Saturday, November 10, 2012

Poetry: Ode to Alts


Guidmate sacrificed three Spirits to make this for me--I know someone who's getting a Cinder Kitten!

There once was a shaman, she is the main—
Enhancement was she, until she hit healing rain
But to stay as main she would need some help, that was plain
However most were too busy trying for rep and valor to gain

From alts and guildies to boost her gear score
She would need enchants, gems, and much more
So she called in a mage, who had anger management rage,
Asked her to start fires, inks, and scribe some scrolly scrolls,
but got all wet and frustrated, and killed by trolly-trolls

To cool things down, she decided to quest
and break NPCs from a cages, to the west
She went to the yucky place, but got lost in the haze
So she milled leaves and something that looked like dead sage
From the flowers she picked, quick as a blink
(The druid tried, too, but got eaten I think)
But that became an epically-epic time-sink
The mage got distracted, as mages often do,
They have a very difficult time staying true
She decided to make a staff for the priest,
Therefore the mage’s focus on the shaman’s needs ceased
So she called in a druid, a flower-picker, too, (but no inks)
She created potions, flasks, and other tasty drinks

The druid can do it, let’s give her a cheer!
She’ll be level 90 by the end of the year…
The shaman sent her ore, galore! And gave her a chore:
Smelt me s’mores! Smelt me more!
The druid responsibility took to her tasks
But forgot what her purpose was, and drank all the flasks

When she woke up in the drunk-tank,
Feathers mussed, with a skunk pet that stank,
She recalled her duty to shaman and guild
That it was her mission of gear score to help build

She used ghost bars to make the trillium,
And forgot to transmute primal diamonds (how sillium!)
So the sockets were sockless, to coin a new idiom
And the she drunkenly used lotus on some effluvium

A paladin was on standby, wanting to make
A new mace or shield so that booties would shake
But the living steel took too long,
(This is starting to be a familiar song)
The blacksmith would have to wait
To make better gear, it would be a long date

Now back to the hunter, she’ll save the day!
With her growling pet at her side, the hides she’ll cut away
But even she wandered off in a meadow, I’m told
And was last seen with full bags of intestines to hold
So it’s back to the mage, come on girl, Be quick!
Mill those inks! Pick those flowers! Do your clever trick!
The shaman is waiting to get a hefty gear score
Do you want her to wipe the raid, or not know her lore?

The mage hung her head in a semblance of shame
She tried for contrition but, hey it was only a game
Who else can she call? Who else indeed?
Which one of the alts can stand in her stead?
Now the monk is not good, such a lowbie to the end
She should have used recruit-a-friend

The druid was still squishy, how could she survive?
The mobs of critters who ate her alive
She wanted to be an industrious farmer,
and not have anything harm her
To grow the spirits and motes
(Rumor has it those things grow like oats)
She would need the lotus of golden
She was only a Mogit alt, not beholden

Call in a young priest! Call in an old one!
So in from the shadows she came,
from the house of the auction
The priest who spins the silk,
like those of her ilk
She does this daily, every hour x 24
Because the cool down bars the door
She needed motes, too, dammit,
But instead of trying, she took a different gambit
She would work hard to gain rep,
And around the valley she’d schlep

She worked so hard to pound down some Mogu
But when she was last seen, with pandas she was drinking their brew
She didn’t get the cloth done for the mage in time
So no staff for anyone, not even account-with-bind
Sadly the druid went on a three-day drunken bender
And the unsold items were marked “return to sender”

When we last saw our shaman, our one, our main
She was talking to some Klaxxi she hoped to entertain
She would cut through the amber and pound on some sand
And find new ways to cope in a dangerous land

The lesson here, my alts of my life,
If you want to lessen your pain and your strife
Just focus on one, and don’t try to juggle
The amount of pixels it takes that make up our struggle
One or two is fine to focus on, it’s true
They can’t all get to ninety in a day, boo-hoo, QQ

Theme song: Countdown/The Black Keys
Postscript: Notice how I break iambic pentameter once in awhile? I meant to do that.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Stay tuned...

I am trying to get a new post done, but sine this is on the limitations of my lacking technical prowess via smart phone, can't post more images of "art" to keep you entertained. But words are brewing, promise. In my paranoid conspiracy theory world I am wondering if Blizzard wanted to keep grumpy foul mouthed bloggers like me busy and off the intertubes; was this their master plan all along?

