1. While I was waiting to hear about various people for lunch plans, I demoed a game called Profitville. The game is fairly fun (it's a well-done sorter). However, I found it through Real Player, and I don't care for their interface; I don't have the readily-accessible option to uninstall the game, and that irritates me.
2. We had Book Group this evening. The book was About Grace, one I read about a year and a half ago, and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't good enough that I wanted to reread it. The writing was very good, but the protagonist was clunky; the book is chockful of imagery normally associated with passion (water and flooding first and foremost), but his passion is always misdirected and poorly expressed. It was hard to tell if this was a flaw with the writer or the character--and if you can't tell, it may be both, but it's at least a flaw with of the writer's.
3. Did I mention that I finished The Bill from my Father last night? I think I did. I enjoyed that. I also worked a little more on the Paul book.
4. I had been concerned because I thought PDA (an old Handspring Visor Pro) was dead, but through a combination of several soft resets and immediate cradling so that it got some power, I think it's been resuscitated. I bought it because at the time it was the cheapest Palm that was Mac-compatible out of the box, and having that function on one of the Macs has gone very well.
5. We watched some forgettable comedy and several episodes of Mad About You.
6. Worked a little on Pogo badges.
7. Level 26 Night Elf Priest. I was able to finish Culling the Thread tonight; as I turned it in, I dinged 27, spending my talent point on Improved Healing, Level 1. This brought me to Honored with Alliance.
I then did Donation of Wool at the Exodar; this brought me to Honored with Exodar. This character apparently hadn't been to Exodar before, so I picked up the flight path.
This is the sort of information that I probably should keep to myself, but I've found a little run I find profitable. From Auberdine, run south along the shore, just right at the shore where the beach meets the sea. From there, you can see Stranglekelp nodes and some mageroyal on the shore. You can also see coastal Food and Weapon crates and fishing nodes. Today, for example, on the run south, I found four Stranglekelp nodes, a food crate, and two Floating Debris nodes, which yielded a total of 17 leather, 13 cloth, 7 potions, 4 herbs, and 4 alcoholic beverages; I also leveled fishing by seven. This was quite lucrative. When I got to Zoram, I hearthed to Astrakaar. I've done it several times over the last few days, and it's usually a good run.
Yesterday, I also had the bright idea that, since running south from Auberdine is so profitable, maybe running north would be, too. So I ran north from Auberdine. As I swam out of Darkshore and into Moonglade, I seemed to swim forever. Just because I was curious to see if this was possible, I kept swimming and swimming and swimming. At first, I'd run onshore whenever there was an inlet to see if I could run into the region, but it soon became apparent that this wasn't going to happen, so I just kept swimming (I stopped to fish once or twice). About an hour later, I seemed to be on the eastern shore of Winterwhatever (I haven't been there yet, so I'm vague on the region name). I thought I might make it to Azshara, but I was killed by some sort of murloc. I hate murlocs. I also thought that was really anticlimactic to survive a swim of over an hour and then be wiped out by a crummy murloc.
8. Tonight's BigFishGame is Escape from Paradise. I hate the new downloading interface; what should have been about a three-minute process took eight. I was enjoying the game, but then about seven minutes into it, it crashed, and after several attempts, I couldn't get it to move beyond that crash, so I uninstalled the game. That was sort of a shame.
9. I'm not accomplishing a great deal this week. I should be.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
5/17 What I Accomplished Today
1. Today is my grandmother's birthday. She is 87 today. I meant to buy her a card, but that didn't happen last weekend. I called her on her birthday the first year she was in the Center three years, but it was very hard work, and Mom said she didn't remember it afterwards, so I'm a very bad granddaughter and I spared myself the pain. When I spoke to Mom for Mother's Day on Sunday, I told her to wish Grandma a good day for me, and I did mean to call Mom today on the off chance Grandma might be there, but that didn't happen. It's okay, though.
Grandma's twin sister is dead; she had Alzheimer's. Her husband and brother-in-law are dead. Her older brother and his wife are dead. She doesn't have Alzheimer's, but she does forget or mis-remember things. It's very frustrating for my mother and uncle.
I am seven years younger than my Co-Vivant, and she smokes; I expect I will outlive her by quite a few years. Just at a basic, pragmatic level, I don't expect my nieces will be that involved in my life when I am old, at least not on a day-to-day caregiver's level. I am 42; at this point, I am probably not having children of my own. (That was a hard sentence to type.) Some days, courage is looking unblinkingly into the void and saying, "I will die alone," and having that be okay.
2. Level 25 Night Elf Priest. Tried Culling the Threat, but she's not up for it yet. She wasn't up for tower of Altharaxx or whatever last night. When a character appears to be stuck, I go to another area of the same rough level and do some quests there, so I went to Wetlands and took Apprentice's Duties and re-took Absent Minded Prospector; I also got Uncovering the Past and Fall of Dun Modr, which I turned in right away and took out Fall of Dun Modr. I dinged 26 and spent my talent point on Searing Light, level 2. I picked up Grim Task and Dark Iron War.
Then I returned to Ashenvale and ran to Forest Song, turning in Helping Hands and Kayneth Stillwind. I picked up Forsaken Diseases, Lost Chalice, Shameful Waste, Report from the Northern Front, and Agents of Destruction; there were two others, but I didn't take them. I also ran and picked up the flight path in Azshara. I turned in Report from the Northern Front and logged off for the evening.
3. We watched forgettable comedians this evening. One of the local channels had a Mad About You marathon today, so we watched a few episodes of that.
4. Worked on Pogo Badges. (I did this last night, too, but forgot to mention it.)
5. I appear to have caught my magazines up to the beginning of May; I read a Harper's, a Nation, and a New Yorker.
I also finished The Bill from my Father, the book for this month's Literary Society next Wednesday. (I think it's next Wednesday; my PDA may be dead, and I'm trying to decide if I have to do anything about that.) Good book. His tone and subject matter are similar to Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris, but he's less overtly funny.
6. Back to WOW. Silverwind Retreat. Picked up and turned in Elemental Bracers. Bought the Expert Cookbook. Went to Darnassus Auction House and bought the Expert First Aid and Heavy Silk and Mageweave books there. (Two of them were for less than the buyer had to have paid retail; I'm not sure how that works, but I was perfectly willing to buy the books at a discount.)
Finished Aggressive Defense. Not sure what I'm doing now; I seem to be stuck. Maybe I'll go grind something until I get to 27. I'll see if I can think of a good grindy place for this one. (Both the good and bad thing about doing the Priest first is that things that are hard for the Priest will not be hard for most of the other guys.)
7. My Co-Vivant caught up on this blog this evening; I told her she didn't have to do that, and I'm sure she skimmed parts, but she plowed through the whole thing, bless 'er.
While she was reading, I saw that Google Ads were added at the top of the page. The choices of ads were interesting, I thought; on a day when I mentioned diabetes, the ad was for diabetic supplies, and several of the World of Warcraft days had ads for WOW gold. (By the way, I do not endorse that at all. My WOW work ethic is very strict; whenever somebody starts whining for money, I say, probably not very nicely, "You're supposed to be a proud and noble defender of the realm. Make something, kill something, sell something, even steal something, but do not beg." However, if people happen to click that click and I make a fraction of a penny, I'm going to accept that fraction of a penny.
Quite a few days, it just had sort of a generic "Start your own blog!" ad. I must not have said anything that the computer parser could turn into an ad those days.
8. I meant to fill out the Fictitious Business Name form today and work a little on my summer courses, but that didn't happen.
Grandma's twin sister is dead; she had Alzheimer's. Her husband and brother-in-law are dead. Her older brother and his wife are dead. She doesn't have Alzheimer's, but she does forget or mis-remember things. It's very frustrating for my mother and uncle.
