autumnmuse

I totally skank-ified out my toon .... she looks hot.

I’m already feeling like I have no time for everything I would like to do. I want to read, write, play video games AND get all my homework done in a timely fashion PLUS spend time with family. Grrr. Why can’t I have more time in the day? *sad*

Last night I played way too much World of Warcraft but for the first time in months, I was having fun. My friend, his three friends and I all did 5person Arenas … and I did it on my non-pvp character because she’s my only 100 at the moment (hunter is 95), and I actually still managed to do half decent so that tells you how bad they are *grin* Of course, I only did well when we went up against n00b horde teams lol … otherwise I would get crushed within seconds because my HP was so low compared to the others. It was a lot of fun though, even though we lost more than we won (we still won 8 out of about 20 LOL which is better than I thought with me as a handicap). Before I realized it, it was midnight! Gosh.

I did get the guild started, so w00t! I have decided to try to get a couple of guild achievements first before recruiting. So I am hoping my friend BL (the one on my server) can convince his friends to make toons on our server. If we have at least 3 of us power leveling new toons, we can get MAD achievements for the guild from the dungeons we run (just run dungeons the whole way through and probably hit at least 60 or 70 within a few days…its easy now).

If they don’t feel like leveling with us (which I don’t blame them), I’ll try to find someone to be our third to level so we can at least get some achievements before I start recruiting (don’t want it to be embarrassing ha-ha).

I know, I am very dorky. I know I know.

So it doesn’t look like I’ll be doing the Japan trip. They’re going for 15 days ): I am pretty bummed about that, but it’s way too long to be away. I would feel awful if (God forbid) something happened to my dad while I was over there *knocks on wood*. While something could happen if the trip was only 7-8 days too, it’s still a lot less nerve-wracking somehow to think about it. Don’t ask me how, just is lol … I’m weird, I know. So no Japan for me ): Maybe next year if they decide to do the trip again (which I hope they do) and all is well with dad (which I hope is).

I leave for class in half an hour. It’s a gorgeous sunny day here, and not as frigid as last week so it’s quite nice and has me feeling pretty upbeat (even on just 5 hours of sleep). Thankfully class is only an hour and 20ish minutes, so I’ll be home by 3:30 :D And with that, I leave you with today’s question which is also wow related :D

January 21 - If you found yourself transported into Azeroth, and you were given the option to live as any race/class which would you choose and why? –blm 

This is kind of hard because I love the way the draenei and humans look. I also find the gnomes so darn adorable … but if I had to choose, I’d pick a human. I think they did a really good job redesigning them. As for class, I’d go paladin. I’ve been playing one for three years now and with the right gear, she is beast. Whether it’s PVP or PVE, I usually do well on her and have a lot of fun with her. I am enjoying my hunter too, so it would be a tossup between the two but if I have to choose, then paladin lol.

To set up our Christmas tree and village, but since we’re going away for that week, we never set it up (it just ends up being a lot of work for us not to even enjoy it on Christmas). So we usually set the whole thing up every two years. Yet for some reason, we didn’t do it last year, and I’m trying to remember why but I can’t. Oh well … Here are photos from our 2011 set up.

BUT, here’s what it looks like from the stairs (my view as I come downstairs from my bedroom).



*happy sigh* I guess I can just stare at the pics all day, haha!

In other news, I really am not into this WoW Expansion. I really tried the last two days, but my heart just isn’t in it. So I need a new game to fill my free time. Any ideas? Preferably a ‘no monthly fee’ type of game.

I do think I want to get back into making graphics though (there’s one in this photo set lol) … I remember I used to have a lot of fun making icons and banners, and all sorts of good stuff, but then my computer fritz’d on me, I replaced the hard drive and could not find my photoshop CD (I used elements). I may just use Christmas money to get a new digital copy (never get lost bwahahah) and get back into that.

