Naked turkeys dance party....

Tome: You rock.
http://tomeoftheancient.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/blog-azeroth-thanksgiving-event-2012/

What I don't get about you...

Adios, Vaquero Twinkie...vaya con dios...

So, the Hostess Bakery closed down, and Americans were fraaa-eeekin' out that our beloved Twinkies would cease to sparkle. From news reports, Aussies, Brits, and others just did not get our Yanks' panic on this potential loss of a snack treat. Admittedly, I myself have not had a Twinkie since the fourth grade, and that was some time ago. I was more of a cherry pie girl myself. Twinkies were infamous for being one of those foods that had so many preservatives it was purported they would last through Armageddon. This made me think, and I am putting this out to my Aussie, Brit, and other world-wide buddies from Azeroth out there: what else don't you get about us Yanks?

Here are some of my guesses, but please, add your own. Be brutal. It's okay. I'm not sure I get them either:

1. Boy bands.
2. Bacon
3. Lack of ability to maintain separation of church and state
4. Lip gloss
5. Bad beer
6. Honey BooBoo

Things you do:

1. Blue jeans
2. Delivered pizza
3. Rock'n'Roll
4. Starbucks
5. Cheeseburgers
6. Big, puppy-like enthusiasm

Okay, my anglophilic friends - what is one thing you think a hearty "WTF!"* about your State-side friends? Keep it light - we are on the same side, ya know!

On the WoW side, if you're Alliance or Horde, what are some things you don't get about the opposite faction? Very curious about this!


*Said in your adorable accents! Everything sounds proper under a banner of Queen Elizabeth's doleful gaze!

Home Sweet Home...

My House, I Say
by Robert Louis Stevenson
My house, I say. But hark to the sunny doves That make my roof the arena of their loves, That gyre about the gable all day long And fill the chimneys with their murmurous song: Our house, they say; and mine, the cat declares And spreads his golden fleece upon the chairs; And mine the dog, and rises stiff with wrath If any alien foot profane the path. So, too, the buck that trimmed my terraces, Our whilom gardener, called the garden his; Who now, deposed, surveys my plain abode And his late kingdom, only from the road.

For any of you who have a friend in game like I do - just a cool, nice person -- that is a wonderful blessing indeed. I have a few close friends, but my tiny cottage guild is where I feel the most "home" so far in Azeroth. It's had a few name changes, but we've settled on The Wildings, after the Free Folk in G.R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series. No, there is no one fancying themselves Jonn Snow* or Ygritte (yes, it does sound like "regret") but the idea of just hanging out, slaying a few dragons, and being independent sure is nice. There has been talk of housing/halls for players: the only time I've experienced making my own little house in a game is in Animal Crossing. Shush, you. Princess was the pinkiest. I love my little guild, where I am the queen, my stuff is there, and open to all the inhabitants of two humans times twenty of alts. Because of guild rep changes, our little guild has gone from hovering around level four for a long time to now almost level ten in a matter of a few weeks. Who knows? Maybe we'll even hit level 25 someday, have all the rights and benefits of the larger guilds. I am reminding myself of so many of the changes I wanted have been made to game play -- there are challenges, scenarios, and even though the grinds get old, they can be done on our own time, with our own senses of interaction. We can make our virtual homes happy ones.


*Although we all could use a little John Snow now and then.

Theme Song: Game of Thrones opening theme song (yes, this is my ring tone)

Navi and the Moon...

I love where I live. I love the grey, rainy days, the dark fall, the damp, chilly winters, and the mucky, sluggy springs. We don't get much of a summer - we had a few hot days in August, but it's pretty mild. But damn, I love to travel, too, and of late, haven't been as able to jet as often as I'd like. Time and money, friends, time and money. Too busy getting baby birds out of the nest I guess, but my traveling feet are itchy for some new turf.