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

RTMT: Dances with Goats

Party Like A Greek God!*

What the hell is wrong with me?!

How could I not remember when I woke up at my usual ungodly hour that today is stupidblahblah day?  I knew when I woke up that I could make some coffee, and do some Golden Lotus dailies on Zep in peace. I hate to wait until I get home; it's crowded and mean-spirited, including my own added sense of competition. And not only that, but in the States there's kind of a big deal going on today. You know. Leadership of the Free World and all that nonsense. The Dog-Strapper-On-Car-Man vs. Family-Dog-Man contention. It cost about a billion dollars to sort this one out. I know sweetheart, it makes me cry, too.

"Matty," you say innocently, "Don't you have the NaNo thing to do? You've been so busy, and this hour before you leave for work is a great time to work on that, don't you think?"

Let me pour some hot coffee on your lap, Inner Voice.

Well, sure, fine, I know. But first: TO THE PROCRASTINATION MACHINE!*

Raiding:
Tonight I'm going to venture in with the guild in a 25-man configuration. I am still not clear on why the guild leaders wanted to switch from 10 to 25 mans, not that I'm opposed, or pro, or anything, I just haven't had the experience or time to really understand. Call me an undecided voter. One very negative fall-out though, which I discovered last night, is that one of my good and solid guild buddies who was really looking forward to bear tank raiding, was asked to DPS. He was pretty crushed, and I think it kind of sucks. That took me totally by surprise -- I assumed 25-mans meant you had more room for more roles. I'm going in as a resto shaman, by-the-by.


Gear:
The other question that was asked in guild chat last night was a one-stop Internetty-place for the justice point gear. Near as I can reckon, this isn't too bad:

http://www.wowhead.com/news=205366/mists-of-pandaria-justice-point-rewards-news-round-up


The update time also provided me with an opportunity to peruse the guild forum, and saw that GM wants us all to have this installed: http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/epgp_lootmaster Neri writes about gear and guild leadership, too: http://neriapproves.com/2012/11/06/the-purple-parlor-officers-lounge-ep01/

*Speaking of Neri, this scene of Pan-centric Peace painting inspired me for this month's mog contest. But it'll have to wait. I've got Mogu to slay and trolls to punch.

Polite Society and Friendly Competition
I'll be honest: that little shaman girl has been shelved a bit. I have been focusing on Zeptepi, trying to go all Pygmalion on her tail and make her into something I am not sure she can be. Coincidentally, I noticed Matticus having the same discussion. 

Because I haven't focused on my 'main,' (I still distrust this concept thoroughly and find it incredibly suspect and annoying), I may not be quite up to snuff tonight. I have noticed here and there that the big guild has many new players: one is a new enhancment shaman. As soon as I saw her addition, I knew I would be out for a dps slot. Don't ask me how I knew. I just knew. Meh. And it was confirmed last night when my GM said, "________will give you a run for your money, Matty." Yup. No doubt. There are a million reasons why players are better than I am, mostly because they just are. At some point it's up to each of us to decide how much we care. The term 'friendly competition' is an oxymoron. Any competition with someone else means we want to be over them in some token or authentic way. It's nothing but a king of the mountain thing. I might replace 'friendly' with the word 'healthy.' The framework of competition, its very nature, means no one will be the same as another. Imagine a dungeon or raid where every damage and dps score is the exact same, every healing number leveled and plateaued. Any time someone /shrugs and just plays, the potential for coming off like sour grapes is likely, so I'll just go over here and have a cup of wine with Pan up there. (And I still contest that the person I am most competitive with is myself, and no one will ever top the meters on that one.)

Borrowed Language
I noticed I've been using "spot on" a bit lately, and then damn, wouldn't you know it? I'm just like everyone else. Pretty soon I'll be affecting a British accent just to impress Navi, going all Madonna-In-Her-Guy-Ritchie-Phase: http://www.npr.org/2012/11/01/164032659/even-americans-find-some-britishisms-spot-on

The Hot Tub Game
I don't think two constitutes a pattern, but so far I have noticed a few hot tub parties in Pandaria:
Can you imagine the smell?! WTB Air Freshener.

