Sumimasen

A big part of playing a multi person game, anything from ice hockey to soccer, is learning to accept there are very different people in the world. Maybe because I have always been in some type of team atmosphere I have very little problem getting along with people, even those who are difficult. This makes work easier, WoW easier and teaches me patience at the same time. (Patience is good and I have major stock options.)

In The Knights Who Say Ni I lately have tried to take a more active role as an officer. For the past few months I was either not logging on at all except on raid nights (ie Friday) or I would be on for 5 minutes and then log off. It is normal to go through a period of burnout when you do something so often that it is a part of your daily routine. In that time I still responded to e-mails but really with just little asides, usually agreeing with the general consensus and letting things move on their own. I had my own projects, both writing wise and personally, I started working out and I have started planning home improvements that, more and more, need funding, and I am again considering a second job.

That said, the past week I have been more interested in the game. No, that's a lie, I couldn't honestly care less about end game right now. My interest? A level 45 druid wannabe tank and ubber pawning dps who is cruising right along both level wise and skillwise (jewelcrafting to be exact.) I log on, quest for an hour, farm ore for a half an hour or so and then go and do some chores while I fly to the next zone/city/whatever. It's good times and most people know my new alt project so I can take care of guild stuff/issues at the same time if any crop up. We have a new crop of guildies invited by multiple people who I long thought were kids and was proven to be right (over vent.) While we are mainly an adult guild so long as kids act fairly decent we've never had a problem.

One asks if his friend can join the guild too, I switch to Lecanu, send the invite, give out welcomes and general info on behavior, policy on the Guild Bank and send him on his way. That night we had an open slot in a gearing Naxx run and I gave it to him seeing as how there was a decided lack on interest in going and we were going to have to pug anyways. Then it starts.

Two hours before Naxx he starts worrying no one was on but the usual dinner crowd. I tell him to be cool and relax. This goes on for about an hour.

One hour before Naxx a guildie asks for heals for a daily heroic run, I need 5 more badges before getting my next Tier 9 piece so I go and immediately guild chat is over run with spam, questioning why we are in an instance (one that takes all of 15 minutes), is the run canceled, does this happen often, where are all the officers, the list goes on. Also I am getting private messages about how this is and that is wrong and we won't make it to the raid if we do the daily, so forth an so on.

I am, at this point reminding myself to be adult and not send him a tell amounting to "WTF go away and let me play this game that I am paying for you little weasel!"

This continues until the Naxx start time and a whole bunch of other crap goes on (2nd tank doesn't log on, the kid who was crying foul that he was not geared and who we originally set this raid up for did not log on, the pug pally healer decided he didn't have to heal our only tank and instead decided he wanted to raid heal without telling anyone this leaving to 3 wipes on Spider wing trash before I put up Recount and notice what he was doing.) Logging onto vent someone who's voice is still cracking is spouting off bizare lore info and swearing that he raided back in Classic (but didn't remember Naxx is a floating necropolis), has vent keyed to sound so we got to listen to him apparently breaking rocks over his desk every few minutes, all the while asking who is healing and then complaining that Naxx can't be run with just 2 healers, 1 geared out in Ulduar/ToC drops.

The current GM Myrrandar and I were going back and forth in private/officer chat all night. I apologized, he laughed. I sweared I would demote myself later from the Guild Council to Patsy, he laughed some more and then I looked at the Officer's note under Annoying Kid's name.

"Kelso assumes complete responsibilty for this"

/headdesk

We got 2 wings cleared with 9 people, the new guys got some good gear, some BoE drops were put in the GB along with some enchanting mats from the DE's and after 3 hours of this I felt like I had just spent a whole day babysitting the kid. Even mild always even tempered Myrr was annoyed and snapped at the A.K. a few times, calling the raid when Loatheb was down. (Our original guild member who is A.K.'s friend was fine, spening most of the night chatting with a guild friend who is also a teen over Vent chat. No idea what Duplicity thought of that night other than the fact he had the A.K. muted after about a minute.)

I am tolerant, patient and even tempered most days but I want to phantom guild kick this kid so bad it is crazy. In reality it is doubtful he'll last long in guild since he'll piss off one of the other officers, I'm sure of it. This is my de-stress activity, my winter hobby, and a place where I can chill with friends. I want to help the guild stay running smoothly and run some raids, heals some peoples, out dps the over geared, and slaughter everything in sight under the guise of a cute tattooed bear. I am sure my goals are the same as my fellow Council Members and the rest of our guildies.

I AM SO SORRY. I WILL NEVER INVITE ANYONE AGAIN.

Thankfully I do have a shadow alt in the guild only 1 person knows about.

Enter The Pink Nugget of Doom!

I have a feeling I will not hear the end of this for a while.

A step by step guide to getting through the winter

Hallooooooo! And welcome to December. Be prepared to be assaulted by badly sung Christmas music in any store you go. The weather will mock you, not giving you snow when you think there should be pretty whiteness and then dumping a foot on you at the earliest inconvience. For those in the population who get kind of down at the change of the seasons (personally I always feel better when the leaves are on the trees) the winter can be very long. Driving through Virginia long...shudder. So find 5 things that make your next hour, next day, or even the next week go by like a breeze! (I should so do my own infomercials.)

5. Home Improvements: This can get expensive but a little at a time is all it takes. My newest project is the upstairs (the Empty World that is no longer filled with stuff) redoing both the guest room and turning the smaller room into a writing room/study. Now all of this is just cosmetic, paints, new shades, some new cheapy furniture, pictures on the walls (and my fav LOTR poster from college my little brother found for me at his house and saved it! Oh yeah some days he rocks.) I really really really want to get the upstairs carpeted but that is a bit too much right now so I'm think more along the lines of bound carpet sections and maybe some nice sticky tiles for those places the carpet won't cover.

4. TBR aka the To Be Read pile: I have a big one...a very big one...the entire shelf of a book case kind of TBR. And I love the stupid thing to death. Now for people who dont' like reading there is always the TBW (To Be Watched), the loveliness of Netflicks and Cast TV for shows, or even the insanity of Youtube. Viral videos are great time killers, no lie.

3. Time Sinks: This is anything that takes 0 brain power but consumes half of your day. Winter is great for these, especially if you are unfortunate to fall alseep at 5am (when it is still dark out) and wake up around 5 pm (when it is again dark out). Video games are great T/S. Games like Caesar and Pharaoh, Balder's Gate (PS2 version) and Kingdom Hearts (so sue me I'm a chick) really don't require thought so much as pressing random buttons in near random order. *This is opposed to Battle for Middle Earth which routinely proves to me why I am not a general of an army. Sauron should really just fire me and get it over with. Do you think he gives out pink slips or just fireballs you death? Hmm food for thought.)

2. Hobbies. It could be porno watching, cheering for your favorite sports club or World of Warcraft. Do something to get that adrenaline going. (It's healthy...except too much porn, I'm pretty sure if you pull a Quagmire it is not healthy.) Hockey, football, basketball, Ninja Warrior, there is something out there for everybody. You could even be daring and dual screen it with two games on, a raid and a game on (...not that I would ever not give my full attention to keeping my friends alive. Nope not me...), bring friends over to the game or go visit your friendly neighborhood bartender. Keep up those hobbies because they are the bread and butter of getting through a New Englad winter.

1. Peoples: Friends, family, random people you meet on the street. Historically the winter was the time when people are most likely to be alone (and if you read that article in Time about how loneliness is now experiementally being called a social illness as opposed to a singular persons mental state this kind of ties it I guess) locked away in their homes and villages trapped by mountains of snow. (For some reason writing that sentence made me think of David the Gnome. I miss that show.) Being sociable when you are digging your car out of a snow monster is hard but good for your soul. :) Trust me.

So that concludes my rant from the Gate of North.


Lies.

To Be Continued

Gobble gobble *dead

Happy early Thanksgiving!

It has come

Halloween!

/rejoices in all that is spooky and kooky

/reads "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" aloud to one sleeping dog and two very content cats

Word of advice, cats like being read to. Both the cats I grew up with and my Minions tend to snuggle down when they hear something being read, half close their eyes and pur like a freight train. Though growing up I read Cutsie and Black Jack poetry, you know like Byrant and other Transcendental stuff. But I do all the voices, can't wait to hit the Lovecraft tonight!

Halloween is fun and exciting, one of the creepiest times of the year and the continuation of an ancient custom so really what is not to love?

Like Halloween Nanowrimo has also come. And this is my 4th year participating. After last years win I seriously am pumped to jump back into the frenzy. This year, however, will be a rather new experience as I am also writing, for the first time, knowing who my main characters are and what the general outline of the world is. I am...prepared...and that's just wrong. I have to admit that not only the research but also the questions (heaps and heaps of them) were a blast to go through. For days all I have been able to think about was my novel. I have had to stop myself from just starting it early. I just want to write it so badly I could scream!

