A day of firsts.

When I started this blog I really didn't think it would be so heavily shaped by World of Warcraft. Before I started playing I didn't understand the death grip that it had on happy players. They were always talking about it, always! There was never a shortage of WoW topics, and it could happen at any moment. Penny Arcade had a stint where both Gabe and Tycho were really into WoW and the comics and news posts were frequently WoW centric. They always apologized for it too, insisting that they tried very hard to stay away from it as a comic source. It had them though, sure and fast.

I get it now, even though I can't even begin to explain it. James and I played for four hours tonight. Nystina is now level 28. She's not moving along very quickly in inscription, which makes me sad. I may get on tomorrow and just wander around looking for herbs and try to grind a bit. So far I've avoided logging on without James, our x3 EXP is too awesome to pass up. Herb gathering would be OK though.

So, like the title suggests, a lot of new things happened today. First of all?

My first dungeon experience! Turn out we were totally in the wrong place, seeing as the boss for this area is level 82 or something. We didn't know for a little while though.

My first dungeon death! It wasn't even a good death. I accidentally feel three stories and then got mobbed by some slimes. Pathetic.

My first total and complete WoW jerk! It was an astounding experience. I couldn't believe how rude and arrogant this guy was.

My first PvP experience! We set fire to some Alliance fire thingies for the festival and it activated PvP, which I didn't realize it would do, and I was then slaughtered by guards!

First trans-species experience! I really enjoyed being a crab for a little while.

I'm Exalted somewhere! I love the achievements.

What follows are some other firsts, sort of, but they're from a different day.

I had no idea that I would be able to change my hair cut and color later in the game. Very exciting! I went from having luscious black hair to having a classy red ponytail. I later switched back to black but kept the ponytail.

Look at these hideous red pants. It's like I'm wearing FLAMES! They're good though. I finally, truly understand this comic: great items, horrid fashion.

James and I are working on some pretty far reaching quests, especially for all of this sun festival stuff. We took a zeppelin down to... somewhere, I forget where. I got lost on my way back to the tower and the zeppelin was pulling away right as I ascended. Here I am, staring sadly as my companion flies away against either of our powers. It was really damn funny.

Here's to more quests, achievements, dungeons and levels!

-MJ

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It finally happened!

The stars have finally aligned because Dungeons and Dragons is back in my life! I have wanted to play for over four years, ever since my original campaign was dissolved. My friends have never been interested in playing and even if they were I don't know how to DM. My friend Andrew is in town from California and he plays DnD, he knows that I'd like to get a campaign going. Too bad he lives in LA or else the two of us would be able to get something going. He suggested that while he's here we play as many times as we can, and I am all for that.

On Thursday night we started up a game with his brother and some of his brother's friends. It was fantastic fun! I played my human barbarian, a character that I rolled four years ago after my original character, an elf rouge, was murdered by a giant. I don't play a rouge well at all but I think I'm doing alright with my barbarian so far. We played for a good four and a half hours and I am anxious to play again!

Last night Andrew and I, with our powers combined, convinced Jake to join us for DnD adventures! We didn't play but we did make characters. I rolled one for our friend James just in case he can pop in and play with us. We spent a good two hours just making some characters and I had a pretty good time. Jake has never made it past the character making phase so I'm really excited to actually get to the campaign.

On Thursday night I found myself in a party of adventurers setting toward the forest. A blight had settled onto the forest via the magical water source, causing all flora to wither and all fauna to become deranged and violent.

We trekked toward the center of the forest, aiming for the main tree of life and the magical water's source. As we moved along we encountered an Owlbear, a black bear, a Tree Ent, and an unnamed evil vine being. Our evening wrapped up as we finally approached the main tree and we laid eyes upon the source: goblins!

Dun dun dunnnnn.

Most likely this campaign will not be continued, which is sad, but I'm hopeful that a new one will begin this very evening!

I have more that I want to say but my mind is incredibly scattered right now.

-MJ

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The best medicine.

