Games I Play and Want to Play

Finals are finally over (early compared to my classmates, but that's the mad fortune of being an English major -- useless, but done early), and I'm blearily wondering what I should do with all the free time I've got on my hands right about now. So far I've been charging around in my favourite old videogame, Diablo II, and getting trained up on Starcraft.

I've also started playing a new MMORPG, Allods Online, a free MMO set in a steampunkesque fantasy 'verse. It's set up very similarly to WoW (which I SO can't afford to play, so this is a positive development), and I've built myself two characters already, though I've only got one through the tutorial so far. My League character, Kallyndria is an Elven Mage and my Empire character Syrania is an Arisen Summoner (Arisen are basically undead with mechanical enhancements). I hope to have some fun with them in the coming weeks. So far I'm already really enjoying the graphics and style of the game, but the interface is really different from DDO, so it's taking some getting used to. Jeff's the one who pointed it out to me, so we'll hopefully get the chance to play together while we're in separate cities most of the summer.

There's also a chance I'll be getting a Starcraft II Beta key in the not too distant future, since Jeff might have an extra one coming to him through his pre-order. He's highly enthused about the thought of being able to play his favourite game with his girlfriend - that and teaching me to pwn people ("you can be all like 'oh, I's a newb and a girl' and your opponent will be all 'hah, I don't have to try' and then you can go 'HAH!' and rape them and they'll go 'what the hell? I just got beat by a girl?" I like the way he thinks).

Clearly I've got a good summer of gaming looming ahead of me. Among other things I'm hoping to take a crack at Dragon Age: Origins on my laptop (I've played a bit on the 360 but the controls are a pain in the ass), and Jeff is procrastinating his philosophy papers by making a list of games he wants to throw at me. I'm not going to complain - recommendations are helpful, and if I'm lucky I won't have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to get the games I want to play.

So that's my general post about gaming and such. I'm about to head into act IV of Nightmare in Diablo II and I'm still slogging through the Terran Campaign in Starcraft (I'm not bad at the RTS style, but it's still new to me and I'm taking a while to adjust). I'm also enjoying Pokemon Heartgold on my DS, though rather slowly since I've been doing all manner of other things in the gaming realm.

In non-gaming related news, my other summer projects include getting down to it on the next novel - that and cleaning up the old one. I'm also taking up piano again - It's been a couple years since I stopped playing and I want to get back up to my old standards. So I'm learning a few Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead songs on my crappy old keyboard in my spare time.

And as for TV, starting next week I'm hoping to begin borrowing Star Trek: The Next Generation from Amy to watch. Mmm, delicious Picard-y goodness.

Games and Fantasy

So sleep has been going horribly this week, mostly due to D&D and karaoke, the usual suspects. But things are developing well in my nerdy little life. Like I finally got Starcraft from my roommate, which I've been inspired to play since Jim got a Starcraft II Beta-Key Monday night (anyone else jealous?) and my laptop has stopped being grouchy. I haven't played an RTS in forever, so it's taking a while to get used to the controls. But it's a lot of fun, and will give me a good game to play when I leave for my vacation tomorrow.

Not that I'll be gaming much. Yesterday I got to choose my own paper topic in my 400 level writing class, so I'm going to be writing my paper on the cliches and stereotypes commonly found in Fantasy literature, with a focus on authors who embrace and defy them. So now I'm reading Wizard's First Rule for a class.

I win. Epically.

So I'll be reading that on the plane, along with x-wing books. The flight back will most likely be taken up with playing Pokemon, as the new game comes out early next week (I am so excited, you have no idea). That and all the other perks of vacation are on the horizon, like sleeping a lot and watching Torchwood DVDs and visiting family.

But that's late tomorrow. Today I still have latin to get through. And then there's karaoke, where James and I will sing a rendition of A Whole New World that will probably be pretty bad, since it's too high for both of us. But the whole point is to have fun really, so it'll be okay. I also have to clean my room so it's fit for habitation, and pack.

Busy Wednesday is busy.

I'm off to read more Goodkind. And also browse the WoW Wiki some more. Because I am a loser.

