WoW Stories Around the Blogfire: Part 1

World of Warcraft is similar to real life in a few ways. Some can point fingers at the economy, the community, the wars, etc. but the one essential element that every player of World of Warcraft shares are the memories of their many adventures. Nobody goes through the epic quest from level one to seventy too totally brainwashed to remember any monumental events that have taken place, no matter how minor or major they were. However, to keep an account of one's journeys throughout the endless realms of Azeroth enables the individual to easily recall what happenings had taken place without doubt. Thanks to Blizzard, the players are allowed to take in-game screenshots with the press of a button, which then automatically saves in an automatically destined folder. With the power of a picture being worth a thousand words (however I dislike that thought as I'm a man of captions), players can recount their playing time by viewing their photo album of their toon's life. That may be very nice, but to share these pictures and adventures with other players and even non-players, maybe as a method to lure them into the game, would be much nicer. I haven't looked throughout the internet yet for any such accounts, but why do such when I can present my tales for other's reading pleasure. Therefore I present to you a new lil' thing I'll be doing on the blog every now and then:

WoW Stories Around the Blogfire

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In the two pictures shown above was a raid that took place at Undercity just yesterday. There was a bug/glitch last night and the servers were down for battlegrounds, Outland instances, and arenas. Therefore, the high level players didn't know what the hell to do to suit their taste for some PVP action. Why not raid a major city then? I was sitting around in Undercity while doing my AP chemistry homework when I noticed the large amount of complaints in the trade chat channel about the servers going down. I also noticed that some people were trying to put a raid together to attack the Alliance city of Exodar, however it's uncertain as to how the outcome of that raid was, or even if a group was put together. After awhile, I went outside of Undercity to escape the mass of chatter in trade chat as I was trying to talk in my guild and to Caitlin, who was on at the time. I know a simple '/leave trade' would have solved the same problem, but I wanted to be a loiter outside, especially in the fresh, or shall I say, rotten air of Trisfal Glades. I was chatting, while editing my homework, when I noticed in both world and local defense that Undercity was under attack. At this point, I was rushing inside of the city when I heard shouts that the raid group were in the sewers. I then dashed back outside, trying to find the entrance to the sewers, but I failed miserably in doing so. Knowing that I was wasting time away from experiencing my first raid on the Horde, I ran back into the city to go to the sewers the long way. However, at this point, trade chant roared with shouts that the raid was already in the royal chambers, trying to kill Lady Sylvanas Windrunner. I quickly ran to the chamber to find the Alliance raid group preparing for the battle with the queen and her servants, including her demonic guard. The Horde of Undercity didn't take much part in fighting the Alliance as we would rather watch the onslaught that our Lady would lay upon the group. The Alliance soon struck, and the guards of Undercity, as well as our Lady, went after the group. The part that I found amusing, as you can see in the second picture above, is that only one person was attacking the queen. The other twenty-nine or so Alliance were focused on fighting the guards. The final outcome of the raid was that the whole raid wiped, getting Lady Windrunner down to only 99% health, and they didn't come back. I was a bit dissatisfied, however. I was hoping for a more epic battle with the Horde players actually grouping together to participate, but we just sat around as spectators with a select few trying to fight, but really -- one or two Horde against thirty Alliance; there's not a chance of survival there. I would've tried to fight, even though I was only level 52, but I'm not a good 1 vs 1 player, nevertheless 1 vs 30. And, well, the fact that they were mostly all question marks to me. I'll get my revenge at 70.

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After the raid took place, I went back to the bank in Undercity to stand around while talking about this and that in guild chat, reporting to them the events that took place. After a little while, the general chat chimed with the text 'Undercity is under attack' again. Without thought I headed to the sewers, as that seems to be the only way that the Alliance seem to enter Undercity. I was correct in my decision. With my humanoid tracking on, I was able to scout out a single red dot located at the end of a pipe in the sewers. As I walked toward the level ?? human warlock, I noticed that a level 55 night elf druid was too present, however he was in his cat form and in stealth. If it wasn't for me accidentally walking on top of him, I wouldn't even had known he was there. I stood around, we waved to each other, then I left. However, I spotted a level 70 undead warlock too in the sewers, and I led him to where the other two Alliance were. I followed him back to the spot where they were standing, and we stood there for a very long time, with the 70 and I talking a bit. Then, out of nowhere, my undead warlock comrade attacked the other warlock. Without thinking, I did the same thing, using my bestial wrath spell to actually do some damage. Oh shit! I forgot about the druid! While attacking the warlock, I notice the druid, still in cat form, rushing at me. I lay down a trap to freeze him, however he evaded it, and began attacking me. I don't know how, but I was getting good distances from the druid to do some range damage without him being right next to me throughout the whole battle -- the biggest weakness for hunters. We were both losing health at the same rate, and I knew that I would probably go down before him. However, lucky for me, the two level 65 guards spawned back at this time, aiding in my task to wipe out the druid, while the undead warlock killed the human. It was a good battle, and a good time. The warlock and I talked for about five minutes while we stood over our victim's dead bodies, and then we went our separate ways.