I feel it would behoove me to not make so many posts in such rapid succession, but I have a lot on my mind. I'm a big fan of talking but I'm not always looking for a conversation. It's a little selfish of me and that's why I'm so happy that I have this blog.

This moment's particular interest is Penny Arcade. Really it's a frequent interest, but right now it's something specific.

Today's 4th Panel PATV episode is full of unstoppable hilarity.

I wish that their 4th Panel episodes were a half an hour in length. Ten minutes is insufficient PA "fill" on Fridays. I enjoy watching the antics at the office and the back-and-forth between Mike and Jerry. Even though I've seen them create comic strips before, both in person at PAX and via PATV, it hasn't ceased entertaining me. The process they go through is very interesting. Especially since I already know what comic they're writing. To hear them say something that I know will be in the comic is just... it's seeing the moment when they've discovered their comic gold.

Now I don't know if it's just for when they're being recorded or if they're always this way, but those two are constantly laughing. One of them is always cracking up at some point and saying things that really get me going as well. I can't not feel good when I'm watching an episode.

-MJ

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It's Burning.

But in a Crusade sort of way.

I was able to install the expansion this evening after a ridiculously long amount of waiting and an absolutely absurd amount of patch updates. I think it went through nine or ten. TEN! I was growing steadily impatient.

My friend and I are finally taking advantage of our linked accounts. Ever since I've started playing he has been... *ahem* absent. I guess he's been busy with "work" or something, but at this point I'm tired of his excuses! He followed through on his promise to play with me tonight if I bought BC. This is one reason the install was stressing me out! He has important crap to take care of tomorrow and he could only be on for an hour.

I suppose I underestimated just how beneficial having linked accounts is. In the span of barely an hour we reached level nine. Nine! It felt good.

I love being a Blood Elf, by the way. They are so awesome and truly do live in a breathtaking magical city.  James and I were on TeamSpeak (love it) and when we ran off toward our first quest I completely spaced on how to attack! Apparently I'm already quite accustomed to my Mage and her magic, so I just stared at the icons trying to figure out which one attacked. I'm happy to report that I did eventually figure it out and I am Arcaning and Bowing mobs like a real pro/newbie Hunter.

This is just to talk about how much I'm enjoying BC so far and how awesome WoW is when playing with a friend on TeamSpeak! Here are some screen shots.

There's my new character Nystina. I'm bad coming up with names.

What a hottie though, m I rite?

James and me teaming up at last!

An impressive building.

My Hunter, tired after a day of hunting, sitting and relaxing at the Inn.

I hope you enjoyed.

-MJ

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Some new things.

I decided that for my trip to Ireland I would need a durable, large capacity, small in physical size travel hard drive. I will be taking a lot of pictures everyday and those need to be stored safely and securely. It would be horrendous if I lost the files because of an external drive that weren't fit for travel. I just purchased a 1TB WesternDigital My Passport SE for Mac. It'll double as additional backup for my regular external hard drive just in case that one breaks. Hard drives make me nervous.

This thing is super tiny and only needs a USB cable. I'll be able to put all sorts of stuff on it! I should construct a padded case for it just in case. I wonder if it'll be OK going through the x-ray machines at the airport? Laptops go through and they're always OK. Hmm. I should look into it. I don't want to put my external drive with my checked bag just in case the airline loses it. That'd be awful.

There's my new hard drive, working hard. You can see the excellent software that comes with it, as well as my secondary monitor!

In other exciting news, I bought the Burning Crusade expansion pack today. I received a text from my friend that said I should get it and we'll make Blood Elves and play through the game together so we can get our temporary bonus exp for having linked accounts. I'm pretty excited about this.

Looking forward to making my Blood Elf Hunter! I'm not really diggin' on my Mage. I don't think I have what it takes to play her. I can't handle being that squishy. Leather armor here I come!

-MJ

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I'm late to the game.

I don't mind though.

What I'm talking about here is The Office!

I have many friends who have been watching it and enjoying it for a few years now. It was recommended to me a while back and I watched the first episode and went, "..erm, hmm. uhhh". Michael made me far too uncomfortable and irritated. I was unable to enjoy myself.

