First off, Happy Birthday `Solitude12!!!


Second, long journal is long.  This is for my own memory's sake more than anything else.  Lol, and because =Waluigi-Prower asked for it out of curiosity.



Third, there are still a ton of contests going on.
1. [link]. [link]. [link]. [link]


Fourth, cool CSS, isn't it!   </late>

1.  Because `Tachy-on's dAmn Channel games encourage thumb spamming and luring friends into traps.

2.  Becuase we cna barly reed teh words of soem of teh #Thumbsshare's moderators...

3.  Because consulting `realillusions, `electricjonny, and ~Nol888 about computer, Greasemonkey, and bot woes are better than any IT Help Center.

4.  Because watching `LeoLeonardo, `CookiemagiK, and =de-Mote's emotes are better than watching anything you'll find on YouTube.

5.  Because the Admins get drunk and relieve themselves on the Hollywood Star of Vanessa Williams.

6.  Because it's not about the pageviews.  ...until someone decides to offer a free subscription for catching one...

7.  Because deviantART gives back to the community --- and only asks that they smother themselves in hotdog condiments in return... *cough*$ewm*cough*

8.  Because reading a journal entry entitled "Happy Birthday deviantART" seventeen times from seventeen different people with the exact same CSS is not just a coincidence.</sup>

</blockquote>


^{Lol, this was for one of `PurpelBlur's contests.  xD  I decided to post it here as well.  Whaddya think?}







The deviantART 8th Birthday madness was HILARIOUS!  So before I forget something, I'm going to try to list everything I either found amusing or participated in.   Oh, and the sappy "I love deviantART" part of this entry is all the way down at the very bottom, so you can skip over that.

Birthday Fun began in #CatPad as we tried to complete the Scuzzle!  We were sooo close!  Lol, then got tired and gave up.

EDIT!!:  Nevermind! It's complete!!!  



Midnight on August 7th also prompted the defacing of `Tachy-on's deviantID!   Because he was "asleep".  Pfft -- who'd be asleep at 4am on deviantART's birthday??  I don't believe it for a second!  >:D

BEFORE: AFTER:





My favorite part about deviantART events are the fun and games that draw soooo many new people to the dAmn channels -- and prompt a million-and-one events from deviants all over the site!    I just played the games for fun -- but I ended up winning a bunch of prizes anyway!!


  2nd Place for the ~dATribes Game!!
^{The ~dATribes winners were announced. I got 2nd Place with a prize of $125 devDollars!!  A HUGE 'Thank You!' to everyone that let me !trap them!  xDD  Go Ashanti!!}


A Print from `Nyiana-Sama's Print Giveaway!
<sup>The ever-kind and generous `Nyiana-Sama decided to giveaway dA prints since devART donated 10% of all sales were donated to AIDS Orphans on its birthday.  What a sweetheart!</sup>


@MNBot Trivia Winner!
^{The Question was, "How much money did $Moonbeam13 raise for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer last year?"  The answer was $9,253.35! I got a 3-month-subscription from `secondmagpie!}


#Thumbsshare Critique Contest Winner!
^{#Thumbsshare held a Critique Contest, and I spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect piece.  And I did!  This won me a 3-mo. sub from the ever-generous `YukiMizuno!!}


  3rd Place for the #deviantoftheyear Scavenger Hunt!
^{#deviantoftheyear held an awesome Scavenger Hunt -- and I finished third!  I won a 1-month sub from #deviantoftheyear and 1-month from `joannastar.  P.S.  Hugs for you, `timmy64!!  Rest, Relax, and we hope to see you soooon!!}


$damphyr Stamp Contest!
^{I won a 3-month-sub from $damphyr for her 20-minute Stamp Contest!  Fun fun!  I reeeeally wanted to enter her other contest too -- but I ran out of time trying to do too many things at once!  xD}