Well tonight I can. Seeing as how I have to stay up for the early trick or treaters anyways (seriously went overboard on the candy) I may as well start at that magic hour of 0001. {Side note, I better not get any trick or treaters that late or they will experience the Mary Wrath!}

Will I update the blog? Probably. Will I write about Nano? Again, probably.

Oh, almost forgot to mention: The Knights who Say Ni are now 2/5 in ToC!!!!! *happy dance!

After failing on Hodir for 2 hours (and there were some pretty epic fails) we decided to just get the Beasts of Northrend down. After the AZ guys recruited Koldhart and Domminus we got to work (well there were a whole bunch of jokes about worm fighting) we got started and finally got our first three badges. The second boss has always been our stopping point as it is a hectic as hell fight but low and behold it only took I think 4 or 5 tries before the Demon Lord went splat! BTW I now find healing DK's (well 1 DK, I don't group with them otherwise if I can help it) spikey damage to be normal. I am Koldhart's assigned healer, healing anything else seems boring now cause it's all predicatable damage. (Jaded...) The 3rd fight is pvp based against 6 npcs. Yeah i went squish hard and fast on those last attempts. PvP and me = repair bills for me. I'm pretty good as a hunter but holy priest? Nope.

One thing is certain, and one thing only, those stupid Reese's Cups are taunting me from the candy bucket in my kitchen. To all WoW raiders: rock on! To all WoW PvPers: go die in a fire (if you are a rogue go sit on a nuclear warhead). To all Nanowrimos: the wait is almost over and good luck! To all trick or treaters: do not smash my jack-o-lantern and be safe tonight. To all who love the creepiness that is Halloween: enjoy!

:)

/boo

Epic Freakin Win

This made me laugh, not giggle but cackle out of my chair (that is dangerous, I am short and the chair is not so short). I am still laughing! When ever I think of the mention of a "conga-line of death") I start all over again.

Sure I have no idea who the heck this person is but yeah I'm shouting out to his blog. You Sir win the intenets for a day.

Awesomeness is here, click the button!!!

The time has come...well

Close enough anyways. Good Morning and welcome to another edition of I'm bored at Northgate. Today we will have features on...blah!

In serious news I have in fact discovered that I am part bear. (Now if only I had a better grrr face.) Seriously the weekend equated to me sleeping, listening to the coyotes maul a dog the next street over (wtb a less freakish alarm clock, fyi the dog is ok, I heard him barking yesterday), reading manga and then going back to sleep. I slept so much between Sat afternoon and Monday when I absolutely had to get up that I should not have close my eyes again for a week.

Rawr. Ima bear! :)

Well due to stress and a near unbreakable addiction to One Manga I have not really been willing or able to log onto WoW. Friday I logged because I was asked to for the newbie Ulduar raid but other than that I have been...not there. Last night I thought meh, what the heck, I'll go try to solo some level 70 heroics and ended up running a few level 80 heroics on Kelsomar. Was it fun? Yeah, once I remembered my shot priority and what the heck my buttons did (note to self, stop changing and renaming buttons on Warcraft, though I do like one that is now a picture of a pumpkin pie slice), did it make me want to play tonight? No. I did talk to another officer about the wow/healer burnout and I think he will give a little bit of leeway and maybe let me run on Kelso once in a while. This however depends entirely if I log on or not. Right now I'm leaning towards the not so much.

So if one was going to attempt to write another novel (or at least 50,000 words of one) in a month obviously a week before is the perfect time to start reading an 800 page Victorian horror epic.
-------------------->major epic fail in timing
Not that Drood isn't interesting, it is but damn its a work out carrying the blasted thing around.

WTB audio book of Drood read by Alan Rickman (seriously he does all the voices, it doesn't get any better than that!)

So I may finish my latest short story today, maybe edit my steampunk short story since I am using not only the characters but the world for my novel, I have another scene for Kept from the Light in my head that will be the rush to the epicenter of good bye world, read some Drood and Fruits Basket and be a Nanowrimo forum whore. Then go to the library to switch out more research material and get a book on basic Japanese cooking. Then again it is only 734 and I am ADD so that plan might change.

/rememebers the nice warm and cozy bed waiting at home, complete with two snuggly cats and a nap happy puppy

Yeah maybe, maybe not.

Errr

/remembers all the lawn furniture still outside and the leaves that have attempted to take over the Pepper yard

Errrr....welcome me home my warm, comfy and blanket laden bed!!!

Rawr and pigs rain down from the Heavens!

Happy Tuesday all!

(*pardon any typos in advance, blogging in gloves = stupid finger disease)

Bleh, I'm sick. But not sick enough to not go to work. Shh, don't tell my boss, sick people are supposed to stay home and not get paid. Yeah, I have boatloads of mullah coming out my ears and can afford that. *end rant*

Well the count down to Wrimo is in full swing and in less than two weeks!!! Last year was the first time I won and as this is my 4th year I have high hopes of the self control needed to write 50,000 words in a month. (Remember I am the master of self control! Control heed my wrath!) But as I have been writing, tinkering and exploring last years novel I have run into a wall, the kind that dwarfs that one in China...not exactly knowing how to get from point D to point G without messing up point B along the way. Plus there is just a whole bunch of crap in the beginning that I apparently forgot mid way. To combat this (I am not masochistic enough to want to deal with two novels in need of editing with plot holes the size of Mount Saint Helens) I have started what I am dubbing "Oro Notes*". Lists and lists of questions, any that I think up concerning the world, the history, technology, politics, events, possible plot points and devices, and my characters. I don't have to or even want to answer most of them right now but sadly the novel I am going to write is a bit more under control than the one I've basically already gotten down on paper.

------>cue brilliant idea------->Oro notes for Wrimo '08....drat I renamed it months ago to Kept from the Light...must remember to use its actual name.

Aside from that I have been preparing for winter cause it seems like it just wants to happen now and can't wait until after Halloween. Go Go 2 pairs of gloves for $1.50 at Target! I have one diesel pumpkin just waiting to turn into the winged jack-o-lantern of doom (and yes I want to put wings on it, everything of doom deserves to have wings) and trick or treat candy to be given to my co-workers and little brother. I know I don't get and kids trick or treating but seriously the first year I don't have candy there will be swarms of them. Murphy's laws rule the universe for good or ill.

Well back to perusing the Nano forums with all the other crazy obsessed peoples. BTW if you weren't up this morning you missed one hell of a sunrise. Seriously, just spectacular.

*Oro - meaning what/huh/wtf - stolen from the manga Ruroni Kenshin (cause Kenshin's awesome like that)

Evil Frickin' Bunnies

So my deadline is tomorrow...and I won't be making it.

><

Truthfully it is my own fault for spending the past two weeks writing these little backstories and sub plots that just bug the hell out of me. And the bunnies, the evil god damned bunnies of "this would make a great story", and "its October you should write a horror story", or "this would make a great New England historical novel" (yeah cause I have time for that right now).

Enter the Bunny Choppy Ax!
/Bloody plot bunny parts fly everywhere!

In all honesty this massive writing fest (pre Wrimo too, what the heck will I be like then?) has been a blast plot bunny invasion and all. I've gotten so much more material for editing and I really feel like I understand the characters now, flaws, failings and strengths. But, deep sadness, the deadline will pass the final scene will not be written.

Well, all's well that goes well, I guess. At least I have ideas and motivation, other than flexible deadlines a writer really cannot ask for much more. (Wait, I kind of have one of those too...sweetness!) Now if only I could not read this book of H.P. Lovecraft stories. Self control is not getting the better of me.

Nostalgia eat your heart out

Remember when you were a teenager and some of the best days were when you hid in your room and just listened to music or whatever for hours? Those times are some of the few memories I have where looking back on them I don't feel bad about 'not doing anything'. I was doing something dammit! Now as an adult (well if you ignore my height I qualify as an adult) there is unavoidable stuff to do. Now I have a friend or two who are convinced I never have R&R time. While it is true that I have a few projects going on (the novel, short stories, the upstairs renovation, job hunting, reorganizing my books, fall cleaning, planning next years garden, planning on actually gardening next year, ect) I think I have relax time too. At least I thought I did until this morning I reverted to my 16 year old self and basically woke up, turned on my computer and have been finding every kind of music I can. I didn't even open my shades until an hour ago. Now this is soul inspiring relaxation!

True this can't last all day but then again when I was a kid it usually didn't last either. Stuff always comes up or needs to get done but what's nice is that it can all happen at my own pace now.

Not Dead Yet

Really I promise!

Well, what have I been doing for a month?