For instance, two things came across my Internet scope recently:

Gollum is in New Zealand: http://www.kuriositas.com/2012/11/gollum-catches-lunch-at-wellington.html

and Navi's posts on the eclipse in Australia: http://frostwolves.blogspot.com/2012/11/afk-from-wow-eclipse-2012-day-4-eclipse.html

You have got to check out her amazing photos - her narration is her usual superlative style of making her reader in the moment. I felt like I was there, Navi - if that whole doctor thing doesn't work out, you have a career as a report/travel writer.

I did a little research on when one might hit the States, and it won't be for awhile. Looks like the Southern Hemisphere will be the lucky ones for awhile: August 21, 2017 in Kentucky but should be crossing over parts of Oregon, too, so perhaps that'll be doable.

http://www.moongiant.com/Solar_Eclipse_Calendar.php

But since I am kind of grounded for now, much of my travel is done on the 'net. One of my favorite feeds is Kuriositas.com : check this out, too: http://www.kuriositas.com/2012/11/blood-ink.html

Theme song: Dark Side of the Moon/Pink Floyd

Robes of Reality

This is dedicated to the real-life responsibilities we all have. This week as we in the States give thanks (yes, I know my Canadian friends - you had your Thanksgiving, but man, no one does it like the States: Hey, thanks for the corn and helping us from starving! Now give us your land!) just take a moment and consider that whatever responsibilities you have are usually tethered to love, family, and friendship.

What are my plans for this Sunday before feasting week? Level Ceniza the Misunderstood to 90, and then go to the grocery store, and then a girlfriend's house for a make-up party. Could use a new lipstick buff. I have a lot of smiling to do the next few days, and need all the help I can get!

...and now for something completely different:

There is nothing wrong about this.

Theme Song: If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right/Luther Ingram

Three Times

There is a reason why the cliche, "It's not you, it's me" springs to mind now. It's not them -- it is me. I am going to hunker down for awhile. I veered off course into the needy, whiny, impatient worse parts of my personality with my bigger guild, and had a long talk with Cross Dressing Rogue about it today, and he was a great sounding board. No one owes me anything. No one did anything wrong. I am just still in search of that lovely 10-man group, a group who wants me, and makes space for me, who fights for me, as I would them. A group that knows who I am and understands the personal issues I face, so that when I'm facing a monster in Azeroth the other stresses are washed away, just for a time. I have laughed at the story about a very serious boyfriend I dated for over four years, and I finally found him in a rare, vulnerable, honest moment when I asked him, "You're never going to marry me, are you?" He said, "No." Best thing he ever did for me.

However, sometimes though we have to read the signs for ourselves. If someone wants you, they set you a place at the grown-up table. Well, I think the kid table is more fun anyway (one of the worst realizations in the rites of passage realm.) Yes, it hurts that a guildmate thinks less of me, but she assumed I was just being an ass, I guess. Which is a shame, but if believing someone is an ass instead of taking the time to get to truly know them, or giving them the benefit of the doubt, then we're all diminished I suppose.

So, as is my pattern, I need to recuse myself. I did say raiding would be tough on the inhabitants of the Matty-shack now, and I need to honor my own words, and not lie to myself. I love end-game content. I wish I didn't. But I love a lot of things I can't have right now, and the world doesn't end. I don't want anyone to feel they have to shuffle or accommodate for me, ever. I don't want anyone to compromise their time in game. But I owe it to myself and my loved ones not to compromise either. I should never walk away from a keyboard in tears. Everyone deserves the raid team they want. Cross-dressing rogue said, metaphorically, 'baby, they're just not that into you.'

Off to a buddy's guild: known this friend for a long time in game, so I feel safe that since he knows me and my foibles and peccadilloes, and my funny side, too, I'll be safe.

I have noticed for a long time that I haven't been burning to write--I would sneak story notes at breaks, scribble things at dawn, and dream of plots in the moonlight. Maybe if I quit worrying about whether or not I'm flasked up or have a spot I can get back some of my personal mojo.


I'm going to go read a book. Tyrion Lannister still loves me.

RTMT: Why does it always have to be snakes?