During my last month or so at college (that I am now graduated from!) I started to watch a lot of television. Mostly I was watching TV shows on my Netflix instant watch disc, but then I ran out of good shows so I moved onto movies. Then I ran out of those. So I started watching basic cable: Seinfeld, Fraiser and The Office. These are shows that I've never really watched before but found that I thoroughly enjoyed. To my great delight I discovered that The Office was available for instant watching! *Joy*!

Now that I'm home and relaxing after finishing school, I've been filling up my time with video games and The Office. I especially can't get enough of The Office. Now that I'm past the first few excruciating episodes, and nestled firmly into season 3, I just love the characters! I, like everyone else, have found great happiness and interest in Jim and Pam's "situation". I've seen later episodes, so, y'know, I know, and the suspense is just electrifying.

I'm using this blog space as a way to have conversations about topics that have my interest when I'm by myself and there's no one to talk to.

-MJ

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I have a lot to be excited about.

Currently I'm watching the Sony E3 Conference for Jake and I'm sending him text updates. So far Sony, I am not impressed. Killzone 3, not for me but alright. Gran Turismo 5, people have only been waiting 6 years. A sorcery game. Golf? A long video about 3D? I wish I had something good to report.

Let's just move onto my own excitement recap of Nintendo's Conference.

First and foremost?

Um, fuck yes. I have been reading a whole lot of rumors and speculations and a lot of people really aren't happy with the direction that the series is going in. I'm a fangirl through and through and I guess that means Zelda is almost incapable of disappointing me. I don't really care for Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks but the portable version dislike doesn't really bother me. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword looks promising to me. I was very surprised to discover its graphical truth. A cross between Twilight Princess and Wind Waker? This sounded very strange. I think I'm happy with what the game looks like overall, except for its especially pastel color palette. When I saw my very first screenshot I immediately thought I was looking at a pull from the Kirby level in Smash Bros. I kinda went... "??? hmm". After seeing actual gameplay footage and the game trailer I started to feel better. My biggest issue, I think so far my only issue, is the fact that the life hearts are pink. Pink? Why pink!? Just make them red please.

Skyward Sword will be released in 2011! I'm very excited. I don't think I'm wrong to not be yearning for innovation. I just want a fun game. I want a game I know I'll enjoy. I want familiarity in new areas. I want the characters that I love. I will be very surprised if I'm disappointed by this new Zelda. Oh, one more thing: I think the subtitled "Skyward Sword" is strange and I hope it grows on me.

What else am I excited about?

I didn't realize I was excited about Epic Mickey until very recently. I know nothing about it, but I know that I want it. I love Disney and Mickey Mouse and also rockin' Wii exclusive titles. It certainly looks amazing, graphically speaking, and since I don't care for Kingdom Hearts I'm pumped to have Mickey Mouse back in my gaming life. I can only play Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion so many times. Plus, Epic Mickey has painting in it and I was really really bad at Okami *shame on me* so maybe here's a chance to prove myself?

I knew about the 3DS, but this new information is great!

It doesn't look stupid and that's a relief, plus it comes in blue and black as well. The 3DS looks like it'll be able to do a lot of great things and relatively well. Only the top screen is 3D, apparently touch and 3D aren't compatible in one screen. There should be a pretty good lineup at launch! I look forward to owning one. HOLY WHAT THE EFF!? Paper Mario is going to be on the 3DS? WHAT!? I was just exploring more features to write some more information about the 3DS and I came across this!

Under Nintendo Titles there's Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Paper Mario and more! AHHHH!! I have no idea when the 3DS is supposed to be released but a portable Paper Mario is honestly more than I can handle! *SQUEEEEEEEE!!!*

OK, phew, sorry about that. This wasn't a major announcement and it's freakin' awesome news to me.

Moving on.