I dare you to get in that Hozen hot tub.

So, my sweet friends, I leave you with this screenshot of my Pandora list, and what was playing when I logged in. Lovely, absolutely lovely:


Sunday, November 4, 2012

You're never there.



The Good News:
I recouped 1690 of the words. I know my process--I'll do better when the main character reaches up from the muck and slaps me in the face and says PAY ATTENTION TO ME. She hasn't done that yet.  She's been in my  head for gee, oh, about five years now.

The Bad News: 
I am now behind quite a bit, but I got a lot of other things done. Things that should be called "Real Life Skills that Pay the Real Life Bills." Oh, and I got to pop into Azeroth for a bit too.

Oh. And there's this:
1. Dungeon #1 on Zep. Paladin took her healing mace.
2. Dungeon 2: kicked because I took a sip of coffee and forgot to dispel. (Hey, my priorities are spot on)
3. Dungeon #3: Decided to need on a staff for OS, since that's what I play on Zep a lot now, and before I did, made sure to look mage over--he had much better gear. He called me a douche before he took his leave.

Yea, people!

Whatever suckers.

My friend told me a joke today:

What do you call a ghost and bee?
A boobie.
Get it? Yes, I am still giggling. He said boobie.

Okay, my other friend has been running a series of cute baby animal photos on Facebook, steeling herself against any negative political fall-out. I found this one:



Oh, and Cymre put out a post today I just can't top: http://www.bubblesofmischief.com/2012/11/05/zatanna/

Neri posted her November transmog contest: http://neriapproves.com/2012/11/01/its-back-announcing-the-november-transmog-tournament/

Being Northern-hemisphere centric, it's difficult to imagine spring time blossoms when the blustery November fall is spinning around my ears.

Maybe the bunny will help.

Postscript: There are a full assortment of great posts out there - Erinys' really struck my fancy:
http://harpysnest.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/the-darkmoon-faire-intpipomo/
(Albeit it is sorely lacking in baby animals.)

Theme Song: Cake /http://www.pandora.com/cake/prolonging-magic/never-there

Even better: Pixies: Where is my mind?

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Wiped.

This is the worst Boss yet. 


Yesterday I went to continue my NaNo - I had 1680 words of tripe, but there were a few gems in there. The file was gone. After detective work and tears, I realized I must have shut something down or dragged things incorrectly in the backup software, and it was wiped. Gone. Really gone. Cross-dressing rogue tried to help, but then he misunderstood my anger and thought it was misdirected at him, so that caused no small amount of friction in the Matty-shack. So a bad situation got worse. No buff food. No repair gold. And the Word file is still mocking me from somewhere in the ether. And I am not kidding: I have never, ever lost a Word file before. Ever. Until yesterday, of course. (And for those well-meaning folks out there who are going to give me tips on recouping things --trust me, it's gone.)

So being November 2, I was facing down approximately 3400 words, and was exhausted. I can see why folks don't do this now, and it's only Day 3. Because I chose to try to sleep I'm now on 5100 words, and I have a class today.

Coffee, where are you? Coffee answers, in a snarky tone, "Ready, Matty. As always. Now get busy."

Friday, November 2, 2012

Drabble: Cruel



Ceniza used the Dwarven-carved mortar and pestle with abandonment; it had been a dubiously procured gift. All too often, fire mages pay no heed to the method, but results.  This was especially true of Ceniza. She tossed in leaves, herbs, and with her small but wiry wrist, ground all to choppy pulp. Excited about the new sorcery, she didn’t notice that one of the scarlet gems from the necklace he gave her fell in the mixture. She created a Scroll of Recall, and impulsively conjured a surprise location.

It brought her back to Theramore.

Not all magic is kind magic.






Writer's Note: This really happened. While leveling Ceniza's inscription (I decided to abandon tailoring on her and switch, an expensive but wise move) she clicked on a Scroll of Recall and it brought her directly to Theramore, where all her love was destroyed.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Song & Dance Man

Cha...cha cha...cha!

I got nothin'.

No exciting rare pets, no amazing gear, no exalted reps, no bumper crops, nothin'.

If you don't see many new posts, here's what's what. For some reason, I am going to try to do NaNoWriMo. 



