blogs are sooooo....last year.

lol. What Blog? Haven't posted in about a year. Get over it. I'm listening to Queen and all is well in the world.
 :::

Well, really, it's better than just well. This year has been pretty bombastic for me, thus far; my fiancee lost his job back in November, so that was alllll kinds of fun. He's got a new one, so we're getting through. My own career has been moving right along - no promotions or anything, but the usual "here's more responsibilities with no extra pay". But, truthfully, the opportunities that were presented to me can only help me rather than hinder. So, sally forth, I say! Sadly, my geeky nuptials have been postponed, which is fiiiine by me as I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to planning a wedding and flat out refuse to waste money on a Bridal Magazine or time reading froofy wedding blogs and web sites.
::

In the realm of geek, this year has been FANDIDDLYTASTIC. Firstly and foremost, we've got THE AVENGERS. I saw it twice and each time was as good as the first. My fiancee and I basically popped out of our seats when we saw the end (you know what I am talking about). And of course, the very tail end of the movie has given birth to such hilarity as this:

                                                                                                 via::Meme Generator

Personally, I don't know what the hell Shawarma is, but the pictures of it I found on Google don't look too appetizing. Of course, this is coming from someone who believes heart attack bacon cheeseburger rolls are an epicurean delight. 

Anyway, we also had Hunger Games in March, which was pretty amazeballs and Game of Thrones in April. THEN came Diablo III, which I refuse to play because Blizzard trapped me into one vicious addition cycle and I won't fall for it again. NO, I WON'T. Well, that and my computer can't handle it, so tra la la la.

Speaking of video games, I have been playing lots of Skyrim. Nupe, still haven't beaten it, and I am still at like...level 25. Why? Because I keep 'sploring things. Lots of things. I won't do a review on it, since it's already been beaten into the dust. I will comment on this though:  MOUNTED COMBAT. Finally? Yes, I think so.

I haven't tried it yet, but it's about fucking time. For me, the length of time to get off the damn horse to go beat on things was too long. Then, for whatever asinine reason, my horse starts getting in on the action (truthfully, it's kinda funny when your horse gets the kill shot in on a dragon.). And then usually dies. Which is doubly enraging because I have Frost, the named horse you get from this quest. Riften makes me do bad things. I hate when my Frost dies. Because that means reloading, and since I have lost brain cells from copious alcohol consumption, I don't remember to save. 

Anyway, I am looking forward to firing up my Sexy Box to try this bitch out. And Oh, Yes, I have a very Sexy Box indeed:  

My Fiancee actually built this beast from spare parts, and bought a Ruby Red Crystal case from Llamma's and also put in a red LED Whisper Fan and Red LED Kit from Ghost Case. Sweet, huh? Most girls want ruby rings or bracelets. I get Ruby XBox 360 Mods. THAT GLOW. Dalek not included. :P

So, there you have it. My Blog has been resurrected for the third time. Lets see if I made another post.

I have Ascended.

Yesterday morning I woke up with the old World of Warcraft loading screen theme in my head, you know, the totally awesome one with the Dark Portal? I thought about reactivating my account, thinking about re-rolling all over again, and playing. The more and more I thought about it, the more and more it seemed like a chore. I would have remember my password for starters, since I can barely remember my own name on a daily basis. Then I would have to go through the agonizing process of patching, patching, patching, as I know I have missed a lot. Then, of course the leveling and the scramble to get on top, or at least as close I could be.

I pushed those thoughts aside and did some yoga, had some coffee, but as I went through out my day, I could not help but think about reactivating my account. Today, I was bored - Ed had control of the TV for some old tymey video gaming, and I put my laptop away. So, with the "awesome gaming computer" waiting for me, I downloaded the trial for Rift. So far, I have played through a minor portion of the starter area, only about maybe an hour or two. My impressions of it are, well, good!

To start, my first complaint is the fact that the trial period is only 7 days. I remember the WoW trial being longer. Ahem. Anyway. So, in Rift, the world Telara is under siege and you as an Ascendant are one of the chosen ones to fight for the world. I liked the opening movie, as I am impressed by flashy lights and pretty colors. So, your first stop is a lot of choices, from which shard to play on (server), to faction (Guardians or Defiant), then race and class. It's pretty standard fare. Having absolutely no knowledge of this game or the story lines, I pretty much closed my eyes and clicked. I ended up choosing a Bahmi Rogue. So, once you get that out of the way, you're dropped into the world. Or, rather, into the world as apparently you find out you were once dead. Like any MMO, you're given tasks, you do them, and you get rewards. Some of the tasks reward you with choices, and these choices are your Soul Attunement, the leveling and class system in the game.