I know this is shameful but I didn't enjoy the original Kid Icarus. I really wanted to but it's so damn hard it made me angry. I have it on my Wii if I ever want to give it another go, but I'm hoping that this new Kid Icarus will change things around for me! Another AAA title for the upcoming 3DS.

This really piqued my interest:

I'd like to be a bigger Kirby fan than I actually am. I love the idea of Kirby but I haven't played very many games. I loved Canvas Curse and was kind of ehh on Kirby Super Star Ultra. I have one of the original Kirby games on my Wii but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. Kirby's Epic Yarn is a new platformer and I love platformers! Plus it looks freaking adorable and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. This new Kirby looks like the beautiful love triangle child of Paper Mario, Yoshi's Story and Kirby Canvas Curse. HEAVEN! It even has a two player feature.

I managed to miss this announcement and then saw it on Nintendo's site:

I am a HUGE Professor Layton fan and you should be too. The first two were a lot of fun and I've been eagerly awaiting the third! I'm glad that the games have proven popular over here in the States, it'd be a shame to miss out on such a gem. Plus the graphics, man! I love the styling. Good on them. I look forward to more mind bending puzzles and a great storyline to follow.

These last ones are exciting but I don't have a lot to say about them.

A kick back to old school with 2D side-scrolling. Awesome? Awesome. Donkey Kong rocks. Maybe my sister will play? She always loved the series.

Here we have an expression of my love.

I am just a sucker for Pokemon and I know I'm not the only one!

So I guess that was my wrap up of Nintendo's E3 conference. I've never done that before. Obviously I just focused on the things that I care about, but hey I'm not getting paid so I can report whatever I want :D

There is so much to be excited about! It's a great time to be a Nintendo fan. There are things happening that don't appeal to me but I know are good, like Metroid Other M, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Resident Evil Revelations, Dragon Quest IX, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn and so many more titles.

Thank you Nintendo, I love you! I'll always have faith.

-MJ

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Nintendo E3 Conference.

It'd be nice if I could have come up with a more creative or interesting title for this entry but there are just times and places where a straightforward title feels OK.

Moving on!

I'm watching a live feed of the Nintendo conference. Since stepping down as Assistant Manager at GameStop and going back to school (which I have now finished, college graduate over here!), I have obviously fallen rather far out of the loop when it comes to up-to-the-minute news for video games. I used to read magazines and gaming websites a lot more to stay knowledgeable and helpful in the store. I'd cover games that I didn't care about but I don't feel compelled to do that anymore.

Either way, watching the feed for this conference has been a lot of fun so far! I haven't felt so in the know in quite a while.

Firstly, Zelda. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, as it were. I don't know how I feel about this title. It feels bland and out of left field. It'll probably grow on me but for now I don't like it. But really the title has very little merit on gameplay or enjoyment so I'll do my best to ignore it.

The first thing that really caught my eye was reading that it has a cel shaded quality to it. I love cel shading! I loved the graphics in Wind Waker. However! These graphics were described as a good mix between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Intriguing, no? I can't wait to see gameplay footage or a trailer or SOMETHING! I need to see this graphical mash up myself.

There was no update or information on story, which is disappointing. The game won't be out until next year, which is no real surprise. I'm excited about the one to one swordplay with Wii Motion Plus. I wonder if I'll suck at it? I like that the nunchuck is used as a shield. My arm will probably get tired! Accidental exercise is the best kind.

So far the other things in the feed that have caught my eye are Goldeneye and Epic Mickey. I'm terrible at Goldeneye but I was able to have fun with it despite that fact. Jake seems pretty excited so I'm thinking we may pick it up. I hope there's co-op, I'm so terrible at shooters and I'm also a bad sport so I know I'll just get pissed at him if we play against one another.

I don't know what happened to my GameInformer that had Epic Mickey on the front but I do recall that I never actually had the chance to read about it. I wasn't all that interested at first but the more news that has trickled in the more interested I've become. I love Mickey Mouse! It has painting features! And the graphics are really nice! And last I heard it's Wii exclusive! I think it's nice that Nintendo will be getting an exclusive that's not Mario-centric. I have to defend my platform!

