into them, your stories will come out better if you use an idea in your head, and look it over carefully before you decide to start up your processor, and start typing, all you have to do is to simply look it over in your head, again, and again, until you have a polished, quality story you can post with pride. There are ideas that a person can get that just doesn't mesh with the characters you have in mind for the story, when that happens, simply think of a setting it will work in, instead of forcing the idea to fit, that doesn't work, and you can turn off a lot of readers, and readers are your main fanbase as a writer, the better your work, the more you will get noticed, it's as simple as that. Most pepole out there also have no regard for what's come before, and I have noticed a few writers out there that have a bad tendancy of ripping off the works of others. That's not only bad, but it can get you into a ton of trouble, and even banned from some sites. I can't stress this enough, but . . . USE YOUR OWN IDEAS!! I know this sounds cilche, but, what you do will eventually find it's way back to you, you just have to be patient, and keep working at it, and it will come around.

I have just read the news about one of our favorite KP artists here at devart, was killed some time ago while riding his bicycle.

This news hits particularly home for me, as he was a very close friend of mine, and , both of us would talk to him on a regular basis about upcoming works he was doodling, how certain pics he created caught our eye, and about life in general, the man was a true wealth of knowledge.

Even though I heard of this only today, I had a strange feeling about it for a long time now, as he had not posted in a long time, but it's not my place to bug people about posting anything, because it's been a long time for me as well.

This is indeed a sad day for us all, and I believe that the deviantart website should find a way to honor him, as he brought us so many good works.

To a good friend, here's hoping that we will meet again on the other side.

RIP Commander Argus

Until the day comes that we meet again, I wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas, SALUTE!!

According to the site findagrave.com, Andrew James Robert Patrick Martin, better known to wrestling fans as Test, passed away at his Tampa, Florida home March 13, 2009, he was four days shy of his 34th birthday.

During the late 1990's, he worked as a bouncer in a Toronto bar, where he met Wrestling legend, Bret "Hit Man" Hart, this led to his being trained by Hart, and Wrestling trainer Leo Burke, he first appeared under the ring name of "Martin Kane", and later, took the name of "T.J. Thunder," he was trained a little more extensively by Wrestling legend Dory Funk Jr. and began wrestling under the name "Test" shortly afterward.

In July 2004, he was released by WWE after having spinal fusion surgery to repair an injured neck, even though he was told his job was secure. He returned to the ring in May of 2006, and formed a tag team with Scott Steiner, which lasted only a few months.

He had his name legally changed to add Test to it in May 2006.

Since December of 2000, his on, and off screen girlfriend has been Stacy Kiebler.

According to an email received by a friend March 10, 2009, he had just returned from a trip to Japan.

He was found in his Tampa home by friends, the exact cause of death is still undetermined, and Tampa Police believe no foul play was involved.

On April 9th, Tampa Police stated his death was the result of an accidental overdose of Oxycodone (a legal opiate, primarily used as a prescription pain reliever, the two main names it is found under are OxyCotin, and Percocet).

Once again, Andrew "Test" Martin, dead at the age of 33.

Rest in Peace,

Andrew "Test" Martin

1975-2009

Looks like it's that time of the year again, tags are going around, and I'm the most recent victim, so, here we go.

RULES:

1.) You must fill out EVERY question . . . NO SKIPPING!!

2.) Tag five peopel afterward.

3.) Leave a message on their page, telling them they've been tagged.

------------------------------------------------

ARE YOU:

1.) Perfect? Perfection is in the eye of the beholder, no one is truly perfect, so, I would have to say no to that one.

2.) Tall? If you consider 6'1" tall, then the answer is yes.

3.) In your pajamas? Nope. Too Early for that yet, besides, I don't sleep in P.J.'s.

4.) Left handed? Last time I checked, and my handwriting sucks.

LAST:

Friend you saw: That wouls have to be Eric, an old friend from High School that followed me into the Navy.