I am seven years younger than my Co-Vivant, and she smokes; I expect I will outlive her by quite a few years. Just at a basic, pragmatic level, I don't expect my nieces will be that involved in my life when I am old, at least not on a day-to-day caregiver's level. I am 42; at this point, I am probably not having children of my own. (That was a hard sentence to type.) Some days, courage is looking unblinkingly into the void and saying, "I will die alone," and having that be okay.
2. Level 25 Night Elf Priest. Tried Culling the Threat, but she's not up for it yet. She wasn't up for tower of Altharaxx or whatever last night. When a character appears to be stuck, I go to another area of the same rough level and do some quests there, so I went to Wetlands and took Apprentice's Duties and re-took Absent Minded Prospector; I also got Uncovering the Past and Fall of Dun Modr, which I turned in right away and took out Fall of Dun Modr. I dinged 26 and spent my talent point on Searing Light, level 2. I picked up Grim Task and Dark Iron War.
Then I returned to Ashenvale and ran to Forest Song, turning in Helping Hands and Kayneth Stillwind. I picked up Forsaken Diseases, Lost Chalice, Shameful Waste, Report from the Northern Front, and Agents of Destruction; there were two others, but I didn't take them. I also ran and picked up the flight path in Azshara. I turned in Report from the Northern Front and logged off for the evening.
3. We watched forgettable comedians this evening. One of the local channels had a Mad About You marathon today, so we watched a few episodes of that.
4. Worked on Pogo Badges. (I did this last night, too, but forgot to mention it.)
5. I appear to have caught my magazines up to the beginning of May; I read a Harper's, a Nation, and a New Yorker.
I also finished The Bill from my Father, the book for this month's Literary Society next Wednesday. (I think it's next Wednesday; my PDA may be dead, and I'm trying to decide if I have to do anything about that.) Good book. His tone and subject matter are similar to Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris, but he's less overtly funny.
6. Back to WOW. Silverwind Retreat. Picked up and turned in Elemental Bracers. Bought the Expert Cookbook. Went to Darnassus Auction House and bought the Expert First Aid and Heavy Silk and Mageweave books there. (Two of them were for less than the buyer had to have paid retail; I'm not sure how that works, but I was perfectly willing to buy the books at a discount.)
Finished Aggressive Defense. Not sure what I'm doing now; I seem to be stuck. Maybe I'll go grind something until I get to 27. I'll see if I can think of a good grindy place for this one. (Both the good and bad thing about doing the Priest first is that things that are hard for the Priest will not be hard for most of the other guys.)
7. My Co-Vivant caught up on this blog this evening; I told her she didn't have to do that, and I'm sure she skimmed parts, but she plowed through the whole thing, bless 'er.
While she was reading, I saw that Google Ads were added at the top of the page. The choices of ads were interesting, I thought; on a day when I mentioned diabetes, the ad was for diabetic supplies, and several of the World of Warcraft days had ads for WOW gold. (By the way, I do not endorse that at all. My WOW work ethic is very strict; whenever somebody starts whining for money, I say, probably not very nicely, "You're supposed to be a proud and noble defender of the realm. Make something, kill something, sell something, even steal something, but do not beg." However, if people happen to click that click and I make a fraction of a penny, I'm going to accept that fraction of a penny.
Quite a few days, it just had sort of a generic "Start your own blog!" ad. I must not have said anything that the computer parser could turn into an ad those days.
8. I meant to fill out the Fictitious Business Name form today and work a little on my summer courses, but that didn't happen.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
5/16 What I Accomplished Today
1. This morning's project: first character, level 25 Night Elf Priest, through the Dead Mines. This shouldn't be as hard as it is. Finding a group wasn't bad, but finding an appropriate group of people with a clue was excruciating. Because Dead Mines is in a relatively low-level area (Westfall), if someone announces a group, everyone decides he, she, or it has to participate, even if they're nowhere near the right place in the quest cycle. People were also vague on what a priest should do; in this particular instance, baddies often sneak up behind you, and some of the experienced players knew that and would lag behind to clean them up--but the less experienced people couldn't be held back in their enthusiasm, so they just charged willy-nilly into the fray, ignoring the fact that the people who knew the instance were lagging. This made two groups of fighters, both facing enemies--and a priest in the middle, trying to stay with the vanguard (lower-level characters), but this meant our experienced guys would wash, and I had to rez people more often than was good. Impossible situation. Blech.
On the plus side, I finished four of the five quests for priests associated with the Dead Mines, finishing the Defias Brotherhood sequence and beginning the Unsent Letter sequence. I turned in Underground Assault and Oh Brother (I eventually abandoned Collecting Memories; I think my other characters will be okay in the undead region, but the priest was just too puny for this to work).
Last night, I couldn't remember what I'd spent my Level 25 talent point on; the reason for that, it seems, is that I hadn't spent it yet, and right around now is when I noticed that. I spent it on Searing Light.
I was done with WOW for awhile at that point (Dead Mines had been really maddening), so I logged off.
2. This month's Literary Society book is The Bill from my Father, so I read about a third of that and am enjoying it. (I usually do a better job mixing up serious books and fluffy books; I've been reading mostly serious stuff recently.) I also read two issues of The New Yorker.
3. My Department Chair called; it doesn't look like my scheduled summer classes are going to go, so we discussed alternatives; right now, it looks like I'm doing an eight-week 102 and a six-week online 100. I'll need to start making adaptations to those courses for the abbreviated term.
4. My Co-Vivant didn't feel great this evening, so we ended up watching both movies we had out from NetFlix. The first was The Thing About My Parents, Paul Reiser's film. I don't remember this hitting theaters, and I don't know why not; I can't tell if it was made to be a TV movie and never aired or what. It's a perfectly charming movie; a little talky for about 20 minutes, maybe, but that's not a bad ratio. Peter Falk and Paul Reiser as father and son were really fun to watch. The family in this also looks very much like the Mad About You family: two sisters, one so business-oriented she scarcely exists, the other a lesbian; spunky wife, older child a girl (Mabel apparently got a sibling in real life).
Then we watched It Happened One Night because I'd never seen it before. This is going to look like a digression, but it isn't: for awhile (two or three years), we spent a lot of time watching the black and white shows on the Game Show Network,and when my Co-Vivant's mother would ask us why, we would say that it was like a living history lesson, and she would look at us as though we were too stupid to be allowed to waste the oxygen. "That isn't history; I was alive." But it is. People moved differently. We can see pictures of era-appropriate clothes, but that's not the same as seeing how people interacted with their clothes, how the clothes draped and moved. People of different classes or self-esteems or other characteristics wear their clothing differently. People also talk differently; Colbert and Gable sound perfectly fine in a 1934 black-and-white film, but if they showed up and started talking that at the bus stop, they'd get looks. Perfectly understandable, but just not quite how we talk.
It Happened One Night illustrated that beautifully; it also illustrates very well the subtle ways in which tastes in humor change. The Clark Gable character seems to have come off to contemporaries as a witty man-of-the-world with an answer for everything; he came across to us as an irresponsible alcoholic jerk, at least for the first half or so of the film. It was nice to see the hitchhiking and room-sharing-with-the-blanket scenes in context (I've seen them as clips several times), and of course, the scene that single-handedly required the American T-shirt industry to reinvent itself as leisurewear and not underwear should be required viewing.
5. My Co-Vivant and I agree that the Fictitious Name form should suffice for the website business; we'll try it, anyway.
6. Back to World of Warcraft. It occurs to me that I should probably explain the schedule here because this will look odd. I am a terrific insomniac; I can't really sleep before 4 or 5. I think I've mentioned that. My Co-Vivant is running a business that requires her to function during business hours. She goes to bed about 11 or so. No matter what we're doing, if we're both home, we stop from 8ish-11ish and spend the evening together unless something urgent needs to happen. (We also differ in our quiet-and-dark needs while we go to sleep, and this sleep staggering lets us both have what we need to sleep.) So she goes to bed, and I quietly amuse myself in the evening.
