In Communicado

I've got my cell back online, so if necessary I'm contactable that way.

I'm going to meet C&C tomorrow, then I've got a week of hunting for a job that I would actually really enjoy, then I'm going to cave in and go to Spherion temp agency. They'll have something fast, but it won't be very high quality.

Ex-Communicado

So I'm going to be much harder to contact for the next few days. My phone is out of minutes, I no longer have acess to everpresent wi-fi, and I'm going to be extremelly busy in a few days. This situation will gradually improve, but if I'm hard to reach now you know why.

Also I need to apologize to my Father who I was talking to when my minutes ran out. They really should add a warning of some sort.

Finale

Finale

The last few days have been days of immense finality. I know that I will return, I know that I will see these people again but the span of time that lies between the present and that distant reunion makes it seem as though that horizon will never be reached. I met with friends. We had already told our stories, but there are the simple pleasures of being in the company of those one holds dear. They may not be productive and they rarely make sense to the outside observer but they amuse, and they cement the bond. It is good to have these people, and these bonds.

As I finished my farewells to my friends and associates I began to say my farewell to the less obvious facets of my current place in life. I took my iPod and my keys and one last time I drank the intoxicating cocktail of the illegal and the reckless. I donned my disposable clothing and spent one last afternoon in the sun, shielded by the water, swimming lazily and mocking the daystar whose attacks were futile. One last time I slipped from this world into that of Azeroth, and said my goodbyes to my viridian comrades who I would not see for some time.

And now I’m here. One last night spent in my darkened lair. While the method by which I come to this state may very, time and time again I find myself alone in the dark of my room. Sleep has eluded me and I am somehow unbound by material constraints which seem to fade into the shadows that surround me. I am freed in this state, my mind is alight and my artistic quintessence flow more readily. The madness blossoms into something beautiful and creative. Something which can spontaneously conjure the phrase “artistic quintessence.”

The dawn draws closer with each keystroke, and I know that there is much do to on that brightening horizon. Each of these endings is the merely the phoenix’s conflagration of a new beginning, and I do not regret the choices I have made, but sometimes I wish I could hold on to these moments for just a little longer. That I could have one more brief escape into yesterday, without the tribulations of today or the looming menace of tomorrow.

Not Condusive To Saftey

I think it may be a bad idea to let me drive with my ipod.

You may recall that I mentioned the unusually powerfull effect music has on my mindset. It seems that it can influence my actions as well. Normally when I'm driving I'm listening to either NPR, the radio station that you know is unbiased because it's so boring, or Pacifica, the only example I've found of legitimate biased liberal media. Both of those are talk news. Well on my most recent outing I brought my iPod. I was driving long enough to hear 3 song.

1. "Bring it" which I mentioned in the above newspost. The explicit version of the song too.
2. "The Sledge" by Dream Evil. You can try and decide whether the name of the song or the name of the band is more menacing.
3. "Fury On The Storm" by Dragonforce, a rock group whose key source of inspiration is mythical combat with the dreaded wyrm.

It's amazing what music that high on the "Fire" scale will do to you. The needle begins to inch gradually closer to 50, yellow lights become more reachable, and I don't even remember turning sports mode on.

For all the hazard and speeding and borderline reckless endangerment you must admit one thing. I made record time.

That's How The Song Fucking Goes, Damnit.

I just spent, some of the council would say wasted, $10. The story starts with the song "Bring It" an internet smash hit that's been around for a while before Snakes on a Plane was even released. Well I saw the movie (It's GREAT) and they made it into the official movie. Not only is this a monumental victory for the underground, but also for this particular band.

I knew that if they made it into the movie they would put it on the soundtrack. I didn't have an MP3 of it already, so I decided to support both the movie and the group by buying it. I also decided that if I'm going to blow $2 on music I may as well go fully in and blow $10 and get the album. Well I accidentally downloaded the "Clean" album.

I'm not sure how many of you know this but I am adamantly opposed to censorship in all forms. Somewhere around here I have my "Fuck Censorship" poster, and I almost bought the "F.C.C. Fucking Censoring Cockmunchers" poster. If you haven't guessed it yet I hate clean albums. That's not protecting anyone, that's fucking with art. I don't consider it clean either, if you bleep or blank the profanity you're not making the song cleaning, you're screwing up the lyrics. So when I saw that the song's famous clip (they were one of the first ones to have the actual Samuel L Jackson soundclip of this line) was replaced with "I've had it with these *bleep* snakes on this *bleep* plane," I recoiled in horror.