Drinking Water is Important Kids

It's been a few days since I've updated, and I apologize. School and exhaustion kind of ate me alive. They still are of course - last night at Tuesday Karaoke I decided to go with the theme for the night and entertain the bar with my rendition of The Real Slim Shady (which I can do from memory - anyone wants proof and next time I'll videotape it). It went great, but it left me extremely dehydrated, and I did not drink nearly enough water to counteract the effects. Thus, my day has been spent stumbling from class to class in an exhausted stupor.

The rest of the week has been okay though. Lots of DDO time logged (Jim and I have been farming Stormreach quests for tasty loot, and I've been killing kobold after kobold with glee), and I have decided that oozes are the worst thing ever and I hope they all die horribly forever.

I've also been watching Chuck again, since I had a moment of weakness last night and bought season one at Best Buy, then watched a bunch of it last night (before passing out in a dehydrated blob).

The rest of the week is looking pretty good. The Undergrad Writing competition deadline is Friday, so I have one story to finish and another to tweak before then.

I've also signed up for Script Frenzy again this year (write 100 pages in 30 days starting April 1st), so I'm going to attempt writing a TV show script. More on that closer to the time, I'm still working out the details.

So yeah. Writing projects and school are piling up, gaming and Chuck are filling my free time and Friday is the first session of my D&D campaign! :) Life is good. I'm dizzy and tired, but life is good.

The Hazards of Repetitive Activities

So the weekend is off to a flying start. I had to get up crazy early for my meeting with my teacher, but that went well. She gave me tea. After that (we got done at about eight twenty in the morning) I camped out in Panera, ate a bagel and watched Big Bang Theory until it was time to meet for class.

Class and work went by pretty fast, and then Chris (the roomie) and I headed out for lunch. We ended up going to HuHot, a.k.a delicious Mongolian barbeque fun, for lunch, and then went back home so Elanthia (my wizard) could help power-level Urusai, Chris's Bard. I also hit level 3 (yay) and we made it through Misery's Peak before going to hang with Adam and Jim, which is where I am now, chilling out and watching Chuck.

We made it through a few good quests in Stormreach as a group though, but we had to stop when Jim got called to a raid and my RSI started acting up.

Yeah I have Repetitive Strain Injury in both my wrists, more severely in my left wrist than my right (I'm left-handed). Got the initial diagnosis back in my Freshman year of college, so when it flares up, usually after too much handwriting, typing or similar activities, I have to wear a wrist-brace, use ice packs and take painkillers.

Puts a bit of a damper on the gaming, which definitely qualifies as an activity that requires excessive use of my hands and wrists, among other things. So I'm done for the day, and hope to pick up the questing tomorrow before and after Red Hand of Doom, my Saturday Pen and Paper D&D game, which meets at 2:30. Before that? Car shopping!

So now I'm gonna play silly online games and catch up with season 3 of Chuck. It's a great way to spend a Friday Night, and DAMN is it good to be a geek.

Losers of Friday Night on their computers, unite! :D *end Twitter inside-joke here*

On Thursdays and the Getting the Hang of them

I've never been able to get the hang of Thursdays, and it's been like that for me even before I heard the same sentiment expressed by Arthur Dent in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which I read all the way back in ninth grade (I didn't get much further in the series after that. Call me heretical if you like, but I prefer Adams' other, more obscure works, like Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency).

But anyway, Thursdays have always seemed like a tricky day to me: the weekend is on the horizon but just out of reach, though not to the same extent that it is on Mondays, or even Wednesdays. Wednesdays are easier for me than Thursdays though, but I'll attribute that to my schedule.

Thursdays this semester have involved three classes during the day (nine thirty, twelve thirty and two thirty respectively), followed by a six hour shift at the library. So, on this particular Thursday I awoke at eight thirty after going to bed at two thirty in the morning after watching another episode or three of Chuck season two.

So I woke up and then had to wrestle with my printer and Miranda, the larger of my two laptops (Miranda is a Dell Inspiron 1420 I've owned since the fall of 2007. My other laptop is a Dell netbook I've had since last September. His name is Virgil. Yes I name my technology. Don't judge me), who I ordered a new power cable for this afternoon before Gay and Lesbian Lit.