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That's all the stories I have to recount for today, however I have many more to tell, but time doesn't allow me to fit them all into one entry. Therefore, I hope you anticipate the other parts to this series and enjoyed the one I presented to you today.

Have a good one.

WoW Update

Right now there is a server shutdown on World of Warcraft for most realms, so I figured I would come on to type up an entry about the game itself. My inactivity at the blog is due to my heightened addiction toward WoW. I'm at the point in the game where I'm experiencing new things that I never encountered before, as the highest level I ever was prior to my current toon was 47. I'm entering zones I never set foot in before, fighting monsters that I never fought before, and doing quests that I never did before. I can't say much for instances, however. The first instance I did since Wailing Caverns (and not counting the time I soloed Shadowfang Keep when I was farming light leather from the worgens and beasts there) was the Sunken Temple, and that was just a run with the purpose of completing my level 50 hunter quest for my new beloved weapon -- the hunter spear. I'm not much of an instance kind-of-guy. I really don't like to group up, as I feel like I'm obligated to have to do whatever the group wants to do. In terms of instances, I feel like I can't leave the party and do something in real life as they'll be angry at me. But really, why should I care? They're strangers sitting at a computer in some section of the world that I never met before. Why should I care about their feelings and motives? Well, that's the problem with the world today. People don't care about that other human being present at a computer somewhere, and they bash each other verbally without fear of actual harm. Try saying half the things said in WoW or any other online game or community to somebody in real life and see how long it takes before getting punched in the face. Wow, I'm getting a little off-topic here.

My troll hunter, Eragoin, on the PvE server of Whisperwind is currently level 52. This is the only toon I'm working on because I'm eager to finally reach the current maximum level of 70. I want to actually experience the raids at 70 as well as instances before the game expands with "The Wrath of the Lich King". I should definitely reach 70 at the start of the summer, if not sooner. I'm giving myself a lot of time, however, because I'm unaware if school will keep me busy anytime soon. If I play the way I am nowadays, I may turn 70 in March. I really don't have an desire to start another toon. I love hunters, and I love trolls. I tried other classes in the past, such as mages, rogues, warriors, etc. and I just didn't like them. I would like to try a tauren druid, but that's only if I'm extremely bored on Eragoin.

I recently deleted my other toon, a level 47 dwarf hunter on Azgalor (Buddyfoote), because I decided that I wanted to be Horde-only. I do have a level 13 gnome mage on my home server of Whisperwind, but I'll only use him as a spy in terms to scout out cities to raid. I had too many flaws with my dwarf hunter, and I decided that he had to go. He was the wrong spec, had the wrong pet, had the wrong armor, etc. and I just became detached from him. The leading cause was because of the server type -- PVP, which I dreaded dearly. The fear of being attacked wherever I was caused way too much anxiety for me to handle. I could have whipped out twenty-five dollars and transferred Buddyfoote to Whisperwind, but like I said, I began to disdain the toon. Plus, I really like the community on the Horde. It's almost the same as the Alliance -- you have the dicks and you have the nicest people in the world, but I tend to run into the nice people more than the dicks on the Horde. The guild that I belong to, Gnome Squishing Inc., illustrates how nice my faction is on my server. It's a great mature family of friends. I love my guild as we have very intelligent conversations about this, that, and whatever. Kudos to you guys.

I would like to write more, especially since I'm in the mood, as well as post some WoW pictures that I took, however I'm being called upon by my mother. And you have to add the fact that I have school tomorrow and I need to get some sleep.

Have a good one.

Drama-ette

Hey kids. =P Life has been good, very busy, and quite exciting this week. :) Well I got my braces off Tuesday morning! Yep, all done. The appointment lasted a good hour and wasn't painful or scary or any of that. I love my teeth toooo. They seem a lot bigger though and I still have to go get a good cleaning and will recieve my pink glow in the dark retainer Thursday. ;D

Thursday of this week Drama began again at the school after not having a fall play because of the absence of finding a new director and such. If I liked Drama a lot before, I am pretty sure I love it now. :) It's so fun. Everything about it. I like that there are people in Drama with me that I may not have become friends with or got to known well otherwise. It's a little family, hehe. Aside from that, Drama allows me to gain more confidence and show another side of myself that people wouldn't expect of me. The Spring Musical we are doing is called "A Chorus Line" and the show probably won't be until early May. The new producer is terrific. She has much experience and even is a choreographer. Auditions were right after school Thursday and that "side of myself that people wouldn't expect of me" came out. =) My friend Abby and I decided months ago we wanted to become even more involved in the Drama Club this year now that we had an idea of how things were run behind the scenes and what went into the plays from our tech- experience. We were not looking for any star roles in the play, but we figured if we could get casted as an extra with a few lines or be a member of the chorus with everyone when they get to do the first and final songs/dances of the play that would be fun and more than enough. The only thing that sort of worried us was the singing part because we aren't singers but we figured if we wanted to be extras nobody would make us sing anything solo. It was funny because in the days leading up to Thursday Abby continually reminded me that if when we went to Drama Thursday and someone told us we had to sing we were "walking out, right then." xD

