Quiet Again

Been a bit silent around the old blog, but I have reasons I promise :) Cleaning off the hard drive, as I've been steadily losing disk space especially over the past year. WoW is slowly eating up space on this very old thing, I don't think it's going to take the next expansion very well. There'll be Cataclysm all right - in more ways than one. I'm going to miss vanilla Warcraft though. The only issue I have with the next expansion is that it's going to permanently change the landscape, so there's no going back to the old version if you ever wanted to reminisce. The changes have their perks - new quests, high-level zones brought down to low level zones (and vice versa), the ability to use flying mounts anywhere, previously ignored zones getting new life, and even a heroic Deadmines. Though, you kind of have to be a longtime Alliance player to sort of get why a heroic Deadmines is funny. But anyone who says Blizzard doesn't pay attention to its players needs to go have a look at the Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeroy Jenkins! achievement and the story behind that. One player's stupidity becomes a popular achievement. Go figure. Though I learned that Baron Rivendere, the last boss in Stratholme (undead side) is going to be removed permanently from the game upon Cataclysm's release. Probably because something is finally going to happen with that city (I heard that there's a possibility the Plaguelands is going to end up restored to its original state before the plague, which would include Stratholme). On the downside this means his mount will no longer be ingame, and it's hard enough to get as it is. I've killed him 3 times, still haven't seen it in the loot table. Hopefully there's still time. Blizzard's established a sort of tradition of releasing expansions in November, but considering this is now August and Cata is still in beta, a release this November sounds like a bit of a rush. I guess we'll see, and it'll depend on how many issues (if any) show up in the beta.

My daily writing momentum is picking up. I'm getting closer to maintaining 1k a day, which isn't bad. Isn't where I'd like to be, but it's a start. I have to keep that balance of pushing myself, but not pressuring myself. Is that even possible? I don't like pressuring myself because I have a hard time maintaining myself when I stumble while trying to be where I want to be. I have to kind of 'trick' myself psychologically, like I did with my 'resolutions'. I hate using that word, I don't know anyone who's ever kept their New Year's Resolutions all the way through. It's funny how a simple change of words can affect you, and I'm proud to say I'm nearly halfway through my goals/resolutions list. You do what works.

Ah, the culling continues. Maybe I should rename my computer to Stratholme :) A lesson from college, renaming the computer and the admin account. It makes it a little more difficult for hackers to find your system and hack into it, as most count on a generic name and the standard Administrator name to access your system. It isn't 100% foolproof, but it was a layer of security added to many layers. That and good passwords. I always make sure mine are extra-lengthy, anywhere between 19-29 characters. Though I make sure to have a hard copy of all of my passwords near the computer in the event that I forget them (and I often do!)

Time Flew By

It's funny how days can suddenly disappear and you have nothing to show for them, or at least it feels that way. I sort of fell off the good-eating wagon and reverted back to pre-New Year, and I think it was worse than the first time. I guess you get so used to being in a certain physical state that when you change it, then revert back, you feel it more the second time around. That or my body just really enjoyed being a little healthier, which I really can't blame it for. I'm going to get back into that better habit though, as puppy comes home in exactly 30 days from now. Well, perhaps not exactly 30 days, it would be more accurate to say she'll be ready to come home by then. Still have lots to do, and I want to have a set schedule already in place by the time she gets here. This'll already be a big shift to her, no need to shift it more by having to change my schedule at the same time. I'm still debating whether to have the crate in my room for the first three nights and then move it to the living room where it'll stay, or sleep out in the living room for her first three nights. Both have their pros and cons, I suppose it's just a matter of which cons outweigh the pros.

I've been absorbed in WoW again, another world event. It always happens, I get absorbed in the celebrations and I get lost for awhile. I like them because the rewards from accomplishing the seasonal quests give a huge boost to leveling, and anyone who's played an MMO like this one knows what a pain in the arse leveling can be after awhile. Plus for the most part the events are pretty fun. Right now the event going on is Love Is In The Air, and they improved it actually. Last year it was very simple, wear perfume or cologne and flirt with the guards, and you received various tokens to put together items for turning in. This year there's charm bracelets, all sorts of achievements and one of the most annoying daily quests Blizzard ever thought of. You either get a quest to spray perfume on 10 targets, or get 10 targets to sample some goodies. Targets can be either the guards and merchants in the city or players, but they should have been restricted to the computer characters. Nothing's more annoying than the stupid buff FINALLY disappearing only to get hit again by some other idiot. Other than that the event's much improved, and the much sought-after pet is much easier to acquire this year. Last year you had a 1 in 1000 chance of stumbling on him - this year you can buy him for 40 Love Tokens. Yay!