Also, I could move really quickly moving this character from level 20-25; as I said, this is the ninth character I've done that for. However, she's the first character to move from 25-30, so I haven't done most of these things before. This is going much more slowly.
Yesterday as I ran from Darkshore to Zoram, I saw an Alliance questgiver I hadn't seen before; I got Ancient Statuette and finished it and then Ruunzel and finished it. I worked on the Tower of Althalaxx, but I seem to be missing a turn or something because I never found the bad guy.
7. Today's BigFishGame looked very like Poker Pop, which is fun, but I didn't want to play a Poker Pop clone. I happened to check Playfirst to see if they had anything new, and they had something called Nanny Mania which is very like Carrie the Caregiver but requires housecleaning as well (which sounds odd). It was fun. I might buy this.
On the plus side, I finished four of the five quests for priests associated with the Dead Mines, finishing the Defias Brotherhood sequence and beginning the Unsent Letter sequence. I turned in Underground Assault and Oh Brother (I eventually abandoned Collecting Memories; I think my other characters will be okay in the undead region, but the priest was just too puny for this to work).
Last night, I couldn't remember what I'd spent my Level 25 talent point on; the reason for that, it seems, is that I hadn't spent it yet, and right around now is when I noticed that. I spent it on Searing Light.
I was done with WOW for awhile at that point (Dead Mines had been really maddening), so I logged off.
2. This month's Literary Society book is The Bill from my Father, so I read about a third of that and am enjoying it. (I usually do a better job mixing up serious books and fluffy books; I've been reading mostly serious stuff recently.) I also read two issues of The New Yorker.
3. My Department Chair called; it doesn't look like my scheduled summer classes are going to go, so we discussed alternatives; right now, it looks like I'm doing an eight-week 102 and a six-week online 100. I'll need to start making adaptations to those courses for the abbreviated term.
4. My Co-Vivant didn't feel great this evening, so we ended up watching both movies we had out from NetFlix. The first was The Thing About My Parents, Paul Reiser's film. I don't remember this hitting theaters, and I don't know why not; I can't tell if it was made to be a TV movie and never aired or what. It's a perfectly charming movie; a little talky for about 20 minutes, maybe, but that's not a bad ratio. Peter Falk and Paul Reiser as father and son were really fun to watch. The family in this also looks very much like the Mad About You family: two sisters, one so business-oriented she scarcely exists, the other a lesbian; spunky wife, older child a girl (Mabel apparently got a sibling in real life).
Then we watched It Happened One Night because I'd never seen it before. This is going to look like a digression, but it isn't: for awhile (two or three years), we spent a lot of time watching the black and white shows on the Game Show Network,and when my Co-Vivant's mother would ask us why, we would say that it was like a living history lesson, and she would look at us as though we were too stupid to be allowed to waste the oxygen. "That isn't history; I was alive." But it is. People moved differently. We can see pictures of era-appropriate clothes, but that's not the same as seeing how people interacted with their clothes, how the clothes draped and moved. People of different classes or self-esteems or other characteristics wear their clothing differently. People also talk differently; Colbert and Gable sound perfectly fine in a 1934 black-and-white film, but if they showed up and started talking that at the bus stop, they'd get looks. Perfectly understandable, but just not quite how we talk.
It Happened One Night illustrated that beautifully; it also illustrates very well the subtle ways in which tastes in humor change. The Clark Gable character seems to have come off to contemporaries as a witty man-of-the-world with an answer for everything; he came across to us as an irresponsible alcoholic jerk, at least for the first half or so of the film. It was nice to see the hitchhiking and room-sharing-with-the-blanket scenes in context (I've seen them as clips several times), and of course, the scene that single-handedly required the American T-shirt industry to reinvent itself as leisurewear and not underwear should be required viewing.
5. My Co-Vivant and I agree that the Fictitious Name form should suffice for the website business; we'll try it, anyway.
6. Back to World of Warcraft. It occurs to me that I should probably explain the schedule here because this will look odd. I am a terrific insomniac; I can't really sleep before 4 or 5. I think I've mentioned that. My Co-Vivant is running a business that requires her to function during business hours. She goes to bed about 11 or so. No matter what we're doing, if we're both home, we stop from 8ish-11ish and spend the evening together unless something urgent needs to happen. (We also differ in our quiet-and-dark needs while we go to sleep, and this sleep staggering lets us both have what we need to sleep.) So she goes to bed, and I quietly amuse myself in the evening.
Also, I could move really quickly moving this character from level 20-25; as I said, this is the ninth character I've done that for. However, she's the first character to move from 25-30, so I haven't done most of these things before. This is going much more slowly.
Yesterday as I ran from Darkshore to Zoram, I saw an Alliance questgiver I hadn't seen before; I got Ancient Statuette and finished it and then Ruunzel and finished it. I worked on the Tower of Althalaxx, but I seem to be missing a turn or something because I never found the bad guy.
7. Today's BigFishGame looked very like Poker Pop, which is fun, but I didn't want to play a Poker Pop clone. I happened to check Playfirst to see if they had anything new, and they had something called Nanny Mania which is very like Carrie the Caregiver but requires housecleaning as well (which sounds odd). It was fun. I might buy this.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
5/15 What I Accomplished Today
1. I went to the office and stuff yesterday so I wouldn't have to do anything today. I'm just that lazy.
So the day started with some bracing WOW (I know that's a shocking surprise). Level 23 Night Elf Priest. Did Ruins of Stardust and Further Instructions. Delivered Ineptitude + Chemistry = Fun and Special Delivery for Galix; took Covert Ops Alpha and Beta. Ran to the Peak for mailbox and inventory and flew to ratchet to turn in Deepmoss Egg. I dinged 24 and spent my Talent point on Holy Nova.
Then I flew to Darnassus and got the level 24 priest training and did some auction stuff. Then I flew to Ashenvale and turned in Ruins of Stardust, taking Fallen Sky Lake. I then finished Covert Ops Alpha (I died once on this one) and Beta and turned them in, then turned in Kaela's Update and its return trip. I took Enraged Spirits and Wounded Ancients and worked the edges of the the Charred Vale working on Enraged Spirits and the Mauren basilisk quest until I needed an inventory adjustment. Then I went back and did it some more, dying twice in the process. I flew to Ashenvale and got Kayneth Stillwind.
That seemed a good break point.
2. We watched stuff like Letterman and The Daily Show and some comedians. Nothing terrifically memorable.
3. I finished a premium badge on Pogo. Tomorrow is new badge day. (When on vacation from school, it's important to keep oneself grounded in time and space.)
4. I read an issue of The New Yorker and The Nation from a few weeks. Lots of interesting articles; one on the Barbara Stanwyck centenary, one on Aimee Semple McPherson, one on the history of television, one on how Imus' choice of the Princeton Women's Basketball Team was a choice of the "right victim" in the same way Rosa Parks had been (similar things had of course happened to many people before, but those people couldn't be chosen for test cases because their lives couldn't withstand the sort of scrutiny Parks's could).
5. I completed the Placement payroll ending 5/15.
6. I started the fixes on my online 100 course; I have a list of things from the semester that I'll need to repair.
7. I took a look at the Fictitious Firm Name to see if it would suffice for the online website I intend to start; it looks like it ought to work, but I'll discuss it with my Co-Vivant tomorrow.