Whoa whoa, a new Kirby game and he's made of yarn? That sounds neat! I don't know what other information I even need! I loved Canvas Curse so much! I was so close to beating it too. I almost never finish games. I couldn't complete the second to last level. The anger just kept rising in me so I finally stopped playing. What a quitter. Hopefully this Kirby will be seen through to the end! Coming to the Wii this fall.

I suppose I'll wrap this up for now. Last year was incredibly dry in terms of games I wanted to play. I'm really excited to see so many titles that I want to play!

-MJ

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I guess this is about eReaders.

This comic really makes me laugh. I don't have a Kindle or a Nook or any other sort of eReader. I don't have anything against them and even though I love electronic devices I don't have any desire to own one. My mom, sister and grandma all love theirs. My mom has asked me if I want one and my answer is always, "Eh" accompanied by a shrug. I find it odd that I'm not at all interested in having one. I think I'd prefer to have the actual book. I like the physical objects. The same goes for music and movies. I'd rather buy the DVD and the CD. Although recently I've seemed to throw my physical CD rule out the window; I buy all of my new music off of iTunes. I am definitely an instant gratification person. I wonder if this will ever change regarding books for me?

I kind of derailed myself here.

When I first heard about the Kindle my aunt was telling my family and me about it. Apparently she knows/knew one of the people that belonged to the development team. He was explaining to her that it had real book-like features including an animated page turning visual. She retorted that real books did that too and proceeded to flip the page of a book that she had nearby.

That story still makes me giggle, especially after reading this comic and knowing how popular eReaders are.

There's no denying the convenience of so many books in one slim package. Especially for traveling! Although I really don't like the idea of my book being "off" and therefore impossible to read. I take serious issue with that. Plus I'm like my grandma, the scent of books is a real plus.

-MJ

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Simply for my own reference.

Although anyone else is free to take advantage of it as well.

Dungeons and Dragons has really been on my mind a lot lately. There are times of the day when I'm foaming at the mouth thinking about being a part of a regular campaign. I've reached January of 2009 in the Penny Arcade archives, and at this point Gabe (or Mike, as it were) is starting up his own campaign for the very first time. I'm itchy thinking about it.

I came across this post of his and it contains such good information that I wanted to keep it nearby just in case. I thought about doing a screenshot, or perhaps copying the words into a text document and keeping it on my hard drive. But then, I thought to myself, why not put it on my blog and label it for easy reference? That way it's stored on the great and vast internet for me and so many others to enjoy.

Without further ado, I give you Gabe's advice on starting a DnD campaign.

-MJ

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mailbag

Wednesday, January 7 2009 - 10:34 AM
by: Gabe

I'm just going to go ahead and answer a couple questions that are coming up a lot in my email.   

Q: What are the needed tools to manning your own D&D campaign?

A: At the most basic level I think all you really need is a set of the books - The Dungeon Master's Guide, The Player's Handbook, and the Monster Manual. These can be purchased as a set at most book stores. You'll also need some dice and a group of friends willing to give it a try. A DM screen is also nice. Before I played the game I just assumed the screen was there to hide the DM's actions from the players. This is true but it's also a giant cheat sheet. On the DM's side it's packed full of stuff like status effects, definitions of various rules and terms, common actions the party might take and guides for how to respond. I gotta say as a first time DM this screen was a huge help

In addition to the books I also picked up this starter kit and found it very helpful. It has some Dungeon Tiles for building your map, dice, hero and monster tokens, as well as a simplified version of the DMG(Dungeon Master's Guide). The nice thing about this set is that it includes a level 1 adventure all pretty much done for you. In fact I fully intended to just run it as is for my first game but once I started getting into the setting and learning about the world I couldn't help but add in my own story ideas. 

If everyone is new to the game I recommend having each of your players pick up their own copy of the Player's Handbook. They can use it to choose a character race and class as well as familiarize themselves with the rules of the game. A lot of it won't make much sense until you're all actually at the table rolling dice but it helps to at least have an idea of what to expect. 