Working on my novel, getting coffee high, reading like a madman, more coffee, working, more coffee, raiding all the way to T-9 content and then sucking fantastically (yeah I'm hoping I do better tonight cause when Schmuck/Charlie dies then we all die), more coffee, looking forward to the party with the guys (and hoping people show up), trying to teach Button basic obedience like "Leave the dog alone" and "No, do not attack the dog", planning and hoping and wishing for Nanowrimo to come cause I have an idea that I love right now but who knows in a month, coffee yum, straightening out one giant family crisis kind of (or not really), having a massive meltdown about my finances, coffee, getting back into anime with a vengeance (love the new Full Metal Alchemist!), getting ready for NHL '09, and planning how to remodel the upstairs cause when I moved in I did nothing to it.

So really I haven't been that busy, just lazy. :)

Actual posts coming soon!

Hopefully I can get a picture of me flipping the bird at Glenn Beck who is going to pollute my Borders tomorrow. (I don't advocate arson but please get the haz-mat crews down there!)

Aspirations

Ever been driving and just noticed something for the first time when chances are you've passed by it a million times before? Me too! Today's discovery was that older drivers keep hats.

(I keep a dog and 2 cats but they don't fit in the back window of my car, sadness!)

No, wait, think about it. Many elderly drivers have a hat collection just lounging around their rear windows. Do they wear them? Do they replace them when they become faded? In a hat emergency is it better to have many to choose from or those trusty always-there-for-you-kind-of-hats?

What do you think about on your work commute?

*there would have been a picture but I didn't think chasing the old people with my camera down the highway was a good idea. Picture of my own kept hats are incoming*

They are like Cheez Its

Vampires I mean. This sparkly vamp crap aside (yes I've read the whole series and it is like watching "Worlds Deadliest Stunts". You know it will be bad but you watch anyways) lately I have noticed that nearly everyone writes about vampires at one time or another. Case in point, my author crush. I have yet to read anything by her that I haven't either like or loved (serious the Promethean series is the shiz, go read it, love it and rejoice that if she ever gets more written they will be awesome!) except my current read. She doesn't do anything new with vamps as creatures or as a culture (thank god they actually ignite in sunlight) and that's cool, it's a Victorian urban fantasy anyways. I just ask, what it the appeal to writerswhen it comes to vamps?

I've read Dracula. (BTW the last 10 pages are a cop out imho.) I've read Anne Rice, Richard Matheson, the last especially did a great job so as a reader perhaps I, in my own little part fuel the cycle (they do and always have sold very well), but I do wonder what is so alluring? The sex? The violence? Immortality? Easily understandable boundaries? Maybe everyone just wants to secretly pull a Bella Lugosi and wear a cape? It is one of modern life's great mysteries.

/cycles through 2007 short story folder

/comes across a vampire story

...........

So.......how about those Battle Chickens?

Lol

Party time!

A little late yes, but better than never.

On Saturday I had a little shindig down at my place and despite the weather it turned out pretty damned good. (If you compare it to my first dinner well, actually no, don't want to even think of that fiasco.) There was more than enough food (worry #1) and people had their choice to sit out on the deck or in the A/C inside. Good times had by all, I have so much food its coming out of my ears and aside from one wee little hiccup Jupitor was the model of a welcoming dog, friendly and gentle with all. (There was a good deal of happy Pittie snorting going on too.)

Lol every time I look in my frig I see all the stuff left behind (omw to indulge in some lunch actually) I laugh. Not only did we have more than enough food, there was more than enough booze due to Sister and Frank bringing along a well stocked cooler and all the stuff Dad bought, why its still mostly in my frig. Little Brother will drink the beers. The wine? Well...guess that means I have to throw another one!

/thinks very hard for actual theme to party

October applefest anyone? Ooo, hey, I can rock that! This requires copious amounts of apples!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

/plan

You Sunk My Azeroth

Well, last week was interesting! Announcements, theories, controversy, and the mere possibility of Heroic Deadmines! Combine that with our usual guild fun (T-7.5 geared people braving a T-9 raid just cause they can...and almost downing the 1st boss to boot? Sweet) and its been a party. Oh yeah, they released details of the new x-pac Cataclysm.

/rant in 3, 2, 1....

The face of Azeroth will change forever. Nelfs will lose half their territory and all my favorite zones will be...um....effected.

/wants to rant

No rants. Not about the landscape changes anyways cause it really is a cool idea. End of the world anyone? Why yes I'll take one with a side of massive floods please. (2012 eat your heart out!) Plus this has given me a new project to help off set the writing stress. Lecanu has no titles (I refuse to slap Jenkins on her) while Kelso has one that is no longer even attainable in the game. So whatever she gets has to be not so common (meaning she won't be sporting the 'of Ironforge' one anytime soon). However few people have the time to get the Explorer title. Even in guild only 1 guy has it. So my project, to see the world of Warcraft, take 1 screen shot in every zone of my favorite place, kind of like a photo album of Azeroth gone by and get a title in the process. Lecanu the Explorer, sounds kind of dashing doesn't it? Especially for a midget in a dress.

:)

The changes to gear, talents, stats and the apparent overhaul of hunters I will not write of here and now (though the hunter changes had me spitting fire when I read them the 1st time). With at least a year until the release (hell Icecrown citadel hasn't even been released yet and Blizz has said there will be over 20 raid bosses in there, hello slow progression) so much can change that my horror might be premature and even if it isn't, meh what can I really do? In the mean time please enjoy the giant head I found on a cliff in Aszhara, the zone that no one really goes to and that apparently will be the home of a returning big bad in Cata. I hope she leaves the trees alone.

/loves pretty yet empty Azshara

Well, this is my priest in all her glory, Tier pieces, and wack-a-mole mace of awesome doom. Go Go dwarven boobs. (People play elves alot and all but look at those rockets and picture how spectacularly they bounce when my avatar runs. I used to laugh running from place to place wondering if they would smack her in the face. Ah you have got to love the complete lack of realism the moment men reinvent physics.)

It bothers me my shoulders are that horrid and clash with my nice robe of awesome. Still working on it but should have shoulders with ethereal wings soon. Woot!

Thank You

I would just like to say how much I like blogs. Truthfully I've been down for a good 4 days now since the familial kaboom and was having a god awful time dragging myself out of it. Throw in the fact I sleep for about 3 hours a night for at least half the week and you can imagine how I feel.

So when I read "I DEMAND PIGGIES" I damn near burst a gut laughing. (I think I looked up, read it and laughed again!)

Invader Zim!!! I am your loyal follower and Gir, you rock.

So new blogs that will be replacing a few of the older ones that I find either not updated or no longer interesting.

I like Bubbles

PW: Bubble

Bubbles, one of the funniest parts of life. (And a permanant key binding when I group with Lefty)

(For Piggy goodness go to PW, I never liked playing mages but I may start one just to be able to make that macro!)

Stress Relief = ?

Me * 14(24/7)familial explosion - 2 days of sleep + {360min/25Nx) = stress

See, if Einstein can make up math so can I. My week has not been great. Good. Right now it is just above unbearable. The reasons are not for the web but needless to say there are many times in life when something will be said and later regretted because of hurt feelings or whatever. If only this was so simple. Standing up for yourself sometimes really sucks.

So to find some modicum of sanity, (as we know I don't do stresss all that well) I have started replotting some of my short story ideas from earlier in the year (Garden of Doom ftw!) and am again plugging away at my 2008 Wrimo. Deadlines work for me so I have set a deadline for the 1st draft of that to be done. It is October 14. When I figure out how there will be a timer countdown thingy somewhere. For good or bad I will have a draft done so that after Wrimo '09 (exciting!!!!) I'll have a completely free mindless month for December to edit. Woot!

Replotting is fun in a whole fruit market kind of way. It is basically pick and chose anything in the outline or draft that I want and then smoosh them all together like a yummy smoothy. Mmmmmmmmmm smoothy.

/drool

Beside that I have also dove back into reading with a vengence. Having bribed the library to reactivate my card (again...><) I am ready to face my 8 hour Northgate day! Over the weekend I finished The Angel's Game, a novel based in post Civil War Barcelona. I love, love love this author's other book The Shadow of the Wind (word porn!) and made the same mistake I make over and over again. It took about 100 pages for me to separate the books in my mind. Was it interesting? Yes. Do I like it as much as SotW? No. So leaving Spain behind I have started in to All the Windwracked Stars by my author crush Elizabeth Bear. (The Promethean series is highly recommend. Hell I might read it again!) I haven't actually figured out what the heck is going on or even what the heck these people are but its still great. My new mantra: I will keep an open mind to Scifi, I will keep an open mind to Scifi, ...

