A German commenting on German politics
1 week ago
Showing posts with label IRL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IRL. Show all posts
I've had a couple of emails, and some very pointy pokes from my friends so here's the skinny:
No! I'm not done blogging!
Hiatus? Yes.
I am currently working for the US Census Bureau knocking on people's doors, invading their privacy, asking them annoying questions, and overall just trying to avoid getting shot. I work at random hours based on when people will be home. And I am le tired.
Unlike working in an office, I'm not actually in front of a computer most of the time. I am only playing WoW somewhere between 2-4 hours a week, and it takes a lot of kicking and screaming to get me to do even that! I am woefully behind in my blog reading (see below).
Even before the Census job began, I was suffering badly from WoW Burnout. I don't know if it's the pre-xpack doldrums, or just the raider burnout I was/am feeling, but I go through this on a fairly regular basis. This is just the first time I've had such a long burnout duration while being a blogger... so I suppose it's more obvious!
WoW is still a big part of my life (is that really sad? I don't know), and much like my relationships with anything and everything, it ebbs and flows depending on where my head is that week.
I've been quiet because I don't like making excuse posts. I don't like reading posts that promise someone will be back in a few days, or apologizing for being absent. I'll write when I feel like writing, and I'm not gonna write filler crap in the meantime! If I post something, it's because I feel like it's worth other people reading. Otherwise, you'd read something like "Home ownership is stupid. It's like raiding. Because in raiding, there's always someone stupid who is dying in a fire. Wallpaper should die in a fire. Yeah." etc. (For the record, wallpaper really should diaf, good God!)
So, in conclusion, YES I will be back, NO I have not quit. Oh also, no, sadly I'm not knocked up like any feisty blood elf warlocks you may know (you crazy kids)! I am currently keeping myself frazzled by the following:
For shits and giggles, here's some random stuff for your viewing and linking pleasure.
No! I'm not done blogging!
Hiatus? Yes.
I am currently working for the US Census Bureau knocking on people's doors, invading their privacy, asking them annoying questions, and overall just trying to avoid getting shot. I work at random hours based on when people will be home. And I am le tired.
Unlike working in an office, I'm not actually in front of a computer most of the time. I am only playing WoW somewhere between 2-4 hours a week, and it takes a lot of kicking and screaming to get me to do even that! I am woefully behind in my blog reading (see below).
Even before the Census job began, I was suffering badly from WoW Burnout. I don't know if it's the pre-xpack doldrums, or just the raider burnout I was/am feeling, but I go through this on a fairly regular basis. This is just the first time I've had such a long burnout duration while being a blogger... so I suppose it's more obvious!
WoW is still a big part of my life (is that really sad? I don't know), and much like my relationships with anything and everything, it ebbs and flows depending on where my head is that week.
I've been quiet because I don't like making excuse posts. I don't like reading posts that promise someone will be back in a few days, or apologizing for being absent. I'll write when I feel like writing, and I'm not gonna write filler crap in the meantime! If I post something, it's because I feel like it's worth other people reading. Otherwise, you'd read something like "Home ownership is stupid. It's like raiding. Because in raiding, there's always someone stupid who is dying in a fire. Wallpaper should die in a fire. Yeah." etc. (For the record, wallpaper really should diaf, good God!)
So, in conclusion, YES I will be back, NO I have not quit. Oh also, no, sadly I'm not knocked up like any feisty blood elf warlocks you may know (you crazy kids)! I am currently keeping myself frazzled by the following:
- Knocking on strangers' doors, asking how many people live there, hoping they don't hate me
- Making a huge mess by attempting to paint bedrooms so we can sell this Godforsaken house
- Preparing to move about 50 miles south
- Working out a way to go back to uni to finish up my graduate degree and/or get a Real Job TM
- Trying to transform a Bachelor Pad House into something someone with any sense might actually consider buying (Sorry honey, but the storm trooper helmets and the alien heads will soon be in storage)
- Documenting all the house stuff "properly", because writing about remodeling a home is way more fun than actually doing the remodeling of a home.
- Avoiding my google reader like the plague, because it's really scary...
For shits and giggles, here's some random stuff for your viewing and linking pleasure.
- My guild is named the Lothar Swingers Club (and we've recently added a few to our roster, so we now actually have ten people!). I'm considering purchasing this residence for our clubhouse. Totally a Swinger's house, amirite?
- Druids don't approve of low cholesterol diets. Proof.
- Quit taking smoke breaks during the raid! Start Vaming!
- WoW situations that make map-lovers sad.
How to look busy at work while other people walk by when what you are really doing is secretly reading WoW blogs:
As proof that I actually do all of the above things, I provide for you a screenshot.
- Copy and paste the blog into a notepad document, make it small, and read it next to the Powerpoint Presentation you are supposed to be creating. (psst if you were wondering, this is usually how I write my blog posts)
- Send the blogs to yourself in an email that includes a very large picture of your company's logo.
- Copy and paste the text of the blog in question into that word document you are supposed to be editing, and fiddle around with the font of it while you read it.
- Whilst reading from the little notepad C&P of your favorite blog, highlight and unhighlight random pieces of text from whatever document you're supposed to be working on, so that it looks like you are moving around and adjusting text.
- Randomly resize images in a powerpoint file.
As proof that I actually do all of the above things, I provide for you a screenshot.
I hate phones.
No really. You likely do not understand or appreciate the depth of my tele-hatred. It goes beyond all reason. In fact, in an effort to encourage me to actually use a phone and be somewhat reachable in an emergency (since my previous cell phone had sat in my purse, dead and unopened for the past 6 months though I still paid the bill), my fiance gifted me an iPhone. It has been largely successful - I answer when someone calls. Most of the time I'm just surfing the internet or playing Civilization though.
