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Entry tags:
- books,
- fan fiction,
- movies,
- rl,
- wow
and then... and then...
Hmm, I should really get some more icons to round out my selection. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with 80 Logan/Veronica icons, but I could probably use some variety.
***
I'm sad because my coworker has told us he's leaving the company in order to take on some hoity toity position somewhere else. He's only been here a year, and initially I wasn't even sure how well we'd get along. He was replacing someone whom I considered a good friend (another woman, at that). We started having lunch together regularly and it turned out that he was really cool and we really hit it off. And now he's leaving. :-( It was nice working with a friend. I can't imagine I'll be as lucky with his replacement.
***
I should give up reading WIPs and wait for them to come out on DVD. Wait... Something like that, anyway. Somehow, I got to reading two WIPs on FIA even though I normally avoid WIPs like ... not the plague, exactly ... like fast food. I know it's not good for me, I know the momentary satisfaction is fleeting, and yet the temptation is sometimes just too much for me to resist. DAMN YOU, WIP WRITERS (including me).
***
Christmas/New Year's: Got a lot of sweet loot. Jade, Robbie, and I totally went off each other's Amazon lists this year, and I must say the results brought joy and merriment to all. After all, how can you go wrong with books, DVDs, and CDs?? After burning stuff for each other, it was like getting 3x the loot! :))
Also saw a number of movies. I've already mentioned The Family Stone (see it!!) and King Kong, but Jade and I also saw Crash. I don't think it's playing in theaters anymore, but I highly rec it. It was really, really good. It left me so drained afterward that I didn't think I could see it again, but I've changed my mind. It was just a great movie -- I'm hoping it'll be this year's Sideways and get nommed for an Oscar! I believe the guy who wrote it also wrote Million-Dollar Baby.
My parents and I went to Vegas during the last couple of days of my trip and saw my brother (who was there working). I won $5 playing the penny slots. :)) (Hey, that's like the equivalent of winning $500 from a regular slot machine!) I also saw that "Avenue Q" was playing at Wynn (fairly boring and run of the mill, for the new A-list hotel in town). I wish I'd known earlier so I could have booked tickets.
***
My friend K. got married in Nov. She and I worked together in D.C., and we used to make it a point to try a new restaurant every week, because we both loved food and were very open minded about it. (Also, she betaed my smuttiest story ever, from XF.) At the time, she was dating M., whom she'd been with for several years by that point (they'd gone to the same university, etc.). Everyone expected them to get married. After I left D.C., we wrote once in awhile, but not regularly (she gave me tips about painting when I bought my condo). Then I found out that she and M. had broken up, which was weird enough, but the fact that she had apparently taken up with someone else was even weirder to me. I mean, what was K. without M., and vice versa? A few months ago, she told me that she was getting married, to the new guy whom I've never even met. I don't know why, but it is still so, so, SO weird to me. It's not even that I don't like the new guy (don't know him), or that I liked M. a lot (only met him a couple of times), but it was just one of those things that was a certainty, and now she's married, and it's not to M. Craziness.
Anyway, she sent some wedding photos, and all I have to say is, I need to get the name of the photographer she used. They got married in Maui, and while the gown she's wearing is a bit impractical for a beach wedding, it's so gorgeous it doesn't even matter. You can see it here and here -- and here's a shot of the back of the dress. The dress is amazing and she looks so pretty! I'm really glad that she seems v. happy. <3
Oh, and if you've ever watched Fear Factor and seen the episode where they had to eat the most disgusting thing ever (buffalo penis), K. was in that episode. And is apparently going to be on some home decorating show called "Freestyle." Is that like Trading Spaces? I have no clue. It's airing in February.
***
I PVP'ed so much this week (well, the weekend), and still didn't make Blood Guard. My God, what will it take?! I mean, sure, it gets harder to rank up as you reach higher levels, and sure, a lot of people were PVPing this week. But I was at 39% progress to BG, and after 50+K honor this week, I only reach 89%?? Arrrggghh! Soooo disappointing, as this means not only do I not get to buy the BG stuff, but I'm going to have to put the same amount of effort in this week in PVPing, and I was hoping to take a break. :( I've been lucky, however, that I usually get to play in a set group for AB, which means more honor for the same effort (since we win). Also, I do want to get revered with the Frostwolf Clan so I can get the Crackling Staff. It's just embarrassing that I'm still carrying around the Illusionary Rod.
I have been playing so much freakin' AB I am less than 1K away from being honored. Same with WSG, although considering how much I played that pre-60, I can't believe I'm NOT honored with them yet.