I also still have that damn book idea floating around in my head but with all the school writing I’ve been doing the last thing I want to do is … write. Sad, I know. I am hoping I can get some done during the break. I’ve written the ideas down, so I’m not too worried about them disappearing, but I’m itching to write but just don’t have the energy for it lol

Anywho …it sleeted last night, but since it turned to rain early enough this morning we didn’t get a work delay, but people are still not here (and it’s been an hour), so it’s very quiet at work lol … Now it’s pouring like crazy out and it’s supposed to be like that the next few days. I love rain, but only when I am home and can doze in and out to it :D

I have to admit... this expansion has some truly beautiful landscapes. Tonight I was farming a little timber to break away from studying, and I came across this forest which is breathtaking. If you click you can go and see a larger version. Somehow the capture takes away from how crisp it looks on my screen, but you get the idea.

I feel overwhelmed.

I have a lot of crap due for my history class in the next two weeks and I haven’t even started most of the projects. A procrastinator to the end, I always do this to myself. I still can’t believe we only have 3 classes left to this semester … wow.

I have a 15 page research paper due the week after Thanksgiving, but we have to give him partial draft this coming Tuesday and that means a lot of writing for me this weekend, which means a lot of pre-reading this week to be able to even start the thing.

On top of that, I have a Stats test on Saturday (I hate numbers/math, and this class has been a huge headache). This means a lot of studying over the next few days for that test as well. I can’t describe how much I hate math … it really doesn’t click with me at all. Thankfully this is the last one for forever.

I also have to do a museum visit and then a reaction paper on the visit for History. So, I am hoping that on Sunday I’ll get out to our local museum here and take some photos and then write a paper on that visit.

Also, I think he gives us our “take home” final next week and since I haven’t read EVERYTHING yet, I really have my work cut out for me the next two weeks. Looks like Thanksgiving weekend will be mostly reading/writing for me. I know people think “Oh, a take home, that should be easy!” Yes and no. Take homes allow me to take my time and not have to BS on the spot … but they also usually involve a LOT more work than if I were to show up for class, answer a few short answers and be done. Take homes typically involve a lot more than just cramming for a quick exam lol. Though, I do still prefer them than taking an exam in class.

I just registered today for spring. I’m taking a communications course – the very last ‘low level’ course I have to take for my general studies…thank GOODNESS. It’s another Saturday class, but I like having Saturday classes. I am up early and get the day going. It’s better than sleeping in until 3pm like I used to. I hate public speaking, and I hate having to do a lot of group projects, which this class will involve a lot of both. I just need to plow through it and get it over with…ugh.

I also signed up for a course on Japan History with my advisor. I took his China History course and absolutely loved it, so I am really looking forward to this class with him. It was a lot of reading/writing too, but I expect that in history courses and don’t mind it because I do enjoy it (even if I feel overwhelmed by the end).

After these two courses, all I need to take is another level 400, the senior seminar, and then the courses for my minor and I am done. I can’t believe there’s a light at the end of this long ass tunnel.

In other news, Blizzard finally fixed the server issues for my server on Saturday/Sunday. I was actually able to log in without much issue on Sunday morning and played most of the day … getting to level 96. Yesterday I felt like crap (congested, migraine and just a horrible queasiness) so I stayed home from work. With everyone else at work, I had no problems getting in and managed to hit 100. I know it’s going to sound odd, but I am a bit sad at how easy and quickly I got to 100. I did mostly quests and I have to admit the landscape in this expansion is truly breathtaking. I’m not much for Lore, so I can’t really talk to that, but the quests were very simple. I think I only died once and that’s because I came around the corner and ran smack dab into a huge mob of baddies and they pwnt my little face good.

Also, I enjoy the Garrison. Mine finally hit level 3, so I got all my buildings in except the Pet one because I don’t have any level 25 pets (my next mission sometime in the future when school work is all situated). I love how easy it is to get my professions leveled with the garrisons and not have the annoyance of trying to find nodes to farm (though I do still farm them when I come across them). Plus, it’s not super easy to make the really good items, and it will take time to farm the elements you need, so I think it should be entertaining.

