Today I had a realization. A reoccurring dream I've had for as long as I can remember has been speaking to me the whole time, and I haven't been listening until now.

I had the dream last night, though each time it is a little different. Usually the dream involves me driving on a stretch of the interstate that is not fully completed. There are usually segments of the road, like overpasses, that rise up and just stop:



Occasionally I'll see construction workers there, looking at what they're going to build next. I never know where I am heading to when I am driving, and for some reason in my dream last night, instead of my car, I was driving a motorcycle.

So it hit me this morning - where is somewhere I've passed on the interstate that is always being worked on? Where have I seen this place in my dreams?

Texas! There's always somewhere we passed in Texas where on I-110, the interstate is always under construction.

My dream is telling me that my future is in Houston, where I have been considering going to school at either Texas A & M or The University of Houston for my Master's degree. My dreams have been encouraging me to go there.

As my mom suggested when I told her about this, she said once I finish my studies and am a working geologist, maybe, just maybe, the interstate in my dreams will be finished and I can follow the road to where I want to go with my life.

Kind of crazy, huh?

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The next day comes and goes slowly for you. You are eager to find out what your deer has planned for your next trip to their world.

You finally finish up your daily routines and lay back into your favorite chair. You close your eyes and hear the wind outside blow upon your house. When you open your eyes, you are sitting on a park bench.

You look around, finding yourself somewhere you never expected to be. You are at a man-made park, that overlooks a great ocean. You approach the water, hearing it lap up onto the concrete that separates the water from the land. You look off into the distance and see a great city, one you have never seen before. Skyscrapers climb and reach the clouds, and you can faintly hear the hustle and bustle of the city. You notice that no other humans are around you, yet you hear the sounds of squirrels and birds coming from the nearby park.

You then spot your deer, who is approaching from within the park. They greet you and look off at the city in the distance. "So, what do you think?", they ask.

"Well, I'm not familiar with this place, but it looks nice, I suppose.", you reply. The deer looks to you. "Nice? You do understand that none of this is natural, right?", they ask. "Well, yeah, but...", you begin to say, but looking back at the city, it does seem to sink in.

"Do you know what was there before the humans came and paved over it?", your deer asks. You shake your head. The stag looks back to the city, "There was a great place that once was there - a great marshland, and it was home to an old tribe of deer who protected the land and cleansed both the water and the air.", they say.

You don't know how to reply, so your deer keeps speaking, "Since then, the tribe vanished, and this happened. What once was a place of restoration has become a place of pollution.

Hey anyone who has been through High School Chemistry, do you remember this video? While it has some good ideas, the directing, effects, and mannequin were pretty funny.

#5 is the best, where the student has to strip naked and use the safety shower and the other student is staring at them. #6 is funny too, with the mannequin catching on fire and rolling on the ground.

Ah my Twin Gods this will be fun...

So all you gotta do is comment what your deer's realistic species are (link to their bio if you want to) and I'll add them to the list. Also if you have a link to a picture of the realistic species you chose, please tell me and I'll use it for the reference pic. And please, this is for deer, antelope, gazelles, moose, ect ect only.

Hello everyone!

Well, after much thought about 'hoarding pictos' and all, I decided to make one more deer, but unlike Quad, Zephyr, Blixt, and the others, this will be my first ever 'evil' deer to be in the Forest.

Nekumbra, my spider deer, will officially be played in-forest. However, I need help with her set for when she becomes an adult deer.

Although her official look is like this:





I think we've decided on the following look:



I'd rather her NOT have a "real deer mask, real deer pelt, doe antler" set, despite that looking so much like her in the pictures above. I could really use some ideas for making her look similar to the artworks of her but using different pelts/antlers/masks that aren't so commonly used. Using either the real deer mask or one of the real deer pelts with not so used items would be fine.

Here's her pictogram while as a fawn:



I tried my best to get an hourglass look, since she's a spiderdeer and all.

Anyway, any ideas are greatly appreciated! I'm gonna do some set research when I get back from work today.

One other thing, I need to decide on somewhere for her to 'haunt'. What part of the Forest do you think a spiderdeer would prefer? Or better yet, where do you think would be a good place for her to hide? If you need some ideas, check out her shortstory.

*nodnodnod*

Hey guys, my family showed me this and I wanted to get your help with it too. My local area is supporting the Bay Area Food Bank, which has been hit really hard due to the oil spill. The Today Show and Pepsi are giving $100,000 USD to a charity and I would love it if you guys could vote for the Bay Area Food Bank for me. It would really help our community down here in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida that are dealing with so much already.

Thanks for your support!

http://www.today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38027143

Update - Thank you all for your help! The Bay Area Food Bank won the $100,000, but I am also pleased to discover that Pepsi gave the other three charities $50,000. Thanks again for everything, guys! It really means a lot to me!

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Your days have been much better since the last time you visited the world where your deer lives. You've relaxed for the afternoon and begin to close your eyes, opening them and finding yourself in a dark place, though not as dark as you have been to before. There are no lights around like before, but you do notice that you are in a wooded area. Your eyes adjust to the darkness, and now you are able to see where you are.

The place is not illuminated but the sky seems to be glowing. You look to it, noticing a vast array of stars before you, and other colors that seem to fluctuate through the sky.

"Have you ever seen an aurora before?", you hear a familiar voice ask. You turn to see your deer there, their eyes are wide and dark but their face seems to glow with their pictogram. You shake your head in reply. The deer smiles, "Come with me."

You follow them as they move through the dark woods. They seem to know where to go, so you feel very safe with them despite your surroundings. "It's not far.", they say as they keep walking.

At one point you find a clearing from the trees. The two of you keep going out into an open area, and your deer stops, "Now watch it.", they say. You look to the sky, and are in sheer awe as the colors of the aurora drape over the stars like a great blanket in the sky. It will be one of your most memorable visits to this place.

Your deer seems to enjoy it, too. "Though I may never understand why the night sky glows like this, it never ceases to fill my spirit with wonder.", they say. You nod in agreement. When you two have had your fill of the sight, you continue with your deer, who has walked off a little ways.

The deer brings you to a place that seems very familiar, and you hear running water with each step - you then spot the deer fountain where you first met them!

"This is the meadow!", you say to them.

I can't believe I haven't shown you guys my deer hat yet!



I got it at Palo Duro during my Field Camp trip! Absolutely had to have it when I saw it! I swear I posted this photo up somewhere...maybe I just showed it off while someone was doing a Livestream.

My brother took a photo of me wearing it, too, but the flash on his camera is so bright that I have a hard time keeping my eyes open when he uses it, so of course I look like I've eaten too many Forest mushrooms in the pic.



Anyway enjoy, and don't use this for blackmail plz! Next time I'll get one where I headtilt.

Came up with a new game for the TEF Comm Site!

Okay, so think of any product, service, company, ect that a deer would totally buy or invest in if they had money and needed to buy stuff. To play, just post a picture of the logo of the product and say what it is and why a deer would buy it. For obvious reasons you don't have to explain it (like if it has "deer" in the name).

One rule - please only post one at a time! That way everyone has a chance to play. Let a few people post theirs before you post again!

Also have lots of fun coming up with ideas!

I'll start:



Deer Park Natural Spring Water, because deer would totally live there and get freaking rich selling bottled water!