I do not do telephone conversations. They frustrate me. Tell me the information I need, and then let's be done with this, eh? The problem with this is that I'm also FEMALE. And for some reason, other females seem to think that, like them, I will enjoy nattering on endlessly on the telephone with them. I DON'T. But no amount of trying to explain this to the other women in this world makes any difference. It is beyond comprehension to them. I guess this is especially the case with my own family.
I called my parents yesterday to tell my father I was thinking of him on Veteran's Day, but unfortunately he was not home. So what followed was an incredibly awkward 45 minute "conversation" with my mother (whom I dearly love, don't misunderstand me) who was trying to get me to be talkative. Every few minutes she would ask me another variation of "What have you been doing lately?", to which I would respond with some new variation of "Absofriggilutely nothing, momma." Our entire 45 minute conversation dragged out like this.
The irony is, from the outside, nothing IS going on. There is nothing going on in which my mother would have any interest, after all. Of course, had I been honest, I could have said something like this...
"Well, I wrote up this survey on my blog for other healers to get to know some information about other healer classes, and it just TOOK OFF and this big website linked to it, and now I feel all this pressure to actually write something decent on my blog (not that I wasn't trying to do that before) and every day there are all these comments, and it's super exciting! I would have thought by now I'd run out of things to write about, but I just keep getting all these ideas! The strangest thing is that I'm not even playing WoW as much as I'd like, because our raiding alliance was going through a rough time, and I've recently decided that perhaps 25 man raiding just isn't worth the effort for me, so I've been working on putting together smaller 10 man groups, but I'm thinking more and more that what I really need to do is just focus on leveling up my other two healers so that I can be more informed when I write about things on my blog, because that's quickly becoming my new passion, although I've been spending so much time on my blog, I haven't invested ANY time on my novel!!!!!"
My mother -> .....
She would be so confused and lost. As a matter of fact, I vaguely mentioned that Friday night we would be having our regular D&D 4th edition session, and that I was considering stopping by for my friends' Saturday night Pathfinder session to learn more about healing classes in tabletop gaming, and there was a stunned silence as my mother struggled to find something to say that would make it sound as though she had any idea what I was talking about. Actually, I think she was trying to figure out if D&D was somehow related to S&M and whether or not she should be horrified.
It's kinda sad, when you think about it, that the S&M would be something more easily understood than the D&D. Or... well maybe it's not sad. Actually maybe it's just creepy, since it's my mother. NAAAAAAAAAH *thinks happy thoughts*
I really did have a point. Somewhere.
Oh yes. Outside of the gaming universe, my life is incredibly dull. I work. Or rather, I go to a place and hope that maybe this time they will give me work. My fiance works. And we come home, maybe watch some TV together, and talk about our hobby, and maybe play some of our hobby - gaming. I suppose I'm a bit spoiled on having people to whom I can relate in regards to my hobby. My fiance is a gamer. All of our friends are gamers. There is never a shortage of people with whom I can discuss gaming.
But now I'm one of those people who, when faced with a non-gamer, has nothing to really talk about. Well, we could discuss politics or religion... two subjects I love that are simply not polite conversation - especially not with my mom. Perhaps if my job were more interesting, I would have more to discuss on that front. But I'm a hobbyist, I'm engaged to a hobbyist, our friends are hobbyists, and I'm left wondering, what do hobbyists talk about with non-hobbyists?
When speaking to a non-gamer, when they ask what you do, it's just "gaming". But that one word encompasses so much. Entire worlds are encapsulated in a two syllable noun. I suddenly have so much more sympathy for folks who play WoW a lot and are in relationships with non-WoWers. I'm really very lucky. I am off in my own little world, this alternate universe. I have likely abandoned all those who do not appreciate this world, or speak the language, and I'm blessed that so many people I *do* care about are on the voyage with me. I never realize how separate this world is until I'm forced to try and conversate with foreigners.
No really. You likely do not understand or appreciate the depth of my tele-hatred. It goes beyond all reason. In fact, in an effort to encourage me to actually use a phone and be somewhat reachable in an emergency (since my previous cell phone had sat in my purse, dead and unopened for the past 6 months though I still paid the bill), my fiance gifted me an iPhone. It has been largely successful - I answer when someone calls. Most of the time I'm just surfing the internet or playing Civilization though.
I do not do telephone conversations. They frustrate me. Tell me the information I need, and then let's be done with this, eh? The problem with this is that I'm also FEMALE. And for some reason, other females seem to think that, like them, I will enjoy nattering on endlessly on the telephone with them. I DON'T. But no amount of trying to explain this to the other women in this world makes any difference. It is beyond comprehension to them. I guess this is especially the case with my own family.
I called my parents yesterday to tell my father I was thinking of him on Veteran's Day, but unfortunately he was not home. So what followed was an incredibly awkward 45 minute "conversation" with my mother (whom I dearly love, don't misunderstand me) who was trying to get me to be talkative. Every few minutes she would ask me another variation of "What have you been doing lately?", to which I would respond with some new variation of "Absofriggilutely nothing, momma." Our entire 45 minute conversation dragged out like this.
The irony is, from the outside, nothing IS going on. There is nothing going on in which my mother would have any interest, after all. Of course, had I been honest, I could have said something like this...