I also finally hit ilvl 600 last night … which is what you need to do the rest of the normal dungeons, and then 610 to do heroics. I won’t have time tonight but maybe this weekend I’ll try to get to 610 and then run a bunch of heroics. I forget what ilvl you need to do LFR (Looking for Raid).

I was the very first person in my guild to hit 100, so I am probably going to be looking for a new guild soon. I want a guild that will raid, and even though these guys were all gung-ho a few months ago about raiding in WOD, the guild leader hasn’t been on in over 6 weeks and the ‘three’ main raiders haven’t been on in a week. So, yeah … I’ll be looking for a new guild soon most likely. Unless I can find someone on my list who is alliance and who will invite me along with their guild raids … but I think I only have one friend that plays alliance, the rest are horde.

Overall, the expansion is okay. I think it’s become really dumbed down and that kind of saddens me, but I know they’re tailoring the game a lot to people who want to play it casually. I am hoping once I start raiding I’ll see a more difficult side to the game, but the questing part was super easy. As I said, I only died once from 90-100  and it only took me 2 days to hit 100… that’s a little silly to me.

Here is my character’s profile if anyone is bored and wanting to check it out. All her transmog is gone with all the new gear she’s gotten and I don’t think I’ll be transmogging her anytime soon, so she’ll look weird for a while with all the odd gear she will be getting now.

P.S. Does anyone work for Dreamwidth anymore? I sent in a ticket a week ago and still haven't heard a peep.

Well I admit, my geek self was pretty excited to have today off work so I could really plow through the levels and get as close to 100 as I could. Let me just say ... NEVER. FUCKING. AGAIN. I would have had more fun at work than today's horror show of a launch day.

I didn't want to log in right at 3am when it launched for my area, so I figured 6ish am would have most of the people out in the new areas already and the starting areas wouldnt be so bad. I was wrong.

The lag was HORRIBLE. People standing on quest givers with the huge ass mounts just being total and complete a-holes (Wow Players at their finest). People not wanting to group so they could spam their AOE (MAGES and LOCKS mostly) and just make everyone else wait to loot quests and kill things and grab things because it was all SHARED ...

Two hours in ... and suddenly Stormrage (my main server) starts to crash, come back play for 2 minutes, crash again. Rinse and repeat this until about Noon ... and now it's been an endless queue fest. You wait 1 hour - 2 hours and suddenly it looks like its going to load and it freezes at about 90% on the load screen only to drop you out again and wait in another 1 - 2 hour queue.

Now it's not just stormrage. ALL servers are locked and ALL people are complaining about the same exact thing (even low population areas). I get it ... it's a lot of people, I really do. What I don't get is how a company with Blizzard's type of money and TEN years of experience, not realize this would be a nightmare and not plan ahead? Oh wait, I do get it. They don't care about their customers, because whatever they end up doing in the next day or two to help keep servers up ... (and what they should have done in the FIRST place) will fix the problem and all of these raged out people (Myself included) will just forget this nightmare.

So lesson learned for me ... NEVER take a day off for launch day. Better taking the Monday/Tuesday of the following week off than these two days. Now I know, so I at least learned something out of this nightmare. That, and maybe I won't even play WoW anymore by the next one lmao ...

They are now blaming it all on DDOS attacks... they've been usign this invisible attacker for over a year now. I think they need a new boogey man.

This image sums up my day since Noon (it's now 8PM). Oh and I only got halfway through level 91 ... most cant even get to level 91 and yet a handful of lucky ones on low pop servers this morning got to level 100. It's just a bloody nightmare and my geek self is ready to slaughter bunnies :D

I admit it ... I'm totally spazzing about this but I was REALLY looking forward to it and it's rough being disappointed. I love how it doesnt even give me a time frame :D

I had a particularly great weekend. It was very low-key and involved a lot of mindless entertainment.