This system is magnificent. The amount of customization is incredible. World of Warcraft's three talent trees and duel class system is a child's toy compared to what this system can do. Even from the beginning you get two "souls" to choose from, and even some helpful suggestions as to which ones could be used together. Altogether you get three souls, along with their branch options and roots. The branches are the points you place yourself and the roots are the standard skills and spells that come along with your levels. So, not only can you build a custom class, you can THEN customize the class to how you want it. For a full listing of all the options, go here.

The graphics are great, and less flashy pants than World of Warcraft, but it's appropriate. You've just been ressurected into a world of turmoil, and your purpose to go fix it. I enjoy the realism and darkness, after almost 5 years of cartoon characters carrying around swords the size of small children. I haven't kicked the graphics up, opting to stay at a lower rate, but even on the low side of things, it still looks pretty. The menu and toolbar are fairly basic, easy to understand for the novice and pro-raider alike.

I haven't played a whole lot of it, but I plan on for the next week as I pay my trial. I have taken advantage of the built in video cap system (also: auto posting to YouTube, posting to Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter of pictures) to post some videos:


I fite with arrows! And a boar-thing!



screwing around in the first main quest area.


and yes, I did recycle my old WoW Mage's name. I am sooooo original. Anyway. I think this has the potential to become the antidote to World of Warcraft burn out. The game is extremely sophisticated from graphics, character customization, and the wide range of class options. The story line and world is engrossing as the game throws you into the action from the very start. It's different though, and coming from WoW, I might be inhibiting myself a little bit as I keep comparing the two, but I can't help it. In two hours, I had a lot of fun playing, but I know I have barely just scratched the surface.

Things I am Crushing On

Just a wee list of things I can't live without right NOW, in no particular order:

This dress. I just got it like, not 2 hours ago from Forever 21 and looks fabulous! I do seem to be amassing a collection of retro inspired dresses.


The NEW Coach Poppy Leather Pushlock Satchel in black. The lines and design are SO classic, but the little ribbon and brass fittings keep it fun and contemporary. Plus, Poppy seems to have grown up a bit! You can find her at Coach


Stupidly addicting, I just can't help myself. I love the fact that your Sims must "party up" to complete quests and tasks, just like in an RPG, or a dungeon crawl. Cleverly well done, and Patrick Stewart does the opening voice over!

I am re-reading this book for the second time. It's been a while, so I am still getting surprises out of it! Just waiting, waiting, waiting for the third book.




It's been very hot lately, and in addition to being delicious plastic tubes of frozen sugar water, they are cooling and refreshing!


And that is all for now, I am going to go stick my head in the freezer and cool off.

OMG WOW

Yeah, I kinda let this blog go to the wayside. There's a reason, and you should all be proud to know that it's a decidedly a geeky reason.

I started playing World of Warcraft again. That should really just explain it all, right? Everyone knows what a black hole of time that game is. So of course, certain things suffer because of it. I choose the blog and certain TV shows. Well, today I spent the day catching up on some of my favorites that I have missed (Hulu, I love you.) and decided to catch up on this blog as well. My topic? World of Warcraft. duh.

I love this game, but at first I could have cared less about it when first presented to me. About 5 years ago my friends would not shut up about it. Everywhere we went, Warcraft this, epic gear that, lets run UBRS tonight, how's your DPS? I got so frustrated and bored, I wanted to scratch my eyeballs out with all the nonsensical talk. So one night, everyone is still sitting there talking about it and I ask "What is the big DEAL!?!?" My best friend Steve decides enough is enough and set me up with a character on his account.

Needless to say the eventual progression happened after that: I got my own account, and played. Hardcore. I did raids, pvp - everything. I wasn't a huge raider or pvper, or one of those untouchable players. But I did do a little bit of everything. I loved my little gnome mage. Of course eventually I wised up and rolled Horde. I tended to go into cycles. I took a break before rolling Horde, and getting into BC. About a year after that I took a long break after the patch with Zul'Amani kept crashing my computer and I quit. I had more important things going on at the time regardless. Like, school.