8. Back to WOW. It took quite awhile to finish Enraged Spirits and Retrieval for Mauren; along the way, I ran down the coast of Auberdine (I was out of Strangekelp) and got another Beached Sea Creature quest. After I finished those Charred Vale quests, I turned in Enraged Spirits, then the Beached Sea Creature, then Retrieval for Mauren. At this point, I dinged 25. I do not remember what I spent that Talent point on; I know I wrote it down, but I don't know where I put it. I ran to the inn-let in the Dwarven District, picked up the Oh Brother and Collecting Memories quests, and flew to Westfall. There I went to the top of the tower and picked up the quest with the handkerchiefs.
Here's what the deal has been: I have now worked all nine of my characters, one of each class, to level 25; some of the quests, I have done nine times. I haven't finished an instance yet. Tomorrow, I will have this Level 25 Night Elf Priest do the Deadmines. I'm sort of excited about that.
9. A few weeks ago, my Co-Vivant and I had a conversation I've been thinking about in the interim. I've been pondering what media is the most conducive to the creation of alternate realities. I asked her what she thought, and she gave me that, "Oh, please, you have way too much time on your hand if you think about stuff like this" look, but she asked me for clarification of what I meant. She likes having genuine, thought-provoking conversations, even if they're on topics she considers odd.
"Well, music, for example. I think music is highly conducive to permitting listeners to create their own interpretations, their own realities, if you will, based on the music. Lots of music has no lyrics, so it's largely impressionistic, and even songs with words often have unintelligible words. Sometimes even when you can understand the words, they're very open for interpretation; what does it mean if somebody can't take it because someone else left a cake out in the rain the recipe for which can never be duplicated? Lots of possible interpretations for many songs.
"Movies are usually a little more restrictive; even though many have elements of interpretation, the characters and plot are usually laid out fairly straightforwardly. Most television is more restrictive yet; most television shows, with the exception of a few of the more subtle dramas, don't leave a lot of room for interpretation; you're shown every single thing you could possibly need to see."
"And then videogames?"
"Depends on the videogames. A lot of them are extremely linear; to succeed, you have to follow a very specific sequence of steps, usually with not much variance of order. The Might and Magic sequence, Heroes of Might and Magic--not a lot of leeway, especially not in the campaigns. The Sims, however, is extremely open-ended. World of Warcraft is extremely open-ended; I tend to be a quester, but there are a lot of other ways besides questing to advance, and you don't even have to choose to advance. I would say that open-ended videogames are perhaps second only to music in their flexibility, in the range of alternate realities they allow people to create. You can also think of it how demanding a media is, or in terms of how actively a person needs to participate."
She thought about this for awhile. I think she found it really interesting, and I like to say things she thinks are really interesting. "So you think videogames require more active participation than watching television." She views watching television and movies as a process analogous to reading, what with interpretation and analysis and sensing subtext, and I can't say I disagree.
"Depends on the game, but even in a closed-ended game, yes, I think it requires more active brainpower than watching television."
"Even with subtext and interpretation?"
"Do you think I miss much subtext or interpretation?"
"No, I don't guess so. I agree that television is more restrictive than movies. I'm not convinced all movies are in the same category, though; I think there are ranges. Some directors make you work for it; Hitchcock, for example. Others put everything right there, like Capra." Beat, beat. "You don't care for Capra much; might this be a reason?"
"I hadn't thought of it, but I think you may be right. Capra's very busy beating us on the head, dotting every i, connecting every dot, fitting all the pieces together for us; Hitchcock gives us most of the pieces, not necessarily all of them, and usually makes us put them together ourselves. I totally agree with your extension on directors."
(Some Capra, especially It's a Wonderful Life, I like very much. Others of his films, particularly Meet John Doe, drive me absolutely friggin' nuts. Heavy-handed doesn't begin, in my opinion.)
So the day started with some bracing WOW (I know that's a shocking surprise). Level 23 Night Elf Priest. Did Ruins of Stardust and Further Instructions. Delivered Ineptitude + Chemistry = Fun and Special Delivery for Galix; took Covert Ops Alpha and Beta. Ran to the Peak for mailbox and inventory and flew to ratchet to turn in Deepmoss Egg. I dinged 24 and spent my Talent point on Holy Nova.
Then I flew to Darnassus and got the level 24 priest training and did some auction stuff. Then I flew to Ashenvale and turned in Ruins of Stardust, taking Fallen Sky Lake. I then finished Covert Ops Alpha (I died once on this one) and Beta and turned them in, then turned in Kaela's Update and its return trip. I took Enraged Spirits and Wounded Ancients and worked the edges of the the Charred Vale working on Enraged Spirits and the Mauren basilisk quest until I needed an inventory adjustment. Then I went back and did it some more, dying twice in the process. I flew to Ashenvale and got Kayneth Stillwind.
That seemed a good break point.
2. We watched stuff like Letterman and The Daily Show and some comedians. Nothing terrifically memorable.
3. I finished a premium badge on Pogo. Tomorrow is new badge day. (When on vacation from school, it's important to keep oneself grounded in time and space.)
4. I read an issue of The New Yorker and The Nation from a few weeks. Lots of interesting articles; one on the Barbara Stanwyck centenary, one on Aimee Semple McPherson, one on the history of television, one on how Imus' choice of the Princeton Women's Basketball Team was a choice of the "right victim" in the same way Rosa Parks had been (similar things had of course happened to many people before, but those people couldn't be chosen for test cases because their lives couldn't withstand the sort of scrutiny Parks's could).
5. I completed the Placement payroll ending 5/15.
6. I started the fixes on my online 100 course; I have a list of things from the semester that I'll need to repair.
7. I took a look at the Fictitious Firm Name to see if it would suffice for the online website I intend to start; it looks like it ought to work, but I'll discuss it with my Co-Vivant tomorrow.
8. Back to WOW. It took quite awhile to finish Enraged Spirits and Retrieval for Mauren; along the way, I ran down the coast of Auberdine (I was out of Strangekelp) and got another Beached Sea Creature quest. After I finished those Charred Vale quests, I turned in Enraged Spirits, then the Beached Sea Creature, then Retrieval for Mauren. At this point, I dinged 25. I do not remember what I spent that Talent point on; I know I wrote it down, but I don't know where I put it. I ran to the inn-let in the Dwarven District, picked up the Oh Brother and Collecting Memories quests, and flew to Westfall. There I went to the top of the tower and picked up the quest with the handkerchiefs.
Here's what the deal has been: I have now worked all nine of my characters, one of each class, to level 25; some of the quests, I have done nine times. I haven't finished an instance yet. Tomorrow, I will have this Level 25 Night Elf Priest do the Deadmines. I'm sort of excited about that.
9. A few weeks ago, my Co-Vivant and I had a conversation I've been thinking about in the interim. I've been pondering what media is the most conducive to the creation of alternate realities. I asked her what she thought, and she gave me that, "Oh, please, you have way too much time on your hand if you think about stuff like this" look, but she asked me for clarification of what I meant. She likes having genuine, thought-provoking conversations, even if they're on topics she considers odd.
"Well, music, for example. I think music is highly conducive to permitting listeners to create their own interpretations, their own realities, if you will, based on the music. Lots of music has no lyrics, so it's largely impressionistic, and even songs with words often have unintelligible words. Sometimes even when you can understand the words, they're very open for interpretation; what does it mean if somebody can't take it because someone else left a cake out in the rain the recipe for which can never be duplicated? Lots of possible interpretations for many songs.
"Movies are usually a little more restrictive; even though many have elements of interpretation, the characters and plot are usually laid out fairly straightforwardly. Most television is more restrictive yet; most television shows, with the exception of a few of the more subtle dramas, don't leave a lot of room for interpretation; you're shown every single thing you could possibly need to see."
"And then videogames?"