Three classes later, I have a long night at the library ahead of me. I can't play DDO because my backpack is too heavy for me to drag Miranda, my latin textbooks and a short story anthology to campus. Not in the least because it's a twenty minute walk. It's a shame I can't play too, since I've managed to convince both Adam and Jim, my veteran WoW-playing compadres, to give DDO a shot. Adam is definitely addicted (he rolled up a Dwarf Barbarian this morning and didn't stop playing until he went to work at five) and Jim is enthused because he's managed to effectively create Allyndra (his 4E character from Sunday campaign). Thus, my plans for tomorrow night consist of going over to their place to catch up with season three of Chuck (which they have DVR'ed) and questing around Korthos island. A Barbarian, a Wizard and a Paladin. Sounds like the beginning of a truly awful joke. But yeah, I'm excited. Sounds like a great way to spend a Friday night.

You know, because I'm a total geek like that.

Tonight I'll be passing the time at work watching season two of The Big Bang Theory and reading Wizard's First Rule during the wait time for Megavideo (stupid 72-minute viewing limits). Might play some Pokemon too, or even listen to some more episodes of Radio Free Burrito, Wil Wheaton's podcast.

Yeah, that was me last night. I downloaded the three most recent episodes of RFB and listened to them while I killed acolytes and sahuagin on Korthos Island and failed utterly at questing on hard-mode. Sometimes being a mage blows. I want fireball. Bad.

After work I get to attack my printer again and then do a couple little quests before passing out. Which I need to do, since I have a meeting with my creative writing teacher at eight in the morning and need to bring three typed poems for her to critique. It was the only time she could squeeze me in. *Death*

But I'm off work at one. And then the fun of the weekend can begin. DDO, sleeping in, karaoke, D&D campaigns. And on Saturday my Dad and I are going to begin the quest to find me a car.

So it may indeed be Thursday. But all things considered, it could be much worse.

MMO's and Vehicles

I'm a big fan of weekends; any day that gives me an opportunity to sleep in past eight thirty in the morning and play videogames and D&D is as good day in my book.

I've started playing DDO: D&D Online, at the recommendation of my roommate Chris. I've never tried playing an MMO before -- I've tended to avoid them because of their two major flaws in my book. 1) They cost money. 2) They take up a lot of time.

However, DDO has managed to eliminate the first of those qualms, in that the Eberron setting is completely free and unlimited. Issue #2 is still there, but all that involves is a little self control.

Not that I have a lot of that, but as long as I remember to get my homework done before I run around killing Sahuagin and becoming a more awesome Wizard.

Speaking of which, homework is definitely pressing on my mind. Paper due in my creative writing class tomorrow morning about a book I've been reading called Leaving Atlanta. It's a good book, but I made the mistake of signing up for a craft device that doesn't really have a specific definition: emotional core. Not hard to explain of course, but its not really something I can do research on. Which might diminish my grade. Unfortunate, but true. Then again, if I mention that research on the topic was difficult, that might help.

Ah, the power of Bullshit.

So until I get on that, I'm gonna watch Chuck and finish reading the book I need to read. I love this show. It's most definitely one of my favorites.

My other thought for the day is about my car. Well, my nonexistent car. Next month I'm finally acquiring my own vehicular transportation. I haven't had a car that even remotely resembled my own property since high school, and even then, my sister and I shared it. Once I went off to the big bad world of college, the car remained in my sister's possession, and then got sold two years later when she headed off to that same big bad world.

So yeah. I can't wait to have a car. I can't wait to be free to drive wherever I want to drive, to have the opportunity to just head to the gaming store whenever I want, to go visit friends on the other side of town without them having to come pick me up.

I've also been thinking about that car, and that it'll need a name. A ridiculously geeky name.

Any recommendations? I'm debating between a Star Wars name (The Milennium Falcon or similar), a fantasy steed (Shadowfax, for example) or something from literature or comic books. Suggestions are welcome, and I'll probably gather and list the finalist names closer to the actual acquisition of the vehicle.

So that's that. Time to crap out a three-page paper, finish reading a book, and watching Chuck. And later, I get to play D&D.

Gotta love Sundays.

On Focus, Gaming and Television

Last night after work I engaged in a fun nerd-fest with my friends Adam and James. We dropped by Brewsky's for Thursday Karaoke (because we're regulars, and that's just what regulars do) and I tried out a new song. I'm a fan of the Beatles thanks to living in England for most of my formative years, so I sang 'Let it Be'. It's a little less vocal intensive than a lot of the songs I sing, so it was nice to do something mellow for a change.