I spent 2 years with no internet (or cable, god), and a crappy computer. This year I finally did get a nice computer and the internet (as mentioned in an earlier ppst). I spent about 2 months without really feeling the pull. Then suddenly one Saturday morning I woke up and literally needed to play. First I had to talk it over with my fiancee (at the time he was just my BF :P). Could we afford it? No problem. Am I able to not let it get the way of life? Yes. Everything was laid out. I reinstalled, it took like...God, hours upon hours. I got Wrath of the Lich King.

I finally about 2 weeks ago got to the Wotlk content. Part of me misses the BC stuff, since I never got to see all of it, or at least as much as I had of the Original. And I am still cranky about the level 77 requirement for Cold Weather Flying. (Which is a total WTF?!) Granted, I figure if I am going to have to walk everywhere for the next 5 levels, I am going to do so with a nice ride. I am grinding out the Black Skeletal Warhorse pvp mount. It sucks, but there is something pretty awesome about burning Alliance down in AB with Lady Gaga playing. So, the Wrath content. I do have to say, it's pretty epic, what I have seen so far. I really love the new environments, and the overall unique look to each area. The vy'krul are pretty bad ass Nordic looking dudes, with really nice models. The Walrus people (shut up, I can't remember the name) are pretty original too, without being completely ridiculous. Like the complete fan girl I am, I squealed with joy when I found Alexstraza and Krasus at Wyrm's Rest.

So far I have seen three instances: 2 as a mage and 1 one as a priest. The 2 I DPSed on were Utgarde Keep and The Nexus, and I healed on Drak'theron Keep. My first impressions of Utgarde keep were pretty good. The place was big, but not too long to make it into a chore. However, even at this point, UK seems to be one of those blow through dungeons. I didn't even finish the Nexus, as the learning curve seemed extremely high on it. Or it could have been the nooblets I was grouped with. Either way, it felt like there was a large jump in difficulty between the two. Sadly, I can't really give a good opinion on DK, as I was healing at lvl 70, as a Shadow Priest. It was pretty bad.

Do I love the new stuff? I can't say that for sure. I love Dalaran and certain aspects of this expansion, but I still have yet to make up my mind as a whole. Also considering that patch 3.3 is coming out soon, which is going to add even more content (ARTHAS!). I think I love the unofficial companion book more, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King. It's a really good book, which I highly suggest. I think I might need to get more into it and follow it farther. Until then...don't expect more posts.

j/k

The Love Affair.....Continued...

So, from the last time (which was eons ago...whoops.) I was discussing my strange girl-love obsession with Lara Croft and why exactly I find her so....awesome. So, Tomb Raider Underworld came out about a year ago, I believe and I just recently got around to playing it. That and also TR Legends, because much to my surprise the games link together quite closely along with the Anniversary Edition. It had taken me so long to play both games, because as previously mentioned...I lost touch with the series. TR: Angel of Darkness and it's odd story line and really crappy controls really turned me off.

So, when I saw the Underworld Trailer in my local Game Stop, I was amazed at how....awesome it looked. I stood there my mouth gaping wide open, just in awe of the graphics, feeling the old excitement wash over me. My fingers itched to control Lara again, to go on an adventure again and experience that feeling I had as a kid with her. Ed turns me with a shrug and says, "Looks pretty cool". I wanted to throttle him. Pretty cool?!? Oh, nay nay! This game looked effing awesome! I needed to have this game. And now I do.

So, after playing Legend and Underworld, what do I think? It wasn't the leap into the past I had expected, but it delivered so much more. Game-wise the play is as impeccable as ever, and the story line as engrossing as the others. For the first time we actually get a story that has linking elements across the three most recent games. We see Lara, but as she was - her curves are more realistic, and her wardrobe has had a bit of a face lift. She's still as smart and sassy as ever, still strong and heroic. Lara herself has not changed much, and nor have my feelings about her. I still find her to be an inspiration, but even more so. Not just as a spring board for a future career, but in other ways too. She's so fit, with out being a stick insect, she makes me want to maybe get into better shape myself. She's even smarter, with facts just popping out of her head, which makes me want to keep up with my history studies, now that I have graduated college. Of course, Lara is still a video game character and can only motivate me so much. The rest is up to me. But the impact she has had in my life is not forgotten and the fact that, 11 years later she's still making an impact on me? That should speak volumes. So hopefully, for all the other generations of girls out there, maybe Lara will inspire them to go for their dreams.