For the first time I went to the Kilrogg boards yesterday and entertained myself by reading many posts. It's nice to see/hear players (Alliance in particular) as normal people, and to see them interacting in a (usually) friendly way. They all seem to know each other and are like one big happy, occasionally squabbling, family. <3
This thread, about that idiot coward Stormborn (currently #1 in the Alliance PVP rankings btw), opened a lot of festering wounds. A big bone of contention on our server (and possibly others) is Horde AFK'ing out of games they don't want to play. While personally I would prefer not to AFK out of games, particularly if I'm in a group where I'm going to have fun just playing with good people who will do their jobs, I can *very much* commiserate with the people who do AFK (such as if you're in a PUG and you get the other side's A-team. I mean, why should I waste my time and in-game money on that?). Sure, Alliance doesn't AFK as much as Horde does, but that's only because they can't afford to. They wait in long queues in order to play; Horde usually gets in in a matter of seconds. So once Alliance gets in, they're less likely to AFK. That sucks for them, but that's just too bad. You play Alliance, you have to live with the ups and downs of being Alliance -- and one of the downs is that there are many more Alliance players than Horde.
My brother made a post about this topic, and I totally agree with what he says, as well as what Blizzard should do to help resolve the problem. Sure, with patch 1.9 they instituted the "Deserter" debuff, but you know who that hurts? The poor SOBs who play individually in PUGs. If you're in a group, a Deserter can still get queued with the rest of the group -- it's just that the leader can't be one. Anyway, my brother's post, in response to an Alliance player saying that the queuing system is fine, and it's the AFK'ing creating the problems:
AFK'ing is a response to a system that forces casual players to serve as honor fodder for opposing A-teams. This is true on both sides. I personally try not to AFK but it does get tedious to die constantly and not even be able to kill an opponent, so I totally understand why people would AFK. In those games where we are going 5-15 I've taken to simply not rezzing at all and just waiting for my Mark. I do that because there's no incentive for me to take durability and give out free honor. I also understand that people from top Alliance guilds who are no doubt decked out in epics wouldn't "get" the concept of being in a PUG with green gear and losing because of it so I also don't blame you for your continued lack of sympathy in this issue. I've been grouped with a Horde A-team once and it only took one 5-node to stop the Alliance from queueing at all, so please don't try to make this sound like a faction issue. Casual players will quit if they feel that their time is better spent elsewhere -- it's as simple as that. If anyone is a coward (and no one really is), it's the hardcore pvp teams. They're the ones who are "afraid" to set one foot into AB without 14 of their epic-geared buddies prearranged into balanced groups with well-defined roles... to face off against 15 randoms. I may be biased here, but I think it takes a lot more courage to step into AB wearing greens and knowing that you can't really count on anyone to do anything.
If you ask me, in the interest of fairness, which in turn would stop all the AFK nonsense, the BG queues should be setup so that you can either join as an individual or as a full team. If you join as an individual, then you're treated as being in line like everyone else, and you go with your block of players which may or may not include your friends, and you get matched against other people that did the same. If you join as a raid, then you get matched up against other people that joined as a raid. This keeps teams fighting other teams and PUGs fighting other PUGs. Right now we have a queue system that allows the hardcore pvp'ers to cherry pick their teams and then play against a group of randoms that are likely to be both unorganized and undergeared. Why not be consistent about it and stick a portal to XR in Ironforge, for all the difference it makes?
... and that's why I blame the queueing system.
In the meanwhile, I SO need to pay some attention to Inara. She's been stuck at 40 for like, a month. *sigh*
***
Two new Meg Cabot books have come out -- I haven't read either one yet, but of course I will: Size 12 Is Not Fat (adult contemporary, mystery) and Avalon High (YA, and yes, there are shades of the Arthurian legend w00t)
***
I'm sad because my coworker has told us he's leaving the company in order to take on some hoity toity position somewhere else. He's only been here a year, and initially I wasn't even sure how well we'd get along. He was replacing someone whom I considered a good friend (another woman, at that). We started having lunch together regularly and it turned out that he was really cool and we really hit it off. And now he's leaving. :-( It was nice working with a friend. I can't imagine I'll be as lucky with his replacement.
***
I should give up reading WIPs and wait for them to come out on DVD. Wait... Something like that, anyway. Somehow, I got to reading two WIPs on FIA even though I normally avoid WIPs like ... not the plague, exactly ... like fast food. I know it's not good for me, I know the momentary satisfaction is fleeting, and yet the temptation is sometimes just too much for me to resist. DAMN YOU, WIP WRITERS (including me).
***
Christmas/New Year's: Got a lot of sweet loot. Jade, Robbie, and I totally went off each other's Amazon lists this year, and I must say the results brought joy and merriment to all. After all, how can you go wrong with books, DVDs, and CDs?? After burning stuff for each other, it was like getting 3x the loot! :))
Also saw a number of movies. I've already mentioned The Family Stone (see it!!) and King Kong, but Jade and I also saw Crash. I don't think it's playing in theaters anymore, but I highly rec it. It was really, really good. It left me so drained afterward that I didn't think I could see it again, but I've changed my mind. It was just a great movie -- I'm hoping it'll be this year's Sideways and get nommed for an Oscar! I believe the guy who wrote it also wrote Million-Dollar Baby.