I noticed this morning I had lost a follower. I know folks bail off of this little blog for a variety of reasons. I am really grateful for every one who reads and writes me. This morning, I realized it was Elizabeth Gossett, otherwise known as Waterbender/Shamanolic. She's the one who taught us how to splash healing rain and get naked. How cool is that?! So in true stubborn blogger style I tracked her down to her new blog, Spiritwalker's Grace. Check it out when you have a moment--it's beautiful, professional, and awesomesauce. The thing is, everyone has so many things to read, think about, and consider. The media universe is an amazing place, and there is not infinite time to look at infinite stars.

Now---I am not sure how I am going to manage the 1677+/- words/day to equal the 50K words, the average number of words in an average novel. But I am going to try. I may have to double up on Thanksgiving weekend, and Veteran's Day, but I want to give it a shot. My concept has nothing to do with Azeroth, so don't expect much here. But there are still mages to level, shamans to shock, and priests to get all psycho. Those Draenei girls are pretty seductive; but so are keyboards and fresh pages.


Monday, October 29, 2012

Buddy, can you spare a slot?

You know, it occurs to me in the swirling maelstrom that is a political year, no matter what folks' opinions are, it usually comes down to the basics, the Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. If we get our basic needs met, then we are allowed to progress further to self-actualization. Our striving-for-enlightenment paths get derailed on the esteem part, however, and we work against our own civilized self-interests and consistently shoot ourselves in the foot.



Wait, I do have a point.

You know all the grumbling and fury and chaos associated with some game play and whatnot? I have a theory, and it comes down to one thing, and one thing only: bagspace.

J.P. Morgan, the Ultimate Banker Alt*
For some reason, some bean counting, stingy, greedy goblin reason, Blizzard does not give us enough storage space. Oh, sure, there's Void Storage, but you can't keep the delightful collection of unique tabards in there, and its exorbitant costs of moving things in and out really stinks. And one page? Bitch, please. I have more robes on my level 11 priest alt than one page can hold. Get a bank alt, and buy lots of phony guild tabs, upwards of 5K each, or more? Sure sure. But what about this letter, or that thing, or this over here? In the wise words of the AM/PM Mini Mart Ads, there is "too much good stuff." And like the $3 bank fees at ATMs, it's getting on my last nerve.

Right now I'm doing a messy, unorganized and time-consuming dance of mailboxes. I have thirty days before things start to expire between my bank alt, my characters, and their many interests, professions, knick-knacks, paddy-whacks, and vanity items. Hell, just yesterday I got the reins of a very bad yak, and though summoning this ornery creature only results in a butt-butting, there is no way I am letting him loose.

The lack of storage and bagspace is making me nutters. It is my theory that we in the world of Azeroth will never reach the top of the pyramid when all we're doing is spending time and gold on slot management. It's tedious, it's boring, and roots us too firmly in reality while Azeroth is supposed to be all about suspension of disbelief. Wonder where the tab is for that, the 'disbelief' one? Oh here it is, next to the wildfowl stack and the Super Simian Sphere trinket.

Don't start lecturing me about hording and whatnot. Stop it, just stop it. You know I'm right about this. Blizzard has given us an amazing new world but no where to keep it safe. That threatens our sense of security. We need a real solution to this: a tab for food, a tab for weapons, for gear, for vanity items, for tabards, for professional/crafting items. And it shouldn't cost us a copper. Void storage should drop to a minimum fee, and should only be used to store true vintage items. I'm not asking for a handout here. I pay my AH fees and repair bills just like everyone else. All I'm asking is that when I've earned something in game, I get to keep it safe and it doesn't drain the bank account. I would much rather be playing with my friends than standing around managing bags or desperately seeking mailboxes.

But then again, is the collection and accumulation of material items, albeit pixelized ones, really the path to enlightenment?

But George never had to choose between his Sons of Hodir ax and a tabard, though...
I don't know. Maybe it's just time to spend an hour with the good vendors in town and just start selling it all off and move to a kibbutz in Halfhill, join a cult, get brainwashed, and leave all my material possessions behind. This thinking stuff is too hard.


*Thank you to Loth for this superlative banker!

Postscript: Prepared?