"Depends on the videogames. A lot of them are extremely linear; to succeed, you have to follow a very specific sequence of steps, usually with not much variance of order. The Might and Magic sequence, Heroes of Might and Magic--not a lot of leeway, especially not in the campaigns. The Sims, however, is extremely open-ended. World of Warcraft is extremely open-ended; I tend to be a quester, but there are a lot of other ways besides questing to advance, and you don't even have to choose to advance. I would say that open-ended videogames are perhaps second only to music in their flexibility, in the range of alternate realities they allow people to create. You can also think of it how demanding a media is, or in terms of how actively a person needs to participate."
She thought about this for awhile. I think she found it really interesting, and I like to say things she thinks are really interesting. "So you think videogames require more active participation than watching television." She views watching television and movies as a process analogous to reading, what with interpretation and analysis and sensing subtext, and I can't say I disagree.
"Depends on the game, but even in a closed-ended game, yes, I think it requires more active brainpower than watching television."
"Even with subtext and interpretation?"
"Do you think I miss much subtext or interpretation?"
"No, I don't guess so. I agree that television is more restrictive than movies. I'm not convinced all movies are in the same category, though; I think there are ranges. Some directors make you work for it; Hitchcock, for example. Others put everything right there, like Capra." Beat, beat. "You don't care for Capra much; might this be a reason?"
"I hadn't thought of it, but I think you may be right. Capra's very busy beating us on the head, dotting every i, connecting every dot, fitting all the pieces together for us; Hitchcock gives us most of the pieces, not necessarily all of them, and usually makes us put them together ourselves. I totally agree with your extension on directors."
(Some Capra, especially It's a Wonderful Life, I like very much. Others of his films, particularly Meet John Doe, drive me absolutely friggin' nuts. Heavy-handed doesn't begin, in my opinion.)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
5/14: What I Accomplished Today
1. Went to my office to pick up a book and piece of paper I'd forgotten last Friday; I also backed up my online courses and removed student access.
2. Worked on the Level 22 Night Elf Priest. Delivered Messenger to Westfall and got return trip, which I delivered, picking up Messenger to Darkshire, which I delivered. I picked up the flight path and flew back to Redridge. I picked up Selling Fish, which I completed in 56 casts (about 20-25 minutes). Turned in Old Colleague and picked up and turned in Inept + Chemistry = Fun.
Maxed my cooking at 150. Went to Menethil and got the Greenwarden and Excavation Team. I finished the Excavation Team, picked up the return trip, and got the fossil. I took Ormer's Revenge and turned in the Greenwarden. I picked up Daily Delivery and logged out.
3. My Co-Vivant, her mother, her visiting aunt, and I went to a friend's birthday party. This was fun.
4. Didn't watch much TV when we got home because it was late. I read and issue
of The Nation and an issue of Entertainment Weekly.
5. Back to Warcraft. Died twice killing the black oozes; I died once after I rezzed at the graveyard, ran back to Menethil, and turned in the Excavation Team and Daily Delivery. I also did the first two rounds of Cursed Crew (just buying the guy the drinks). I worked on the raptors, oozes, and crocs for awhile. I finally turned in Croc Skins and Digging through the Ooze; I couldn't find the stone and got frustrated, so I abandoned Ormer and the Prospector (I was on the next-to-last step, and the conclusion isn't that exciting). I then dinged 23 and spent my Talent point on Divine Fury 5.
I took the boat to Theramore and finished Fiora Longears. After picking up the flight path, I flew to Darnassus, where I did an inventory adjustment and worked on some alchemy.
Flew to Ashenvale, turned in Journey to Astranaar. Ran to Maestra's Post, got Bathran's Hair. I did the dumb Murloc part of Raene's Cleansing and died in a gank, but I'd gotten the dumb gem, so I rezzed and turned in the quest. This made me Honored in Ironforge. Apparently the dwarves are very empathetic. I took the next Raene's Cleansing step, Aggressive Defense, and Helping Hand. I finished Bathran's Hair and turned in it, taking ORendil's Cure, which I turned in and got Elune's Tears. I got the Tear and went to the Moonwell, picking up the next Raene step. Turned in Elune's Tears and took Ruins of Stardust. Flew to Darnassus, trained more in Alchemy, bringing it to Expert, and ran to the Auction House so I'll be there as soon as I begin to play tomorrow (it sounds like tomorrow might be 2.1 patch day).
I keep hearing yucky noises and have come to the conclusion that there is a mouse in the closet. This makes me uncomfortable. I don't even remember what the BigFishGame is because there might be a mouse in this room. Yes, I know the irony of facing pretend monsters as big as buildings and being made squidgy by a mouse that weighs less than 1% of my bodyweight. I totally see that irony. However, I'm still not turning off the light in the room when I go to bed.
2. Worked on the Level 22 Night Elf Priest. Delivered Messenger to Westfall and got return trip, which I delivered, picking up Messenger to Darkshire, which I delivered. I picked up the flight path and flew back to Redridge. I picked up Selling Fish, which I completed in 56 casts (about 20-25 minutes). Turned in Old Colleague and picked up and turned in Inept + Chemistry = Fun.
Maxed my cooking at 150. Went to Menethil and got the Greenwarden and Excavation Team. I finished the Excavation Team, picked up the return trip, and got the fossil. I took Ormer's Revenge and turned in the Greenwarden. I picked up Daily Delivery and logged out.
3. My Co-Vivant, her mother, her visiting aunt, and I went to a friend's birthday party. This was fun.
4. Didn't watch much TV when we got home because it was late. I read and issue
of The Nation and an issue of Entertainment Weekly.
5. Back to Warcraft. Died twice killing the black oozes; I died once after I rezzed at the graveyard, ran back to Menethil, and turned in the Excavation Team and Daily Delivery. I also did the first two rounds of Cursed Crew (just buying the guy the drinks). I worked on the raptors, oozes, and crocs for awhile. I finally turned in Croc Skins and Digging through the Ooze; I couldn't find the stone and got frustrated, so I abandoned Ormer and the Prospector (I was on the next-to-last step, and the conclusion isn't that exciting). I then dinged 23 and spent my Talent point on Divine Fury 5.
I took the boat to Theramore and finished Fiora Longears. After picking up the flight path, I flew to Darnassus, where I did an inventory adjustment and worked on some alchemy.
Flew to Ashenvale, turned in Journey to Astranaar. Ran to Maestra's Post, got Bathran's Hair. I did the dumb Murloc part of Raene's Cleansing and died in a gank, but I'd gotten the dumb gem, so I rezzed and turned in the quest. This made me Honored in Ironforge. Apparently the dwarves are very empathetic. I took the next Raene's Cleansing step, Aggressive Defense, and Helping Hand. I finished Bathran's Hair and turned in it, taking ORendil's Cure, which I turned in and got Elune's Tears. I got the Tear and went to the Moonwell, picking up the next Raene step. Turned in Elune's Tears and took Ruins of Stardust. Flew to Darnassus, trained more in Alchemy, bringing it to Expert, and ran to the Auction House so I'll be there as soon as I begin to play tomorrow (it sounds like tomorrow might be 2.1 patch day).
I keep hearing yucky noises and have come to the conclusion that there is a mouse in the closet. This makes me uncomfortable. I don't even remember what the BigFishGame is because there might be a mouse in this room. Yes, I know the irony of facing pretend monsters as big as buildings and being made squidgy by a mouse that weighs less than 1% of my bodyweight. I totally see that irony. However, I'm still not turning off the light in the room when I go to bed.
Monday, May 14, 2007
5/13: What I Accomplished Today
1. Puzzle Day! We didn't meet last week, so we had two weeks of puzzles. We came in second both weeks; that makes our coming-in-second streak three weeks. We don't usually go this long without winning. (We or the Fellas almost always win. Not to be mean or arrogant, but my Co-Vivant's mother and sister don't usually do very well at puzzle day; they might win four a year, and they're jerks about it when they do.)