"Well, I wrote up this survey on my blog for other healers to get to know some information about other healer classes, and it just TOOK OFF and this big website linked to it, and now I feel all this pressure to actually write something decent on my blog (not that I wasn't trying to do that before) and every day there are all these comments, and it's super exciting! I would have thought by now I'd run out of things to write about, but I just keep getting all these ideas! The strangest thing is that I'm not even playing WoW as much as I'd like, because our raiding alliance was going through a rough time, and I've recently decided that perhaps 25 man raiding just isn't worth the effort for me, so I've been working on putting together smaller 10 man groups, but I'm thinking more and more that what I really need to do is just focus on leveling up my other two healers so that I can be more informed when I write about things on my blog, because that's quickly becoming my new passion, although I've been spending so much time on my blog, I haven't invested ANY time on my novel!!!!!"
My mother -> .....
She would be so confused and lost. As a matter of fact, I vaguely mentioned that Friday night we would be having our regular D&D 4th edition session, and that I was considering stopping by for my friends' Saturday night Pathfinder session to learn more about healing classes in tabletop gaming, and there was a stunned silence as my mother struggled to find something to say that would make it sound as though she had any idea what I was talking about. Actually, I think she was trying to figure out if D&D was somehow related to S&M and whether or not she should be horrified.
It's kinda sad, when you think about it, that the S&M would be something more easily understood than the D&D. Or... well maybe it's not sad. Actually maybe it's just creepy, since it's my mother. NAAAAAAAAAH *thinks happy thoughts*
I really did have a point. Somewhere.
Oh yes. Outside of the gaming universe, my life is incredibly dull. I work. Or rather, I go to a place and hope that maybe this time they will give me work. My fiance works. And we come home, maybe watch some TV together, and talk about our hobby, and maybe play some of our hobby - gaming. I suppose I'm a bit spoiled on having people to whom I can relate in regards to my hobby. My fiance is a gamer. All of our friends are gamers. There is never a shortage of people with whom I can discuss gaming.
But now I'm one of those people who, when faced with a non-gamer, has nothing to really talk about. Well, we could discuss politics or religion... two subjects I love that are simply not polite conversation - especially not with my mom. Perhaps if my job were more interesting, I would have more to discuss on that front. But I'm a hobbyist, I'm engaged to a hobbyist, our friends are hobbyists, and I'm left wondering, what do hobbyists talk about with non-hobbyists?
When speaking to a non-gamer, when they ask what you do, it's just "gaming". But that one word encompasses so much. Entire worlds are encapsulated in a two syllable noun. I suddenly have so much more sympathy for folks who play WoW a lot and are in relationships with non-WoWers. I'm really very lucky. I am off in my own little world, this alternate universe. I have likely abandoned all those who do not appreciate this world, or speak the language, and I'm blessed that so many people I *do* care about are on the voyage with me. I never realize how separate this world is until I'm forced to try and conversate with foreigners.
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Labels:
autobiography,
gaming,
IRL,
non-healing,
philosophy,
THIS IS NO TIME FOR SINGING,
zomg social theory
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This past weekend I was complaining in guild chat about how much I really dislike my job, and miss the days when I was just a lowly cashier at the home depot. One of my longest WoW friends piped in and told me something she learned a long time ago that has helped her get through a bad day in the office, and develop a healthy attitude at work.
Before I divulge the secrets of her genius, I'd actually like to start by pointing out why I like RPGs in the first place, and some of the ways I'm different than many other players.
I have a lot of respect for hard work and long efforts that may only reward small payoff. I've always felt the joy is in the journey, and as feel-good and hippieish as that philosophy may sounds, it's how I play. It's why I don't mind long reputation grinds. It's why I like leveling my toons "the right way". It's why I think people ought to be polite to one another. It's why I enjoy healing, and helping others - but it's also why I dislike giving people gold for no reason, or running lowbies through dungeons on principle. I translate my values from the real world into my game universe. I did this long before I ever started playing WoW, but WoW has definitely been the best reflection of my personal values. Think of it like Gevlon-gone-nicey-nice. After all, even Gevlon's action in game reflect his own personal values.
So in a strange twist, my friend-who-is-like-a-sister told me that she gets into a gaming mindset for work. It sounds kinda backwards, it may even sound like one of those things that gamers get harassed for all the time, the uber geek mentality. But it makes sense to me.
She gears up to go to work. She grinds faction reputation with her coworkers, clients, and bosses. She does her daily quests every day, and pursues various different achievements. Much like WoW is something she plays in a way to enjoy her life, work is a "game" she plays that enables her to enjoy her non-work life. All that reputation and daily grinding can be exhausting and tedious, but it enables her to pursue the other things she truly enjoys. Perhaps she can buy a fancy new mount. She needs a certain steady level of gold for repairs for raiding, and consumables of course. When she meets people that are rude and thoughtless, she reminds herself that she does not have to deal with these people outside of that realm if she does not want to. Much like rude people online, who you will inevitably have to deal with online, perhaps if we're lucky, we only have to deal with the work-jerks while in the office.
I asked her if that meant if I ran over my boss I would get ten achievement points and a few epics, and she said I might, but then I might also get banned. Damn, there goes that idea.
So I started thinking about this in terms of my current hateful work situation. I am currently employed as an intern - stuffing envelopes, fetching coffee, that kind of crap. So I've decided to think of it like Naxx, or heroics. I strongly dislike both, to be honest, but in this analogy, I need them both to gear up for something better... like Icecrown. Maybe if I run enough stupid heroics and starter-raids (aka internships), I will be better prepared for the real fun, the real goal, Arthas (oh and a job at the US Census Bureau plzkthx).