Olympic Fella Plushie Contest Winner! LOL!
^{This Daily Deviation-worthy picture of Fella at the Olympics won me a Fella Plushie from $Heidi!! But because I already have a Fella Plushie from the cookie-cooking `rapidograph, I asked $Heidi if she wouldn't mind sending it to the lovely ~DarkStarrx instead!  Lololz, China.}



dA Birthday Mousepad from `mattdanna & $danlev!!
^{I was one of the runners-up for another #devart activity -- and it was one of the coolest spontaneous contests I've ever seen!  Major kudos to whoever thought THAT one up!}  
:thumb94024100:


Birthday Mug from `Tachy-on in #crAzyEights!
<sup>I've decided `Tachy-on's dAmn games are made of pure, absolute win.  So random!  And so much fun!  The #crAzyEights game had us speed-searching for thumbs and spamming them in #devart at the speed of light, before moving the game to #crAzyEights.</sup>  
:thumb94023654:



  Birthday Coasters from `PurpelBlur's #devart Contest!
^{There were a number of ways to enter this contest -- and I chose to do two of them.  One, I submitted feature suggestions to the "Let Unknown Be Known" article series.  And two, I wrote up '8 Reasons Why I Love deviantART'!  I posted those at the top of this journal entry.}
:thumb94022680:


Kiriban Winner for ~DrewsterHotRod !
^{Although not related to deviantART's birthday, I caught ~DrewsterHotRod's 20,000th Pageview -- but that was mostly due to *Tengai-Skyline's persistence.  She's going to draw him something instead -- but I requested that a squirrel show up somewhere in the background? xDD}








The #Caption-Contest is easily one of my favorite deviantART Games.  I always leave a caption on each picture -- no matter how short and simple. Because reading other people's captions is a Bucket of Lolz in itself.


`Rendarin's dAmn Scavenger Hunt was AWESOME --- and incredibly hilarious (see: "cute blackish bear for kids": #WiggaBear? and "a speedy mate": #Whore, #Hooker, #Gonzales, #Amigo, #Cousin?)


`WNPhotography also held a Contest in #ultra that was similar to #crAzyEights -- and also a lot of fun!


!Stykera's Forum Contest was fun to add to and read through.  


I heard the #Fun4Fun Birthday Bash was a huge success!  I didn't get to attend... but a crazy live Radio Show in dAmn prone to induce lots of laughs and excitement!


DID YOU KNOW that anyone can enter the #seniors channel on dAmn??    At any time??  And that you don't need to be a `Senior??  It was news to me!





  And Looook!!  Squirrelsss!!  For meee!!  I love them!!  xDD  Aaaah!  From ~Kiotonemaru, ~WereKitty14v, ~Tsuchan, and ~CaptainNyan!!







Alright, this is the mushy part of the journal entry where I proclaim my love for this site and all of its inhabitants.  Squishy "I Love dA" propaganda ahead.  You've been warned.


...I wish there was a way to let every single deviantART user know about the entire Artist Community that exists on this site.  I wish there was a way to invite every person that creates an account into the dAmn channels, or a way to show them how closely knit everyone is, or a way to teach them about the ins-and-outs of this site so that they could fall in love with it just as much as the rest of us do.

This place is filled with some of the most kind, generous, warm-hearted, fun, and friendly people I've ever met.  It's no secret that the community is the lifeblood of this place.  In addition to this, the people who run deviantART are not invisible, unreachable entities that float around behind the scenes.  They're not people who are too busy to talk to the everyday devART user.  Need proof?  I really can't express how much I admire that.

This sounds so cheesy...   I wish it didn't.

So thank you.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you --- not just for the games, the prizes, the contests --- but for creating a place so wonderful and so incredibly welcoming that each day never ceases to amaze me.  A place where every person I've ever encountered goes out of their way to help others, and help build the community into the thriving place that it is today.  A place where the laughter never ends, a place where there is always a friendly person to pick you up when you fall, and a place with more emoticons than I know what to do with.

For this, all of this, I am truly grateful.

Happy Birthday, deviantART.  You truly are the best.