The Casual Cascade, or "Getting Back In Touch With Life"

I'm not going to say "OMG! WoW stole my life!" It didn't.

But it did steal the rest of my hobbies.

In WoW, we just felt like we had to keep up. Keep up with people who didn't have jobs or school or any other interests. Keep up with collecting, keep up with raiding, keep up with PVP gear, keep up.

Husband looked at me after we canceled our accounts and said, "I used to read."

The Beast, or "I Didn't Say I'd NEVER Post While On Hiatus"

A few days ago, I mentioned we were getting a new kitten. Her name is Alice. Her nickname is The Beast. We've had her for four days.

She's like a really long boss fight.

In the morning, I release her and engage. From 9-5, I'm the main tank while husband works. As long as the office door is open, my main job is to keep kitten aggro.

Except that every time husband moves, it's a Taunt. I have to blow all my cooldowns to keep her off him.

/cast Block
/cast Head Scratch
/equip Toy
/use Toy
/cast Cuddle

Phase 2 is when she falls asleep and I have to be extra-super-still. My last resort is breaking out limited Catnip potions and tossing them at her, as she's easily distracted.

Our other cat sometimes off-tanks, but he doesn't have the dedication to keep her on him all day. Mainly he just looks alarmed and runs away from her (which makes her chase him).

Whew. Kittens! O.o

Alas and Alack, or "When It's Time to Hiatus"

I mentioned to my husband the other day that the reason we don't exercise anymore is because we spend our spare time playing Warcraft instead.

He agreed.

It made me think about the wisdom of continuing to play a game that keeps you from being as healthy as you can. Sure, some people strap laptops to their treadmills, but most of us don't have that kind of dedication (insanity?).

But this isn't about cutting back or even stopping cold turkey. This is about hitting a point in real life where you need to cut out all distractions and focus.

So, today, husband and I canceled our subscriptions.

It was sudden but necessary. We plan to revisit the option to resubscribe in January.

Considering the game is the only way we see my husband's best friend anymore, this is far from a permanent situation. So please wish us luck in real life so we can get back to our virtual one.

<3

On Waiting, or "Patience in an Impatient Game"

We adopted a kitten yesterday. Sort of. She needs to stay at the animal shelter a few more days to be spayed and then we can pick her up.

But, see, I want her now. When we first met her, she sat in the back of her cage while her brother meowed at the front. My sister-in-law went "Awww" at the brother and took him out, and my husband said "I like the one in the back being quiet."

So I took her out and cuddled her. And cuddled her. And cuddled her.

We wanted a lap cat, someone who likes to snuggle as much as Tiger hates it. A yin to Tiger's yang.

We found this little black and white cutie who purred without wriggling or meowing as I held her, totaling about ten minutes of pure cuddly snugs. I actually cried when I had to put her back.

We put a down payment on her adoption after checking the other kitties and failing to bond with them like I did her.

But I still have to wait for her.

I'm going crazy.

Arena Tips, or "How Husband Says He Could Change My Mind"

This is going to be a joint post with husband on how people who don't really like arenas could potentially learn to love them.

I personally hated them for the following reasons:

• We queued at slow times, so each battle had a 10 minute wait.
• I hate being forced to do things to get any benefit (i.e. 10 games a week requirement).
• I hate spending much time on something I'm ambivalent about.
• The titles mean nothing to me.
• It wasn't very fun.
  

Husband's Gladiator friend told him that to progress in arenas, it's all about grinding out games. Do a ton every week and your rating will creep up, especially in the first weeks of a season. That's just not attractive to me at all.

Rumor Mill, or "Career Gankers on Zuluhed?"

I got this info from a guildmate who talked to one of the subject's former guildmates, so take this as you will.

My brother blacklisted an alliance guild that only has a couple of guys in it, all with weird letters in their names. They camped him while he was trying to solo Chillmaw. Note that it was a group camping one person. My brother could have taken any of them one-on-one (probably even two-on-one) but not all five. Later the same day, my brother wrote "Sasori Death Gripped me in Wintergrasp today. *evil laugh*" That's how he got their names.

Mr. Turtle, or "Thank You, Husband!"

It's my birthday today and while I knew what husband was getting me (since he asked permission to buy it off our guild leader), I'm still pickled pink. Or is that tickled? I dunno, I just woke up.

Husband bought my long-desired Riding Turtle just a few days after my pretty bird dropped. I told him I was set for life but admitted I might be sorry later if we didn't get it while GL had one to sell.

Honestly? My desire for a turtle was inflicted upon me by those bumbly snuggly Kalu'ak. Who doesn't love them? Ever since I met their cuddlinesses, I've had the urge to ride around their camps with them, and now I can! ^_^

I'll admit, the Riding Turtle is one of the most impractical, frivolous mounts in the game. But it's also something I'll never regret getting. It's a classic fun item and a great toy for any kid-at-heart novelty enthusiast.

Whee!

Help Dying Kids, or "How to Keep Your Principles AND Help Others"

According to WoW Insider's poll, roughly a third of their readers will buy the pets, a third won't, and a third think it's the coming of the apocalypse.

I voted no simply because I don't pay real money unless a) I'm going to use the item regularly, b) I really really really really want it, or c) it comes with something else I want.

We're going to talk about option C right now. Beruthiel (whom I've decided I love) posted about how people should buy Pandaren Monks to help the Make-A-Wish Foundation because it's a terrific cause.