The idea of going from someone who brings her real world values into a game changing into someone who brings her in-game values into the real world is something of a frightening transformation. Have I gone off the edge of gamer extremism and fantasy world inundation? Am I going to wake up tomorrow, single, unemployed, undateable, living in my mom's basement? No, I don't think so (and it's not just because my Texan parents don't have a basement). Perhaps it's just a coping mechanism. I'm not sure how healthy it is, but surely it's not healthy to go into work and leave work utterly miserable with your life because you hate your job so much, either.
So I think I'll give it a shot. What do you think? Have I gone off the edge? Is this the crowning moment of my avoidant personality disorder? Will the non-gaming faction of the world soon come with the whitecoats and toss me into a padded cell? Am I distorting my real life to accomodate a mere hobby?
Before I divulge the secrets of her genius, I'd actually like to start by pointing out why I like RPGs in the first place, and some of the ways I'm different than many other players.
I have a lot of respect for hard work and long efforts that may only reward small payoff. I've always felt the joy is in the journey, and as feel-good and hippieish as that philosophy may sounds, it's how I play. It's why I don't mind long reputation grinds. It's why I like leveling my toons "the right way". It's why I think people ought to be polite to one another. It's why I enjoy healing, and helping others - but it's also why I dislike giving people gold for no reason, or running lowbies through dungeons on principle. I translate my values from the real world into my game universe. I did this long before I ever started playing WoW, but WoW has definitely been the best reflection of my personal values. Think of it like Gevlon-gone-nicey-nice. After all, even Gevlon's action in game reflect his own personal values.
So in a strange twist, my friend-who-is-like-a-sister told me that she gets into a gaming mindset for work. It sounds kinda backwards, it may even sound like one of those things that gamers get harassed for all the time, the uber geek mentality. But it makes sense to me.
She gears up to go to work. She grinds faction reputation with her coworkers, clients, and bosses. She does her daily quests every day, and pursues various different achievements. Much like WoW is something she plays in a way to enjoy her life, work is a "game" she plays that enables her to enjoy her non-work life. All that reputation and daily grinding can be exhausting and tedious, but it enables her to pursue the other things she truly enjoys. Perhaps she can buy a fancy new mount. She needs a certain steady level of gold for repairs for raiding, and consumables of course. When she meets people that are rude and thoughtless, she reminds herself that she does not have to deal with these people outside of that realm if she does not want to. Much like rude people online, who you will inevitably have to deal with online, perhaps if we're lucky, we only have to deal with the work-jerks while in the office.
I asked her if that meant if I ran over my boss I would get ten achievement points and a few epics, and she said I might, but then I might also get banned. Damn, there goes that idea.
So I started thinking about this in terms of my current hateful work situation. I am currently employed as an intern - stuffing envelopes, fetching coffee, that kind of crap. So I've decided to think of it like Naxx, or heroics. I strongly dislike both, to be honest, but in this analogy, I need them both to gear up for something better... like Icecrown. Maybe if I run enough stupid heroics and starter-raids (aka internships), I will be better prepared for the real fun, the real goal, Arthas (oh and a job at the US Census Bureau plzkthx).
The idea of going from someone who brings her real world values into a game changing into someone who brings her in-game values into the real world is something of a frightening transformation. Have I gone off the edge of gamer extremism and fantasy world inundation? Am I going to wake up tomorrow, single, unemployed, undateable, living in my mom's basement? No, I don't think so (and it's not just because my Texan parents don't have a basement). Perhaps it's just a coping mechanism. I'm not sure how healthy it is, but surely it's not healthy to go into work and leave work utterly miserable with your life because you hate your job so much, either.
So I think I'll give it a shot. What do you think? Have I gone off the edge? Is this the crowning moment of my avoidant personality disorder? Will the non-gaming faction of the world soon come with the whitecoats and toss me into a padded cell? Am I distorting my real life to accomodate a mere hobby?
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Recently, a bunch of my alliance friends invited me on a couple of their guild runs. We were laughing and chatting in vent, when one of them said "Jessica keeps interrupting me and asking me questions!" Confused, I said "What? No I'm not, you silly warlock!" to which he responded "No, no, I was referring to my daughter, Jessica." Slightly embarassed, after a short pause, I replied "Oh. Whoops. Guess the cat's out of the bag now, I just gave away my real name!" Much to my surprise, everyone else exploded in laughter, with rounds of "It wasn't really that big of a secret, Jess."
Well. I never claimed to be subtle.
I've thought about this a lot since. We play daily with these people, get to know them and their personalities, and often quite a bit about their personal lives - Yet a lot of the time we don't even know their real names, though we can recognize their voice over vent. While this sort of thing is becoming more and more common amongst my generation, the majority of people still aren't quite sure where to draw the line in what they say about themselves over the internet. In my own case, a strange mix of factors contributes to the internet paradox that is Elimeny, aka Jessabelle, aka Miss Medicina. After all, if you google Elimeny, I'm all over the place.
No, I don't publicize my real name or too many identifying details of my personal life for a lot of very legitimate reasons, though I suspect it would be very easy to get that information, should someone want it. For one, my fiance is intensely private, and it would be disrespectful to him if I were too open about myself since he values his privacy so much. Secondly, if it were not obvious before, I do a lot of work in a research based academic field... one day I really do hope to publish some of my research (if I ever get around to finishing it), and once you do that, you have to be pretty protective of your name.
The funny thing is, I grew up on the internet, and it's very integral to my personal life. I met my fiance online, and several people whom I count amongst my best friends I only talk to over the internet (that includes Fulguralis and Fuubaar!). Relating to people via a handle is not a difficult task for me, nor does it keep me from connecting with others on a very personal level, real name or not. But I always hate these awkward conversations...