I think that's a good place to start. I can tell you some other stuff I picked up that isn't really necessary but I think helped a lot. 

-Pencils and paper for everyone. It sounds silly but you do a lot of writing on your character sheet and they will probably also want to take some notes about the adventure. Having pencils and paper on hand is a good idea. 

-3x5 cards. This is a trick I picked up after watching Chris Perkins DM our games for WOTC. You write the name of each of your players on a 3x5 card. You do the same for your monsters and then when everyone rolls for initiative you write those numbers on their respective cards. Then it's just a matter of putting the cards in the right order and you have an easy way of keeping track of whose turn it is. The cards are also a great place to track your monster's HP and any marks or status effects. 

-Extra dice. You roll a lot of dice in this game and having a little bowl of extras for people who forgot theirs or don't have any is convenient. 

Something I decided to do on my own was have the party choose a MVPC (most valuable player character) at the end of the session. I think giving out some fancy dice is a cool treat and they're pretty inexpensive. Obviously this isn't necessary but I thought it was fun and It was a good opportunity for them to sort of recap the adventure and talk about all the cool stuff everyone did. 

The Dungeon Master Guide is really a great resource. It will give you all kinds of ideas about what you might want to pick up for your game. It even goes into detail about the environment you play in and gives great tips on getting your friends into the spirit. Where the Player's Handbook is really about rules, the DMG is more about the philosophy of be a Dungeon Master and the mechanics of creating a world for your friends to play in. I was really impressed with it. 

Q:Is there any chance you could record your adventures as DM?

A: I'm flattered that you guys would like to listen in on these, but this game I'm running is just me and a group of my friends. The podcasts we do for WOTC are separate and you'll be getting more of those soon. Recording these would ad a level of stress to the game for my friends and that's not something I want to do. I'm happy to keep you guys posted here on the site, and I'll be sure and relate anything I think was especially cool. 

-Gabe out

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This is still on my mind.

I received a lot of great feedback that challenged my viewpoints after I posted that blog about people calling themselves geeks who aren't geeks in my eyes. I keep thinking about it all and mulling it over in my mind, I guess I want to say something else?

If you really are a geek then hurrah! Call yourself what you will. Validation does not come from another person it comes from within. If someone really thinks that they are a geek then it doesn't matter if I think they are or not. There are basic definitions and there are interpreted and created ones. I don't want it to bother me. If someone thinks it's silly and embarrassing that they have one tiny geeky thing that pops up from time to time and they say so then why does it matter to me? I suppose it doesn't!

My friend presented a viewpoint that perhaps those individuals make it seem that being geeky or enjoying geeky things is something to hide or be ashamed of and maybe that's the basis of my irritation? I believe this is a fair statement. With my newfound interest in grabbing my identity by the balls I believe I went overboard with self-righteousness (came out of left field after having a self-proclaimed crisis) and I want to apologize.

I have many geeky hobbies and I would definitely call myself a geek. If you're reading this you are probably a geek too. Welcome! I'd love for you to stay a while.

I feel better. I really like Felicia Day, by the way. We should be friends.

-MJ

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Too many people in my life don't know what a D20 is! I took this photo as part of my 365 project. It was my June 1, 2010 submission, photo number 167 of 365. 

I received this necklace as a Christmas gift from my sister two years ago. She didn't have the foresight to know that I would like it; it was on my ThinkGeek wishlist and she thought it was neat so she bought it. I wear it from time to time, always prepared for whatever the world has in store for me.

Because of my recent blogging and identity thinking, I've decided to start wearing it a lot more. It makes me happy.

A lot of people ask me what it is. I respond, "A D20", and I am greeted with odd looks. "... a twenty sided die, you know, for tabletop gaming? Dungeons and Dragons?" and then they nod knowledgeably.

Part of me feels like a bit of a phoney when I wear it because I'm not actively playing any games that require the use of a D20. Not for lack of trying though! Soon I hope, soon soon soon.

-MJ

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How many match sticks?