Time to force myself back into the writing grove. I have to stop letting myself get so disheartened by what's coming out. I used to have pretty good discipline in that I could just push ahead when things weren't coming out exactly as I wanted them to, and eventually words start coming that make me go 'whoa that was really good!'. Now it's like I lost that discipline and have to try and get it again. I don't generally make excuses for myself, but I think having the fog of depression (and sometimes lorazepam) is really a huge handicap. And even after all this time, I don't think I like admitting that. I don't like admitting there's something that I can't do something about on my own that makes it difficult for me to do the things I love. It can get scary, I've been at the point where I completely lose the desire to write and it feels like I've been robbed of something precious. Probably time for another trip to the doctor, or at least a phone call. In the meantime I'll just have to do my best. And get through this damn battle scene before I find a way to eliminate it lol

World of Warcraft Picspam

I really love this game, so I'm devoting this entry to it :)

I've been playing for four years now, a friend at college got me into it. She eventually dropped out of it, but I really got hooked. It's a real virtual world in the sense that things will sometimes change to reflect the passage of time. For example, the ruler of the human capital of Stormwind at the beginning of the game was young Anduin Wrynn, a boy barely ten years old whose father was missing. Highlord Bolvar Fordragon and Lady Katrana Prestor helped him rule. Now Anduin's father Varian has been found and restored to his throne, upon which now Lady Prestor no longer stands in the throne room. You'd have to read the comic series to really appreciate the reason why. Also when he returned Bolvar was relocated to Northrend, but now he's MIA. After the Wrathgate attack (one of many scripted ingame moments which plays like a movie when triggered) his body goes missing. The only one who knows for certain is the Dragonqueen, and she's not talking. My money is that he somehow survived the attack. Anyway, have a glimpse into Azeroth:


The throne room in Stormwind Keep. The actual throne was installed when Varian was restored.


One of my mages in the Temple of the Moon in Darnassus, the Night Elf capital.


Lianaria, who is one of my Death Knight characters, in the Stormwind Canal district. If you talk to the little girl in the flower shop and tell her you like flowers, she showers you with rose petals.


The results of an escort quest. The player has to escort the guy on the left to Uther's Tomb, in Sorrow Hill in the Plaguelands. The floating figure is the spirit of Uther the Lightbringer.


Best anyone ingame can figure, this is a pimp. This is Murder Row in Silvermoon City, and he'll stand there all night with the succubus minion but he disappears into one of the buildings during the day.


Arrrr, Pirate day in Booty Bay. We partied on top of the bank.


Winter Veil (Christmas) in Ironforge.


Elunirra, my highest level Alliance character. Here she's at the docks in Borean Tundra with Pengu, the pet penguin beside her. Looks a little demonic, doesn't he?


Kandreline, my highest level Horde character. I've been level-grinding her lately so that I can go to Northrend and see it from the Horde's side. Tirisfal Glades is so depressing.


Kandreline's venomhide raptor. I'm on a quest to train that little guy to be a mount.

New Layout

Yes, new layout. I get bored easily what can I say :) I actually quite like this one, it's how I envision one of the worlds in Chasing Dreams to look like during the day.

NaNo is literally a week away, but I'm not nervous. At least I don't feel it, but I wonder if I'm so used to the nerves that I don't notice it anymore. Still got lots to do for the Kick-Off, I'm going to really push myself this weekend to get the rest of my stuff all printed out so I can start cutting them up and putting things together. I may have to forgo the little booklets, maybe I'll just buy some instead. Less work is better.

Having fun in WoW. Right now the event Hallow's End is going on and it's so much fun. Candy, trick or treating, attacks from the Headless Horseman and costumes galore. I just wish that the Player versus Player achievement wasn't a requirement for the Hallowed title. I'm not big on Player versus Player, mostly because my computer can't keep up, so that's kind of a bummer. There's always next year, but when you get one title you want more :) It'll end on Halloween, naturally and the next event won't be until next month for Thanksgiving. It'll be the first time it happens ingame, so that should be interesting. We get a turkey gun for pelting people with. Yes, a turkey gun. Hopefully the turkeys will already be cooked beforehand or that could get messy.