That bleep noise. That offends me more then any profanity ever will. That's the funeral bell sounding out the demise of freedom.

I then proceeded to delete the entire album from my computer, and purchased the entire Explicit Album. The art will not be besmirched. The message will not be changed, and The People will not be fucking silenced.

Project Exodus: Zero Hour

12 Days until Project Nemesis
8 Days until PAX
7 Days until Project Exodus goes live
1 Day until the apocalypse.

That last one kind of makes the other ones seem moot doesn't it?

Another Self-Indulgent WoW Post

You may recall that I once “called it.”

Well what I didn’t call is this.

For those of you that don’t dip your quills into the Azeroth well let me explain the significance of this. Since the game began, since back in beta actually, the key difference between the Alliance and the Horde has been their two sided classes. Alliance has paladins, and Horde has shamans. This has lead to nigh unto endless debates about their comparative balance. As someone who has played a Shaman to 40, and a Paladin to 60 (60 is the current highest level) let me say that neither is unbalanced. I’ve tried to explain my experience to players on either side, but stupidity and needless rage abound in the online world so I haven’t made any progress.

I actually kind of liked the separation. The two classes fill the same societal role, but are adjusted to the differing societies of the respective factions. A Paladin is a holy warrior, a leader and a hero of the civilized sophisticated society of the Alliance, and a Shaman is the spiritual leader and hero of the primal tribal society of the horde. The two classes are also equal opposites balance wise. The simplest explanation of this is that a Paladin is an immovable object, and a Shaman is an unstoppable force.

All that being said I’m not opposed to the merger, for several reasons. First, and most importantly, I’ve been in a difficult situation for a while now. I have a lot of friends in my guild, I really enjoy just hanging around with them, and we have an established raid system. I also have come to realize that the class I would enjoy playing most, in PVP and into the endgame, is Shaman. My guild is alliance, shaman was only horde. This means that I’ll finally be able to play a shaman without abandoning my guild. The other reason I enjoy this is because it proves a theory I had about the back-story of the game. If you read the story behind blood elf Paladins you’ll see that they haven’t attained their holy powers by being righteous people. They’re using a giant dimensional machine to literally steal holiness. I’ve been saying for a long time that the in game essence known as “The Light” is just another source of energy in the world, and not inherently good. Now I finally have proof. It also raises the question of who is more evil: Blood Elf warlocks who use demonic powers or Blood Elf Paladins who use stolen holy powers. In the end that’s a discussion that amounts to the wholesale kitten slaughter, so I won’t waste your time on it, but it’s interesting to think about.

While this newest development has lead to a lot of solutions it’s caused a problem as well. I now know that all of my characters are destined for “alt” status, so I’m not longer that driven to achieve with them. I still enjoy the game, but in order to do the trickier high end things (Like Blackwing lair which my guild is cramming down our throats) you have to want it. And I do want it, but I want it as a shaman. It gives me a sort of unproductive ennui about playing one of my current characters. This could play to my favor because I won’t get significant withdrawal when I’m sans-desktop during the moving phase of Project Exodus, but it makes raiding into more of a chore then a conquest. Especially BWL, but that’s an entirely separate rant.

In the meantime I’ve begun gathering gear for my Shaman. On opening day I’ll be the best equipped level 12 in the world.

Technical Expertiese

You’ve heard of the recent terror attempt in Britain right? There’s one thing about that that’s pissing me off. People are saying that Al Qaeda is implicated because of the technical complexity of the plot. They were going to smuggle in individual components, and mix them into a working explosive on the plane, then use jury rigged detonators made from household electronics.

That’s not technically complex! I could do that. I could do that tonight if necessary. Hell, Nitrated cotton, glycerin, and sulfuric acid. I don’t know how you’d get sulfuric acid on a plane, but I’m sure that if I was a multi-million dollar international terrorist organization I could think of something.

Dear NSA. I have no intent of attacking anything, or anyone with improvised explosive devices of any sort. When I did make them I made them for purely recreational use. I have a vested interest in this country, and would gain nothing from taking it down. Now stop monitoring my blog and go back to reading my e-mail.