We also had Mother's Day today. That was fun. Afterwards, we went shopping with my Co-Vivant's mother to buy a present for a friend who has a birthday party tomorrow.
2. Took a nap.
3. Played a little WOW, starting on the Level 20 Night Elf Priest. I made sure she had her level 20 training and trained her to Expert in alchemy. Then I headed to Stonetalon, where I was killed by deforesters ganking me. After I reclaimed, I got Super Reaper 6000, turned in On Guard in Stonetalon, and picked up Gnome's Respite. Then I finished Journey to Stormtalon Peak, taking Reclaim the Charred Vale. I got the flight path, fixed my items, and decided it was a good stopping point.
4. We watched The Trip to Bountiful, one of our Netflix movies. Wonderful film with wonderful performances. Both of us were looking at Jessie Mae, knowing there was something familiar about that face, so we looked her up on IMDB--and she's Mary Stuart Masterson's mother and looks a lot like her. One of the comparisons we'd been discussing with the film was Fried Green Tomatoes, so that was an interesting coincidence.
Although we both enjoyed this movie very much, we disagreed about its overriding tone; my Co-Vivant finds it very life-affirming, and I think that Mrs. Watt and Ludie have both consented to death. "But it's a coming-of-age film, I think, and they're coming to terms with the realities of their lives!" she said.
"Yes, I totally agree with that point. But Jessie was born dead, Mrs. Watt is ready to die now, and Ludie's been spending his whole life embracing death. In their different ways, they're all preparing to die."
"Coming-of-age" doesn't necessarily have to mean "coming-to-life," I don't think.
We also watched The Sopranos. Three more to go. I'm curious what's going to happen to A.J. Frankly, I've always assumed that the close to the series would be his first mob hit, and I can't tell whether Chase is going that way or not. He's certainly in with the right crowd for that to happen, but he seems nauseated by the acts of violence the thugs have performed so far (at least the racially-motivated beating, not so much the gambling-debt beating).
4. More Warcraft. I worked on the Pridewings; I died three times in the process, but I also dinged 21 and spent my Talent point on Divine Fury, level 3. I turned in Super Reaper and took Further Instructions. I turned in Gnome's Respite and took Old Colleague and Scroll for Mauren. I flew to Astrakaan (I know that's not spelled right) and turned in Pridewings. Then I ran to Ratchet, turning in Further Instructions and getting the next level. I also picked up the Deepmoss Spider Eggs quest and the flight path. I took the boat to Booty Bay and bought the book for Expert Fisherman Training; this is the first character I've done this for, but the priest had her fishing maxed at 150. I then picked up the flight path and flew to Stormwind.
I turned in Scroll for Mauren and picked up Devils in Westfall. I went to Westfall and picked up the beginning of the Defias Brotherhood, running to Redridge (and picking up Encroaching Gnolls on the way, then turning it in as I got the flight path). In Redridge, I picked up Price of Shoes, Messenger to Stormwind, Free Lunch, and the next level of Defias Brotherhood. I ran to turn in Free Lunch and picked up Visit the Herbalist. Then I ran across Elwynn, stopping in Goldthingy to do Price of Shoes and get Return to Verner. I did the Messenger to Stormwind and picked up the return trip. Then I flew to Westfall, finishing the Defias Brotherhood quests through the Traitor and picking up a Dust Devil.
Then I flew to Redridge and turned in Return to Verner, Messenger to Stormwind (taking Messenger to Westfall), Visit the Herbalist (picking up and then turning in Delivering Daffodils), Murloc Poachers (I had some Murloc Fins from before in my bank vault). Then I dinged 22 and spent my Talent point on Divine Fury 4. I picked up Unwelcome Guest; I died the first time, but this is an alchemist, so I had her make quite a few different potions and buff up, and she could do it the second time.
Then I flew to Stormwind and turned in Devils in Westfall and accepted Special Delivery for Gaxim and Retrieval for Mauren. I then flew to Westfall and decided that was a good ending place for the night.
5. Yesterday's BigFishGame is called Bird Pirates; it doesn't look like fun at first glance. Today's game is War on Folvos and looks to be a strategy game; I like those sometimes, but I'm too tired tonight. Maybe tomorrow.
We also had Mother's Day today. That was fun. Afterwards, we went shopping with my Co-Vivant's mother to buy a present for a friend who has a birthday party tomorrow.
2. Took a nap.
3. Played a little WOW, starting on the Level 20 Night Elf Priest. I made sure she had her level 20 training and trained her to Expert in alchemy. Then I headed to Stonetalon, where I was killed by deforesters ganking me. After I reclaimed, I got Super Reaper 6000, turned in On Guard in Stonetalon, and picked up Gnome's Respite. Then I finished Journey to Stormtalon Peak, taking Reclaim the Charred Vale. I got the flight path, fixed my items, and decided it was a good stopping point.
4. We watched The Trip to Bountiful, one of our Netflix movies. Wonderful film with wonderful performances. Both of us were looking at Jessie Mae, knowing there was something familiar about that face, so we looked her up on IMDB--and she's Mary Stuart Masterson's mother and looks a lot like her. One of the comparisons we'd been discussing with the film was Fried Green Tomatoes, so that was an interesting coincidence.
Although we both enjoyed this movie very much, we disagreed about its overriding tone; my Co-Vivant finds it very life-affirming, and I think that Mrs. Watt and Ludie have both consented to death. "But it's a coming-of-age film, I think, and they're coming to terms with the realities of their lives!" she said.
"Yes, I totally agree with that point. But Jessie was born dead, Mrs. Watt is ready to die now, and Ludie's been spending his whole life embracing death. In their different ways, they're all preparing to die."
"Coming-of-age" doesn't necessarily have to mean "coming-to-life," I don't think.
We also watched The Sopranos. Three more to go. I'm curious what's going to happen to A.J. Frankly, I've always assumed that the close to the series would be his first mob hit, and I can't tell whether Chase is going that way or not. He's certainly in with the right crowd for that to happen, but he seems nauseated by the acts of violence the thugs have performed so far (at least the racially-motivated beating, not so much the gambling-debt beating).
4. More Warcraft. I worked on the Pridewings; I died three times in the process, but I also dinged 21 and spent my Talent point on Divine Fury, level 3. I turned in Super Reaper and took Further Instructions. I turned in Gnome's Respite and took Old Colleague and Scroll for Mauren. I flew to Astrakaan (I know that's not spelled right) and turned in Pridewings. Then I ran to Ratchet, turning in Further Instructions and getting the next level. I also picked up the Deepmoss Spider Eggs quest and the flight path. I took the boat to Booty Bay and bought the book for Expert Fisherman Training; this is the first character I've done this for, but the priest had her fishing maxed at 150. I then picked up the flight path and flew to Stormwind.
I turned in Scroll for Mauren and picked up Devils in Westfall. I went to Westfall and picked up the beginning of the Defias Brotherhood, running to Redridge (and picking up Encroaching Gnolls on the way, then turning it in as I got the flight path). In Redridge, I picked up Price of Shoes, Messenger to Stormwind, Free Lunch, and the next level of Defias Brotherhood. I ran to turn in Free Lunch and picked up Visit the Herbalist. Then I ran across Elwynn, stopping in Goldthingy to do Price of Shoes and get Return to Verner. I did the Messenger to Stormwind and picked up the return trip. Then I flew to Westfall, finishing the Defias Brotherhood quests through the Traitor and picking up a Dust Devil.
Then I flew to Redridge and turned in Return to Verner, Messenger to Stormwind (taking Messenger to Westfall), Visit the Herbalist (picking up and then turning in Delivering Daffodils), Murloc Poachers (I had some Murloc Fins from before in my bank vault). Then I dinged 22 and spent my Talent point on Divine Fury 4. I picked up Unwelcome Guest; I died the first time, but this is an alchemist, so I had her make quite a few different potions and buff up, and she could do it the second time.