Jessabelle: Hi! My name is Jessica :)
Sneakarillio: Hey! Nice to meet you. My name is Sneakarillio.
Jessabelle: ...
There's always this sort of awkward moment as we try to figure out how much personal information to give someone else. After all, we don't want to push people beyond the line at which they are comfortable. When you give people personal information, sometimes it makes them uneasy, because they feel they are expected to return the same amount of information - an amount with which they are simply not comfortable.
I guess my name became obvious, because Jessabelle got shortened to Jess over vent and party/raid chat, and everyone identifies Jess as a nickname for Jessica. I blame Kelly and Fuubaar, FYI.
For the record, most of my face to face friends (I shall now call them F2F) call me Jessie. I actually despise the shorthand IRL - Fulguralis is my real friend in real life. Just because all of our communication happens over the internet does not make him less of a real friend. To be quite honest, most of my communication with my F2F friends happens via the internet as well - I'm a total homebody.
So, maybe it's a psychological thing. I hear about wow being addictive, but I think *anything* can be addictive if you enjoy it enough. I think my grandmother was addicted to church. WoW combines my love of high fantasy role playing games, with my desire for social interaction that does not require me to leave the safety and comfort of my own home. I can be a gamer without being a friend-less loser, who knew? I think people hate PuGs because in general, it's a lot more fun to play with your friends - with the people you know. I know these people, even if I don't know their address. To me, raiding isn't fun if I'm not raiding with those I know - even if I don't know their real name.
Well. I never claimed to be subtle.
I've thought about this a lot since. We play daily with these people, get to know them and their personalities, and often quite a bit about their personal lives - Yet a lot of the time we don't even know their real names, though we can recognize their voice over vent. While this sort of thing is becoming more and more common amongst my generation, the majority of people still aren't quite sure where to draw the line in what they say about themselves over the internet. In my own case, a strange mix of factors contributes to the internet paradox that is Elimeny, aka Jessabelle, aka Miss Medicina. After all, if you google Elimeny, I'm all over the place.
No, I don't publicize my real name or too many identifying details of my personal life for a lot of very legitimate reasons, though I suspect it would be very easy to get that information, should someone want it. For one, my fiance is intensely private, and it would be disrespectful to him if I were too open about myself since he values his privacy so much. Secondly, if it were not obvious before, I do a lot of work in a research based academic field... one day I really do hope to publish some of my research (if I ever get around to finishing it), and once you do that, you have to be pretty protective of your name.
The funny thing is, I grew up on the internet, and it's very integral to my personal life. I met my fiance online, and several people whom I count amongst my best friends I only talk to over the internet (that includes Fulguralis and Fuubaar!). Relating to people via a handle is not a difficult task for me, nor does it keep me from connecting with others on a very personal level, real name or not. But I always hate these awkward conversations...
Jessabelle: Hi! My name is Jessica :)
Sneakarillio: Hey! Nice to meet you. My name is Sneakarillio.
Jessabelle: ...
There's always this sort of awkward moment as we try to figure out how much personal information to give someone else. After all, we don't want to push people beyond the line at which they are comfortable. When you give people personal information, sometimes it makes them uneasy, because they feel they are expected to return the same amount of information - an amount with which they are simply not comfortable.
I guess my name became obvious, because Jessabelle got shortened to Jess over vent and party/raid chat, and everyone identifies Jess as a nickname for Jessica. I blame Kelly and Fuubaar, FYI.
For the record, most of my face to face friends (I shall now call them F2F) call me Jessie. I actually despise the shorthand IRL - Fulguralis is my real friend in real life. Just because all of our communication happens over the internet does not make him less of a real friend. To be quite honest, most of my communication with my F2F friends happens via the internet as well - I'm a total homebody.
So, maybe it's a psychological thing. I hear about wow being addictive, but I think *anything* can be addictive if you enjoy it enough. I think my grandmother was addicted to church. WoW combines my love of high fantasy role playing games, with my desire for social interaction that does not require me to leave the safety and comfort of my own home. I can be a gamer without being a friend-less loser, who knew? I think people hate PuGs because in general, it's a lot more fun to play with your friends - with the people you know. I know these people, even if I don't know their address. To me, raiding isn't fun if I'm not raiding with those I know - even if I don't know their real name.
Labels:
alliance love,
autobiography,
guild love,
IRL,
off-topic,
zomg social theory
10
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I can't even express in words right now how totally excited I am. So, let's try a picture...
Due to vast efforts on behalf of Dan Hughes, who is a fellow columnist at Save or Die Radio and one of his twitter friends (for privacy reasons, I won't give her name), they managed to complete my "Find Angry Alice" quest! 3 million xp to both.
The artist is listed on deviantart, and his handle is C3R3ALKILL3R. He is from Spain, and this particular picture was just something he sketched up in high school. He has a lot of really amazing work, and I encourage everyone to check him out. I'm going to order a print of this image sometime in the next week. Also, I need to ask him for permission to be using his image for my avatar all over teh internets.
It is really amazing how you can make so many random connections all over the internet. I told my fiance that, and his response was "I know... it's almost like a WEB... that is WORLD WIDE." Smart ass. But truly, since I started writing this blog, I've met some amazing people, and I'm not even talking about the folks in the Blogosphere. Twitter has introduced me to even more amazing people, and writing this column for Save or Die Radio has opened even more doors.