Arlokk, Thekal, and how I learned to love being a giant tiger.

You may recall that there is a certain game that I play. Some would say that it's a bizarre alternate reality that I escape to, or a brutal narcotic that I'm addicted to, but they tend to say those things while I'm playing so I don't notice it.

Well last time we saw our hero I was an accomplished swords rogue. I think I used the phrase "Whirling Maelstrom of fire and blades" a few times. It's gotten better. My shiny new guild, which I've been in for 4 months but I haven't mentioned them much so they're new to you, has taken me raiding. On those raids I've made a major achievement both in terms of the kicking of ass, and in using an esoteric style.

I used to be a swords rogue, something shown well in my old forum sig.


Swords roguing was nice, it's not that crazy though, there are a fairly large number of us. I've taken it a step further.

Arlokk's Grasp
Thekal's Grasp

Nobody uses fist weapons. They're weird, there aren't any good ones, and essentially nobody uses them. However, the primal blessing set is one of the 2 good sets of fist weapons in the game. So why doesn't everyone who wants fist weapons use them? Well, the place they drop from requires 20 well coordinated players to run it, and each claw has a 2% drop rate. Logically you'd have to kill each boss 50 times. I got lucky, I kill arlokk 5 times, and Thekal once.

Choke on that statistics.

Now the reason I love my new claws so much isn't just because I get to be the weird one again. The reason is very simple. The primal blessing effect does a bit more then give me +300 attack power. It also turns me into a giant tiger.


It's Grrreeeaaaaat!!!

I'm also now offically a badass. I'm one of less then 10 people on the alliance that can do that. For the record, there are at least 10,000 people on the alliance on my server. This means that I'm now a force to be reckoned with in PVP. Mages, priests, other people who wear cloth armor and are hence easily eaten by giant tiger slyz will run at the sight of me. I've even noticed some that I know my name and will run from me before I turn into a tiger. The problem is that Warriors, shamans, and hunters, people who are tougher, will jump me on sight. I'm a known major threat so they pounce on me like a crack addict on a big fat rock. This would be more reasonable if I also had epic armor. I have 2 really cool items, and they're both weapons. I would be upset by this, but it's just so cool.

Things that are more fun then smart

You're driving down the highway and it begins to rain. Now you're driving in a car which has no AC so you're dependent on having your windows down. Also your breaks aren't that good. So it's raining, and it's just started raining so it's still in the loose grease phase, the most dangerous driving conditions you can have without using the word torrential.

Would you

A: Slow down, roll up your windows, and head home safely.

or

B: Drive faster then normal with only the driver side window down continuously complaining about the rain and cutting off people who chose option A.

It's probably a good thing I don't drive in Seattle, because if you threw elevation into this mess I wouldn't last a week.

Project Exodus: Zero Hour

The gears continue to turn...

->Flight actually scheduled for 24th.

->Nicks' lease forbids me living there, falling back to Kevin's house. His parent's seem okay with it.

Project Exodus has also hit another key snag. Well, more of a flaw in it's design then a snag. Part of the plan was a buildup of money during the summer, and it's going essentially as planned. What I didn't plan on were the costs of gas and food. This means my buffer is slimmer, so I'll have to hit the ground running slightly faster then planned. Case in point, I'm going to enjoy PAX, but then I've got a lot of work to do.

Oh Sweet Merciless God

There are two things on the internet that between them have destroyed more time then anything else.

Myspace
&
World of Warcraft

The End of Days is clearly upon us

http://www.myspace.com/worldofwarcraft

Great Job

It occured to me after seeing this that there's a job out there that's perfect for me. By the way if you've probed the twisting nether of e-mentia* that is YTMND then I think you'll appreciate that one, it's really quite true.

Anyway. I think the job I'd be perfect for is to be one of those guys from the muppet show. You know the ones on the balcony that just sit up there and heckle the show? Where do you sign up to do that? Do you have to be a puppet to do it? because if so I think I'll need to file a discrimination lawsuit, but using the terrible swift sword of the ACLU I think I could get job doing that. I'll be a crusader against puppet elitism.

End the Discrimination now, It's time to cut the strings of opression.