I love Professor Layton. When this comic was first released in 2008 I absolutely cracked up. I should purchase a print of it.

-MJ

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It's not safe to go alone.

Yesterday around 1 or so in the morning I finally got my mage to level 20. It was an exciting moment for me. And then I was told by a fellow guild member that I had to go back to my starting area, Sen'jin Village, in order to get my mount. I didn't have any flight paths back to that side of the continent! So I logged off and went to bed. I was too tired to wander my slow ass all the way back over there.

I hopped back on later in the day, after some much needed rest, and started my trek to Sen'jin. I arrived without incident and went straight for the mounts. So many colors to choose from! Here's my beauty:

60% faster movement! It has made travel much more bearable. After saddling up I decided that I would check with the Alchemist, Herbalist and Mage trainers to see if there was anything new to learn. To my intense excitement I had a lot waiting for me!

Professional! Me, a professional! What a proud moment. I can brew so many potions now.

I am simply exploding with knowledge! The only downside to all of this is that I have all these new attacks and heals and other things and I have to learn how to use them. I had my action bar laid out in a way that I was comfortable with but I had to completely rearrange it to make room for all the new and better actions. There were a few bad run-ins with enemies and me frantically hitting the number keys because I couldn't remember which pictures did what. That was fun.

So, dungeons. Don't go alone. It's not safe.

Sadly, I lack a screen shot of my first time in a dungeon so I will have to paint a mental picture.

I have two or three dungeon quests that need to be tended to and as I have raised in level they have "gone down" in difficulty visually: from red to orange to yellow to green. I thought to myself, "Oh green so they're easy now" Wrong wrong wrong! Fortunately, our hero did not parish as a result of my ignorance.

I swaggered into Ragefire Chasm feeling cocky at almost level 21. Looking into the dark red cave I spied level 14 snake things. Targeting the one closest to me I lined up my attacks: arcane fire fire arcane ice instant fire. The creature had suffered less than half of its total HP worth of damage. Apparently enemies in dungeons are stronger/more powerful than those wandering in the wild. That was an unpleasant discovery. I took down about 6 more enemies before deciding to call it quits. After each kill I had to sit and drink water and eat food to replenish myself. It was taking far too long. I've learned my lesson; Dungeons: It's not safe to go alone, take friends.

-MJ

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"Just give me like 15 minutes"

Tonight I went to an animation festival downtown Olympia. There were a lot of neat animated shorts to be seen, but my favorite was one that played near the end. Through almost the whole short all I could think about was writing about it here.

The name of the short is called, "These pancakes are tiny". On a whole it was extremely funny and I really liked the look of it. I'm going to post it here because I want everyone to watch it!



Mostly what I wanted to talk about is a discrepancy of sorts! I'm positive that the guy is holding an NES controller but he's playing A Link to the Past, which is on the SNES! That's the wrong controller, noooooo D:

All of that aside, the short is hilarious and really well done. I got so excited when I heard the dungeon music though and then I noticed the controller and went, "That's not right!"

-MJ

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What's in a name? (That was lame)

I realize that this blog is called "a bit of geek" and therefore what I'm about to write may seem hypocritical or counter-intuitive. This is a rant, a pet peeve irritation of mine. I do have a few specific people in mind but my "thoughts" have been applied to many situations so I'm being extremely general here. I think it's also worth noting that sometimes I myself do what irritates me in other places/people/things. Hopefully this is a sufficient enough disclaimer.

I cannot stand it when someone decidedly non-geeky declares themselves to be a geek, nerd, dork or what have you, especially when what they're "doing" that apparently calls for just such a label isn't even that fitting. I like what I do, this was covered in a previous post. If someone wants to call me a geek/nerd/dork because of my hobbies and lifestyle then whatever, fine. To my knowledge though, I don't run around declaring that everything I do is "so geeky" or, "I am just such a dork" or, "this is a nerdy thing to do". In general terms I try to just say what it is that I like or what I'm doing.

Right now I'm listening to the Ocarina of Time soundtrack.

