hey everyone! there's a lot of cool stuff happening at my site this week, and i wanted to share it with you guys:

my two friends Armon Pakdel and Taylor Bortner are part of a band called Farther Snake. They've been TBA members for a long time, and they've debuted their album on the site! you can listen to the whole album and download it on the front page. if you're a member, leave a comment and let them know what you thought of it.

we're starting our first art tournament! the theme is steampunk and the main differences between this and other art contests on TBA is that this one will feature multiple rounds with a different theme each time, and there's a cash prize! the starting pot will be $10, anyone can add on to it. once the tournament starts you'll be able to see the size of the pot and can add on to it at any time. there are already 14 entrants to the contest and there's still room, so join while there's still time. if it's a hit we'll do more and the stakes could get higher every time!

i'm excited for this kind of stuff - back when i started the site in 2005 i added a forum for kicks thinking it would go nowhere. two big collabs and 872 members later, there's a real community of almost 100 active members. it's nice to wake up in the morning and have something new to read on your own site. and now that there's something there i've always wanted to give back - this is the start of it. free downloads and features, and an actual reward for hard work. i hope you will join us in the tournament , and i'll keep you guys updated on any cool stuff i feature on the front page. i want to keep it interesting.. which means if i write anything real long i'll at least put one picture up. too bad i can't do that here without a sub.

speaking of which, enough with the freaking "LIKE TO WRITE JOURNALS? GET SKINS!!!" ads in my updates once a week. i like how subscribing wasn't enough, now you have to be a "premium member".