In Ni news we are 3 days away from Ulduar. Yikes! Progression raiding never seemed that bad when I was playing a Hunter exclusively, especially since I had 2+ years of experience on Kelsomar. Progression raiding as a Holy Priest is oh so different. Thankfully we have meshed together as a group. For good or bad we tend to collectively expect the worst so when bosses die and good stuff happens it is a surprise to everyone, (ie the full clear 2 weeks ago where after 2 hours three wings were down and there was a collective 'hell yeah'). I am assigned the same tank every week and while Koldhart needs to be /emote yelled at occasionally that he is sans healer and on his own cause I'm still drinking we work well together. (Nugget's still have evil spikey damage that I highly disapprove of. Warrior mitigation is oh so sweet and un-spikey.) Schmuck is coming back for Ulduar and Angus might reactivate his account too so it will really be a reuniting of most of the old Knights. Plus there is Ni radio. I love Ni Radio.

/hug!

Well back to the Garden of Doom. Nature really is evil after all. ;)

Shiny drums

*Cue Drums*

Yesterday was patch-day. WHAT???? *&$%!

/clears throat

Ahem. Yes, the new content patch dropped yesterday and no, like every other freakin content patch for 3 and 1/2 years, I was not prepared. Fail. And neither was Blizzard, which is also normal so I don't feel so alone. (World Server is down? What a surprise!)

Patch notes aside, (they're never interesting and usually contain nerfs that get bitched about for weeks before and after), they did do a couple of things I'm happy about. (The nerf to Prayer of Healing is not one of them.) New non combat pets, faster slow mounts, more reasons to joust (/cry buckets of angel tears) and new fancy shiny hooker boots...I mean badge gear. This is a good thing.

I raid. I raid too much in my opinion but considering how little I play anymore its really not, 4 hours per week max. I still have craptastic gear. Blues. Bleh. Ulduar is next Friday. New patch, new raid aside Ulduar is the point of focus for the Knights Who Say Ni. With Ni Radio in the background and drunk people in the forground it will be a very good time. But I still have blues. This is a problem. Or it was. Now that there is easyily farmable badge gear (circa TBC Sunwell gear). All my little butt has to do is sit down for two hours a day for about 4-6 days, run a couple of heroics and collect phat loots like crit pants and a T8.5 helm. Then Ulduar will fear me. Or I'll fall out of my seat again when I drive the tank the wrong way into a building cause I'm laughing too hard. Either way the stress is gone.

But there are still buckets and buckets of angel tears. That's ok, I can throw them from the side of my new faster slow mounts. (Just typing that is fun!)

Ok back to The Angel's Game! Old time Barcelona FTW.

Silent Birds and other things

This morning I took Jup out and while he did his thing and I listened to the coyotes over in Broad Meadow fight over something I looked around my yard and realized that evil ferns of doom aside, it looks pretty good. Now it is not nearly close to being pretty but its not overgrown, the weeds are gone (again save for the doom ferns) and the ancient tables and chairs have been seen too. Since my Mom is in town until Tuesday and I will be with her today after work and possibly for most of tomorrow (trying to think of fun things to do that will allow me to wallow in AC is somewhat taxing) I was looking it over hoping that it doesn't look too bad. No one wants a parent to come by and say to themselves "What the hell is wrong with you?" (Hence the reason my I-Pod is charging as we speak and I will be on a hurricane cleaning spree before going to meet her.)

Why is this worthy of a blog post? I have a small problem with productivity.

I can start lots of things, stories, projects, hobbies, ect but seeing them to the end has always been very hard for me. I blame my abominable attention span. You think cats are bad? Not even close!

This is why, having decided to learn the guitar, I am doing research before even buying said instrument. Not that I have any sort of time table for this or that but I am collecting different resources and information now so when the "ennui" hits after two or three months I can combat it. Having ubber amounts of crap to do is the best way I have found to combat the seasonal woes and yes it is August now but soon it will be November (eww) and all gray and sad and 29 days of it will be completely turkey-less. (That's enough to make anyone hide in bed for hours!)

Plus I think the guitar will hurt a lot less than the pilates Brittany has been doing and I am now very interested in. Also Japanese classes have started up again at the akido dojo downtown and...oh crap I shouldn't get started, this post will never end.

Well, back to working my way through my TBR pile. I've gotten it down to 9 more books I've found in various closets, bookbags and one behind Jupitor's chair ( O.o). When they are finished I can go and spend copious amounts of money on new or old, shiny or grungy, crisp or soft books! What can I say, no one has ever called me picky. :)

The Time

Has come the Walrus said...

It is out, it is here. Google it already!!

The Alice in Wonderland trailer is pretty damn sweet. My book geek brain saw the Cheshire Cat and made a very loud exclamation at work where those are generally frowned upon.

I don't care. WOOOOOTTTT!!!!!

(He's psychotic, he's charming, he's what I have and always will believe cats are. This is why I accept that Button may murder me one day.)

Considering the atrocious lack of movie options out right now the fact that two of my favorite classics are coming out within months of each other is pretty freakin sweet. However it also makes me want it to be both December and March right now (and simulatenously) so I can watch both. Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler aside cause really the way Holmes is in the book is so odd you'd be hard pressed to find a large audience willing to watch someone who thinks that...logically, has said it will be true to the spirit of the books and the characters. Bring on the violin, cocaine and whatever that English martial art is!

Alice in Wonderland.

...............kitty........

Now whether you find Alice to be a complete dweeb who really has no place to complain about her situations given her abominable judgement or like me you raise your hand and say 'I want to go too!' is not the point. The point is that in 3 years Tim Burton will have release 3 movies (Sweeney Todd, 9, and then A in WL) and for someone who grew up on his movies that is pretty freakin sweet.

...............kitty........

Admittedly I have higher hopes for Alice in Wonderland. Sherlock Holmes, having read volume 1 of the short stories, is something that needs to be taken with a grain of salt. While it won't be Masterpiece theatre rubbish (better not be that dopey hat) if there is one line of "Elementary my dear Watson" the screen will get The Look. (FYI that phrase was never in any of the stories or novels.) Then again I am happy to watch whatever mayhem Holmes gets into.

Ok, enough babbling. Time to refresh the trailer.

Expansion

I am a huge fan of Steampunk. (Google it if you don't know, really really fun stuff.) I've read the anthologies, watched the animes, I read the forums occasionally and have even gone to a festival. Now a new chapter...drunken airship pirates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yarrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *hicup

Lol, I find stuff like this really fun and a couple of Abney Park's songs really helped my story move along yesterday. What is this story you may ask? A steampunk. :) Between Abney Park and the score from Once Upon a Time in Mexico I like the way my brain has been working lately.

Diver City is a go!!!!!!!!!

(What is the classic trademark of Steampunk? Goggles. Got to love an entire genre that is aware of on the job eye safety. OSHA would be proud.)

Orgy Time

Yes, since last night my brain has been in an all out nerd love geek fest orgy of OMG!

That's a long time. :)

Why? Might you be curious?

....Even if you aren't I don't care. Because

There is a life sized Gundam in Japan. (Gundam 00, if you haven't watched it yet go do it right now cause it's better writing than anything you'll see on American television.)

I squish your Tokyo

Let the nerd orgy continue!

Happiness

There is such a thing as being happy with what you have. IMHO more people should probably try this and see how it works out for them. But today I am going to ignore my own opinion and explore the idea of time.



Everything takes time. From making muffins to chucking my dearly devoted beast of a puppy into the tub, there are investments that have to be considered and measured so that everything gets done, day and day out.



In World of Warcraft there was, a long time ago, a little message when you first logged on that recorded the time that character had been played measured in everything from minutes to days, weeks to months. I forget what Kelsomar was at before that message stopped being showed but if was a good chunk of time, time well spent and very much enjoyed. Lecanu, being squishie, has less time played even though they are the same level. Healing is fun, being a Holy Priest has a ton of different spells, all of which have to be weighed and used properly otherwise people are going to die. (Is it bad that I like dying so I can turn into a spirit guide for 8 seconds? Probably)



But healing is tiring only for the amount of concentration it takes for me to do it with any sucess. Yes some people can do it while making dinner and breaking the theories of quantum physics. I am not one of them. My Hunter is fun, letting Tab tank 8 mobs at once and having both of us come out of the fight alive is decently spectacular but I consider Kelso my escape, my fishing alt, photo whore, who pals around with two cats, a bear, a flying serpent and a raptor on regular basis.

So really the only option is to level a new character right? But who? My resto Shaman? Naw, I already have a party healer. My warrior? That character, while she has pig tails and attitude dies more than any due a lack of any oh crap button. A druid? Leveled one to 22 and then accidently deleted it. (He was a horde tauren anyways. Horde is a lonely place for me. Everyone I know is Alliance!)

Being a visual creature I have always thought the animal models for druids were a bit meh. (No insult intended! I just think Tab and Thykir and Modo look cooler.)

My opinions have changed.

Night Elf Bear (tank) (Freakin sweet!!! Bottom right is who I am going to be. And please note the ye old bear form bottom middle.)