So Thursday afternoon came and Abby and I went to the auditorium auditions. Just staying after school like that brought back last year Drama memories, haha. :) We filled out the forms and went along with the audition. The point issss...Abby and I actually tried out for the play! I am still shocked. I don't know, but we became different people. It started when the music teacher walked in and gathered everyone around the piano to do vocal warm-ups. Abby and I stayed seated though, thinking y'know, we weren't singing because we hadn't come to sing. We didn't even bother getting a music sheet with the lyrics for the song try out people had to sing. After a few minutes of "lalalalaas" Abby turned to me and whispered "uhm..do you think, maybe, we should go over there, with them?" And I just looked at her so stunned because all week she was the anti-singer and now she was considering! Haha. Of course I agreed and so we snuck behind the other people around the piano and looked over shoulders at the words and followed the warm-up that I love because it sort of goes like this "zig zig zig zig zig zaah zah zah zah zah zaaaaaah." And it is is very fun to do! I even did it when I got home and the next day again, haha. Abby was even getting into it. Then everyone was told in groups of two, randomly picked, we have to sing part of the song "One" which we had just learned. I pretty much froze when my name was called to sing with someone who had tons of drama experience and so I sat there shaking my head and then someone else said that I would only sing with Abby. =P But Abby, was like, not saying anything. Haha then they called us to go next. We didn't want to sing in front of the group, only the teacher, so we sort of made a scene and I was already embarrassed. xD Abby and I decided we'd just go for it, get it over with. Neither of us had ever sang in front of anyone before [aside from big groups in elem. school] so we were nervous and afterwards we were so stunned we actually did it. xD It went pretty bad for me. I tried to sing along with Abby, but I guess I felt nervous and then words stopped coming out of my mouth so I sorta stopped in the middle then picked up stronger at the end when I felt more comfortable. But by then it was over, lol. :P That was quite an experience though! We did feel really proud of ourselves, I mean, that was huge! We knew by that point we were truly auditioning for this play 100%. After everyone else finished singing [many people, maybe more than half, you couldn't even hear them so all was good. :P], the new drama lady I'll call her, came over after reading how Abby had the most dance experience in the room [6yrs]. She explained to Abby that she'll definitaly be needed for all of the dancing this play consists of, particularly the ballet scene where she'd love to place Abby center stage. I was so happy for her! :) [P.S.- The icon for this paragraph is so from HSM! :)]

As the hour passed an acting tryout was next. After actually singing like I had just done for a little bit, when they called my name to come and read a paragraph in front of everyone it was truly a breeze. I simply ran right over. I love to read and if I try I can read very clearly and because it was Drama I added some emotion. This part was probably my favorite and went a lot better. xD It was so fun and so totally new. Afterwards Abby and I couldn't stop saying how unbelievable it was that we actually really tried out, haha. =)

So that was probably the most exciting day this week. :) Tuesday it will be posted who got the main parts and such, although I believe everyone who joined will be in the play and get to learn the rigorous dance and chorus songs for the performance. =D I am really excited and looking forward to everything. I'd absolutly love to learn a dance from a real choreographer and wear a costume on stage. :) It seems as though I am repeating what I did in elementary school. All those years back then I was known as being shy and quiet. Then in 6th grade I showed all my teachers and peers a more outgoing side when I, and yes, Abby, were the evil stepsisters in Cinderalla in a big play we had where I acted all goofyy on stage in front of the whole school and danced and even wore a wig. xD Stuff you wouldn't really see me doing. :P Now I can sort of repeat that. I've been pretty shy and quiet yet again 7th-11th grade, yet now that I am nearing my last year I'm coming out again, growing more comfortable, and willing/wanting to be on stage in front of people. xD It probably sounds so weird but it is so fun. Fun to enjoy all aspects of my personality and be able to feel carefree and have fun and sing and dance and just let go. :) It's nice, really nice. I like that I am a shy person too though, but once in awhile a person just has to break away from being quiet and watching from the side and actually get up there and join them. =P Now that I've tried out for the play I already feel more confident. Drama gives me more confidence. I sang that fun vocal warm up with Carol and Jon in my history class the other day. Like, oh em gee? :P Anywho I don't know for sure how things will progress with the play but I will be very happy simply to be a part of it, even if I just helped again. :)

I really have to clean my kitty's litter box now, I have sorta put it off an extra hour because I wanted to write this blog. Last night I spent over my friend's house where we really did have a lot of fun doing arts and crafts, watching a movie, and making up our first dance together! Yeaahyay. Fun fun. :) I volunteered my afternoon today at the library where I worked very hard nonstop! It was such a busy day there. xD Tonight I hope to play some WoW after I post this up and finish my novel. Have a great week everyone and don't be so shyyyyyyy. :)<3

Seventeenth Birthday and More

A bit overdue I know, yet I started typing this birthday entry the day after my birthday it has still taken more than a week to actually post it. =P I turned officially 17 years old as of Friday, January 11th, 11:20am. :) Weird, Friday is also the exact day of the week I was born. I am not even sure if I'd be able to sum up my birthday in one word, but I guess I can try. Oh! Got it. =) It was fabulous! The day was fabulous, my friends were fabulous, the song "Fabulous" from HSM even played on the radio and I sang along making things more fabulous. =) I had one of the best, if not thee best, birthday ever. =D I say that truthfully with a smile on my face just thinking about it.

