Quick Question

Hey... Is the stuff to the sides of this blog showing up? There was recently a Blogger update that might have hidden some things, and I can't see them. 

Lots O' Homework D:

Hey Jammers! I know I said that I'd post on Monday, but school got in the way, as usual...

You know, because this is such a common occurrence I had thought that I would restrict all posting to the weekend, but I decided against it. Posting will definitely be spotty, but there are weekdays where I don't have much homework at all and will be able to post freely! I don't want to make any restrictions, despite them making things more organized.

Homework is YET AGAIN getting in the way, so I'd better go. See you in Jamaa, and may the gods of No-Homework look upon me favorably! XD

New Pet Actions!

Hey Jammers! My apologies, but this will be a rather rushed and incomplete post as I'm actually supposed to be doing my homework right now. Yikes! And to top it off, I won't be posting at all this weekend because I'll be going away for a couple days. Sorry... "^^

But anyway, let's leap right into the Jamaa Journal!!!

Lotsa stuff...

In other news, the buddy list now looks weird:

...But at least you can have twice as many as you could before!

Still, it's gonna be hard for me to get used to it. XD

Another new thing is that pets now have unique actions! They still do the same things when you click them or when they dance, but now they play, hop, sit, and sleep as well!

How adorable!

There's also a new Jammer-wall thingy(?) in Jam a Grams:

Hmm...

Sorry for the short post, dudes. See y'all on Monday and have a great weekend!

Offline Plaques From AJHQ!

Hey Jammers! Sorry for my lack in posting this week, I've had a ton of homework. Well... more accurately is that I've been doing my homework early rather than waiting until nighttime and rushing. All that extra time makes me go a little slower for some reason. I don't know why, but it feels like I spend the majority of the time zoning out into the wall and then BAM! It's 11 PM and my eyes hurt too much from wall-staring to use my computer.

But enough about me, let's talk about ANIMAL JAM! Animal Jam, and how AJHQ is now giving out plaques awarding you for Animal Jam-related things you do while normally not logged into Animal Jam! 

Well, if you're confused it really isn't as complicated as I try to make it sound. Scroll down and all will become clear!

Click to read OR go to the official AJ Instagram account!

You see those shiny blue things? Those are the new award plaques just released today! Or yesterday, depending on when you're reading this post. 

Here are the original plaques (that you can still earn!):

You can get the painter's palette plaque if you get your art in the Gallery, the Howl plaque if a howl you submitted got published, the film reel if Brady Barr or Tierney Thys answers your question, the camera if you get an article published on the Daily Explorer, the world if you pass the Online Safety Quiz, and the paw if you win a Jammer Snaps contest.

Here are the elusive unreleased plaques that a select few Jammers claim to have:

The castle is assumed to be a plaque you would get if you win Epic Dens, and the star is assumed to be a plaque that you get if you win a contest. Sadly, even if you do win Epic Dens or a contest, the likely scenario is that you won't receive either of these plaques. They were either released as a mistake, or were made and a few were put into the game but weren't used as awards.

All these original plaques appear to have a dark brown wood backing and a golden shape, while these newly released plaques are dark blue and metallic with ice blue shapes. They also seem to be sparkly.

So how can you earn them?

The pencil/paintbrush plaque is called the Fan Art Plaque and you can earn it if AJHQ highlights AJ fan art you post on Instagram.

The trophy/ribbon plaque is called the Community Contest Plaque and you earn it if you win a contest proposed by AJHQ on Instagram. For example, yesterday AJHQ asked people to share a screenshot of their animal wearing the Rare Item Monday on Instagram, and whoever won was featured and got the plaque.

The film camera plaque is called the Videographer Plaque and you can earn it if the Animal Jam videos you post online (usually YouTube) get noticed by AJHQ, or if you reach a milestone in views or online subscribers.

...And finally, the heart plaque! This plaque is called the Positive Player Plaque and you can earn one by being a helpful and positive influence while playing AJ, and/or on social media. You even get a second one to give to another kind player! How sweet. :)

The reason why I'm calling them "offline" plaques is because unlike the original wood plaques, these shiny new plaques award things mostly relating to social media rather than in-game achievements, specifically AJ-centric social media where the AJ community tends to circulate. For example, Animal Jam Stream!

It's interesting to see AJHQ recognize the community they've developed over the years. Not a lot of games do that, or even have such enthusiastic players to begin with!

It's also interesting to learn that AJHQ is aware of all this fan art, all these YouTube channels and blogs... AJHQ, if you're reading this, hi!!!

If you're curious, click here to look at Animal Jam's official Instagram page.

That's all for now, Jammers. I wish I had enough Positive Player plaques to give each and every one of y'all! ^_^

See you in Jamaa,

Earth Day + AJ Stationary

Happy belated Earth Day, Jammers! What kinds of stuff did you do yesterday to celebrate? While not exactly on Earth Day, me and my brother planted a ton of flowers and other plants in our backyard a couple days ago. There's been a lot of sun and rain so I can't wait until they grow! :D

Despite it not being April 22nd anymore for another year, there are still a ton of easy things you can do to make a positive difference in your area and your Earth:

• Plant some beautiful flowers! 

Honeybees, butterflies, and other pollinators are very important to all ecosystems. Without pollinators, there wouldn't be plants, flowers, fruit... or even any life on Earth! 

Here's where you come in. Pollinators use nectar as food and can have trouble finding enough suitable flowers, especially in cities. There is actually a worldwide shortage of honeybees because of it!

 You can make a fuzzy little bumblebee or an elegant butterfly very happy by planting some flowers. Some favorites include lavender (which also has a wonderful scent!), bee balm, coneflower, yarrow, sunflowers, black-eyed susan, horsemint, aster, sweet clover, and many more.

• Walk, bike, or take public transportation when you can. :)

Aside from being really expensive to maintain, being usually slower and more prone to get stuck in traffic, driving exclusively in a car has been widely & thoroughly proven as being a harmful pollutant to the environment.

The amount of toxic chemicals leeched into the environment by 40 people riding the bus is way less than if each of those 40 people drove their car. 

There are many other ways to help the environment, but I'm sure you're dying to know about the new stuff on AJ today. If you wanna add anything, feel free to comment! :)

The new items of today are sold in the sister shops of Jamaa Township, Jam Mart Clothing and Jam Mart Furniture. ^^

The Egypt set is steadily making its way into shops, so we can expect to see things like the Egyptian Pillow and Egyptian Couch hit the shelves sometime soon. Which item in the set is your favorite? :D

In other news, some word on the upcoming AJ merchandise has come, and it's all about books!

"Penguin will introduce two chapter books for ages six to 10 in summer 2017, followed by two more next season."

"We want to immerse them in the world the same as the game does."

"The titles will feature two or three digital codes per book, embedded within the narrative, which will unlock online content"

"[...] Wooky Entertainment's Style Me Up! craft and activity books,"

Here's an image of what will most likely be the craft and activity books:

The stationary set seems to include a journal, a pen, a pencil, a cute eraser in the shape of a pet pony/zebra, and a ruler. There also looks to be a coloring book next to it, with the word "collection" on it, so it may include some codes to special items. I don't recognize that giraffe's jewelry, so maybe that is a prize? :O

This is all the information out just yet on the upcoming books, but with June approaching, we have the figurines to look forward to!

Taken from Clark Stacey's Instagram page

Along with being adorable, they seem to make great cake toppers, too:

Also taken from Clark Stacey's Instagram page

There's so much to be excited about! What are you crazy about the most? :D

• • • •

That's all for now, see you in Jamaa!