My parents and I went to Vegas during the last couple of days of my trip and saw my brother (who was there working). I won $5 playing the penny slots. :)) (Hey, that's like the equivalent of winning $500 from a regular slot machine!) I also saw that "Avenue Q" was playing at Wynn (fairly boring and run of the mill, for the new A-list hotel in town). I wish I'd known earlier so I could have booked tickets.
***
My friend K. got married in Nov. She and I worked together in D.C., and we used to make it a point to try a new restaurant every week, because we both loved food and were very open minded about it. (Also, she betaed my smuttiest story ever, from XF.) At the time, she was dating M., whom she'd been with for several years by that point (they'd gone to the same university, etc.). Everyone expected them to get married. After I left D.C., we wrote once in awhile, but not regularly (she gave me tips about painting when I bought my condo). Then I found out that she and M. had broken up, which was weird enough, but the fact that she had apparently taken up with someone else was even weirder to me. I mean, what was K. without M., and vice versa? A few months ago, she told me that she was getting married, to the new guy whom I've never even met. I don't know why, but it is still so, so, SO weird to me. It's not even that I don't like the new guy (don't know him), or that I liked M. a lot (only met him a couple of times), but it was just one of those things that was a certainty, and now she's married, and it's not to M. Craziness.
Anyway, she sent some wedding photos, and all I have to say is, I need to get the name of the photographer she used. They got married in Maui, and while the gown she's wearing is a bit impractical for a beach wedding, it's so gorgeous it doesn't even matter. You can see it here and here -- and here's a shot of the back of the dress. The dress is amazing and she looks so pretty! I'm really glad that she seems v. happy. <3
Oh, and if you've ever watched Fear Factor and seen the episode where they had to eat the most disgusting thing ever (buffalo penis), K. was in that episode. And is apparently going to be on some home decorating show called "Freestyle." Is that like Trading Spaces? I have no clue. It's airing in February.
***
I PVP'ed so much this week (well, the weekend), and still didn't make Blood Guard. My God, what will it take?! I mean, sure, it gets harder to rank up as you reach higher levels, and sure, a lot of people were PVPing this week. But I was at 39% progress to BG, and after 50+K honor this week, I only reach 89%?? Arrrggghh! Soooo disappointing, as this means not only do I not get to buy the BG stuff, but I'm going to have to put the same amount of effort in this week in PVPing, and I was hoping to take a break. :( I've been lucky, however, that I usually get to play in a set group for AB, which means more honor for the same effort (since we win). Also, I do want to get revered with the Frostwolf Clan so I can get the Crackling Staff. It's just embarrassing that I'm still carrying around the Illusionary Rod.
I have been playing so much freakin' AB I am less than 1K away from being honored. Same with WSG, although considering how much I played that pre-60, I can't believe I'm NOT honored with them yet.
For the first time I went to the Kilrogg boards yesterday and entertained myself by reading many posts. It's nice to see/hear players (Alliance in particular) as normal people, and to see them interacting in a (usually) friendly way. They all seem to know each other and are like one big happy, occasionally squabbling, family. <3
This thread, about that idiot coward Stormborn (currently #1 in the Alliance PVP rankings btw), opened a lot of festering wounds. A big bone of contention on our server (and possibly others) is Horde AFK'ing out of games they don't want to play. While personally I would prefer not to AFK out of games, particularly if I'm in a group where I'm going to have fun just playing with good people who will do their jobs, I can *very much* commiserate with the people who do AFK (such as if you're in a PUG and you get the other side's A-team. I mean, why should I waste my time and in-game money on that?). Sure, Alliance doesn't AFK as much as Horde does, but that's only because they can't afford to. They wait in long queues in order to play; Horde usually gets in in a matter of seconds. So once Alliance gets in, they're less likely to AFK. That sucks for them, but that's just too bad. You play Alliance, you have to live with the ups and downs of being Alliance -- and one of the downs is that there are many more Alliance players than Horde.
