WORLD OF WARCRAFT - FRIENDS UNITED

I am excited to announce that my two brothers who play World of Warcraft have finally returned to the server that I play on. This is big for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that we make an insurmountable force to be reckoned with, the other is that we make an incredible team. We work together and share resources so that we are not so dependent on the Auction House. Originally we started out on the same server, but due to people being morons, and the server economy being absolutely REDONKULOUS, they opted to have their characters transferred to another server, and converted to horde. I would have done the same, but I can't see spending money to have characters transferred or faction changed. Not to mention it is pricey to do.

Chris made a Death Knight, who just made 80, and I was honored to run him through his first non-heroic dungeons. Again, we made a great team. Will is working on his characters, and I have no doubt that he will be level 80 within weeks, if it even takes that long. Thom has been busy with family life, to which I applaud his dedication and I am very proud of him for prioritizing his responsibilities. Unfortunately this has not left him much time to dedicate to World of Warcraft, but these things need to be in perspective.

Kalypsonite (my level 80 mage and main character) has been running dungeons like crazy, as I've been training his casting cycles (also referred to as spell rotations and cool downs). He now has 3 of the Khadgar's Conquest gear, which has had a drastic impact on his spell casting and DPS (Damage Per Second) rating. I am almost always the highest DPS output for our 5 man heroic level dungeons, which in and of itself is a testament to the gear and studying that I've done with him. Kalypsonite was my very first character, often referred to as a MAIN, and the other 9 characters are referred to as ALTS (alternates). This is a personal identification only, and has no bearing on the individual characters or their game play. I have enjoyed many of my characters and their different abilities and classes, but I have to confess, a level 80 mage is where my heart is at. I love playing Kaly not only because of the fact that he has so much history with friends in the game and memories attached to him, but because of the versatility of the class. Mages are given a wide variety of offensive, defensive and utility spells which allow them to be a vital part of any grouping. While I have not had any experience with raids as of yet (raids are 10 or 25 player groups that take on a dungeon together, usually resulting in much better loot drops from the enemies, and usually taking anywhere from 2-3 hours to complete), I am eagerly looking forward to experiencing that level of epic play. One of the benefits of playing a main and training in their ability cycles is that you by default become more confident in your ability to handle situations and compensate for unexpected events. A great side effect of this is that your PVP (player-vs-player) skills and confidence is also boosted. Playing against a PVE (player-vs-environment) NPC (non-player-character) is vastly different in terms of tactical abilities and damage expectations simply because when someone else is directly controlling your opponent, you are vulnerable to their unique style of play. I used to have a very hard time understanding this, and not being confident didn't help. Now that I know more of what my character is capable of, and have a better understanding of compensation measures that are available to me, I find that I'm more on the prowl for horde characters. This is an epic advancement in my game play simply because I used to run away when ever I was confronted by a horde character. WOOTSIES!!!!

Yes, I did say that. That's my word. 

On the job front I've had a bit of a set back. I was looking forward to working for Borders, but apparently the job that I posted for was outdated. They do not begin hiring till mid-November for seasonal employment. I spoke to the General Manager of the store that I was applying to, and after explaining that I would be happy for ANY position available, my application was for a full-time bookseller position. It was a very pleasant conversation, and he recommended that I re-apply November 1st. He was very adamant about the fact that he does indeed review ALL applications that are received for his store, and looked forward to my application come November. I don't know if he was just being kind, or if he meant it, but I will take either one and definitely apply come November.

There are a couple of businesses in the immediate area that I am going to apply to this week. Please keep me in your prayers for guidance and wisdom in pursuing employment. I don't know what God has planned for me, but I do hope that I am attuned to His Holy Spirit enough to discern His direction.

That's about it for right now. I'll be blogging some more later.

UPDATES AND ORGANIZATION

Well it's been a while since my last post, with good reason. I have been very busy. Unfortunately nothing yet on the job front, however I have been actively pursuing keeping an active lifestyle in the absence of gainful employment. Aside from normal household duties such as maintaining the lawn and other things, I have rearranged the front room to accommodate my year old nephew (i.e. providing a safe place for him to play) and I am now attempting to organize the whirlwind of debris that has been left in my bedroom.

At my age, I find that I am in a unique place to decide what I need in my life, versus what is just clutter. Aside from the obligatory necessities of life (i.e. bills and clothing) I find that I have a plethora of things that I do not need on a daily basis, yet I continue to keep them.

ARTWORK: I have every drawing that I have ever done, be it a sketch, an idea hastily drawn to capture the premise of the thought, or a completed piece that I have yet to do anything with. Most of these things will be scanned into my computer to be dealt with in Photoshop for fine tuning or completion, while others will no doubt continue to exist in their current form. I have issues with completing pieces that I've begun, mainly for the reason that I fear ruining the piece, or do not know how I want to proceed with the piece. Be it what setting to put a character in, whether or not to color it, or even something as simple as placement or line weight. It is very frustrating, and while I have identified what I need to do, I find that I do not know how to proceed.