Talked on the phone: This morning, ot the Barracks Commander, telling him that I might be late for watch this morning.

Person to text you: I don't do texts.

Was today better than yesterday, or the same as any old day? Worse, as we had about 4 inches of snow fall on us overnight.

Favotries:

Number? 69, dude!

Color(s)? Black.

Fruit? Apples.

Place? Home.

Questions and Answers.

Q. What was the first thing you did when you got up this morning?

A. Took a shower, what would a normal person do first thing in the morning?

Q. Do you have anything bothering you?

A. Yeah . . . do I plan on sharing it? Hell no.

Q. What's the last movie you saw?

A. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Q. Where is the last place you went?

A. The room I'm in now, of course.

Q. Do you smile a lot?

A. Only if something's funny.

Q. Do you wish upon stars?

A. Nope, what good will it do?

Q. Are you a friendly person?

A. I try to be.

Q. Where did you sleep last night?

A. Where else? In my bedroom.

Q. When was the last time you cried?

A. About 3 years ago, at my Great Neice's funeral.

Q. What was your last thought before going to sleep last night?

A. "My God, I hope it doesn't snow." Did it work? Hell no.

Q. Rate life as it is right now, onw being worst, and ten being the best.

A. 6

Q. What do you hear right now?

A. My radio playing REO Speedwagon's Easy Money.

Q. Does anything hurt right now?

A. My back, from pushing cars out of ditches.

Q. What's your favorite month?

A. June. Why? No f&%$#@g snow on the ground, that's why.

Q. What did you do last night?

A. Worked until about 11:00 pm, came home, and went straight to bed.

EIGHT EMOTIONS:

Are you missing something right now? No.

Are you Happy? In between, really, feeling mellow.

Are you sad? No, why? Do you want me to be?

Are you nervous? I don't get nervous.

Are you tired? Too sore to be tired.

About you:

Real Name: Douglas Brown

Nicknames: Brownie, Brown Dawg

Eye color: Blue

Zodiac sign: Capricorn

Male, or female: With a name like Douglas, what do you think? Duh, Male.

Smart: No, I just like dressing up like a State Trooper, walking around, and acting just like Jeff Foxworthy describes rednecks, if I passed the Police Academy, I better have something in the upper story, besides cobwebs.

Hair color: Brownish blonde, with streaks of grey.

Tall, or short: Right where I need to be.

Sweats, or jeans: Jeans.

Phone, or camera: Phone.

Drink, or smoke: To quote John Wayne "I eat as much as ever, I drink more than I should, and my sexlife is none of your Goddamned business," I'm also a smoker.

Tattoos: Definitely not.

Righty, or lefty: Lefty.

Firsts:

First best friend: A man named Rick, no last name mentioned, we were best friends throughout most of our lives, we fell out of touch after I joined the Navy, and I haven't seen him since his mother died a few years back.

First crush: A young girl named Wendy, again, no last names mentioned.

First pet: A dog, specifically, a Siberian Husky.

First big vacation: California . . . and it was the largest headache I ever went through.

eating: Not right now . . . too late to raid the fridge, I'll be up all night if I did.

Drinking: Home brewed tea.

I am about to: Light a smoke, sit back, and flip this P.O.S. monitor the bird.

Listening to: REO Speedwagon.

Plans for today: Getr some sleep, so I can start my boring work day over again tomorrow.

Drank bubbles: WTF?!

Lost glasses/contacts: Nope . . . these bad boys cost me an arm, a leg, and a quart of blood, and that was before I bought them.

Ran away from home: Nope.

Broken someone's heart: Not too sure, never hung around long enough to see Nah . . . not my style.

Been arrested: Been close a couple of times.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

Miracles? Depends.

Yourself: Better . . . no one else will.

Heaven: gotta have something to look forward to.

Santa Claus: Not anymore . . . did when I was a kid.

Love: Yeah. and it don't like me.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

Do you like someone? Yeah.

Do you believe in God? Sure do.

Now, for my five victims . . . eh, friends.