Night Elf Cat (dps) (Now that is a cat! Kommodo is not please but then Modo pawns all so she has little to worry about. Who will I be? The one with pink balls...)

For the Horde!!!! (If I still had one)

Tauren Bear (The other side looks pretty damned good! Especially love the earing. Looks way cool!)

Tauren Cat (Loving it! Want to kill th....hug them all!)

These will implimented with patch 3.2, whenever that is (hopefully not too soon so the guild can at least start into Ulduar when all these new alts are geared up), but I have been questioning whether I really want to sink time into a new character, one that up until now I have not put into the guild for a true anonymous experience. Then I got lonely. :(

But I do. While this is not my primary hobby any more it is still something I really enjoy, and I play with people who I genuinely like spending my time with. Besides I can be anonymous anytime I "forget to charge my cell phone", hypothetically of course. Besides it seems like I am waking up at 330am most mornings, too groggy to write and leveling a druid might at least give me something better to do than watch dvd comentary. Plus it earns me the disapproval I should have aimed for as a teenager but was too lazy actually get. Can't beat that!

Now, back to planning my vacation. Hint...It will be in the fall and I will be leaving Massachusetts if I can get my budget right. Woot! Open road here I come!

(Wow Northgate is great for blogging! Yes, I am really that bored.)

Lifestyles for the Short and Famous

Hello all. Good Morning!

:)

The past two days have been what you would call very eye opening. Life changing. And utterly unambiguous.

Up until the time I was 19 I was active, very active, to the point where my two surgeries aside I cannot actually remember a long period of time where I wasn't doing, playing, learning something. (Hiking all the way up Mount Sqwiggles is still one of my all time favorite memories of my life.)

From 19 until last year I was...how to put this politely...crippled. If I was a horse I would have been dog food long before now. Hell as a human I was very close to hopping into the Alpo can, well shuffling anyways.

The first six months after my last nerve root block (a lovely shot really) was spent getting out of the hell that is life with chronic pain and generally walking around in a daze. But there was also a bucketload of fear. Fear that the pain would come back. But, it didn't. A year passed and still nothing, nothing like it once was. Nearly two now and life is good. Running is still kind of out but I can live with that. The best part? That fear is finally going away.

Yesterday was the first day I had the time, energy and appriopriate weather to test out my new bike tires. (June had something like 23 straight days of rain and 4 sunny days. Grunge music started speaking to me again. Yeah it was that cheery.) So I hop on in full view of every active child in the surrounding area. Thankfully I didn't fall off until after getting out of their line of sight. Riding a bike. When it's been 6 years there is a surprise adjusting period of peddle peddle peddle OMG my legs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That quickly changed to OMG my head's going to explode but once that drifted off it was an incredibly sweet little trip along Massasiot, to the park and past all the cookie cutter houses that creep me out. It wasn't even ruined when I realized as I was going down my hill that the bike has really no breaks (Feet as Brakes FTW!)

The outcome? I now no longer feel like a lump of flesh for sitting for so long as I happily used both Kelso and Lecanu (or Lucy Ann if you ask Lefty) for the AZ guys full Naxx clear. (I even got a new neck and a new ring! Who doesn't love getting phat loots! ) I still apparently retain some youngster resilience as I am not sore, limping or anything today. Woot!

And today it's raining again. Great.....

Hmmm well I guess a nap is in order....when I get off from work obviously! ;)

And myabe some WoW. Or an afternoon spent at Borders. Maybe both. I live decadently after all!

Plus I am beginning to plan my vacation. To where you may ask? That, my friends, is another post.

Fan----tastic!

I am a fan of quotes. Case in point...

"Talking money..."
"Talking monkey?"
"Talking monkey? Yeah yeah. Came here from the future, ugly sucker, only says 'ficus'."

Classic! (Points to you if you can name that film)

My favorite quote of the week?

"homicidal hat trick"

I can't give too much away but it's in the book I'm reading. An epic fantasy...they have hat tricks there too???? Nice!

Honestly

I had no idea what would come up when I typed action figure...

I like this, it makes me feel less demented.

:)

(ROFL "yes your g-string makes me more comfortable)

((This is really helping to turn my weird ass weekend around))

English Smenglish

{Two rant posts back to back, yikes.}

There are things that I take pride in on a personal level and others that are purely external. Example: I take pride in my once sought after skills as a goalie. I also take pride when the Sox whip the Yankees even as a person who doesn't care much for baseball.

Accents. No matter where you are from you have one. Don't think so? Go somewhere else and see if those people talk funny. If they do then you my friend are afflicted with an accent.

I don't really think the Mass accent is all that difficult, certain letters are open for interpretation, some you just don't need and voila!, your done.

Then Hollywood comes along and certain people butcher it so we sound like a New Yorker with cotton balls in his mouth.

Case in point

It was bad enough some of the more dramatic lines in The Departed were funny just because of bad accents or no accents at all, letting DiCaprio do it a second time seems closer to a crime. BTW I'm not knocking the movie, (it might be really interesting) but come on! New career path, become a dialect coach. Hmmm, wait, that actually doesn't sound too bad at all! Time to go research.

A Kangaroo would work better

Late night television. Ever since I was old enough, and sometimes before when I wasn't in my parents eyes, I have loved watching The Tonight Show. You couldn't beat Jaywalking, Headlines, the occasional hungry animal jumping on Jay Leno. It was good times. Even when I didn't have cable I'd watch it on line.

So now what the hell do I watch at 1130?

Conan O'Brien, I don't know him, (I'm sure he's a nice guy blah blah blah) but ummm The Tonight Show is dead. What's worse is they have had the most lack luster guest list for the first two weeks. Jimmy Fallon took over Late Night with(..) and he's had better guests in the past two weeks. Way way better guests. Lots of them.

I refuse to watch Letterman, pardon the language but he's a dick. Then I read a study about this, (proving there is way too much random grant money rolling around) and it basically said that alot of people are in the same boat. Plus its kind of sad that this is a big enough decision for enough people that the stupid article was even published but anyways back to my sadness.

><

So far Limmy Fallon is the least objectional so at least its something to watch when The Late Late show doesn't have anyone interesting on.

Change is hard.

Grrrr

Rainy Days and Socks

On sunny days I have no problem with doing housework but on rainy days I seem to find reasons to go outside. Rain is and always has been really fun in the same way mud was fun when I was 5, it's kind of gross so it makes it all the more cool. I am at work, drying off from my last foray into the world of free-falling precipitation and missing dearly my PS2. Why? Well it is fun to play games true but also because it is my DVD player and lately I have been vegging out quite often with weird indie movies. Thank you again to little Brother for hooking it up to my pimp tv!
Netflix has been a great reinvestment though it does seem to trump playing WoW at this point. I think, stupidly, that having leveled a second 80 only to find we don't raid any more I have quit for all intensive purposes. (It is more than just a little anticlimatic.) It's still there if I need if I guess.

However some of the movies have been quiet good if not a little weird.

One movie I definately recommend is The Soloist, now playing at the West Boylston Cinemas. Great movie, acting, story, very dramatic so don't go in expecting laughs, though there were a couple good ones thrown in.

Now all that is left is the wait until June 24th when Transformers comes out. I am lucky enough to remember the original series me and Brother watched a long time ago, (shesh even typing that makes me feel old), and the best part of that series was the noise the Autobots made when turning from robots into cars and vice versa.

Since I can't search much here I can't link the sound so rock out to this instead.

:)

Oh, just one more thing.

Grats to the Pittsburgh Penguins!!!! Stanley Cup Champions!!!!
Now we don't have to hear every commentator stomping on Fleury questioning whether he is a big time goalie or just a lucky chump. Take that Detroit!!!!

:)

Anything learned after 16

Is really just extra. This is a quote from a movie, (don't ask me which one I'm lucky I still remember my own name) and one that I find has merit. So with that in mind...

Things I learned before 16

10.) Humans do not bounce no matter the effort or practice

9.) There is snow on top of mountains in the middle of August...(and it's still amazing)

8.) Reading is more important than sleep but sleep gets you into less trouble

7.) Everyone should have their own door to the outside world

6.) Just cause you could get caught does not mean you shouldn't try

5.) Road trips are always worth it

4.) You don't have to be popular for everyone to know your name

3.) Don't feed gophers...you'll get a panic attack

2.) Nature rocks but gets boring when you never get a turn with the Sega

1.) If something makes you laugh out loud, watch more cause few things in this life will ever be that magical

So, in honor of #1 is something that made me fall off my chair and choke on coffee. Granted I started at episode 10 at least there's proof it has longevity.

Epic win

Stick it to the Man

I've never been one for speeches. Not reading, or writing them and when I have to listen to one my brain dies a little bit. But putting that aside I have found one that is brilliant. (Sadly not the debate club one where I was interviewed in a murder trial, that is an entirely different post.)