After my 8am class Saturday (yes, I am the genius that signed up for an 8am Saturday class :D), I played a boatload of World of Warcraft until about 6pm. I decided to level a Hunter for PVP and I got her to about level 43 ... which is pretty good for 7ish hours of playing ha-ha. I am actually hoping to get her to level 60 today so that I can boost her to 90. Probably won't get that far, but I'll try.

Afterward, we decided to spend the weekend at my brother DP's house. I enjoy going there because he's got a huge wall-screen for his entertainment center. It's like being at the movie theater, ha-ha. I saw a couple of movies I've never seen before.

I'm a pretty big fan of New Girl, and I had no idea these two had made a movie. We were scrolling through my brother's box (it has all kinds of movies on it, even those still in theaters--though those are usually bad quality) ... and neither one of us had seen this so we put it on. It was stupid. Down right stupid ... and yet, I laughed at some parts so it wasn't completely idiotic. That's what I expected from this movie. Their personalities in this film are identical to the ones on the show...though I think "Coach"'s (Wayans) personality was slightly more original. I was also surprised to see Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries) in this. Her personality was also a lot like the one in the show. It's weird that I find her to be a good/decent actress in Vampire Diaries but in this I found her so fake and horrible ... I don't get it. If you want something really dumb to watch that's kinda funny (one scene I do have to admit had me crying from laughing so hard ... and that scene saves this from getting a 1 star) ... this is the movie for you :D I give it a 2 stars out of 5.

I finally saw this movie. It was actually pretty great. I saw it alone, at like 2am, and I admit it made me jump a few times and increased my heart rate a bit. There were a few great twists to the movie that really made it enjoyable. The film is pretty much about a young woman whose life mission is to prove the paranormal doesn't exist (ghosts, etc). Yet, when she's called to an all boys school to disprove it's haunting and find the boy truly responsible, she's met with forces that will make her question her own beliefs. It's truly gripping and 'thrilling'. Highly recommended, especially if you like BBC's work. I give it a 5 out 5 stars.

Those were the two new movies we watched.

Sunday was my brother NP's birthday. We made dinner at DP's house, and my godmother and uncle came over to join us. DP and I started watching season one of Arrow, and I have to admit, the show is much better than I imagined it would be. I thought it was going to be another 'chick' type of show, but even my brother was really into it. They do a really good job of keeping each episode action packed and the storyline flows very smoothly with his flash backs. Somehow they do a good job of having the flashbacks move forward with the show, even though it's from the past. Definitely enjoying it... hopefully I can catch up this coming weekend.

NP joined us about 5pm, and we had his birthday cake (which was very delicious--Vanilla with peanut butter filling and a chocolate moose topping. It was banging. Then he joined us in watching Arrow and we got to episode 7 of season 2 before we all decided to head home around 10pm. I caught up on last week's episode of BONES and Constantine, which were both great episodes. I love BONES, and I am really enjoying Constantine.

So yeah ... it was a very laid back weekend with some great (and not so great :D) mindless entertainment.

Today I'm working on a project I have to hand in for class tomorrow night and since it's slow at work, I'm trying to get most of it done now before I head home. That way I can proof it tonight, and then again tomorrow morning before printing it lol. It's amazing the errors I can make when I type in the 'heat of the moment' or when I just want to get all the words out and not worry about how I'm getting them out. Whenever I go back to reread I always amaze myself at the failsauce :D

Anywho ... last thing I want to mention is Christmas. It may seem early, but usually by now I am completely done with my shopping for Christmas. This year I haven't even started yet. I did buy myself a couple of cute decorations for my desk at home, which I hope arrive today. Trying to get myself in the spirit so I can do some shopping before all the insanity happens in stores. I may try to hand make holiday cards this year, but I don't know if I'll have the time. I have a 12 page research paper I have to write too which is probably going to take up a chunk of my holiday weekend in the near future. UGH! Shoot meh!

It's a three-day work week for me! Which has me in all sorts of a great mood.