Sideshow & Syrana

Forsaken!

Now, if only we could determine for sure if Baby is waving, throwing the horns, or flipping us off…

(No, we still don’t know the sex yet.  Should know what kind of gear Baby’s equipped with at our next ultrasound in 4 weeks.)

Hey all, I’m going to just kinda ramble in this post a bit.  Hope ya don’t mind.

This week has been a bit nutso IRL.  Last week was too, but it’s always even more crazy when trying to get as much work stuff done as possible before taking some vacation time around a holiday weekend.  It’s been hectic and draining this week, but now I get to relax a bit before rejoining the rat race.  (And believe me, it will be crazy when I return to work since there’s a lot I could not finish before leaving.  Blarg.)

Yesterday was nice… it was the start of Sideshow’s and my 5 day weekend.  Yesterday was doubly special because it was our wedding anniversary.  A little later today, we’ll be traveling out of town to visit my parents for a few days.  So, it will likely be a bit quiet around this corner of the blogosphere for a few more days.

But that’s alright because I’m sure you have cookouts or projects or something you have planned for at least part of this weekend!

One of the bummers about this past week being hectic is that I haven’t gotten much WoW time… I only need 2 more quests to complete Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms! Uhh! So close!  ….still need another 30 for Kalimdor.

Funny, I thought Kalimdor would be easy to finish off because it seems filled with so many Horde zones and I’d have to search more to complete Eastern Kingdoms.  But noooo, I’m finding the complete opposite to be true.  Although, there seem to be more dungeons and raids in the Eastern Kingdoms…. which have plenty of quests that count towards Loremaster.  In fact, I still have a TON of Eastern Kingdoms quests I can do – easy to locate ones!

Whereas… I’m struggling to find more Kalimdor ones.  I’m hoping some of these leftover Eastern Kingdoms quest chains will take me back across the sea to count for some Kalimdor turnins.  I mean, it is quite likely since I’d seen a few chains bounce back and forth already… some counting for one continent and some counting for the other.

*Looks around* Ya know what… I think I should log in and finish off Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms before we hit the road… so I can make sure to have that special screenshot.

I’m posting this since it’s been rolling around in my head and getting it typed out helps me collect it all in one place. Plus, I should probably talk about these metal guys before more of them die off (Rest in Peace.)

Throughout my music listening career, I’ve never been much of a drummer fan. I’ve always noticed it. It’s there. I just didn’t think twice about it. Then, once we had ownership of Rock Band, I decided to see how bad I was at the drums. It turns out I was very bad..at first. Once I got into it and once I learned how to control each limb on it’s own, it became really fun. I’m still no expert and you could argue that they’re not real drums; I definitely have more rhythm than I had a year ago. There is no doubt about that. One thing the game does teach is rhythm and limb independence.

Once that happened, I started hearing music in a brand new way. Now I can hear the drums and each and every note. I can now pick out the bass drum and other drums. Music that I haven’t listened to in long time suddenly becomes new to me. I have much more respect for a lot of the drummers I listen to. I find myself reading more articles on metal drummers and watching them more in concerts. I still have no idea about the ins-and-outs of a drum kit, but I’d love to learn. If money and floor space were no object (sadly, they are) I’d love to get a drum kit and learn. Fortunately, my current Rock Band drum kit can also work as a pretty decent electronic drum kit, so I do have that going for me.

I thought I’d brain dump my favorite metal drummers (in no particular order) and maybe, hopefully open up others to their style and talent.
(continue reading…)

The people of Stromgarde don’t bother with posting “No Trespassing” signs.  Instead they post warnings like this:

Thought I’d provide a brief update regarding the wonderful World of Warcraft.

See, I haven’t been running dungeons, raiding, or even doing dailies.  You might be shocked to know that I still haven’t used the random dungeon finder nor have I ran any new dungeons from Trial of the whathaveyou or beyond.  (Nope, no jousting runs, and no Pit or Reflection or any of that).

Shocking?  Perhaps.  But I’m still having fun and I’m busy.

I’ve been getting some achievements accomplished.  They may look a little odd along the sidebar there (and that widget is not very good at updating promptly, by the way) since there are several old Azeroth lowbie dungeons on there.  See, when I leveled Syrana it was before they first sped it up during The Burning Crusade, but I still leveled her quickly.  She rarely ran with a level appropriate group on her way up and if I was getting a run through for experience/quests or gear, it wasn’t always the whole run…. plus, she was leveled to cap before the achievement system went in and sometimes things didn’t count when they should have.

Anywho… (continue reading…)

(Part 48) For a complete list of this series, please go here.

Aerissa perched on top of the crate, waiting patiently for Valtos to return.  She attempted small talk with the flight master, but it was clear they weren’t interested in her company.  She sighed and thought about the events of the last few days.  She couldn’t recall her life being so interesting before.  She knew all of her memories hadn’t unlocked yet, but she was quite certain that most of her life had been quite uneventful.  At least, until the night her fiance tried to kill her.

A chill went up Aerissa’s back, causing her to shiver.  She looked up to see Valtos approaching with three hawkstriders.  He was riding atop one and leading the other two behind him.  She grinned, amused at the sight of Valtos bopping up and down on the back of the large bird.

She knew her people had a strange attachment to hawkstriders, which looked like overgrown, colorful chickens to Aerissa, but she thought even the most sophisticated elves looked comical riding on the back of one.  Their movements were choppy and bouncy, having only the two legs to stabilize their large bodies.  Aerissa grimaced, imagining the headache she would have to endure from the constant bouncing motion.  (continue reading…)

Ronnie James Dio

Rest in Peace (and Metal) – 1942-2010

Sometimes I wonder if bank alts get cold when retrieving the mail…

Generation 3: Syrana and Summer

Yep, it was time for the twins to finally move on.  They felt a little bad about leaving their mother behind, or at least Summer did.  Syrana could barely stand it on the compound anymore though.

The biggest sign for Syrana was the morning she went jogging and was casing houses for their silverware.

(continue reading…)

This comic from Penny Arcade is a great bit of gaming humor surrounding babyproofing.  As Sideshow and I assess our home for babyproofing needs, we are relieved that we don’t have any Frostmournes laying about.  However, there are inflatable Frostmournes at my parents’ house…

Hmmm, the link is not working for this awesome “Quote of the Day” post from Syp at Bio Break…. but it’s still in my reader….

“See the cute little piggy?  The cute little piggy?  I’m gonna take his SOUL!”

~ My wife [Syp's wife, that is] playing a warlock in WoW, while narrating to our son in her lap

Seriously, that will SO be me.

You know this to be true.