For those who care

I'm currently playing a Troll Priest on Garona. Trolls have an interesting look. Some sort of lovechild of Gonzo the Muppet and an elephant. I only realized this after, and now wish I had made it named Gonzo (just add the Westfall quested chicken and I'd be set). Mine has MASSIVE tusks, which means when I use the "dressing room" function to check out the look on rogue masks, it looks like I've hung a kleenex on my nose.

Fashion. Oh yes.

I do have amazing hair though.

West Nile is scary...

Especially if you're outside as much as I am lately. However, this is perhaps the funniest picture ever associated with the disease I've ever seen. One man with a gun, one with a flyswatter.

"Come out with your wings up! We have you surrounded!"

The Meaning of Six O'Clock

Personal reflection:

In the book I'm reading, Thud by Terry Pratchett, the main character Sam Vimes makes a statement at one point that his new 14-month old son is more important than anything else to him. So much so, that this constantly working (in all the other books of the series) police commander MUST be home at 6pm to read to the son. So much so that at the end, it becomes his reason for being. I know this because I've readthe book before and know how it ends, but I like re-reading.

Pratchett's books are normally very humorous, with small side tones of morality where he lets the real world slip in. They are brilliant works. This one is a lot more heavy with the life-lessons than normal, but it doesn't bother me - I'm much like that, especially now that I've evicted the monkey.

When I leave work these days, I go home to my wife and kids. While I'd prefer to relax, more times than not, I'm soon outside playing catch with my son. To him, that is the meaning of six o'clock, the time I get home. My wife tells me both kids constantly want to know when I'm coming home. Yesterday I was too tired to play catch so he worked on his hitting. He's was still happy though - Dad was there to watch. 'Cause six o'clock is time for me and him. My daughter constantly will ask questions throughout the day of me, which I love, trying to answer questions and learn things. She moves through my life like quicksilver, in and out so fast I can't keep up. They just grow up too fast.

For the handful of former raid-game friends who read this, perhaps you'll understand now why I stopped. I used to rush home and bask in the LCD glow. Not as much as others, but far too often. I just can't do that again. I hope you understand.

Flexing the Muse

A long time ago, when stuff (best left at that) was different, I used to write. A good bit. I really enjoyed it, and given time I could write a good story. I'm no top level writer, this I know, and my stories often get bogged down in complex plots that I have trouble writing myself out of. But hey, at least I try, right? Many years ago I even became a published poet at one point. Don't go Googling me though, because I already have and it's not there. It's entirely possible that the book is in your public library though.

Anyhoo, I feel inclined to write again, although what about is a mystery. Writing about my Everquest characters might seem out of place. That said, they had a solid background, which makes writing easy. I was well known on my server, and that's something I'm proud of still. My writing could then take my well-known self and blend it into the given world, and people could enjoy it. My Warcraft characters don't inspire the same mystique to me, and having characters cross over from one universe to the other is an old, tired plot I don't care to explore. I shall really have to give it some thought.

mySpace

mySpace is a very scary thing

I'm off to build the ivory tower to lock my kids in now...

Shameless Self Promotion

Just a bit of self-apple-shining if you will, but wanted to say that I've been invited to join Ethic's group over at Kill Ten Rats. He has an interesting site with a great selection of writers who talk about various parts of gaming. I've enjoyed reading his site for the past year, and I'm honored to be able to join his team. Look for my stuff under Oz.

As long as I'm posting funny stuff...

No matter how many times I see this, I still laugh. I'd do many nearly-illegal things to have a copy of the video on my PC. Backstreet (Chinese) Boys

Oh, and this website has the most amazing hand puppets ever. Press the "GB" button for english. Watch the videos..you'll forget you're watching nothing but 2 hands.. Lejo

Super Mario Live

After all those things that shouldn't exist, here's one that should have happened long ago...

College Talent Show Does Mario

And, from the same talented guy who's name is apparently really Mario, Xylophone Mario

/salute

Stuff that just shouldn't exist

Surfing around the web, found some things that are just so...bizaare...you can only wonder what the marketing department was smoking that day. And hope for the sake of the world that it killed them.

The Star Trek The Next Generation/X-Men Crossover. And it's been re-released thanks to X3. Completely serious. I wonder if Patrick Stewart is foolish enough to ask for a royalty on either or both sides...

A few completely bizarre comics books I was told about-

The Punisher Meets Archie No, seriously. Assumably Judge Dread was booked.

Superman Meets He-Man You can write your own joke here.

Superman Vs Muhammed Ali Sting like a kyptonite bee!

And really, the winner of all of these for me, from the same location, Superman Meets The Quix Bunny Because nothing thwarts Lex Luthor quicker than powdered chocolatey goodness!

This has nothing to do with gaming...

Over the weekend managed to finally get everything nailed down for my Family's First Vacation (tm) to Disneyworld, or Land, or whichever the Florida one is called. I have no idea what kind of cheese we are feeding the world's most famous rodent, but he eats a damn lot of it for all the cash I had to pay. Don't believe the hype about "family of 4 can have a Disney vacation for $1500!!" cause it's complete bull cookies. That will get you a spot at the cheapest Disney hotel (which is one I wanted, for the record, and is still quite nice), but very limited tickets and is only for 4 nights. We're going to spend a week there, and I severely doubt we'll see everything. The cheapo hotels on-site are all booked up, so we'll be staying at the southwest resort, which, of course, is the one I'd least like to stay at. See, when you have a Mexican home, it's not much of a getaway, is it? Still, looks freaking gorgeous, and the massive pool on site means I don't have to pay yet another $40 per person to get extremely limited access to Disney's water park.

Looking forward to this vacation. This will be the first vacation I've ever gone with my family on, and my first vacation ever. With the jobs I've had over the years, with many people under me needing constant supervision, I've never been able to take much more than a weekend off. A week and a half out of touch will be quite nice. My family has been to Mexico a few times, Atlanta once, and I think someplace else, all paid for but not enjoyed by me. We'll probably drive each other batty =)