Read this if you can

This is the best graduation speech I have ever heard of. (Not one mention of that Robert Frost poem! That alone deserves a gold star.)

It is also the best graduation speech that will never be heard because this poor kid's school has vetoed it. Wow, wouldn't want a thoughtful creative speech when some drunk sod can ramble on about two roads in a wood and which one leads to hot models and the other to a life as a fry wizard while living in Mom's basement. Hmmmm that sounds suspiciously like the one I had to sit through. Weird.

It's great to know that the education system likes to encourage students to think out of the box. Maybe some day they'll start teaching them how to do math, read, or even where Hungary is.

....

OK maybe geography is a stretch. Who needs that?

/Salute

Blogging is something that is not really a big part of my life but more or less an exercise in writing. If it manages to entertain all the better. During the week there is a large list of blogs I check (the one listed on this site is a very compact version) that have sometimes very different subject matter. From books to food, gardening to soccer, comics to WoW and of course authors and writing, there's a couple ready to read for whatever mood I'm in.

Lately, especially with the WoW blogs, it seems like many people, influential bloggers are quiting. BRK, Resto4Life, DwarfPriest, to name a few are either leaving their blogs or making new ones, (personally like the breakdown Phaelia gives about X-Men comics though it is shipper-centric). I have and will mention WoW here, mostly little quips plus the fact that Tab (Fear the Bear!) is the mascot. Now that I have a second 80, damned straight there will be some posts about the "ZOMG! Opps you died!" experiences. Holy Priests are fun to play but I think perhaps I have too many situational heals and forget which ones do what. (I also have 1 I don't even know how to use and looking thorough the priest forums no one else does either.)

So hence my question: does blogging about a specific subject deaden your interest in that subject? If so yikes! Perhaps my wayward rambling is a good thing (aside from the obvious perk of keeping me occupied at work).

That said....

Holy Priest. Me...the kid who never wanted to play a caster in every video game I've ever played. Kind of still boggles me. Lecanu After hitting 80 last Friday night I decided 'what the hey let's just jump right in'. As a hunter I have spent many groups being 'persona non grata'. Everything from being ignored to people being downright rude. (Yes thank you, I run Omen and am well aware of my aggro. I also know when to feign and no I'm not going to pull aggro so get your panties out of that twist and go back to making the big angry thing mad! When I start telling you how to tank is when you get to tell me how to play a hunter.) The sad part is that I have surprised many groups with either CC, MD or even having my pet under control. It doesn't say much for us as a class. But whenever I pug on Kelso we are always short a healer. Never fails the last person who joins is someone who was probably sick of me spamming trade with LF Heals.

So as a healer...no one needs *&^% healers! (Murphy you bastard Irishman...I hate you). So so far my heroics experience has been limited (add in the hectic weekend and its understandable) to UK, UP, Nexus, VH and 1 pull in Gundrak where I realize that group was so undergeared and they were going to kill me. Gear, so far 2 drops that were upgrades but no epics yet. Fun factor? For someone prone to panic attacks it does raise my blood pressure and get that adrenaline pumping, something that sadly has been missing from my hunter for the past 3 months. Goals? Oh yeah tonight once I get my almost finished steampunk story 2nd drafted heroics here I come! Or at least someone will see me spamming trade chat. :)

City Kids get eaten all the time

Now Worcester is not a big city like New York or LA but in the Northeast it is in the top 5. We have mills, smog, gangs and serial killers just like every other city. Growing up I have ridden the bus, the train, walked in sketchy places, visited the Valley (bad idea) and had the misfortune for having spent evenings in Sha-booms (not by choice). Urban education complete. So when my un-urban education is tested and I fail miserably to whom do I complain?

Animals encountered in the past week: 1 shady coyote who was using the road as his own personal highway and found something really interesting in my backyard, 1 angry snake who tried to take a bite out of Jupitor instead of out of crime like everyone knows you should, 1 tick who met a hopefully long and unpleasent end, 2 obstinate turkeys who gobbled at me (I gobbled back...seriously I can't help making animal noises when I see something though rabbits kind of elude me, I end up saying 'bunny' as they run away) and 2 hissy geese who decided that no, they didn't need to move out of the way of a truck (I wasn't going anywhere important but really the truck is bigger, they should have moved).

What's a city kid supposed to do?

/ponder

/puts on impenatrable plastic bubble

I'm good to go!

Humbled

The older I get the harder it is (or at least so it seems) to be surprised by a book. Perhaps if I did not read so much this would not be an issue. Still, like a hopeful dreamer panning for gold I read and search, looking for something that can make me enter that 'wow' space. I remember that space, it's a great place to be. Those moments are surprising but this time the vehicle was even more of a shock.

For over a decade I have been read something in almost every sub-genre of fantasy there is but never once crossed over into science fiction. I had no interest and a good amount of prejudice against it. (Elves are one thing but I am not reading about aliens and space ships.) It is something I will have to work on if Darwinia is any indication.

It started off as a throw back to Jules Verne and H.G. Wells (authors I have been reading since at least 12), the writing excellent and the conflict new. Who in the world decides to erase Europe and put a primevil jumgle in its place? Brilliant! By the time the science fiction rolled around I truely did not care and was under no circumstances putting it down. To say any more would be to give too much away.

Reading is in a way like fishing. Most days you catch nothing or sun fish at best but once in a while you might snag a rainbow trout for the photo album. Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson is now not only my first sci-fi novel it is one of my favorite books and definately something to be revisited. Books like this are, after all, why I keep reading.

Interesting

Lately I have not watched much tv. (By much I mean more than 2 hours in three months.) Last night I was cooking my dinner and decided to watch some tube as I ate instead of my normal read-and-chew. Sadly there is apparently no news at 7 pm on a Saturday. I felt uninformed. However, there was a race on, the Ketucky Derby in fact and by the end I felt far more informed than the big scary news would have ever left me.

Having always been a lover of most sports, tennis aside cause I just don't get it, horse racing has always been left out of my repitoire. Probably because the losers apparently find their way into Alpo cans. I want Jup to get as much nutrition as necessary I just don't want to cheer for it before hand. This was however very interesting and apparently a really big upset.

About an hour of talk, previews, discussion and holding the asses of the horse owners and then comes the main event and it lasts...less than a minute. I have to admit that part was disappointing. It seemed like there just should have been more. But it was really great to watch the jockey talk and hear about this horse who was apparently the bargain basement of horses and he blew away all those million dollar 3 year olds. (He was still 2.)

Over all it was interesting and considering the limited amount of channels I can watch I'll probably catch the next race in two weeks if the weather is bad but I'd still rather ride the horses than watch them sprint around in a circle.

Lessons missed

Kindergarden was, as far as I can remember, a good time. Learned lots of important stuff like how to take a nap on a public futon, phonics is just not for me, duck duck goose is the best way to pick on the kid with the broken leg...you get the idea. It was also the first place besides the soccer field that I really recall being told the importance of goals.

The most important lesson learned? Sometimes the fact that you have a goal overrides the goal itself.

Applied to life it is a worthy goal to save money. It is not so worthy if you stop paying your bills to save more money. (Have yet to try this, maybe when I dump my phone and they can't call me to complain).

Applied to WoW it is fine to raid or pvp or do arena (yuck) but don't forgot to have fun. For probably about a year my goal was to raid, to down bosses and collect phat loots and that goal, while a fine thing in itself, was overriding the purpose of a game: to have fun. Last night changed that. It was the most fun I've had in a long long time. There was laughter, threats of who was going to be guild leader, driving of seige engines into the wrong buildings, and lots of death, 1 boss down in 2 1/2 hours and it was the best. Considering there are really only 7 or 8 people left in the guild that I know and run with I was worried that a: we would never raid again and b: that it would so unlike what I'm used to it would be not so fun. Hot damned I forgot what fun was. Best part?

We downed the 1st boss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Without all those people who are probably thinking "oh you losers" and those people who would have yelled and complained as we had fun killing every single thing and building we could. Without the pressure and the gear worries, the dps fights and the egos. Our biggest problem last night? Personally I was laughing too hard and ran into a couple of walls but honestly that's not such a bad thing.

Career Day

So everyone has gone through the Career Day hell. People ask you what you want to do with your life and then give disapproving looks when you say fighter pilot or park ranger. Well instead of being a neurochemist I have decided there is a better option.

Piracy.

Oh yeah, I went there. Wait for it...still here.

ARRRRRRRRRRR!!!

It's official the buccaneers are back and dumber than ever. At least back in the old days they had cannons, now they're just bullet receptors for Navy Seals. (Stupid pirates)

But now with all this exposure does it become a viable Career Day option. Back in my elementary school days if I had said pirate I'm pretty sure a scolding would have been soon to follow. Now may be a different story.

Besides if it's good enough for Johnny Depp it's good enough for me.