It's not that I'm trying to become some kind of internet celebrity. I just really like to write. I also really like to help people, which is why I enjoy writing so many newbie guides. I never actually expected anyone to read any of it, or to meet so many great folks. When Dan linked me the above picture via twitter, and announced that his friend found it, I was so warmed and happy and excited, I almost cried (which would have been very awkward for the three gamer dudes I was hanging out with). I don't even know these folks, and they spent hours helping me out!
I'm realy feelin' the love right now.
Due to vast efforts on behalf of Dan Hughes, who is a fellow columnist at Save or Die Radio and one of his twitter friends (for privacy reasons, I won't give her name), they managed to complete my "Find Angry Alice" quest! 3 million xp to both.The artist is listed on deviantart, and his handle is C3R3ALKILL3R. He is from Spain, and this particular picture was just something he sketched up in high school. He has a lot of really amazing work, and I encourage everyone to check him out. I'm going to order a print of this image sometime in the next week. Also, I need to ask him for permission to be using his image for my avatar all over teh internets.
It is really amazing how you can make so many random connections all over the internet. I told my fiance that, and his response was "I know... it's almost like a WEB... that is WORLD WIDE." Smart ass. But truly, since I started writing this blog, I've met some amazing people, and I'm not even talking about the folks in the Blogosphere. Twitter has introduced me to even more amazing people, and writing this column for Save or Die Radio has opened even more doors.
It's not that I'm trying to become some kind of internet celebrity. I just really like to write. I also really like to help people, which is why I enjoy writing so many newbie guides. I never actually expected anyone to read any of it, or to meet so many great folks. When Dan linked me the above picture via twitter, and announced that his friend found it, I was so warmed and happy and excited, I almost cried (which would have been very awkward for the three gamer dudes I was hanging out with). I don't even know these folks, and they spent hours helping me out!
I'm realy feelin' the love right now.
Quickie post before I head out to my interview. There was a really great comment left on my Intro to Disc healing guide with some suggested improvements, so I have updated the guide.
If you have come here looking for some (hopefully!) helpful healing guides, they are listed to the right under Miss Medicina's Guides. I might start making it a weekly thing... until I run out of ways to boss you folks around. I have debated on and off about making a Holy Priest starter guide, because there haven't seemed to be a whole lot of requests for that, but I may do it anyway.
Oh bother, I have to go sell myself. Too bad I can't put "Writes many TLDR guides with lots of detailed information about healing in World of Warcraft" on my resume.
If you have come here looking for some (hopefully!) helpful healing guides, they are listed to the right under Miss Medicina's Guides. I might start making it a weekly thing... until I run out of ways to boss you folks around. I have debated on and off about making a Holy Priest starter guide, because there haven't seemed to be a whole lot of requests for that, but I may do it anyway.
Oh bother, I have to go sell myself. Too bad I can't put "Writes many TLDR guides with lots of detailed information about healing in World of Warcraft" on my resume.
I can't speak. I'm mourning the death of both Michael Jackson AND Billy Mays.
TV will never be the same.
TV will never be the same.
I do actually have a "real" post coming soon regarding 3.2 and pallies, but before I leave for work, I just need to rant.
I'm just plain exhausted.
Why are most of my posts appearing at 2 or 3 am? Why am I up so late anyway? The reality is that I'm NOT up late... I'm up early. I have a commute that is appoximately 1.5 hrs on a good day, and anywhere between 2 and 4 on a bad one. I have a certain number of hours I am required to fulfill at my internship per quarter (or semester for you normal uni students) - and I slacked off this past quarter, and left all my hours to the end. That means that I am literally scrambling to get in 9-12 hour days so that I can fulfill my hour requirement and not get booted from the program or lose my grad funding. 9 hour days = 45 hour workweeks, which wouldnt be that bad... except you have to add on the 3-4 hours i spend each day commuting. That totals to, oh 60 hour workweeks.
I have to have enough sleep or I risk falling asleep while driving. I cannot risk waking up late and not getting my hours in. That means that when I get home from work, around 6 or 7, I immediately go to bed. When my fiance gets home, sometime between 8 and 10, he pops into the bedroom to make sure I'm alive, and to wake me up just long enough so that I can see him, say hi, then go back to bed. When he comes to bed, around 2 or 3 in the morning, that's when I wake up. I haven't been able to talk to him much at all during the week. That's probably why I'm just as clueless as any of the other officers as to where he's been, what he's up to, why he may or may not respond on our fora. Kinda embarassing really... I live with the guy after all.
I hop on my laptop around 2am, scramble to get some much needed dailies in on both of my level 80s, as well as read up on what's happening in the wow world, and put together a halfway decent blog post. Then I take a super fast shower and speed on down the freeway to work.
Obviously, I haven't been able to do any weekday raids. That means my raiders have been short a healer - and we're already short on healers, so the raids have been struggling left and right. The officers in my alliance have been trying to put together an officer meeting, and the only way I can do it is if my fiance comes up, wakes me up for the meeting, and then I go straight back to bed afterwards. Not ideal, but a meeting is overdue, and I *have* to be there, for my own sanity.
All this is coupled with the fact that I need a refill on my medication, as my stores are dwindling - but, I need a doctor's appointment, and I have neither time nor money at the present moment for that. That means I'm trying to stretch it out - something I should be taking every day religiously is now being taken every 3 or 4 days. Which means it's a good thing I'm sleeping when others are awake, because I might crack at any second. I'm dizzy and faint like you wouldn't believe. I stumble when I walk. At least I have no problems driving!
The good thing is that my internship finally ends tomorrow, so my sleeping schedule can go back on track. Unfortunately for my raiding addiction, my fiance and I are heading out of town for one of our twice yearly visits with my family for a week. I can't exactly postpone it... my gigantic crazy cajun family wants to drink a lot of moonshine in celebration of our recent engagement.