Farming Again, or "I Guess It's Okay"

I've clocked at least 18 hours farming the Hyacinth Macaw. My RL friend has been going at it on horde for about a month, and that worried me until husband noted that I've farmed more hours per day than she probably has -- he hasn't seen her on much except for raids.

On Moon Guard, I have a policy of skipping over land-bound mobs if lowbies are questing in the area, as well as bosses on ships.

One of the lowbies I passed was a cute human mage named Rynthia, memorable because I have a horde bank named Rinthea. I respected her space and left large swaths of mobs for her.

It was a trade-off. I got my self-respect, but I missed the little beauty she listed on the AH last night.

That's right. I placed an 8,000 gold bid on the macaw I could have gotten if I'd been a meaner person.

Pet Store, or "Paying Real Monies For Account-Bound Pets"

I said a while back I was glad Blizz hadn't pulled a Sims 3 on us and started selling tons of cosmetic items on their store to rake in the cash.

That statement was hasty.

They just announced 2 pets for the Blizzard store: Pandaren and Lil KT.

They're cheaper than TCG pets -- $10 each -- and unlike TCG pets, they act like collector's edition pets where they're given to all characters you have or ever will have. I paid $25 just for the BC:CE game code on ebay, so I'd say Blizz is making their pets cheaper than you'd get from resale. I also applaud the fact that they're not doing the "points" crap where you convert money into points and use points to buy things. They're very upfront about how much the pets cost, and while some players may have issues with the price or the ethics of selling pets, Blizz could be a lot more underhanded about the whole thing.

PINK HEART ROCKET!, or "Omg Pink Heart Rocket!"

Okay, so mmo-champion updated with two new patch mounts.

One is the thing that'll probably be super-wicked-hard-to-get from Arthas or as a related achievement. Death-horse-thing, boys may now go wild with enthusiasm:


Yah yah, whatev, it's badass.

The AWESOME thing is the big love rocket, which is pink and has hearts on it! SQUEEEE!


Boubouille thinks the love rocket will be a rare Valentines drop. :D It's supposition, but he's almost always correct.

Both mounts "change depending on your Riding skill and location."

Squeedle squeedle flail flail!

While I realize I have my pretty bird on Dusty, if this is a rare Valentines drop, I will be farming it on every single one of my characters. Call it the principle of the thing, if you like, since I've posted in the official forums and suggested a pink mount before, bringing forth the cleverness of the forum trolls in all their glory.

But in reality, it's a pink mount. Who wouldn't farm that to excess?

P.S. Post title changed from "Pink Love Rocket" because a friend has been to too many bachelorette parties and told me that's the name of a sex toy. *coughs uncomfortably* So yeah. Edited .

Goals, or "Let's Change the Subject, Shall We?"

I don't particularly like dwelling on unpleasant things, though I can't help it at times, so let's get on to a new, more upbeat topic: goals!

This is another one of those "I'm making a list here because I'd like to have it written down and you get to read it even though it's not that entertaining" things.

----------

Before Patch 3.3

• Hyacinth Macaw on Birdfall

Before Cataclysm

• Proper gear on Birdfall and a Perky Pug.
• Level alliance mage's enchanting until she can disenchant anything.
• Farm hundreds of herbs, ore, enchanting mats, and cloth to sell to alts in Cat.
• Finish all tedious old-world, BC, and Wrath things I've been putting off.
  

Long Term

• Jeweled fishing pole on Dustfire.
• Raven Lord for Birdfall.
• Battlemaster for Plum.
• All holiday achievements on Birdfall (not just violet proto drake).
• 100 mounts on Birdfall.
• Blue proto drake on Birdfall.
• All in-game pets on Dustfire.
• Finish Dustfire story.

Real Life
(Meh, why not.)

• Get book published.
• Buy a bed.
• Adopt second kitty.

Unresolved, or "Bottling Things Up Eventually Goes Boom"

I wrote about the dangers of not talking things out, and I'm feeling the effects of a similar situation. Yeah, I'm PMSing, but every now and then I'm reminded of how pissed and hurt I was when I got backstabbed by my fellow officers (back when I was one), and even though it's been a year I still want to yell and scream and hurt someone. Not because of what happened, or even so much how it was handled --

I'm pissed that I never got a Sorry. That I just got "What's done is done" and "We did what we had to" and nobody ever stopped to think "I dunno, maybe she's upset for something real and isn't just being a hormonal bitch."

It kept coming back in flashes. And I kept repressing. And now it's out and I don't see how I can put it back or approach anyone from that travesty without insulting them.

Day of the Dead 2009, or "Skeletons in Hats Confuse Me"

Day of the Dead

Walkthrough

Go to your home city or a neutral city. Find its graveyard. Find Catrina. Dance with her.

Buy the ingredients for Bread of the Dead: 1 simple flour from cooking vendor, 1 ice cold milk from an innkeeper. Buy recipe in the graveyard and cook it at the graveyard fire (requires graveyard fire specifically). Then buy an [Orange Marigold] from the graveyard vendor. Once you have the bread, use the marigold in the graveyard, look for the one spirit with a !, and accept/turn in the bread quest.

You will receive one fake pet (bag space item) and an achievement from this.

Epic Moments

I totally thought a guy in the costume didn't have real gear on in WSG and asked him to change.

/facepalm

If that wasn't dumb enough, it took me 2 more hours to realize we had a new holiday on hand.

And I almost missed it! Stupid Hyacinth Macaw farming. /grumble