Did you ever try to log in on a Tuesday morning, forgetting that it was update day? Still type in your password, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Blizzard wouldn't include you in their plans, giving you a backstage pass to time in Azeroth while the rest of the proletariat has to slog and log onto mundane media formats? Okay, maybe that's just me. But that is how time has been for me of late - very choppy, disconnected, and lacking focus, almost to a pathological level. I used to be so checklist-driven, my mental health greatly dependent upon big, black Sharpies obliterating minutia and getting sh*t done, Samuel Jackson style. There were no mo-fo snakes on my mo-fo plane, I'll tell you that. Well, not only are there snakes, but they're venomous and cranky.

So, please allow me to do a delivery of brain matter here. This is un-apologetically random, even for the Random Tuesday Morning Thought. However, stick with it, because you might get sparked/inspired, too.

1. What the hell is going on here?

Did you ever wander into a scene, and notice that things do not seem quite copacetic? Recently, in Pandaria, I noticed these two vignettes that disturbed my peace of mind:

What the...?! (Jade Forest)

 This one is in Prankster's Hollow (which is a delightful name) - animal skulls and a pit, and a smell of burnt cinnamon. This can't be good.

2. Ceniza puts on a show:

The Glyph of Disguise is wonderful. There are a few that are repeated, but every now and then I get a surprise:

Ceniza, for heaven's sake, eat a sandwich!

And one for the ladies! Woot! (I love how when I do mirror image, whatever I am at that moment mirrors, too!)

3. How does your garden grow? With silver songbells and time-sink wells...

Señor and I are trying very hard to get those damn motes-- we just like making stuff, and those motes/sprites are a huge limiting factor, and it's very disheartening. We have laid waste to hundreds of beasties in the Jade Forest for a handle here and there. I heard a rumor that you can grow them when you level up rep with the Tillers. I have no beef with the Tillers, it's just that after my first garden died, it kind of took the wind out of my sails. (Oh, how I love mix metaphors in the morning!) Anyway, sir, here is a screenshot of what we need to grow those bloody things:

In fact, that was going to be the first thing I was going to do this morning, was to check on the garden Momokawa started. Sad face, sad face.

4. Stupid raiding. 

I was all excited about raiding as a resto shaman, and then things are still flucuating. Remember that thing about goals, focus, and checklists? I need a few more earth signs in my world, people! Give me a solid Taurus or Capricorn, so I can find some solid footing under my watery Pisces feet!

Guess this doesn't matter anymore. Poop.

5. Why I should be doing Pet Battles instead.

Why have I been wasting my time?! LOOK! A baby goat! A BABY GOAT!

Just kidding! (Get it?! Get it?!!!)

6. And more drafts and sticky notes:

I have failed at NaNoWriMo. But that's okay. I think I'll do what Bear is going to do, and just write when I can. I was hoping the structure of 30 days would light a fire under my tail, but no.

I also have a draft of a story about Ceniza, Theramore, and the black stallion named Cad, short for cadeau. But I am not sure I can, or want to, compare with Eriny's beautiful writing:
http://harpysnest.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/sunday-storytime-the-aftermath-of-theramore/

The good thing is writing is never a contest, and never a competition. We all have our stories to tell, and that is inherently the beauty of it all.

Just not sure when I can do it. Can't steal moments at work - it is locked down tight. Can't steal moments at home. Dryer broke, bills are biting my ankles, and other stuff is making me hold my metaphorical breath. But I'll get to it. Just after I pick these cabbages.

Dear Matty: Love Connection

Dear Matty:
My significant other and I recently broke up. She did not get my obsession with WoW, and I did not get her obsession with Bad Girls. Okay, well maybe that one made sense, but the other chick things she was into, you know, talking to me, having me listen, all that junk, well, it just didn't work out. How does a handsome but sometimes fuzzy dude meet a single lady on-line in Azeroth who's not stalker, creeper, needy, or a dude?

Lovelorn in Laederon

Dear Lo:

Dude, I ain't touching this one with a ten-foot polearm. Good luck, sir.

Theme Song: Train/50 Ways To Say Goodbye

Optional Pants

Part I: Therapy Session

Germans, French, Russians, and Yanks: oh my!