Sunday, October 28, 2012

The Highwayman

Prompted by Draynee's request, here is my submission for your humble consideration. However, I am taking myself out of the 'contest' part because JD mentioned something about rules, and I think there are rules, and well, my personal philosophy is the first rule of dressing up is you don't talk about dressing up. No, wait. That's not right. Just that, for costumes, not gear, I have a hard time adhering to rules.

It's been a few years, not many, since I last read 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes. Now it's easy to dismiss it as overly romantic tripe, but for some reason, I could not be so snarky this year. It's just a lovely and simple piece of work that has stood the test of time. It has what I love to classify as 'accessible themes.' But enough of literary analysis: enjoy.

Oh, and after you read the poem, watch this amazing animation: The Highwayman
Bess, the Innkeeper's Daughter
The Highwayman

Tim the Ostler*



The Highwayman

by Alfred Noyes

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
   Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin; 
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh. 
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle,
   His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.

Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, 
He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
   Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like moldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter, 
   The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say—

"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, 
Then look for me by moonlight,
   Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."

He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand, 
But she loosened her hair in the casement. His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
   (Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.

He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching—
   Marching—marching—
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead, 
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side. 
There was death at every window;
   And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.

They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest. 
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast.
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the doomed man say—
Look for me by moonlight;
   Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!

She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good. 
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood.
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
   Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

The tip of one finger touched it. She strove no more for the rest. 
Up, she stood up to attention, with the muzzle beneath her breast.
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again; 
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
   Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love's refrain.
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, 
The highwayman came riding,
   Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still!

Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
   Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him—with her death.

He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know who stood 
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood.
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew gray to hear 
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
   The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

Back, he spurred like a madman, shouting a curse to the sky, 
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway, 
   Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
   
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding—
   Riding—riding— 
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard;
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, 
   Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.



*There was no way Tim the Ostler could be a Draenei. Back to that rules thing.

And the French cocked-hat doesn't work with Draenei horns...alas.




Saturday, October 27, 2012

1000: This one goes out to the ones I love...



Once upon a time, I used to be a fairly decent party planner. I would work tirelessly to make sure the food and booze plentiful, the toilets were scrubbed, the guest towels fresh, and toilet paper hanging waterfall-over, not under by the wall. But these days, my Martha-Stewart-Mojo has gone by the wayside, and I'm lucky if I remember to even buy toilet paper, much less OCD-worry about its position on the spindle. (Cocktails on hand, however, still apply.) Point being, I saw this 1000th post coming up, and have been drafting it in my head for a bit; however, not sure it's going to be as spectacularrlllll as I would have wanted. Whatever I write cannot possible capture what I feel.

But I'll give it a shot.

This blog become a way of sending messages in bottles to friends in game, and to myself. They were messages and correspondence to the characters, make-believe, and the characters of friends I have made along the way.

Kay: You are amazing. You are a strong young woman, you are brave, and true. From the moment we became friends over the Thanksgiving achievements, you've stayed a true friend.

Guarf: I miss you.

Turk: your mentorship on shaman healing and anything game-wise is amazing, and never--and this is a biggy--patronizing. You have always treated me like a great friend, which I consider you, too!

Ran: When I was really trying to figure things out, you were always quietly there. I think you got a kick out of compulsive alt-leveling. Your tried and true focus on two difficult classes however, is admirable; however, your kind friendship supersedes Azeroth.

Xak: Mr. Smartypants Esq. -- I look forward to our conversations. Even if I do cheat and write crib notes.

Con: You are so damn funny. And thanks for thinking I am one of the "good guys." I am. And you are, too.

Tome, Navi, Bear, and Erinys: In no way am I "lumping" you together. Your insights have motivated, inspired, delighted, and amazed me more than I can say. If I write another word, it's because I know you're out there reading. You have no idea how much this means to me.

To my lost paladin friend: thanks for your patience and inspiration, too.

JD: thanks for sharing your family, time, and friendship. Cymre, thanks for keeping me on my toes and showing us the beauty and grace of Azeroth.

Señor: To the best friend I will never know: See that fan with Zep? To the world in Azeroth, every one else would just see an inscription off-hand weapon. What they don't see is one of the most generous, funny, and loyal friends a person could have. The world could take a lesson from you, my dear friend.

Just play - it's a fun game.

Theme Song:

PS  I will never think of Hello Kitty the same way again. Thanks, Navi.