First of all, seventeen seems a lot older than sixteen for some reason. I don't necessarily "feel" older, but I was thinking the other night how I really have changed towards "acting" older, without even noticing it. This has occurred quickly too, like two years ago I was a lot different. I did half of the things I do today, and I don't know, there's more. I really have made some amazing memories being sixteen that I'll never forget, but I'm definately anxious for the ones I hope seventeen brings. =) ♥

I actually took the initiative and made some amazingly sweet plans with my friends to celebrate my turning 17.Friday night I picked up two of my bestest friends, Abby and Nicole, where we went out to eat, went to the mall, then went ice skating all in one unforgettable evening. =) I'll start first by mentioning my fun day at school!

I love going to school on my birthday. A friend asked me why I came since it was my birthday, but my other friend simply answered for me in a few words; "there's no place else she'd rather be!" =) So true, haha. I appreciate all the happy birthday wishes, it puts such a smile on my face. My Spanish teacher even privately sang happy birthday to me in Spanish. =) So sweet.

Right after school I excitedly got dressed and ready to go pick up my friends for our night out. Wow, it was seriously such a fun time. They even told me in breathless syllables how amazing of a time they had. That makes me feel unbelieveably good inside, knowing that they had fun with me and with what we did. =D We ate a good meal and the waitress knew it was my birthday [how, I still don't know, someone filled her in..but who? :P] and she brought me this fancy italian desert I cannot spell the name of nor remember exactly. It was alright tasting, had a distinct cream inside and chocolate chips that were good but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to eat it again. xD Then we took the car ride to the mall and even everytime we were in the car we had a lot of fun. The car has XM radio so I put on the "dance" channel, and they played hilarious beaty- dance songs Abby pretended she knew all her life. It was so fun. :) At one point I put the "kids" channel on, and I heard a familiar voice and I started freaking out I mean like, bobbing in my seat and waving my hands and saying "OH. MY. GOSH." and going "shhhhhhh!", as I started to sing along to yes, Zac Efron singing "Bet On It" from HSM. It was so great because Abby even sang with me and freaked out just as much [turns out she likes his fierce moves in the video for it]. It was terrific and I freaked out because not only was Zac singing on my birthday but I never ever heard HSM songs on the radio hahaha. :P Once we got to the mall our fun really picked up. Ice skating didn't start until 7:30-10, so we had a good hour and half or so to kill. We went wandering around aimlessly and went into random stores, like the dollar store, and took really funny pictures of each other. Abby even bought some bibs for her and a friend and we bought some super tasty milkshakes. :P I will tack a few silly pictures of my friends and I at the mall at the end of this blog entry. =) Haha, I actually, just remembered this really funny experience. After posing like mannequins and sitting in chairs, Abby left her bag of bibs somewhere and we were leaving, walking past store managers, when Abby suddenly screamed "Oh my gosh where are my bibs!!!!!" I pretty much died laughing while running back after her around the store to find them. Oh my gosh, my stomach hurt. I mean really, what must those poor store managers have thought of us? xD We are the goofiest and most unique threesome you'll ever meet.

We made perfect timing for everything throughout the evening, so once we were done at the mall, boom, ice skating time. =) Nicole and I hadn't gone ice skating in over 5 years, and Abby goes regularly with relatives so she most definitately did the best of everyone. I really loved the idea of going skating because it was something I hadn't done in a long time, making it new and exciting. =) I was really wobbly at first on the ice, a true wall-hugger. I was impressed at Nicole staying towards the middle. After a good hour I'd say, I got more of the hang of it and my friends and I, we all held onto each other until we were more comfortable and then started to go good for awhile. It was so so much fun. Nobody fell at all for a very long time. I was enjoying myself, my father was taping it all too! I love the footage. =) Ice skating is really hard though, I think. It really takes some practice and it's scary sometimes too but it sure is fun. =) Probably wasn't until around the last hour and a half that my friends and I started falling. Abby would come up, push my back to make me go faster causing me to fall, latch onto Nicole, and pull her down with me then we spun. :P A second time we three fell because we were all holding on and going fast I think, and it was like a chain of falls. Around then this boy kept coming by asking us girls if we were okay. It was nice, I'll admit, yet I assumed he worked there but turned out he didn't. :P Towards the last half hour my friends and I were standing on the ice and just talking when that guy came and just started talking to Abby. It was funny because Abby always attracts these, certain types, of guys. I was listening and waiting for the moment when he'd ask for her number [which his friend had to do because he was "too afraid"] because I knew that was coming next but she wasn't interested at all like that. :P Pretty funny, haha. It was around these last 15 minutes when this one kid, going really fast and using what Abby calls a "steel banana" and he bumped into me, making me knees buckle, and splat, I hit the ice extremely hard on my butt. xD I had made through the whole night without any accidents, and then one happens not of my own doing even. =P He never even said anything to me either, just kept going, as I sat there, waiting to regain strength to try standing. :P I mean I'm fine, but am just sore because I slammed down so suddenly. :P I was sad when the night was over because it was so fun. =) Made a good chunk of memories with some great girls. :)