My brother made a post about this topic, and I totally agree with what he says, as well as what Blizzard should do to help resolve the problem. Sure, with patch 1.9 they instituted the "Deserter" debuff, but you know who that hurts? The poor SOBs who play individually in PUGs. If you're in a group, a Deserter can still get queued with the rest of the group -- it's just that the leader can't be one. Anyway, my brother's post, in response to an Alliance player saying that the queuing system is fine, and it's the AFK'ing creating the problems:
AFK'ing is a response to a system that forces casual players to serve as honor fodder for opposing A-teams. This is true on both sides. I personally try not to AFK but it does get tedious to die constantly and not even be able to kill an opponent, so I totally understand why people would AFK. In those games where we are going 5-15 I've taken to simply not rezzing at all and just waiting for my Mark. I do that because there's no incentive for me to take durability and give out free honor. I also understand that people from top Alliance guilds who are no doubt decked out in epics wouldn't "get" the concept of being in a PUG with green gear and losing because of it so I also don't blame you for your continued lack of sympathy in this issue. I've been grouped with a Horde A-team once and it only took one 5-node to stop the Alliance from queueing at all, so please don't try to make this sound like a faction issue. Casual players will quit if they feel that their time is better spent elsewhere -- it's as simple as that. If anyone is a coward (and no one really is), it's the hardcore pvp teams. They're the ones who are "afraid" to set one foot into AB without 14 of their epic-geared buddies prearranged into balanced groups with well-defined roles... to face off against 15 randoms. I may be biased here, but I think it takes a lot more courage to step into AB wearing greens and knowing that you can't really count on anyone to do anything.
If you ask me, in the interest of fairness, which in turn would stop all the AFK nonsense, the BG queues should be setup so that you can either join as an individual or as a full team. If you join as an individual, then you're treated as being in line like everyone else, and you go with your block of players which may or may not include your friends, and you get matched against other people that did the same. If you join as a raid, then you get matched up against other people that joined as a raid. This keeps teams fighting other teams and PUGs fighting other PUGs. Right now we have a queue system that allows the hardcore pvp'ers to cherry pick their teams and then play against a group of randoms that are likely to be both unorganized and undergeared. Why not be consistent about it and stick a portal to XR in Ironforge, for all the difference it makes?
... and that's why I blame the queueing system.
In the meanwhile, I SO need to pay some attention to Inara. She's been stuck at 40 for like, a month. *sigh*
***
Two new Meg Cabot books have come out -- I haven't read either one yet, but of course I will: Size 12 Is Not Fat (adult contemporary, mystery) and Avalon High (YA, and yes, there are shades of the Arthurian legend w00t)
no subject
We have Alliance guilds who pretty much only do PVP, and almost exclusively AB, so we lose to them and their epics a lot. But we still play. No one on /abteam /afks out unless we're bugged somehow. We did keep getting disconnected when some of our members used their battle standards when they had that bug going, but I'm hoping it's fixed now. Happened to me once. I got the deserter buff, too. But fortunately, if you queue as a group, only the leader of the group needs to not have the deserter buff. We lost our leader last time it happened, so I had to queue us up. Was so strange. :)
I want to get to rank 11. Yeah, I know, a pipe dream. But I really, REALLY want the Black War Kodo. And I will likely only have enough money to get the Rank 11 PVP mount. I do have 160g now, but that means I'm not even 1/4 of the way to Epic, even with discount. Though I'm trying to get Exalted with TB so I can get things cheaper. Do you know anyone, but me, who tries to get exalted with their OWN faction? *laugh*
no subject
Rank 6, my rank, woohoo! Go Stone Guards! Lemme know if you ever want to discuss AB strategies. I play it a lot (am less than 1K from honored with the Defilers, though I don't actually want the cloth girdle I can get then), and more importantly, play it with hardcore PvPers (we're talking top 10/20 in the rankings).
I learned about the Deserter thing the other night, re: that only leaders can't have the debuff, and thought it was kind of lame. As I say above, the only people that hurts, then, are the poor PUGs who basically then have to play any team they get faced off with, while the true problem, the set groups, can still cherry pick. (Though as I mentioned, I would personally rather not AFK.) I mean, that means that if the Alliance A-team is there, the Horde set group can AFK out (actually, usually we only send one in to scout, so there's only one deserter). At that point, the system puts in all the PUG players, and none of them can AFK out unless they want the debuff. It's a really poor system.
My realistic goal is rank 8, Legionnaire. It's 'only' two ranks away, so very possibly achievable in the near term. I'd love to get to rank 10, as that's the last realistic rank to aim for where I care at all about the rewards (have my epic warhorse, so don't need rank 11 :D).
LOL I didn't even know that being exalted with a faction gives a discount! I've never even gotten revered anywhere. <g>
I have a new alt on Llane and actually have gotten to lvl 20. I didn't want to tell you about yet another new alt until I'd gotten anywhere, since my MO seems to be to start alts and let them languish in their teens. :p Not sure how much I will be playing it now, though, so I think I will wait until when/if I reach lvl 40 w/ that char to reveal myself. :))
no subject
We have a teamspeak server, which helps, too.
Someone told me exalted gets me discounts...someone I trust, so I am hoping it's true. I have no desire to get Ruana a wolf, so there's no point in getting Org faction. And I don't think Tauren can ride raptors or horses, so nothing left but for me to donate herbs and skins to the war effort for TB faction!
Though my next batch will go to Saffron. She needs more UC faction to get honored.