*Maxtionary:
E-mentia: A play on the word dementia E-mentia referes to the overdynamic rarely actually creative fads that sweet the vast wasteland of the internet. Recent evidence that this level of insane stupidity resulted from chuck norris roundhouse kicking everyone who logs on to the internet, seting their IQ back a good 20 points.**

**That is the only chuck norris joke I will ever make. I'm not fond of them, I've heard way too damn many of them, but I think it had to be said.

Project Exouds, Zero Hour

So much about this has changed since I first began to lay the plans of Project Exodus. I remember lying on a bench in the cool April evening thinking it all out. Change seems to be the keyword to the whole experience. Time and time again project exodus has proven to have a dynamism that is beyond any measure of control. Perhaps that’s what I need… No matter, now is not the time for idle musings.

You may recall that I at first planned to have one roommate, then I was fairly certain that I would be solo, then one again, then two. Well Kevin has returned from the wilderness and in the phoenix’s most recent conflagration he has proposed a new and even grander arrangement then before. My understanding is that Kevin, Adam, Chris, Cattie and I are going to collectively rent a house. While I haven’t met Chris or Cattie I have had some correspondence with them and from what I’ve seen of them I like them. Of those involved I seem to be the one with the strongest sense of peril about the whole thing. I accredit this to the fact that I’m the only one who doesn’t have some clear home base already present in Seattle.

This brings me to my next point. Both of the C’s insist, and I agree, on meeting me before we commit to any form of housing relationship. I don’t think it will be a problem, but it’s a precaution that I can’t pass up. This means that I’ll need a home base in Seattle. In his vast generosity Kevin, who is my most direct link to the rest of the group, has proposed I stay at his house for a brief while. I haven’t talked directly to his parents about this yet, because ultimately it’s their decision, but I’m pursuing it aggressively.

I’ve also begun looking for rentable houses. Once again I’m the one with strongest sense of peril, possibly even dire peril, as peril is wont to be. Since our correspondence is mostly through e-mail, and since I find the internet the best tool when searching for essentially anything, I’ve e-mailed a few links off to the others for their consideration. Part of me fears that I may be pressuring the other members of what I’ve come to call “The Collective” too much, but the protests of that part are generally silenced by the peril.

That really is a great word. It’s also a word that means exactly what I’m trying to convey.

Assuming the various pieces of my plan fall into their appropriate places, causing them to form a complete line, blink and disappear making a clear passage for progress to flow (best Tetris reference ever), this will be my timeline.

August 18th. Fovanov job ends.
August 23rd(ish) Fly to Seattle
August 26th-29th PAX. (Woo!)
August 30th – September 3rd Planning, meeting and moving.
September 4th Project Nemesis Begins.

There are of course a few holes in that plan. The biggest one by far is that the plane ticket that was purchased nearly a year ago was purchased for mid September, with the intent that I would be going back to UW this year.

I’d like to stop and reflect on how far ahead my parents, my Mom in particular, are capable of planning things. I am, of course, ruining their plans with mine, but I’m still impressed that she had the foresight to buy the plane ticket that far in advance. Meanwhile the fact that I began planning a gap year back in April is a monumental achievement for me.

Anyway. Pending confirmation of my potential home stay at the Wilson household (note that Wilson is Kevin’s last name, that’s not a typo of Willson which is my last name) I’ll begin the process of apologizing and reminding that will lead to the air travel schedule change.

The other key hole is my assorted stuff. You may recall the massive financial hit I took on my return trip because of the size and weight of my gear. Well this time I have a new plan. I can manage the various affairs that I’ll need to attend to in those early weeks from my laptop. You may remember my laptop as the one that was eternally frying because the designer gave it enough power to run Doom III but not enough cooling to prevent the video card from changing into a fluid state. I can live readily and easily for a few weeks out of a carry on bag and a laptop messenger bag. The rest of my stuff isn’t worth paying luggage fees on anyway, it’s better to just ship it. Once the collective has a house we’ll have an address. I plan to box up my various errata prior to my departure. Then once the aforementioned address is in hand I plan to once more employ the services of my parents, who have been extremely helpful throughout this whole affair, and have them ship it. A little tricky, but trickery is going to be a necessity if I’m to succeed in this most dynamic endeavor.

I think it will work. I also hope it will work. The recurring problem with project exodus is that I don’t have a lot of fail safes. My father has proposed that the ultimate fail safe will be a parental bail out, but that’s equivalent to losing. So much to do…