Saturday I had my friend Heather over for the entire day in hopes of us "partying". xD We tried too, and it was still fun. I like having her over, it seems she comes over a lot more often these days. =) We played music and danced, actually, I danced and then my brother got real into doing the slide with me and we did it together and that was a lot of fun to do. xD Heather and I did learn Soulja Boy's Crank That dance steps though, which was just well, plain hilarious. =P

If you're wondering what I got for my birthday in the present area, I received a good amount of clothes, accessories, a purse, a poster, a frog that lights up (thank you Jen=), a CD, a DVD, a nice amount of money, and World of Warcraft! =D Everything was great. WoW is really fun and I plan to play it as often as possible, and maybe write blogs on some of my adventures too. :) I never thought I'd be a true player of WoW but things happen! =P

Life has just been busy and this blog entry is only getting longer because I keep adding to it everyday. School has been busy with homework and midterms. I've been tutoring and volunteering in my spare time as well. My dog's health had been deterioating rapidly yet these past few days she has seemed extremely well. I'm also getting my braces off Tuesday morning, and I changed my current song under my profile. =) This sums up a few things. I'll try to write again sooner without these long breaks resulting in looong entries. =P Adios!

Here are just a few of my favorite pics from my birthday weekend! :)




♥

may your organs fail before your dreams

well its that day that football games are happening, i never really much understood watching over paid steroid junkies wearing pads pushing eachother and handeling balls and what not. call me disenchanted but it never appealed to me (tho my mom says i should like it, its part of being a man) my little brothers are starting to get into star wars, thats a good thing.

i'd like to throw a question out there, what the hell does the thing in cloverfield look like, i dont want to waste 9 bucks and find out myself

at the moment im watching live videos from a very good very original band called The Matches
its kind of cool to see how much there look changed since they started. one of there earlier songs, "chain me free" can be seen here http://youtube.com/watch?v=rf4uN1h7mow
but then in my opinion the better stuff is the newer stuff, and i like it live best, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnNBvI-dhkU, this is there song papercut skin

im in a very artistic mood tonight, i wrote a song last night of utter boredom and am just waiting now for my soccer game at 2. wish me luck, thanks for reading if you did


- joey

Late Night Breakfast & Proud BIG Sister!

I noticed that many of you don't post much during the week, and that is obviously because you are all busy with the hectic days of your high school careers. I decided to try to type up at least one entry a day during the week so you all have something to read if you come onto the blog. It's almost midnight and I am eating a bowl of cereal (Count Chocula) as I type up this entry. It's really strange that if I eat cereal or any kind of breakfast first thing in the morning or anytime before noon I get very sick to my stomach, so I usually eat my breakfast at night. I don't really like to eat anything right before I go to bed at night because then I have really really bad nightmares. Tomorrow is Bobby's interview for his new job...*finger's crossed*...I am really hoping that he gets this job, then I won't have to worry about anything. He will have health benefits from the day that he starts, 401k plan, vaca and sick time etc. I am still going to work at the same place that we both work at. I really enjoy working there and I <3 all the people. They are all so cool and we all became very close friends, we are like a small family (well 2nd family). I don't really have much to write about, so therefore you may find that I am going to ramble and ramble on about nothing at all.

I would like to say a few words about my little brother (even though he's taller than me) Stephen a.k.a.-Buddy Foote. I am really proud of him and I don't think that myself or anyone else in our family tells him that enough. It seems like only yesterday when he was beginning to crawl, and starting to talk (baby talk that is). I hope that I don't embarrass him by writing any of this, but I just can't believe how quickly he grew up and what a smart, handsome adult he's grown to be. I can still remember the 1st time he escaped from his playpen....for some reason that one event stuck my mind. I know that he is really going to make something of himself, and in ending this entry I would like to say something to him.....

Stephen,
You are a wonderful person and I hope you know that. We are all proud of you and don't ever forget it. You are the best little brother that a BIG sister could ask for. I hope that you know I love you and I always will, so don't ever forget that either.....oh yeah and 1 more thing, when you are successful and rich there is one more thing that you shouldn't forget.....YOUR SISTER :-)

AP Chemistry Homework...With A Twist

Click to Play

Nothing like doing some good ol' AP chemistry at night. And shall I add: literally, at night. You will see soon enough when you hit the 'play' button -- if you dare to. However, enough with explaining. There is nothing to explain! This video is meant to make your mind suffer and for your brain to lose many neurons. I'm sorry -- it just has to be this way.

I Hate The Phone!

Click to Play

I'm not much of a phone user. In fact, I hate phones! I would rather talk over a microphone, even if the quality was bad, than to use a phone with crystal clear audio. It may be the reason why I didn't use my cell phone in over a year. I really hate phones when people call me for homework help. This is one of the reasons why Lakeland Study Buddy (http://buddyfoote.110mb.com/lakeland) was created. I'm not much of a listener. I have to see to either explain something or say anything logical. When people talk to me about homework over the phone, I'm like catching a deer in headlights -- blind and dumbfounded. When people call me, I literally hear "blah blah blah". Yes, I would rather type than talk -- unless, like I stated early, I'm using a mic. And being that my new laptop has a built-in microphone, it's even better for me to talk on it. C'mon people, good mics only cost from five to fifteen dollars.