:)

Ideas are Good

Sometimes I get ideas that are good ~ ie the time I took a little trip to Maine for pie I saw on the Phantom Gourmet. Very very good.

/Dreams of all things blueberry

Other times there are idea that while they don't lack creativity there's just something not quite right with them ~ (in other words going for a walk along that Blackstone Canal pathway and then getting too tired to walk back to my car but it was really pretty as I inched along the trail at sunset).

/Dreams of sunsets

I've been kind of lax in my adventurous cooking lately, Lo Mein Surprise aside. So when I found a recipe to make my own pita bread that did not call for any ingrediants that are not staples in my pantry there was a good deal of 'Yahoo'. But that was not the selling point. Neither was the fact I get to cook the break in a frying pan, though that was pretty high up there. Nope the deal sealer was the pillowcase.

Yep, the pillowcase. I'm the crazy lady who bakes with a p/c.

/Cue inherent and demanding laziness that changes words to letters

Apparently after frying the bread and drying it off (or something to that effect) it gets to sit in a clean p/c for a bit to do some bready stuff, like quantum physics or analytical geometry.

Oh yeah, I may just have to skip family Easter dinner to revel in the bread p/c madness.

/Wishes for just a moment there was a cosplay Bread Lady outfit to match the p/c

Happy Sunday. Yum Yum donuts! Happy Easter and all that good stuff.

Oh Great and Powerful Oz

What is the city doing with my hard earned money gone to pay taxes? Well, I found out. Really I'll let you be the judge as to whether this is a good use of my $900 every quarter.


All I can really say is...WTF???????

(Clarification: I live on a dirt road save for about 15 feet of pavement about dead smack in the middle of it. FYI they didn't sweep the pavement.)

Practical Experience

It is important. Don't let anyone tell you it's not. Examples: I watched an ungodly amount of Food Network when I still had cable. It was fun to watch and I thought very educational. Then I decided to start cooking more than reheated Chinese food and found out no, it wasn't. Burning a few (or maybe 10) omlettes, making charcoal chicken and bricks that should have been crumb cake were educational. I've gone from following recipes to the letter to experimenting while listening to the ever present I-Pod and reading while also playing with the cats and dog.

Another example? Writing. I've been in college forever and before that was an overdose of highschool where dissecting stories (and less fun things like frogs and cats) was required normacy. College even more so. "Identify the devices used, name the internal and external conflicts, blah blah blah". Then along comes a couple of back to back short story ideas while I am in the downsloap of my novel (still titled Wrimo 08) and I figured 'what the heck, might be a nice break and I can come back in to the end of my book with a clear head and fresh ideas'. Then came the actual writing part and I had more questions than tools to use.

"When should the conflict be introduce?"

"What's the lest annoying way to start a ss?"

"Characterization, how much and when is it too much?"

"Expo or dialog? What would be more effective?"

I'm having a lazy Thursday so that's all I'm typing but you get the picture. I can pull apart someone's ss with half a brain but man writing one is a bit tricky. BTW college should have taught this. English majors usually want to be writers, editors or teachers. But where is the practical Experience?

.....Then again I have a habit of sleeping and or not even showing up to most of my classes since I was about 16 so I take part of the blame. :)

Moral of the story is? I should get back to writing and research and stop goofing off on my blog. Well that's a lie, I'm actually immersed in a new anime "Natsume Yuujinchou" right now. But still, eventually there will be practical experience!

Is it propganda or just good sense?

I am a book nerd. Scratch that. I am a book fiend. Not as dangerous as those other fiends but don't get between me and my books or expect death and pain.

:)

For little less than a years nearly all of my book fixes have come from the library. Request is a wonderful thing. I haven't actually read all those books, I just being them home for a visit. Sick? Maybe.

Then I read the market reports for Borders. (Just Borders. As far as I'm concerned Barnes and Noble can kick it, evil ugly horrible color scheme store.) They were not doing so hot. And then the next one, and the next said pretty much the same thing. (In the mean time B&N has actually made PROFITS. The bastards.) But I am on a budget. Cookies are accounted in every week. Books are not. People on book and writing blogs as well as book forums began the call.

"Buy Books! Save the Books! You don't want them die do you, you heartless bastards!"

Or something to that effect.

Is it true? Should the cookie, tea and sushi budgets get rolled into one and become the book allowance? This is of course dependent upon having space for more books. But still, a good question indeed.

Elsewhere in the world there was the safety dance. I fail at the safety dance. Always have. Why? I don't want to run around with everyone else I want to shoot stuff. It be my job. So in heroic Naxxramas (that would be 25 person fun time) we came upon Heigan the Unclean and decided to smite him for wearing a very silly dress. Plus he's, you know, unlcean. So we did. I did not die as is normal. In fact no one died. 25 people managed to do the Safety Dance. With the craptastic lag Blizz has never fixed.

Go Knights and Symbi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The How to Safety Dance fun.

The music that video should have had ><

Now back to not writing! Err....I mean writing!

Edit: Who the hell doesn't love the midget? I'm just saying.

To be or not to Be

I am still alive. For the most part anyways.



Lately my life has been ruled by chilling with my best friend on WoW and trying to muck on through the skyscrapper like pile of books that the library keeps letting me take out with a little bit of writing thrown in(but more freaking out than actual words on page).



Perhaps it is the season, the month, the fault of that bastard rodent in Penn but I am plagued today with ennui.



Ewwww, the french disease.



Last night we pulled together the majority of the Naxxramas group that started on Tuesday, (Go Go lifebloom and tankadins) and ran through the Military wing. This makes it almost official. When we down Patchwork hopefully sometime tonight before the officers meeting I will have cleared all of Naxx. Woot! Here's hoping the cute little puppy dog drops my new pants!



<-----really doesn't want to run Heroic Halls of Stone for lesser pants when still running UP for trinket (that I keep losing) ><



Now I've played a hunter for just over 2 years. I remember the first time I looked up what the hell Freezing trap was supposed to do at level 40 something (*cue embarassment) and found out how awfully fun it is to CC things. Not only can I do it, I have spent the last 40 levels doing it. I love making things into popsicles. I feel useful when I do it and I find my skills rust real quick if I even skip a week of practice. Now with the freezing arrow there is a whole new mechanic of ranged CC that I find both really fun and really really freakin annoying.



Back in BC days I would spec as Beastmaster for raids and Survival for the rest of the week. At 50 gold a respec people can't really wonder why my lazy 'never doing dailies ever again' butt was always broke and selling anything and everything I could get my hands on. Back then Survival had no raiding chops and on the off chance I went into a heroic with the asshats who thankfully left the Knights their hunter would always whisper me about how he was killing me on the damage meter. At the time I didn't realize how much that bothered me despite the fact I was usually double trapping (1 cause I don't even think he new he had traps and 2 to piss off the tankadin goodnaturedly of course). However last night I realized something and it is bothering me.



/puts on warm fuzzy feeling sharing hat



/story time



Survival is now not only raid viable it is the dps spec (and trapping *loves and hugs). Granted the double and triple trap talent is no longer around but still timing is everything and I can blow alot of things up with a smile and some colorful commentary that I am glad doesn't make it onto Vent. I was keeping an eye on Recount to see if I was getting any closer to my dream (maintaining 3000 dps) and not for the first time I noticed where I was on it. I was first. That should have made me happy seeing as how I did not pulll aggro from the tank and I was placing my aoe trap in the right places for it to affect multiple mobs.



It didn't.



There are many reasons I think, the fact my gear is meh, the other hunters who started out raiding Naxx when I was on my 2 month hiatus know the fights I'm still learning, my own good Catholic guilt. Needless to say I wanted to cut down on the damage a bit but it would have been noticable and an insult to the others. Damage is after all what I am there for.

Lately I have had this bleh feeling about my hunter. At first I attributed it to the fact that spring is almost here and with it my long days at the park and hiking. Then I figured I was just too caught up in dreaming about my trip to Japan. Trapping really isn't necessary anymore as all tanks have aoe's now and can hold multiple mobs so that may be part of it. Whatever it is I find myself straying, eyeballing other classes and thinking hmmmm that looks fun.

So I am leveling up a tank. A bear tank to be exact. I figure I can bump out a couple levels before breakfast dailies (woot for sleepy women and copious amounts of coffee, oj and cereal), and hopefully get a bear tank ready before the guild completes the upcoming Ulduar raid. While I do have a healer in the works honestly I like making things mad and then killing them, I don't have the attention span for healing. At least not right now.

Will this work to cure my ennui? Maybe, maybe not. Will I ever dump my hunter completely? Hells no! Taberth shall live forever or at least as long as the servers are active. In the near future I'll be releasing gorilladin back into the wild (hopefully he'll trouce everything and become a king of Feralas) and will be slaughtering the Wailing Caverns to befriend a Windserpent. Never had one, always kind of wanted one, figure we'll take one of the pretty ones for a test drive.