I still haven't gotten dressed for the day because I want to keep reading the Penny Arcade archives.

Even though I'm finished with classes and I'll be graduating in just about a week, I still have final evaluations to write. I'd really rather play WoW and I've been wrestling all morning over whether or not I should do the right thing or the fun thing.

Yesterday I talked with a friend and classmate about how exciting it was to learn website coding.

This is my second or third post today on my dedicated "geeky" stuff blog. This is one of those situations where I can be called a hypocrite because I used the word geek in reference to myself. I accept that geek, along with dork/nerd, are viable words in many situations. In this case it acts as a very adequate catch-all for my delicious hobbies.

I don't want to qualify any of these statements by prefacing them with a phrase such as, "I know this is really dorky but..." and I don't want to end them with, "I'm such a nerd I know".

I will happily call my friends dorks and nerds and geeks when the situation warrants it. I have a great friend who is the president (and creator) of the Star Trek club at her University. What a dork, but man I love her and I think she's awesome. She does not go around screaming to the damn rooftops that she's a dork or whatever. She is who she is and she's awesome. It should also be noted that her boyfriend is president and creator of the Pokemon club at the same University. :D

My best friend does many nerdy things on a regular basis and I love when she tells me about it. She's in bed with her boyfriend and they're both playing Pokemon? She went to a convention dressed as Chun Li? They have more comic books than I can even count and she frequently goes "huurrr hurrrr"? I LOVE HER. I love telling her how much of a dork she is when these things occur.

These two great friends of mine are fine with who they are and they love their hobbies. Neither of them run around proclaiming their nerdiness.

It makes me happy to be able to crown these words on my beloved friends. I personally take pride when someone christens me as such. Again, I love my hobbies; it just feels wrong to self title.

When I was in junior high I was talking to a friend of mine, I forget the context of the conversation, and I said that I was a nice person. He looked at me for a second and then told me I couldn't really make that assertion, that it had to come from someone else. I could think I was nice, but until other people believed or agreed that I was a nice person, it didn't really mean anything. I remember thinking that this was extremely strange because I really did believe that I was a nice person. I still think I'm a nice person, even though I certainly have my not-so-nice moments. I'm pretty sure I see his angle though: Do self-proclaimed people have the same genuinity (that's not a word) as people that have been dubbed something by other people? This all is dependent on how that specific person feels about these labels though. I'm perfectly OK with someone saying that I have a lot of geeky hobbies or that I'm a total nerd about some things. That's fine, I would agree with that statement, in fact it makes me happy to think about someone saying it.

I am aware, though, that there are many many people who far surpass me in the geeky realm.

Did you ever know that random guy in junior high or high school who always talked about how "crazy" he was? No one ever told him he was crazy or wacky, but he sure liked to tell others that he was. He would do stupid shit and be like, "I'm so crazy I know". Everytime I see those shirts that have a computer wearing glasses with the words "Talk nerdy to me" I just want to scream.

Am I being elitist here? I'm not trying to be and now I find of feel bad. These thoughts are infecting me though, they need to be purged.

Mainly I get all riled up when I meet one person who has no hobbies related to this except for maybe they play Pokemon. Then they proceed to talk about how they're such a dork because they play Pokemon. Not that dorky, really. Or perhaps they really enjoy watching Youtube videos so suddenly they're a total computer nerd. No, no you really aren't.

Am I worried about posers? Geek posers? Yikes.

Maybe I can liken it to music enthusiasts. They're very particular about their bands and their scenes. They don't take very well to over rambunctious newcomers who claim their "title" right off the bat.

I think that's how I feel here. I think I feel a little better too. I could really use some feedback, if anyone would like to provide.

EDIT***

If someone just is a huge fucking dork, it doesn't bother me if they call themselves a dork. It's legitimate and it's true. It's not like people need my permission anyway, this is a rant afterall.

EDIT2**

I keep thinking of more things. I WANT to be a huge nerd, I just want to earn it. Does that make sense?

-MJ

Just for funsies.

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