COMICS: I have a vast amount of comic books that I have acquired over my life thus far, but I find that I do not have the time necessary to dedicate to their care or keeping. I have two foot lockers and a legal cabinet full of comics. The space alone that they require is becoming overwhelming. I have yet to decide what course of action I will take with them, as I am torn between knowing that in this digital age they are obsolete for all intents and purposes, and the knowledge that I have been their guardian for this long, they have become my prodigy of sorts.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: This continues to be a great source of adventure and outlet for me, but I am keenly aware of how much time I spend on it. I am amazed at how judgemental people are of the game. I see it two fold: one is that it saves me an epic assload of money because I am not out buying games every month, and it also allows me a way to communicate with my brother doing something that we both enjoy, and we can do it together. Now, I will be honest with you, I am no fan of paying a monthly fee to play a game, but $14 is a lot cheaper than $50 for a new game. Not to mention the wear and tear that it saves my computer from having to install and uninstall those games. Patches and updates aside, I find that this is the most financially responsible way for me to outlet my need to play an RPG (role playing game).


RELIGIOUS STUDIES: I have much angst about this subject, simply because I miss it so. Studying the scriptures used to be such a boon for me because of the amount of personal gain that I would receive from it. Now, I am not going to say that I am some great scholar on the Word of God, but I will say this...ANY TIME spent in God's Word is time well spent and is beneficial for living this life. I hate to use the old adage that the devil made me do it, but compared to how avidly I used to study the Word, to the sidebar in my life that it has become, I can clearly see that I allowed an outside force to separate me from it. The only thing that I can do at this point is dust off my notes and put all my effort into spending time with God every day. This blog is testament to the progress I have made in that direction, as far as being dedicated to a daily task, as well as evidence of how much improvement I still need in that area.

FAIR WELL AND ADIEU TO YOU FAIR SPANISH LADIES...

FAIR WELL AND ADIEU TO YOU LADIES OF SPAIN...
FOR WE'VE RECEIVED ORDERS FOR TO SAIL BACK TO BOSTON,
AND I FEAR..WE SHALL NEVER..SEE THEE.... AGAIN.....

Well, that was fun. Good 'ole Quint.

So, here it is... 12:34am and the Tornado Watch #519, issued by the NWS (National Weather Service), will finally expire around 2 am this morning. It got pretty dicey here for a while. Cracks of thunder, blasts of frequent lightning and epic metric-ton buckets of rain had me figuring we'd need to get into the crawl space underneath the house. CRAWL SPACE? REALLY?!?! They call it a crawlspace because things CRAWL IN THERE! You know...creepy-crawlies? And let me tell you something... we got some award winning crawlies down there. I should take some pictures and post them next time I go down there. I HATE GOING DOWN THERE! The spider webs down there contain corpses of deceased victims of a spider that places a FOAM (or some frothy looking similar type thing...) around their victims. I've not seen the spider, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY!, but proof of it's existence is prevalent in abundance. Our furnace and sump pump are down there. UGH. The thought makes me uncomfortable. Let's discuss something less "Pit of Suck"-ish. (That will make sense once I post an illustration of the same title.)

You know, I was going to try to discuss the weather with you, but I decided against it. Talking about the weather says to me "I have nothing better to say..." and I do believe that is not true. I have something awesome to say!! oooohh.... I hear thunder again outside. I wonder if the tail of the storms is passing us now. I looked at a satellite picture of my brothers apartment... it was from like 8 months ago (discovered by the current contents of his driveway, vehicles which have not been there for 8 months). That's such Boooooloney. And that's all I have to say about that.

Moving right along. Let's talk W.O.W.  =P

The Guild Project Initiative is coming along. I accepted a promotion to Guild Master of The Knights of Duskwood (DALVENGYR). That makes a total of 7 Guilds that I am managing, of which my twin has accepted Guild Master positions for 3 of them. The organization of mats and supplies is near completion, as all characters have enough bag space to receive shipments to their specific guild. Each character is now utilizing their bank and bag space more effectively. I discovered something quite interesting about the bank slots available to a character and certain profession specific bags... I will continue to investigate and tell you what I find. But anyway, I digress... All profession scrolls go to those characters who have those professions. That way they will always have anything they can learn available (ooooohh... thunder again...tee hee hee), as well as I will always know who to go to for the scrolls. Suffice to say, almost everything is where it belongs, and those characters that have stuff to disperse will be rectified tomorrow.

I have to admit, handling the Auction House (ooooohh, looooong thunder...) is going better than I anticipated. And I am getting better at it. I know I'm not making profit on the stuff I sell, but I don't want to make a profit from it, as I am not yet schooled in the finesse of other sellers and price markets. If I get something from those items I put up there, that's all I'm looking for. If some one wants to buy my product and turn around and sell it for 10x what I ask (ANOTHER THUNDER.... this is much more frequent...), they can do that, doesn't bother me one bit. I got what I wanted for it. Anyway...

This entry has gone on long enough, considering it's 1:16am already. Eh?

The Illustrious Kuragari

Realization of a Dream

There's really no way to describe the impending feeling that you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that life is ... different. Some catalyst has projected you into the next journey in your life and before you understand the scope and meaning of it, you've already signed on for the adventure. Well, this is the story of such a day...

A few days ago, I was provided a great gift by a friend, the World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack. Now I've not been avidly seeking out this expansion since it's release in October because I've only been playing since April 2008, and quite honestly still had probably 75% of the content of the first expansion pack The Burning Crusades to experience, as well as the original content of the game itself. However... when one receives a gift like this, it is taken graciously and courteously... and then ripped open like the most expected present on Christmas Morning.

Without further adieu...

The Illustrated Thought
presents