As for everything else? Meh

/rails at the boredom of Saturday morning

/quits halfway

It's just one of those days.

Just like mud

Well I've started raiding again.

..../cry....

To be fair I could say no but a part of me likes the challenge and part of is really that egotistical to see if I can out-damage people who are all epic'd out. Not yet but I was close. ;)

Got some good gear and my first piece of Tier 7!

After having read an very interesting article about saving money in these "hard economic times" (I'm really getting sick of that phrase) my life is going to change. Apparently slow cookers aka crock pots are more energy efficient and allow for the "lesser" cuts of meat to still taste yummy and great and all that. Currently I can only make beef ramen after marinating them for two days. This crock thingy has potential! However one question remains. Can I leave the food alone while it cooks? Sure leaving something that is only in the oven for 20 minutes alone is easy, I have the attention span of a hyperactive puppy. But to leave something alone for hours as it cooks?

/ninja cat walk to the kitchen

/poke

Nope, can't do it!

Infected and sadly not by Zombies

I have really never been one for networking. Not when I was a teenager and playing hockey and not as an adult. I did have a crazy roommate who seemed to take offence with this. She made a Myspace page of me and to this day I cannot access it even though we have since had a falling out.
/Ugh to crazy people

/Sigh

So it came up in guild chat about how there was now a Facebook group of the Knights Who Say Ni. (I did not know it at the time but apparently there was also a page for me there as well, can't access that one either.) Being an officer I figured I should participate so I made one. It should have stopped there. But oh no it didn't.

Fill in the blanks. I kind of like doing that so I put in some info, likes and dislikes, my job, ect. Friends? Who do I know? Work guys, family, join the guild group. Quizzes? I like quizzes.

It never ends. Addictive to an extreme I've rarely ever run across it's also kind of creepy. Kind of like stalking 101.

And still tomorrow, yeah I'll be checking it.

They're Back and the End is near!

My friends who I started playing WoW with two years ago decided to come back to playing again!!! This came about as Ailis' trial had only an hour left and we were questing on our D Nuggets. We had to summon a wintersaber Shy-Rotam and kill her. Then I realized that occasionally she called her mate who is a rare ass creature and I had a hunter moment. I wanted him and I had to have him! So they helped me summon her three times and finally Sian-Rotam, her mate showed up. (When I say they helped me I mean Ailis declared that he would be mine and kept at it) Needless to say I dumped my pretty but unspectacular wolf and made a new friend. World say hello to Thykir! (He's cool, he's calm, he's the second friggin cat in my stupid stable and neither of them are over level 75. Lazy cats)

On the writing front a moment of wow (no pun intended) has occurred. My novel, that itty bitty brain fart that I am trying to mold into a cohesive something is now a puzzle. The outline has been completed. I've written the ending. Now all I need to do is fill in the middle. It's great, it's awesome, it's slightly exhilarating and makes me want to dance or at least day dream about dancing.

It really is a big help to have that ending done and drafted. Its like a weight is off my shoulders and I can focus on other things like the new story idea bouncing around in my brain plus a short story/novella idea as well. Being a writer can be hell on the hands but oh man I would not want to live any other way!

Five things I've learned in 2009

Woot 2009 has not been half bad so far. Not by a long shot. I'm healthy (cold aside and fingers crossed), happy and hopeful. Yes the recession is...umm...unpleasent but that aside this week has been great.

1.) Planning is the hard part. Finding a $745 round trip ticket to Tokyo has made my crazy little hobby into a full blown obsession. Booking in hopefully the next 2 weeks! Go Go tax rebate!!!

2.) Reinforced crates are really fish in disguise if the amount of points I've wracked up has anything to say about it.

3.) Pimp fishing hat - it's what makes fishing by myself worth while.

4.) Achievements - up until now something in game that I have purposely ignored until I found out I could change my title (currently Kelsomar, Champion of the Naruu) to "Salty". Sure "Guardian of Cenarius" or "Explorer" sound better but still...."Salty". It just sounds so...wrong then it has to be right!

5.) Writing while sick with the terrorflu of '09 is impossible, codine cough medicine kills any inspiration that the flu left behind. Sadly I am now behind on my word count but I have had some pretty weird dreams so maybe I can spice it up a bit with cane wielding turtles riding lawnmowers of doom through a world made of butterscotch. You never know it just might work!

My best friend found a trial version of WOW Wrath of the Lich King xpac and we've been goofing off all week. Doing what you might ask? Besides putting off leveling to 80 (sadly something that happened 2 days ago) we have been fishing!! Big fish, little fish, fish that aren't really fish at all but really crates of stuff, everything has been caught. Ailis (Brittany) is really way ahead of me close to 400 I think where as I'm still in the 330 range. Considering this is the hardest secondary profession to level up (taking as many as 12 sucessful catches to get one measly point!) we're doing pretty good.

Tonight we are going to put our mains aside and play

/cue dramatic lichy music

Death Nuggets!!

Yeah, I made one, I couldn't help it! All the other kids were doing it and said it was fun. Alcuish, the pink Death Knight of DOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

Oh yeah she really is pink. LoL

/ponders fun ways to kill Death Nugget

/smile

Bleeding Eyes

OMG its worse than watching half my friends AIM chat at the same time! Be back later!

/reads what should have been a post

/boggle

/edits

WoW Insider, a website I will occasionally read for funny spins on the game of doom has a podcasty thing. Yay and good never listened before. Big mistake. There's people chatting and rock music with some English guy in the background not to mention the super fast chat on the side bar.

I've been up since around 3am. This should be interesting. My brain may explode so in the mean time I would like to say


HAPPY 100TH POST TO INSPIRATION WITH PLUMS!!!!!

/clears throat

/back to the WoW insanity

Atmosphere is all you really need

Woot, Friday is upon us and unlike impending disasters like tornadoes and attacks of clumpy noodles Friday is a very nice relaxing day. It is say the type of day to leave my house in the hands of psychotic animals, (who I am sure are plotting to overthrow their human taskmaster at any given point) and peruse a bookstore. Now yes Borders has its glory and immortality but occasionally the prices are a bit too high for me. So off to the used bookstore. There is of course one minor hiccup...Worcester only has 1. Not my favorite place but the lack of selection (and miniscule amount of books they accept for trade in) is so totally made up for by McKitty Fiddles.

Errrr, I actually think his name is Duncan (....possibly....) but in any case he is the top bookstore cat I have ever met. Usually when I'm there he accosts me in the general fiction section where I am usually searching for Murakami books and getting no where. After a fun ten minutes of how many times can I get such a fat cat to jump up for a quick little head butt I headed over to SciFi/Fantasy and was really really happy to get an anthology I have wanted forever. Flights: Extreme Fantasy with tons of great authors like Gaimon, Wolfe, Oates, ect. I also found two other books I wanted by a good author (books 1 and 2 of the Sevenwaters Trilogy) but used my better judgement to save that money and buy lunch.

Ok back to McKitty. Normally he will not follow me over to Fantasy. Today we had kitty bait. Every couple of steps I would crouch down (pretending to look at books so I did not look like a complete nutcase) and tempt him over with some affection and a chin rub. This was quite fun. Sadly someone else walked in and in true cat fashion I was dumped with nothing more than a parting shot of his onion as he rounded the corner going after the man asking about collector edition westerns.

Oh well.

Cat wrangler I am not. At least I have my book.

/realizes that another bookcase will soon be needed

/hides new book on unused kitchen chair

/smile

Wow maybe I should have stayed away

So I have been a bit lax as far as WoW is concerned. By lax of course I mean I pretty much fell off the face of Azeroth. So I logged on about a week ago and remembered I forgot how to play. There was lots of ouches.

Then came Patch 3.08 and Blizzard apparently wants to kill the hunter class. I went from 1175 minimum dps (damage per second) and ended up with about 700 after loading the patch.

..............&*$#..........

Goodbye BeastMaster Kelso

Hello Marksmen/Survivalist Kelso

/happy dance

Lets just say BM is not my preferred spec but I want to do as good a job as I can and for the longest time that was the only spec to do it with. Now, BM= Nub , MM= face-plant, Surv= Hunter God and trap dancing.

Right now I am trying to learn the shot rotations for MM before respecing to Surv when I hit 80 (if I ever get there). It would be so much easier to do that if I still had an ubber nothing-can-kill-me pet to send in and forget it. Squishy bear = lots of me yelling outloud as I try to save him from the Scourge and cats freaking out because the resounding crashes. That aside man is it fun to have to pay attention again. Tomorrow is level Kelso day until night when I have to go out but until then it is level Kelso day, go to library day, clean house day, write more of the novel day....ok maybe there will be a level Kelso hour involved in there somewhere.

Maybe

/evil grin

/sets Explosive trap

/evil grin x 2