And above is a video of myself, expressing my "joy" of being on a phone.

And by the way, I invented a new smiley. The Pac-Man: (:V) It looks better in AIM.

Back To Work!

Hello everyone, just a quick entry to let you all know that I won't be posting much due to the fact that I am returning to work tomorrow.....OH JOY!!!! Actually I am rather excited about returning to work, my husband and I have been laid off since Octoberish and I am going out of my mind being in the house all the time. It will be good for me to interact with other people , other than Bob. I love Bob to death but it's good to be around other people and to be able to conversate with others. Due to the fact that I have to return to work I have to change the schedule of my eldeset cat's medication. He takes phenobarbital because he takes seizures. I have been giving it to him at 9a.m. and 9p.m. because it is to be given to him every 12 hours. I am going to have to go give it to him around 6:30 in both the a.m. and p.m. now. I was giving it to him at 9 so I could still sleep in a bit in the morning. I think that it's going to be rough to get back in the groove of things with going back to work, but I am actually excited. Normally I sit behind a desk all day and pass out orders and do the paperwork and stuff. I was informed today when I spoke to my boss on the computer that we were suppose to be at work today, but due to not having a phone at my apartment I didn't get his message til I logged onto the computer and got his message on myspace. He told me that we are going to be stacking these grills that are in our inventory, that should be fun. We have til Friday to complete the job, then on Monday the pick for the Easter product begins and then my job which involves sitting on my ass begins :-) , well just wanted to let you all know what's going on in my life. In case I don't get on here to post a blog before Friday I would like to put something at the bottom of this entry for Caitlin.....take care everyone and enjoy the rest of your week......


xoxo.....
Jenifer

The New Runescape Age

I haven't played the popular MMORPG game known as Runescape since June 2007, when I logged out for the last time in my kyatt clothing, dragon woodcutting axe, and my woodcutting skill cape. Well, that's sort of a lie. I did log in a few times afterwards whenever I needed a break from the PVP action on the new MMORPG that I fled to, World of Warcraft. However, ever since I left the PVP server of Azgalor and created a new toon, a troll hunter, on the PVE server of Whisperwind, I didn't have to flee from any PVPing as I was able to choose when I could PVP or not. Therefore, I barely logged onto Runescape at all. Even though I left Runescape almost half a year ago after playing it continuously for two years, I still read the news every once in a while whenever I remembered to. The news was good at first after I left the game, with promising updates (however bizarre to me at first) and new additions that would please many players, either new or old.

Once November and December came around, however, the updates changed; and may I add that they were updates that did not please about three-fourths of the Runescape population. Updates, such as eliminating the PVP elements of the wilderness that I was familiar to in my two years of playing, making the duel arena free-to-play, and now the newest update -- unbalanced trade removal, seem to be bringing about the downfall of Runescape.

People once enjoyed the careless element of the game. This being doing whatever you want, whenever you want, however you wanted to do it; as long as you followed the rules. Jagex combated every known issue, with an update people either agreed or disagreed with. When people were being lured into the wilderness constantly, Jagex created the infamous wilderness ditch. When people were being scammed in player-owned houses, Jagex made a fix on that. Jagex fixed many issues in their time, however there was one issue that they never seemed to be fixing to the public -- macroing and real world trading.

This very tree symbolized heaven for many autoers. However, with the new Runescape updates combating real world item trading, this tree should no longer be infested by the scum.

When I was a regular player of Runescape, I spent many hours standing around yew and willow tress or on at piers at that one island (Karamaja?) reporting any autoer/macroer that I saw. I even created a guide here on how to confirm that an individual may be an autoer and methods on reporting them. You may say that I did this only to attempt to become a player moderator, but I also did this to try and eliminate many of the autoers. I persuaded people to do the same as me, and even for only five to ten minutes out of their time, to go to either a free-to-play world or members world (some have been known for having autoers) and report a few of them. I could've spent my time doing more beneficial things on the game, such as skilling or raising combat, but I chose to stand around yew trees in Lumbridge forest with a stopwatch and notebook reporting autoers. I am sure that I'll remember that age of my life for many years to come; when I realize that I could've read the English dictionary in the time I spent doing nothing at all on a game.

My autoer reporting sprees was not enough, however, to keep the autoers at bay. A three-year old could easily inform you about that. You could report one autoer and three more could spawn once that one was banned. The whole population of the game excluding the autoers could report them, as I'm sure many free-to-play players did whenever they were skilling and saw one, and there would still be too many to handle. Jagex had to take drastic measures to destroy autoing, and in the long run, real world trading. And believe me, and may I speak for the majority of the Runescape community, they did take the most drastic steps that a gaming company could take; without, of course, closing down the game.

Even though this is a fake image, trades like this could've once happened -- either to loan to a friend or real world trading. After the unbalanced trade removal update, however, this can no longer happen.