So I will just have to continue powering through it for the next couple of weeks, and hope that everyone in my alliance doesn't forget me. At least I can still access our website and fora from work, so I've been making a distinct effort to make my presence known there. >sigh<
I'm just plain exhausted.
Why are most of my posts appearing at 2 or 3 am? Why am I up so late anyway? The reality is that I'm NOT up late... I'm up early. I have a commute that is appoximately 1.5 hrs on a good day, and anywhere between 2 and 4 on a bad one. I have a certain number of hours I am required to fulfill at my internship per quarter (or semester for you normal uni students) - and I slacked off this past quarter, and left all my hours to the end. That means that I am literally scrambling to get in 9-12 hour days so that I can fulfill my hour requirement and not get booted from the program or lose my grad funding. 9 hour days = 45 hour workweeks, which wouldnt be that bad... except you have to add on the 3-4 hours i spend each day commuting. That totals to, oh 60 hour workweeks.
I have to have enough sleep or I risk falling asleep while driving. I cannot risk waking up late and not getting my hours in. That means that when I get home from work, around 6 or 7, I immediately go to bed. When my fiance gets home, sometime between 8 and 10, he pops into the bedroom to make sure I'm alive, and to wake me up just long enough so that I can see him, say hi, then go back to bed. When he comes to bed, around 2 or 3 in the morning, that's when I wake up. I haven't been able to talk to him much at all during the week. That's probably why I'm just as clueless as any of the other officers as to where he's been, what he's up to, why he may or may not respond on our fora. Kinda embarassing really... I live with the guy after all.
I hop on my laptop around 2am, scramble to get some much needed dailies in on both of my level 80s, as well as read up on what's happening in the wow world, and put together a halfway decent blog post. Then I take a super fast shower and speed on down the freeway to work.
Obviously, I haven't been able to do any weekday raids. That means my raiders have been short a healer - and we're already short on healers, so the raids have been struggling left and right. The officers in my alliance have been trying to put together an officer meeting, and the only way I can do it is if my fiance comes up, wakes me up for the meeting, and then I go straight back to bed afterwards. Not ideal, but a meeting is overdue, and I *have* to be there, for my own sanity.
All this is coupled with the fact that I need a refill on my medication, as my stores are dwindling - but, I need a doctor's appointment, and I have neither time nor money at the present moment for that. That means I'm trying to stretch it out - something I should be taking every day religiously is now being taken every 3 or 4 days. Which means it's a good thing I'm sleeping when others are awake, because I might crack at any second. I'm dizzy and faint like you wouldn't believe. I stumble when I walk. At least I have no problems driving!
The good thing is that my internship finally ends tomorrow, so my sleeping schedule can go back on track. Unfortunately for my raiding addiction, my fiance and I are heading out of town for one of our twice yearly visits with my family for a week. I can't exactly postpone it... my gigantic crazy cajun family wants to drink a lot of moonshine in celebration of our recent engagement.
So I will just have to continue powering through it for the next couple of weeks, and hope that everyone in my alliance doesn't forget me. At least I can still access our website and fora from work, so I've been making a distinct effort to make my presence known there. >sigh<
There's a bit of a burnout theme cycling through the Magic Internet Waves these days, as suggested by Ful and S&S, as well as a few days ago by the tiny pink haired one. Indeed, even at home, my fiance and I have been talking about how we *might* be spending too much time playing WoW, leading to me having one or two (or possibly thousands) of panic attacks about school. In fact, when your Giant Uber Presentation for your graduate seminar includes a picture of the Big Bad Wolf, perhaps it's time to consider whether you have a slightly unhealthy obsession.
I've been tossing this idea around in my head for awhile, because I'm a little on the Type A side, if you didn't already know. I like lists. I like spreadsheets *swoon*. I even love flow charts. So I invite others to consider the same question: What would you do if you weren't playing WoW? I have no doubt there are plenty of other great things I could do with WoW. As far as productivity goes, I could, in theory, be doing much more productive things *ahemthesiscough*. But I do get a lot of benefit from WoW as well.
What might I do if I didn't play wow?
I've been tossing this idea around in my head for awhile, because I'm a little on the Type A side, if you didn't already know. I like lists. I like spreadsheets *swoon*. I even love flow charts. So I invite others to consider the same question: What would you do if you weren't playing WoW? I have no doubt there are plenty of other great things I could do with WoW. As far as productivity goes, I could, in theory, be doing much more productive things *ahemthesiscough*. But I do get a lot of benefit from WoW as well.
What might I do if I didn't play wow?
- Sleep more.
- Take those banjo lessons I've been wanting forever.
- Start one of the novels I've been meaning to write.
- Write more fanfic (shh)
- Clean the house? (hahahahahahaah yeah right.)
- Paint/Refinish/Make curtains/rip up carpet/put up moulding, shutters, windowbo... no, probably not.
- Plan a freaking wedding *shudder*
- Walk the poor dog.
- Call my sist... no. Again, probably not.
- Get more work done on my thesis.
- Take horseback riding lessons.
- My wow friends. I do not really socialize much outside of wow - i live very far away from all my friends, and I hate the phone. Anytime I'm in desperate need of conversation, I can jump on WoW and join guild chat.
- Help with my thesis. There are quite a few people in my guild and alliance that have helped me with my thesis. Some in small ways, just by giving me a sounding board, and others in bigger ways.
- Quality time having fun and doing something I enjoy with my fiance.
