Ich bin ein Liebster (Part 1: The Disclaimer)

Amerpriest graciously added me to the list of Liebster-love eons ago in Internet time, and I'm sorry I haven't been able to give it due diligence. In my life, often it's a matter of triage. For example, this is how I left my kitchen yesterday:

Before

It was either clean the kitchen, or get coffee and feed the chinchilla: the chinchilla is in constant danger of becoming a Barbie doll fur coat (JUST KIDDING PETA, jeez) and the coffee, well. You know. And as many of you have read, I cannot work on this blog at work, so there's 9 hours wasted! Stupid job. Giving me a paycheck and personal satisfaction and all that nonsense. I can't even go on websites that describe it, but what I think I'll do is sneak a peek at my phone today and write my answers down on paper.

I'm not sure where my eleven questions are. Maybe Amerpriest gave up on me, and revoked the nomination. I don't blame her. Regardless, the chinchilla thanks her, and anyone else who thought of me, so that's cool. I'll get to it, promise.

See?

After

I confess I think this blog has been one big Liebster Award to myself. Gads, if there is anything you don't know about me by now…but maybe I still have a few tricks. For instance, did you know I can sing like Aretha Franklin? No, not really. But my soul can.

Strength in numbers...

‎"Because nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff. We don't have to be like, 'Oh yeah that purse is okay' or like, 'Yeah, I like that band's early stuff.' Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can't-control-yourself-love it... When people call people nerds, mostly what they are saying is, 'You like stuff', which is just not a good insult at all, like 'You are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness.'" - John Green



I had a [bad] boyfriend once. I remember two distinct turning points in our relationship -- the red flags, if you will. One summer's night we were watching the cars go across the Ben Franklin Bridge on patio-style bar and restaurant, and I remember marveling at the sheer beauty of it, the architectural genius that is a bridge, the man hours, sweat, engineering, and --love--of creating something enduring---I probably just made some comment like, "Wow, did you ever think about how cool a bridge is...?" and I don't remember his exact wording, but it was kind of raging, an angry, mean moment of "You are too stupid to live!" kind of response. Now, if I had been a stronger young woman, and wasn't trying to work out 20-something self-esteem issues, I would have tossed my warm beer in his face, slapped it Bette Davis style, and gotten a cab right then and there. If only I had had my future self tell me that my enthusiasm was grace embodied. I eventually did do all that, at least metaphorically, but that one conversation has always struck me as poignant. 

Kellda the Adventurer

Well, that's an interesting word, "poignant." Because when I think about him, and all of his fears over not being cool, not being perceived as hip or awesome or stately, those fears crippled him.

Tomorrow is this blog's second year anniversary--and oh poor Navi and Tome. They each have gotten a long string of pink pity-party tells this past week. I have one real id friend who, for reasons he has not shared, hasn't spoken to me much. I have another one who dropped me without explanation. I have had some stress at work (it goes with the territory). And of course, the usual love and concern for family and friends. They both ended up giving me some amazing pets: Ragnaros and Lil KT - seriously, how cool is that?! Owning a tiny version of Ragnaros may be the only way I can control him. He is unfinished business. And guess what?! One of my battletag buddies noticed my warlock's name, Kellda, and asked if it was from a Terry Pratchet book -- yes, indeed! YES! Wee Free Men, and the name Kellda is not only Kelda in the story, but, oh, never mind. Let's just say I like the name. We kept chatting and we're now Goodreads buddies and Facebook friends. Isn't that grand?

So, weighing it out, here and there, this and that, I am going to remind myself of a few promises:

1. Write what and when I feel like, and if real life needs attention, try not to let it irritate me. Find a way to gather the ideas, keep them in water until I can get to them.

2. Know that not every one is going to dig my sh*t. I am an acquired taste. Every one has their own reasons for doing what they do, and I give every one the benefit of the doubt. It's actually part of my real life job description, so I can do that in the virtual world too.

3. Learn to cope with my altaholicism. And that I may never find a raid team. And that's okay.

But before one more word gets typed, let me just say, "Thank you."


PS Tome, I told this new friend your recommendation of The Night Circus--my raid team's name (if I ever get one) will be called the Azerothian Literate Society Book Club

Watchdogs of Azeroth

Nice doggy, nice doggy....

Recently in my email blog feed, Matticus is asking for our help. Help?! Lassie, is Timmy stuck in the well again?! How can I be of service? Do I bring a fire hose or a life vest?! I AM SO THERE!

*cough* Excuse me - I get a little overexcited. Anyway, the gist is, he is looking for great blog links in various categories. The ego in me thought, "Well, gee, Matty, your blog has a few readers, but what genre is it? Does it help anyone? Does it provide tactical advice or strategies? Does it help the good citizens of Azeroth make gold or shinies?" No. Alas, it does none of those things.