The update that seems to be destroying real world trading the most seems to be the most recent update -- unbalanced trade removal. With this update, it depends on how many quest points you have to give out a specified amount of money set by Jagex. Right now, if you have maximum quest points, you could only make an unbalanced trade that's 30k higher or lower than the set price of the item; or to give 30k away in cash. And that's with maximum quest points! To be honest with you, 30k gold is not a lot of gold. If magic log prices are still 1k or more, you only have to sell approximately 30 logs in order to obtain 30k. That's not a lot of logs, and it's not a lot of money. This update, however, should bring down real world trading and macroing! The only downside is that people thought that the end of macroing would be a happy end for them, and they would be able to experience the same old Runescape gameplay as they previously had, but void of corrupt autoers. Well, they were wrong. This process altered the wilderness, totally changing the PVP aspects of the game that many enjoyed for years since the wilderness was first established, and changed the trade system, so that you could no longer loan out money to a friend in need.

How would this update help in bringing about the end to autoing? Autoers are computer programs that do actions in-game without an actual person having to control them. They are coded to do whatever they were designed for, whether it be to fish, woodcut, or mine; as well as many more. And keep in mind, not only were autoers a problem, but many Asian players were being forced to make money in-game at sweatshops so that their 'boss' was able to make real-world profit off of the fake currency. Anyhow, the autoer or the sweatshop worker did something over and over again in the game to make as much money as possible. Most of the autoers were in free-to-play worlds, obtaining ores, lobster, or yew logs, and the sweatshop workers were in member worlds, obtaining dragon bones/hide and other items of wealth. Once the autoer or worker sold the items for gold, they then transferred the gold over to a master account. This account kept all the gold and did the dealing to players who purchased the gold for real-world cash. However, there may have been many master accounts to spread out the money, in case one was caught and banned; therefore all the money wouldn't be lost. And of course, whenever a purchase on a set amount of gold was made, the gold was traded over to the customer. Not anymore, however, as large amounts of gold can no longer be traded to another player for nothing.

This method is like the following scenario: A single student in a classroom is loud and obnoxious. The teacher keeps on informing the student to be quiet, however the student ignores the teacher's commands and continues to break the rules. Therefore, the teacher, based on that one kid's actions, makes the whole class do a big assignment. Even though the majority of the class was good, they were all punished because of a single person's behavior.

Just one of your everyday Runescape riots. Will more break out over the past few bad updates?

Sure, Jagex may be doing the ultimate punishment to real world trading, but the rest of the honest and good players must be affected by it. This update would've helped me in one major way, however -- no more begging for money or items. I bet many in-game riots will be breaking out over this, as the majority of Runesape doesn't agree with Jagex's decision, but I do look at this update with a positive note.

An example of a level one toon on WoW who may dress to subdue men into buying gold off of their website. Sorry, but you fail.

My positive note: Jagex is doing something to combat real world item trading whereas other gaming companies just ignore the issue. I can't go a day in World of Warcraft in a major city without hearing level ones yelling out websites to purchase WoW gold outside of banks and auction houses. And the thing that gets really annoying is when people invite you to join a group in level 1-20 areas, say a message in party regarding buying WoW money or gear, and then they leave the group. And ever since I was on WoW, I never once heard a mention of this major problem once from Blizzard. I like the fact that Jagex is trying to do something about real world trading, but I also believe that they didn't pick the right choices. However, what other choices are there? And with that question, I'll leave you pondering it.

Have a good one.

Growing Up Is Hard To Do!

I was just looking through some of the things that other's have posted on the blog and instead of commenting on every one individually I thought that I would just dedicate this entry to just that. First I would like to give Buddy Foote and Caitlin and big thumbs up on the excellent work that they did on putting this blog together.....Great Job Guys!! It really does look amazing, the layout is wonderful and there are so many fun things on it. I know that I posted a blog already about Lakeland and how you will feel once you leave there and yada yada, but I noticed that Caitlin mentioned some things in her last entry about having a talk with a few of her friends about what they plan to do following graduation and what not. I am not going to lecture (advise) you all that I have previously done, I just would like to make some comments and tell you all that growing up is hard to do. I am not trying to scare you or anything like that, maybe this is just a warning about "The Real World", and I am not talking about the MTV reality show, I am talking about the world that we live in, the world that we all must wake up to face each day. You may say things about Lakeland now, and what a bunch of jerks (I am not going to use the word that Stephen used when commenting my previous entry on this) the teachers are or whatever, but trust me on this one, graduation will be sad, you will cry, laugh and have all sorts of emotions running through you like a childhood sugar high. I know that you have all said things to your parent's time and time again like "I can't wait til I can move out of this house, so I could make my own rules, and won't have to listen to yours". Trust me on this one, listen to your parent's rules as long as you could. You may think that being on your own is all fun and games, but in reality, it's not all that it's cracked up to be. Sure you are still going to be unsure about where you want to go in life and what you want to achieve, but sooner or later you will figure it all out, and you will know when the right path has come, you will feel it. Maybe you are stuck between a rock and a hard plate trying to decide between colleges, maybe you don't even know if you want to attend college immediatley after graduation. It's your life, you have to live it the way that you feel is suitable. No one is going to live your life for you, no one is going to pay your bills, cook your meals, or put a roof over your head, so enjoy every minute or the remainder of your high school days, they pass quick.....way tooo quick.....It's like the song by Kenney Chesney called Don't Blink..... "Don't Blink, cuz just like that , you're 6 years old and you take a nap, then you wake up and you're 25 and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife".......that is the truth.....enjoy life, you only get one!