My love affair with......a woman.

In actually, this post is not nearly as naughty or interesting as the title suggests. Like many a male gamer nerd, I admire this particular video game lady, even though she's not real (Of course, unlike many of those males, I actually realize that she fictional). She was an inspiration to me as a young blossoming nerd, and guided me to the gate of my locked potential as a female gaming geek. This particular lady is none other than Lara Croft, heroine of the Tomb Raider franchise.

My introduction to her is kind of fuzzy in my head. I can't really quite remember where I had first heard of her, when I was 14 and in the 7th grade. I just remember asking for the first game for Christmas. What I do remember is that I really liked the fact that she was A) An Archaeologist and B) Female. These factors appealed to me as my passion was in history and I was cultivating a dream to become an Archaeologist someday, two very male dominated fields. With that fact and the fact that most good video games were targeted towards males, Lara Croft seemed very novel to me. Growing up playing male dominated video games made me sensitive to the fact that most females in video games were either always in need of rescue, background fodder or just plain sluts. There were some distinct stand outs on this - such as Samus from Meteroid, but they were few and far between. Now, granted, Lara wasn't exactly demure in her dress, and yes her breasts were so large it was boarding on ridiculousness. But she had some qualities I certainly admired - she was smart, could take care of herself, and was incredibly bad ass. But most importantly, she didn't need a man to save her. In fact she was the one kicking the boys' asses.

Lara made the game fun for me, and made it easy for me to fall in love with the series because it made the game more accessible for me. Lara became a pretty good role model for me, not the best, but a pretty good one. In such a media centric culture that teaches young girls to use sex and not their smarts Lara was a welcome change in male dominated video games. I also want to point that here that Tomb Raider was the first computer game I really got into, and my interest was really sparked by Lara Croft's strength's as the game's heroine. I won't credit Tomb Raider with my complete immersion into video games, there were others, but this was a giant leap into the world of video games for me.

My admiration and love for the character did not diminish as I went through the series. With Tomb Raider II we had the fantastic Venice levels, with the excellent and memorable motor boat jump (which was SUCH a pain to set up). Tomb Raider III, still my favorite TR game of all time brought me into India, Antarctica and the London Underground (A side note, through TR I got into Neil Gaiman - I was checking out a walkthrough [shhh!], and the author had creatively made up little fan fiction blurbs based on other novels, games, TV shows etc and the London Underground section featured characters from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Neat!) Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation was a turning point for Lara's story, as we gained some interesting insight into her past and brought us back into Egypt (my fave ancient locale). But it also gave us the "death" of Lara Croft. I was wondering where the series was going to go, when Tomb Raider: Chronicles came out. The game was based on her friends gathering to remember Lara in what she did best - adventuring. I enjoyed this game greatly, but not the segmented feel nor the fact that no questions were answered. I got my answers with Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. Needless to say, it was a confusing storyline, with wonky control and just overall disappointing.

After in between each game, there were other games that I played an enjoyed. Tomb Raider was just left to the back of the shelf, as an IP that seemed to be dead after the last game. I lost interest as there were other games to play and explore. Females were getting more and more screen time in games and taking more lead roles. The balance was getting closer. Then, one day at the Game Stop, I saw Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition. I was seriously intrigued. I had heard about the re-release but never realized it would be that polished. My boyfriend ended up getting it for me for my birthday. The game was perfect. It brought me back to those days of first playing Tomb Raider, with some awesome additions, some new and some taken from the previous games. The game designers and marketers had definitely achieved their goal - the whole franchise was alive for me again. When we got an XBox360 one of the first games I picked up was Tomb Raider legend. I am not going to lie and say that when I got home I played it first thing. Truthfully, having a 360 was really novel and I went back to other games. Eventually, something else came out that really sparked my interest. Tomb Raider Underworld...

To Be Continued tomorrow, as I am tired and I need to wrestle the remote away from Ed. South Park is on the TV and I seriously loathe the show. It needs to go.