I've Never Been Much For Blogging Daily Anyway

It's been an exceptionally busy week here at Taking Ten. As well as lots of school-related junk, we celebrated the birthday of my friend and future roommate Amy (I got her a tricorn pirate hat, which she loved, and sang her Elton John at karaoke) on Wednesday, which was amusing. I also finished Stone of Tears and have now moved on to Blood of the Fold, which I am enjoying just as much.

I also got my tattoo on Tuesday: it's a small yin-yang in the center of my back between my shoulderblades. It hurt like a bitch since it's on my spine, but it's healing nicely. Itches a bit today, but that just means it's healing. :3 Of course, whenever someone slaps me on the back, it stings. Gotta love friends.

Other life news includes apartment hunting (Amy and I found an amazing place in the middle of town: nice neighborhood, 1100 square feet, less than $600 a month, secured entry, big rooms, balcony... it's perfect) and getting my car tonight. It's a black '06 Honda Civic, 2-door. Her name is Kaylee.

Because yeah, I'm the queen nerd and name my appliances and vehicles. Go me.

Tomorrow is GamerKhan VI, which means my usual plans for sleeping will be thwarted. That's all right though; I'm used to going without sleep, and can probably nap if necessary. I'm all set and ready to cook, organize and hostess it up as well as hanging out with all my favorite nerdy friends. It will, as always, be a blast.

Anyhoo, I'm going to spend the rest of my evening getting a bit more writing done, reading more Sword of Truth, and watching my friends play Civilization IV.

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.

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.