Live~Love~Laugh~

xoxo...
Jenifer

Let's Start the Year Off Right

"Just aimless with each other - is what we do"

My first entry of 2008...will be good. :) I hope. Well, I'll start by saying I updated/altered my mini-profile over on the left hand side. I like it more now. ^_^ I had a terrific New Years and my mini-week back at school had been great. I mentioned in my last entry that I was spending New Years with my two superly friends and I did just that. The hours leading up to midnight we spent dancing to "Pump it Up" but after we got too hot we stopped and spent about three hours talking. I love when we talk like that, and it can't be forced. We call them "talks", [ha, yeah, good name] and we had a great one the day I had them sleepover my house, and we had a nice one that night too. I don't think I would have wanted to end the year any other way. We talked a lot about college and our plans of what we might want to do, and what our parents keep telling us, and how we're unsure/sad/scared, and it was pretty serious. The best part is how closely we can all relate though. We had a long moment of silence when Nicole brought up that next New Years will be out last in a way, and a lot of "lasts" are going to make us really sad. I'm sure we could have all cried if we let ourselves. :P It's tough. Even the people that don't care for school, the work, or the building/people itself, you're going to miss something when you leave, and you can't tell me otherwise. :P Even yesterday, when I was in study hall for gym with Nicole and 1 other friend [the rest of the class was who knows where], well the other friend was talking with us about graduation and the whole "wow I can't believe it" sort of stuff, and life after it. Going to grade school and whatnot with these people our age who we see every single day are family in an odd-related way. If you think hard about it, the memories of funny teachers, scary teachers, tough assignments, goofy recesses, world events, and pointless secrets are shared among everyone. We all share the same memories, and very different ones at the same time. We went through things together, grew up together. It's just going to be different when it's all gone. Especially if after high school you're moving out of state to another school on your own. Those people have to make new friends from scratch, it's like a new life. I'm excited for the future but sad at the same time.

Anyway, by the time we finished our conversation it was time to watch the ball drop. I like watching the ball drop. I want to go to NYC and see it in person some year. That is one of my life goals. That and also going to NYC for one of those Macy's parades, because I love parades. I've only been to New York once, so I'd really like to go again. :P After those festivities, my friends and I went downstairs to Abby's sister's room until it was time to leave for the paper route [oh yeah, we went alright!] Her sister is a Psych major in college, so she was quizzing Nicole and I [psych class takers] on Psych. I think I got a little too excited when I started answering questions and stuff. I mean, it had been over a week since school and classes, and I loved remembering Psych stuff at 1am on New Years day. =) hehe.

Paper Routing was a blaaaaast! As always. This time, since it was my second, I got to deliver papers like the rest instead of just fold. It's fun and you have to pay good attention to directions/commands like "On the rungs! Between the doors! On the stoop! In the tube!" :P And it's good exercise for 2-4 in the morning when you're jumping in and out of a car every block. xD Haha, wow, love it. We stopped at the gas station again too, as routine. When we walked in Abby showed me the High School Musical display they had there with Zac and other things all over. [yeah, but it was sorta expensive:P] It was like 3 bucks for Zac's face on a pin, and I wasn't sure if his face was worth that much, because it's worth much more actually. :P They had book sox, locker poster stickers, and folders too. I bought a High School Musical folder and I loveee it! It's light purple with drawings all over/scribbles and stars, and on the inner pockets it has the cast names. I had money thanks to the very generous payment I receive for paper routing. I feel it's unneccessary and very kind, yet we really get paid. :o

I slept maybe 4 hours that night and not enough the next for I had school to wake up early too. It wasn't bad though. :) I have a Spanish Skit due Tuesday, a scene in a restaurant. I think it will be fun. I have to memorize my lines though. Yesterday I went to my friend Nicole's house and spent the night. It was last minute and fantastic! =) Hehe, love her. I had a lot of fun. She got Guitar Hero for Christmas, so I got to try that out. Once I got the hang of it I was really getting into it. It's so fun! :) Then we sang karaoke, and Nicole has a beautiful voice, so when I sing with her I feel more confident and just went for it and sang. I didn't do horrible like you'd think. xD It was incredibly fun. I mean, reallly fun. =) We then watched some of the show "The Office" because Nicole got season 3 on DVD for Christmas too and that show is really funny if you've never seen it. It can have some, I don't know, inappropiate humor sometimes, but it's so random, so in my city, and so like my friends. :P We watched a couple episodes since they're short. Haha, but pretty funny. :) My English teacher raves about that show a lot and one day she made us do the chant from the show and dance. It was embarrassing, but hilarious. xD I'm guessing this entry can be about over now. Hopefully I can write again real soon. Have a good one. :)

"On account of my transgression..Will you welcome this confession?"

this must be it, welcome to the new year. its 2008 but i feel just like 2007. the sad thing is how fast we're growing up. i'm gunna be a senior next year at this time wich means ill have a college ready, and the scary thing is that right now i have no future plans. i'm scared. ohh well happy new year