Yesterday evening, after basically two days' of play and miscellaneous life stuff, I realized that the inner dialogue in my head was just like every addicted personality I have ever known: rationalization, bargaining, enabling, and all that unhealthy stuff. I did not want to work on NaNoWriMo, (not, "could not," I "did not") and putzing around in Azeroth was having an AA meeting in a liquor store. Not a good idea. I turned off the game, put even the laptop far, far away from the TV room, and watched an old film, one of those classics that everyone should watch but probably don't think about, "The Third Man." It was----trippy. Post-war symbolism, setting Vienna, and yes, even Orson Welles.

And it's always about a dame, ain't it?

Afterwards, I turned to Cross-Dressing Rogue and admitted I need help. (Isn't that the first step?)

Help with what, you ask? The fact that I am becoming so chained, enslaved, to Azerothian duties. (I am a person who quit smoking cold turkey, but there were other motivating factors, so I know it can be done, but but but...)

He is an experienced game designer and player, and tried to remind me again that WoW is never meant to be "won." Ever. It has no beginning and no ending, and for someone like me who needs end-caps, this lack of structure and time-management is truly debilitating. Since the expansion came out particularly, I have been feeling this odd mix of having a great time/having the worst time in this chosen hobby. And it is an avocation. I considered that I'm coming up on my three-year anniversary this next May, and though there are many of my friends and loved ones who've been playing much longer, I got the end-game bug pretty bad. (Maybe the Klaxxi's sting is more venomous than we imagined.)

Earlier in the day, we both went off on a tiny rant about some of the ways Blizzard seems to sadistically hurt their long-time and newer players. I found this quote on MMO Melting Pot:

And Green Armadillo says that saying dailies, LFR or coin hunting is optional is rather like saying wearing pants is optional – “Lecturing the customer on why they are incorrect, not as good at playing the game as people who are beating the content with the minimum gear, and need to find new friends with lower expectations – however accurate all of these statements may be – is not a good business strategy. “

Yes, it is a bad business strategy, but they are the Breaking Bad geniuses, and that first taste is free. It's up to me to scrape together whatever intelligence I can muster and try to focus, really focus. Enter rationalization: it's hard. Each one of those alts provides another dimension to play time that is unique. I have really been enjoying starting to get serious about raid healing on Mataoka, and continue to privately, subtly, enjoy my enhancement spec for questing and kicking monster ass. As far as healing goes, I think I have potential to be a decent raid healer. Consider the other night I went in with less than stellar gear, and managed to get past the dogs at the gate. But the other alts, as I said in my choppy attempt at poetry, have this amazingly interconnected professional life.

All I wish -- really wish -- is that Blizzard got the altaholics like me. I don't want anything to be soulbound, I don't want anything to be limited. My alts are one person: me. If they're worried about illegal gold farming and such, I'm sorry. To me, it's like being worried about drug cartels or bootleggers when I want a glass of wine. Guess what? People are always going to skirt the law: there are systems in place to protect the economy of Azeroth, and have its legitimate players such as myself enjoy a few hours of play. I want when my druid plants a crop my shaman can water it. All efforts go across the board. Period. Done. Move on.

Part II: By Which I Get Serious About Restoration Shaman Specialization

MMO Melting Pot's guide is really terrific, in my opinion. Validated a few things, surprised me on some, and all in all a great, quick read. Hugh delivers as usual. I am off to Ask Mr. Robot (still like this site a lot) and see what's what. 

Few Quick Awesomesauce Resources:

MMO Melting Pot Quick Start Guide to Resto Shammy

Life In Group 5 Rocks-the-Resto Advice

Here is where I stand (and yes, I am standing on agility boots. Yes. Yes I am.)

And here is the wish list:

So: trying to focus. Trying. I know there are changes coming up in the next patch or whatever. I know. I may fly over the coo-coo's nest by then, and it may be too late. 

In the meantime, I'm off to go boot shopping. Thank you, Icy!

Postscript: Update - who knows if I'll be raiding or not? Who knows? No one knows. No one. /Sigh