- The feeling of satisfaction I get when I progress through a new raid, or get exalted with a new faction, learn a new recipe, max out a skill... these all may seem silly to others, but it's on par with learning to play a new song on my guitar. It's the satisfaction that comes from proving you have excelled at something new in your favorite hobby.
I'm cheating. I'm back-posting for Monday. Mwahaha.
Because Sunday I never went to bed, and Monday I had a presentation for my seminar class that I was up all night putting together. After finishing my awesome intended to be 20 minute power point presentation, I had to go down to campus for a five hour seminar class in which we all presented our papers. My 20 minute presentation actually ended up being an hour. Oops.
And after that was over? I drove home, and crashed. I just woke up, and I'm still exhausted. And I have to leave for work in 3 hours, and try to fit in a 12 hour day if possible. Blah. I haven't been able to raid with my fellow alliance members on a regular basis for several weeks now (with the notable exception of Maly this weekend). Since my university is on a quarter system, and not a semester system, it may be summer for everyone else, but "summer" for me is defined by "no school" - and therefore, it's not summer yet!
I'm exhausted.
Because Sunday I never went to bed, and Monday I had a presentation for my seminar class that I was up all night putting together. After finishing my awesome intended to be 20 minute power point presentation, I had to go down to campus for a five hour seminar class in which we all presented our papers. My 20 minute presentation actually ended up being an hour. Oops.
And after that was over? I drove home, and crashed. I just woke up, and I'm still exhausted. And I have to leave for work in 3 hours, and try to fit in a 12 hour day if possible. Blah. I haven't been able to raid with my fellow alliance members on a regular basis for several weeks now (with the notable exception of Maly this weekend). Since my university is on a quarter system, and not a semester system, it may be summer for everyone else, but "summer" for me is defined by "no school" - and therefore, it's not summer yet!
I'm exhausted.
On a Friday several weeks ago, my boyfriend fiance was having a light conversation with some of his work-mates regarding weekend plans. When asked what he was going to do that weekend, he told them he would be playing World of Warcraft with me. They laughed at him, and teased him about it, which I find very ironic, considering they all work together at a company that makes and produces games.
My shmexy Death Knight beau didn't bat an eye. "What are you going to do this weekend? Watch football? Does your wife enjoy watching football with you?" This quickly shut them up. You can call us dorky gamers if you like, but at least we've found something we enjoy doing together. Sure, maybe we could have healthier hobbies. I really respect that his parents go bike-riding together every weekend. However, me on a bike = epic fail, and in fact, most activities that require some sort of coordination or grace are out of my reach.
We spend a lot of time playing WoW. We probably spend way too much time playing WoW. But it is one of the few hobbies that we both really enjoy. We spend our gaming time with our friends - both IRL friends and in-game friends. It annoys me when people who are not gamers scoff at the idea of me considering these people my friends. Why? Because we don't get drunk together at a club on Friday nights? You may look at it as some digital alternative reality where i am friends with a bunch of ones and zeroes, but the truth of the matter is that behind that 3d model is a real person, who already has shown they share an interest with me. I have been friends with some of these people for over 3 years. When someone doesn't show up for a raid, we have their phone number, and we call to make sure they are okay. When I've been down on my luck, or truly depressed, I've had many long discussions with some of my WoW friends. If friendship is about having companionship and communication with someone who cares, then there is absolutely no reason why WoW players cannot fulfill that need for one another.
The fiance and I have been playing together for awhile, but I did start playing before him, and the guild I was in before he and his friends started playing Alliance side on our server was founded mostly by pairs of people. Therefore I know several couples who play the game together, which has prompted one of my single guild-mates to suggest that I must be leading the Lothar Swingers Club. That's not really my dish, but hey, I can see how it might look that way to others. In the same way that couples who frequent parties together might become fast friends with other couples, we do the same thing in WoW.
Except that our dinner parties are fish feasts.
My shmexy Death Knight beau didn't bat an eye. "What are you going to do this weekend? Watch football? Does your wife enjoy watching football with you?" This quickly shut them up. You can call us dorky gamers if you like, but at least we've found something we enjoy doing together. Sure, maybe we could have healthier hobbies. I really respect that his parents go bike-riding together every weekend. However, me on a bike = epic fail, and in fact, most activities that require some sort of coordination or grace are out of my reach.
We spend a lot of time playing WoW. We probably spend way too much time playing WoW. But it is one of the few hobbies that we both really enjoy. We spend our gaming time with our friends - both IRL friends and in-game friends. It annoys me when people who are not gamers scoff at the idea of me considering these people my friends. Why? Because we don't get drunk together at a club on Friday nights? You may look at it as some digital alternative reality where i am friends with a bunch of ones and zeroes, but the truth of the matter is that behind that 3d model is a real person, who already has shown they share an interest with me. I have been friends with some of these people for over 3 years. When someone doesn't show up for a raid, we have their phone number, and we call to make sure they are okay. When I've been down on my luck, or truly depressed, I've had many long discussions with some of my WoW friends. If friendship is about having companionship and communication with someone who cares, then there is absolutely no reason why WoW players cannot fulfill that need for one another.
The fiance and I have been playing together for awhile, but I did start playing before him, and the guild I was in before he and his friends started playing Alliance side on our server was founded mostly by pairs of people. Therefore I know several couples who play the game together, which has prompted one of my single guild-mates to suggest that I must be leading the Lothar Swingers Club. That's not really my dish, but hey, I can see how it might look that way to others. In the same way that couples who frequent parties together might become fast friends with other couples, we do the same thing in WoW.
Except that our dinner parties are fish feasts.