After that we piled in cars (well, Adam's car. I don't have a car as of yet, but that's on the to-do list for March) and went over to Adam's place, where we watched a good five to six episodes of Big Bang Theory. I adore that show. I can safely say that it is one of my absolute favorites. I love the nerd references, the awkwardness and the awesome in-jokes.

That and one of the episodes really struck home with me last night. It's a scene from episode 7 of season 1, 'The Dumpling Paradox', where Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard are engaged in a frantic game of Halo and Penny stops by with her friends. Penny loudly states to the group of gaming boys that she and her friends got bored dancing and came back to have sex with them (joking of course). The males, in common gamer stereotype, are too busy playing Halo to notice her. Penny then laughs and remarks to her friends that she told them this would happen.

Why does this ring true to me? Because I've been on both sides of that spectrum, and if nothing else, that amuses me. I've been the frustrated girl trying to get my boyfriend's attention while he was in the middle of a videogame, be it WoW or Halo or Dragon Age or any number of the various other games my boyfriends of the past have played.

I find this a lot less frustrating now than I used to. Why? Well, besides the fact that I'm currently single and therefore don't have a boyfriend to distract, I've also been the one lost in a game on many an occasion. I regularly sit curled up on my couch, muttering angrily at my DS as I attempt and fail to catch Chanseys in Pokemon Platinum. My roommates will regularly hear me bellow streams of profanity as I attempt to complete a Quest in Diablo II (especially in Act III on Nightmare -- holy SHIT are gloams nasty). And unless someone comes and stands right in front of me, I have trouble dividing my attention.

So yeah, I've been in the stereotypical girl position in that scenario; standing by the side while my boyfriend, or even just my guy friends, are too distracted to notice me trying to talk to them.

But I don't fault them for that. Because I've been there. And sometimes diverting your attention will lose you the game.

... Which I just lost.

Sorry internet.

So those are some of my thoughts on gaming, and TV. I ended up staying awake until four in the morning and passing out on Adam's couch in the middle of episode 12 (The Jerusalem Duality). But I'll probably catch up with that later this weekend in-between D&D sessions, karaoke and writing a critical paper for my Creative Writing class.

Yeah, it's a miracle I'm awake right now. My only saving grace is my bottle of Code Red Mountain Dew. Thus, I will attempt to stay awake by reading old comic archives and chatting with friends online. And working on D&D stuff of course. And cursing the fact that I don't have a teleporter. The snow, it is pesky and I hates it and I hates that I have to walk through it to get home to my nice warm bed and DVDs.

Day in the Life

So today, Thursday, is traditionally my busiest and longest day, and no exceptions were found on this particular occasion. I woke up after staying up late for Karaoke (which is a staple in my minimal social life - I go every Tuesday, Wednesday, and almost every Thursday and Saturday) and dragged my sorry exhausted ass out of my warm, comfortable bed. I survived my first class - Reading for Writers, which I actually enjoy quite a bit as we talk extensively about writing techniques. That and I can get away with not giving my full attention and working on stuff for my D&D campaign. So yeah, managed to get three brand new pages of notes written in longhand. Also did that over lunch and during Gay and Lesbian lit.

No such luck in Latin, but I actually enjoy paying attention in latin. My nerdery extends heavily into the realm of linguistics - I'm taking a dead language for fun, I can understand a substantial amount of elvish, and I have a strong desire to learn Klingon.

Please, keep the heckling to yourself. I am well aware of how sad that is.

I also work six hours today, and am currently in the fifth hour of that shift. I don't mind though, as I work at a library. So I've spent the bulk of my shift catching up with Chuck (one of my favorite shows), chatting online with many friends, and plotting out D&D-related things.

I'm really looking forward to starting up my campaign; I haven't run anything in a really long time, so starting off something new will be a fun challenge. Not in the least because two of the players, my friends Adam and Amy, haven't played 3.5 before and started with 4th, so I and the other two players, my roommates Chris and John, have been slowly educating them. It'll take some time, but we're enthusiastic, so it's no trouble.

My plan for the rest of the evening is most likely going to involve more karaoke, as my friends Adam and James are willing to drive out to Brewsky's to enjoy some singing and alcohol. Though probably not for me, as I'm decidedly poor. Yay poverty!

So yeah. My life may not be exciting, but is definitely nerdy.

Time to watch more Chuck and count down the minutes until I can pack up and head home. I'm looking forward to it.