But then I considered the other blogs I frequent, and what we do tend to write about: We are the Watchers. We write many different things and many different topics, but overall, we write about life, "real" virtual life in Azeroth, and how it crosses the threshold from flesh and blood to pixel and particle. We are the ones who notice when things go wonky, we write our wishes for the game, our triumphs, our tragedies, our complaints, and in general, I swear if Blizzard ever once just followed the cache of blogs I am going to mention, it would be a beautiful World of Warcraft indeed. If I forget to link anyone it is not because I don't think you're not worthy -- I am attempting some semblance of genre classifcation. (I would add Manalicious, and Red Cow Rise, and then basically just look at my blogroll!)

These are the bloggers I consider Watchdogs:

Tome of the Ancient
The Daily Frostwolf
Amateur Azerothian
Big Bear Butt
Harpy's Nest
Confessions of a Grown Up Gamer
Ironyca Stood in the Fire
Tree Heals Go Woosh


We are conscious of unfair game play, of asshats, of heroes, and of our own foibles and follies. And we report it. 

Again, if you look at my blogroll is it chock-full of amazing writers. Some have a heavy slant towards transmogrification (another category to consider, Matticus), and some are biased toward character development.

If you think of any others that come under the category of "Azeroth Neighborhood Watch" please comment away!

New look, old friends...

Although Guarf has a short-term memory, and may accuse me of otherwise, I did say that I was going to revamp this blog around the New Year. I mention this because my dear dwarf friend did pick up on something I was feeling, and that is blog-envy. He just mistook the wrong one. Dwarfs, right? But I'll get to the envy in a moment.

The thing is about any of the blog services, be they Google Blogger, or Wordpress, Edublogs, etc. their templates are just that: cookie cutters for creativity. To make a blog site truly fit and work with one's themes there takes a bit of effort. In the past, I have (...see hand? pats self on back...) enjoyed hours of graphic design, technological creative and production, and know many talented souls who also lend a pixel wand or two when I need it. The template I tried yesterday was way too 'feminine hygiene product' in my opinion, so I took a bit of time after work, played around with some of the more simple font choices and customizable images (used one of my screen shots for the background), and whipped up this new look. It may not be the one I stay with, but it'll do, pig.*

But, just like being a guild master,  producing and creating technology for my WoW 'hobby' is not my real life job, and lately I just haven't spent time doing those multi-media conquests as I have in the past. (Subtext: I don't even do them for my real life job anymore: using a tiny, silly HP laptop that drives me bonkers.) For example, since I saw my first great, and horrible, Machinima, I have been wanting to create my own short films. Maybe someday. If I made one, it may be a scene out of The Paladin's Tale, but that might break my heart.

Guarf sent me this, and it is still one of my favorites:

Recently, the greatest bloggers of Azerothian adventures celebrated The Daily Frostwolf's two year blog anniversary. I had my own blog-aversary on December 14, 2011--to be honest, I had to look up, just now, when this blog began. Damn, should have bought myself a cake or something.

(Okay, Matty, get to the point, woman!): Since it has been a year since I first started chronicling my misadventures in Azeroth, I have grown to over 12,000 page views (not including my own, although I am sure a few Internet hackers and bots are represented). Here is where the proverbial Green-Eyed Dragon enters the room: not as many comments as I would hope. I implore my dear friends and readers, if you like a story, or drabble, or whatever, and if you have a second to say, "nice story," or even, "that sucked," that would be great. Creating anything in a vacuum is, well, just no fun. Guarf will again, justifiably, accuse me of being a needy artist, and he's most likely right.

Being my flip-floppy self, though, I must say, though I would love a 'thumbs-up' on my writing, ultimately, writing this blog has truly served its purposes: it keeps me in touch with game friends who may be absent, taking a break, helped me make new friends, give voice or inspire (a little bit) to new creative souls, and most importantly, helped me work on a craft I have loved since I was a little girl in a judgmental-free zone. How cool is that?

I get to connect with people all over the world:*

*New Zealand is the only country whose pageviews will actually go off my data. I am not kidding. About a week ago it was at 119 pageviews, and it dropped to 117, 115, and now standing at 110. I am seriously wondering if New Zealand is in a space/time vortex of Hobbit Holes where time itself does not bend to the rules of mortals. Good on you, New Zealand. Laws of physics are so overrated!


And, if I didn't have this blog, I wouldn't know there were such search phrases as this:

I will leave it up to your discretion to search the other URLs that have "surreal pair of panties."

In any case, please keep reading. I am grateful for every little happy dot I get on my map, surreal panties and all.


*I am not calling my readers pigs. Look up your movie references.

Theme Song: Something/The Beatles