Then I flew to Stormwind and turned in Devils in Westfall and accepted Special Delivery for Gaxim and Retrieval for Mauren. I then flew to Westfall and decided that was a good ending place for the night.
5. Yesterday's BigFishGame is called Bird Pirates; it doesn't look like fun at first glance. Today's game is War on Folvos and looks to be a strategy game; I like those sometimes, but I'm too tired tonight. Maybe tomorrow.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
5/12: What I Accomplished Today
1. It's a Saturday, and we cleverly structured it so we didn't have to go anywhere.
2. I spent most of the afternoon playing my Night Elf Hunter. I started working on the quests I'd accepted yesterday in Menethil; I finished Search for the Excavation Team and got the fossil for the archaeology one. Woodsy dinged 21 while we did this. I did the Greenwarden but did not accept Tramping Paws. I then dinged 22 and spent my talent point on Improved Hunter's Mark, Level 4. I accepted Daily Delivery. I finished Sida's Bag and Young Crocodile Skins; Woodsy dinged 22. As I was grinding raptors looking for the dumb stone for the archaeology one, I went purple for the first time. I then turned in Excavation Team, Daily Delivery, Young Crocodile Skins, Digging through the Ooze, and the Absent-Minded Prospector, which brought me to Honored with Ironforge. I intended to do Fiora Longears right away, but I missed the Theramore boat.
Flew to IF and trained in the hunter stuff. I swapped weapons, picking up my Thrown, axe, sword, and 2H axe. I brought my Leatherworking to 129 and dropped stuff at the Auction House. Flew back to Menethil and caught the boat to Theramore. I finished Fiora Longears and picked up Journey to Astranaar and the flight path, but I couldn't afford to fly to Astranaar. I also dinged 23 here and spent my Talent Point on Hunter's Mark, Level 5. I then took the boat back to Menethil and then sailed to Auberdine.
I couldn't afford to fly to Astranaar from here, either, so I ran to the Zoram Strand, picking up the Murloc part of Raene's Cleansing. I zipped over the Maestra's Post and got Bathran's Hair. I died several times doing this one. Woodsy dinged 23. I turned Bathran's Hair in; this brought me to Revered with Darnassus. I took Orendil's Cure. Then I ran to Astranaar and turned in the Journey to Astranaar and Zoram Strand, picking up Pridewings of Stonetalon and Helping Hand. I turned in Raene's Cleaning and got the next level, then accepted Agressive Defense. I turned in Orendil's Cure and accepted Elune's Tears. I had lots of boiled clams from Zoram, so I brought my cooking to 81.
I went to the Moonwell for Raene's and accepted the next one, but I won't be able to do it for awhile. I also did Elune's Tears, which I turned in and accepted Ruins of Stardust. I ran to Darnasus and checked my pet training and Auctions. Then I returned and did Ruins of Stardust (I died once in this process), turning it in and accepting Falling Sky Lake. I dinged 24 and spent my talent point on Aimed Shot. I am loving Aimed Shot. If I'd known about it, I'd have done it before. The happy-making discovery for the day is Aimed Shot.
Then I ran to Stonetalon and picked up Super Reaper 6000. I turned in On Guard in Stonetalon and accepted Gnome's Respite. That seemed like a good break point, so I logged off for the evening.
3. As I was playing, I heard that my Co-Vivant was watching My Fair Lady, and in my head, I started drafting a course on the political implications of language. I'd probably start with Orwell's "Politics and the English Language," then Ovid's Pygmalian, followed by Shaw's, followed by several weeks on My Fair Lady. (There's a lot going on politically, and frankly, I'm learning that students are neither good at reading subtext, nor do they always understand what they're reading literally. When I used to teach Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," I found that most of my students younger than 30 thought a "man's man" was gay. What sort of limited exposure to life must you have had never to have heard that expression used in any context where you could figure out that's exactly what it doesn't mean?) Rodriguez's Aria. Maybe "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." bell hooks has several essays that could be pertinent. There was a comedian we heard a few months ago who had an extended bit she did about "the phony bitch" (the part of her that could code-switch and sound like "white," although I'm not convinced that's necessarily the appropriate label). I don't know if I will, and it might not be interesting if I did, but I sometimes hear something and
Tonight we watched Outback House. (We missed the first episode, but if you only miss the first, it's easy enough to piece the plot together.) These are the sorts of reality shows we like: put regular modern people in different times and places and see how they fare. This one, sensibly enough, put modern people in an 1860 Australian sheep station. It's always interesting to me how class works out in such shows; in most of them, like this one, one family is assigned to have a higher rank than the other people. They almost always say something at the very beginning like, "We're nominally of higher class because of course somebody has to be, but of course, we're all really equals, and we're not going to exert any authority." And this, of course, never works, because frankly (and this sounds horrible, so please forgive me in advance), in some situation, equality is a luxury. If a group of people is in a life-or-death situation and certain things must happen, that requires some sort of enforcement, and that means somebody has to be more equal than everybody else. In the show we watched tonight, for instance, the group drank a bit and had a little party one night. The next morning, the people who were servants in this situation put on the 21st-century hats and slept in. Idiotic. The young man was supposed to milk the cow. Because he slept in, not only did the cow not get milked (that's just a mean thing to do to a cow, make it stand about with full udders), but everyone's breakfast porridge was made with milk from the night before--and in an 1860 sheep station, there was no refrigeration, so that milk had turned. One of the young ladies was supposed to get up early to ensure that the urn that always needed to be full to keep hot water didn't check it--so it didn't get checked, and if the cook hadn't happened to want a cup of tea for herself, the urn might have cracked with disastrous implications for everyone. Some situations require leadership, and "Oh, we're all equals, so let's not have anyone impose authority on anyone else" won't work everywhere.
We also watched Letterman; it was his Mother's Day Show, so he had his mom on. We like the Mom shows.
We also watched John Cleese episode of Monty Python's Personal Best.
4. I signed up for the ad thing here; it's prohibited to put such ads on porn, so I'm guessing there won't be any inappropriate ads. We shall see. I'm not allowed to click the links, and I'm afraid I'll forget. (I'm also concerned; what if my Co-Vivant clicks these links on the same computer I use? Will this be a problem? Will I be in trouble? What will the consequences be?)
5. Back to Warcraft. I completed Super Reaper 6000 and turned it in, accepting Further Instructions. I turned in Gnome's Respite and accepted Old Colleague and Scroll for Mauren. I worked on the Pridewings, and Woodsy dinged 24. I completed Journey to Stonetalon Peak and picked up Reclaiming the Charred Vale and worked on First Aid for a bit; then I picked up the flight path and flew to Astranaar. I turned in the Pridewing quest and took out Kayneth Stillwind.
Then I ran to Ratchet. I took the Deepmoss Spider Eggs quest and turned in Further Instructions, accepting the return trip. I took the boat to Booty Bay and picked up the Flight Path and then sailed back to Ratched. I had a Darkmoon Faire Fortune to go to Palemoon Rock; I got a level 25 green item and food ranging from level 15-45. Then I hearthed to Menethil, cleared my inventory, and flew to IF. Got my leatherwork to 135. Turned in Old Colleague and got Ineptitude+Chemistry=Fun. I went to the Auction House to sell the leatherworking stuff none of my characters could use and to look for potions the last quest needs; they weren't all there, so I had logged off, had my alchemist make them, mailed them to this character, and logged back in.
Took the Tram to SW. Got Speaking of Fortitude, which I finished immediately and got Brother Paxton. I finally bought a polearm; now I own one of all the weapons for which I am trained. Turned in Scroll for Mauren and accepted Devils in Westfall. Turned in Brother Paxton and got Ink Supplies. I zipped into Westfall and took care of the Dust Devil one really quickly. Then I flew to Redridge and turned in Ink Supplies, taking Rethban Ore. I accepted and then quickly turned in Unwelcome Guest (meant to do Bellygrub earlier and forgot), running up the hill to take care of the Rethban quest. By this point, my potions had arrived in the mail.
I returned to SW and turned in Devils in Westfall, accepting Special Delivery for Gaxim and Retrieval for Mauren; this brought me to Honored among the gnomes. (That should be a TV movie: Honored Among the Gnomes.) I turned in Rethban Ore and Return to Kristoff. At this point I dinged 25 and spent the talent point on Go for the Throat. I caught the Tram to IF, turned in the potions quest and accepting the next leg, and then took the tram back to SW, where I trained my fishing and accepted the two quests in the Dwarven Quarter in for Dark Mines (Collecting Memories and Oh Brother). Then I did the recordkeeping and parked this character by the mailbox.
5. I was obviously not very useful today. I made dinner, but that meant making her a peanut butter sandwich and me some frozen potstickers. I folded my towels and put them away. I think that was about it.
The occasional Lazy Saturday is good for the soul.
2. I spent most of the afternoon playing my Night Elf Hunter. I started working on the quests I'd accepted yesterday in Menethil; I finished Search for the Excavation Team and got the fossil for the archaeology one. Woodsy dinged 21 while we did this. I did the Greenwarden but did not accept Tramping Paws. I then dinged 22 and spent my talent point on Improved Hunter's Mark, Level 4. I accepted Daily Delivery. I finished Sida's Bag and Young Crocodile Skins; Woodsy dinged 22. As I was grinding raptors looking for the dumb stone for the archaeology one, I went purple for the first time. I then turned in Excavation Team, Daily Delivery, Young Crocodile Skins, Digging through the Ooze, and the Absent-Minded Prospector, which brought me to Honored with Ironforge. I intended to do Fiora Longears right away, but I missed the Theramore boat.
Flew to IF and trained in the hunter stuff. I swapped weapons, picking up my Thrown, axe, sword, and 2H axe. I brought my Leatherworking to 129 and dropped stuff at the Auction House. Flew back to Menethil and caught the boat to Theramore. I finished Fiora Longears and picked up Journey to Astranaar and the flight path, but I couldn't afford to fly to Astranaar. I also dinged 23 here and spent my Talent Point on Hunter's Mark, Level 5. I then took the boat back to Menethil and then sailed to Auberdine.
I couldn't afford to fly to Astranaar from here, either, so I ran to the Zoram Strand, picking up the Murloc part of Raene's Cleansing. I zipped over the Maestra's Post and got Bathran's Hair. I died several times doing this one. Woodsy dinged 23. I turned Bathran's Hair in; this brought me to Revered with Darnassus. I took Orendil's Cure. Then I ran to Astranaar and turned in the Journey to Astranaar and Zoram Strand, picking up Pridewings of Stonetalon and Helping Hand. I turned in Raene's Cleaning and got the next level, then accepted Agressive Defense. I turned in Orendil's Cure and accepted Elune's Tears. I had lots of boiled clams from Zoram, so I brought my cooking to 81.
I went to the Moonwell for Raene's and accepted the next one, but I won't be able to do it for awhile. I also did Elune's Tears, which I turned in and accepted Ruins of Stardust. I ran to Darnasus and checked my pet training and Auctions. Then I returned and did Ruins of Stardust (I died once in this process), turning it in and accepting Falling Sky Lake. I dinged 24 and spent my talent point on Aimed Shot. I am loving Aimed Shot. If I'd known about it, I'd have done it before. The happy-making discovery for the day is Aimed Shot.
Then I ran to Stonetalon and picked up Super Reaper 6000. I turned in On Guard in Stonetalon and accepted Gnome's Respite. That seemed like a good break point, so I logged off for the evening.
3. As I was playing, I heard that my Co-Vivant was watching My Fair Lady, and in my head, I started drafting a course on the political implications of language. I'd probably start with Orwell's "Politics and the English Language," then Ovid's Pygmalian, followed by Shaw's, followed by several weeks on My Fair Lady. (There's a lot going on politically, and frankly, I'm learning that students are neither good at reading subtext, nor do they always understand what they're reading literally. When I used to teach Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," I found that most of my students younger than 30 thought a "man's man" was gay. What sort of limited exposure to life must you have had never to have heard that expression used in any context where you could figure out that's exactly what it doesn't mean?) Rodriguez's Aria. Maybe "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." bell hooks has several essays that could be pertinent. There was a comedian we heard a few months ago who had an extended bit she did about "the phony bitch" (the part of her that could code-switch and sound like "white," although I'm not convinced that's necessarily the appropriate label). I don't know if I will, and it might not be interesting if I did, but I sometimes hear something and
Tonight we watched Outback House. (We missed the first episode, but if you only miss the first, it's easy enough to piece the plot together.) These are the sorts of reality shows we like: put regular modern people in different times and places and see how they fare. This one, sensibly enough, put modern people in an 1860 Australian sheep station. It's always interesting to me how class works out in such shows; in most of them, like this one, one family is assigned to have a higher rank than the other people. They almost always say something at the very beginning like, "We're nominally of higher class because of course somebody has to be, but of course, we're all really equals, and we're not going to exert any authority." And this, of course, never works, because frankly (and this sounds horrible, so please forgive me in advance), in some situation, equality is a luxury. If a group of people is in a life-or-death situation and certain things must happen, that requires some sort of enforcement, and that means somebody has to be more equal than everybody else. In the show we watched tonight, for instance, the group drank a bit and had a little party one night. The next morning, the people who were servants in this situation put on the 21st-century hats and slept in. Idiotic. The young man was supposed to milk the cow. Because he slept in, not only did the cow not get milked (that's just a mean thing to do to a cow, make it stand about with full udders), but everyone's breakfast porridge was made with milk from the night before--and in an 1860 sheep station, there was no refrigeration, so that milk had turned. One of the young ladies was supposed to get up early to ensure that the urn that always needed to be full to keep hot water didn't check it--so it didn't get checked, and if the cook hadn't happened to want a cup of tea for herself, the urn might have cracked with disastrous implications for everyone. Some situations require leadership, and "Oh, we're all equals, so let's not have anyone impose authority on anyone else" won't work everywhere.
We also watched Letterman; it was his Mother's Day Show, so he had his mom on. We like the Mom shows.
We also watched John Cleese episode of Monty Python's Personal Best.
4. I signed up for the ad thing here; it's prohibited to put such ads on porn, so I'm guessing there won't be any inappropriate ads. We shall see. I'm not allowed to click the links, and I'm afraid I'll forget. (I'm also concerned; what if my Co-Vivant clicks these links on the same computer I use? Will this be a problem? Will I be in trouble? What will the consequences be?)
5. Back to Warcraft. I completed Super Reaper 6000 and turned it in, accepting Further Instructions. I turned in Gnome's Respite and accepted Old Colleague and Scroll for Mauren. I worked on the Pridewings, and Woodsy dinged 24. I completed Journey to Stonetalon Peak and picked up Reclaiming the Charred Vale and worked on First Aid for a bit; then I picked up the flight path and flew to Astranaar. I turned in the Pridewing quest and took out Kayneth Stillwind.
Then I ran to Ratchet. I took the Deepmoss Spider Eggs quest and turned in Further Instructions, accepting the return trip. I took the boat to Booty Bay and picked up the Flight Path and then sailed back to Ratched. I had a Darkmoon Faire Fortune to go to Palemoon Rock; I got a level 25 green item and food ranging from level 15-45. Then I hearthed to Menethil, cleared my inventory, and flew to IF. Got my leatherwork to 135. Turned in Old Colleague and got Ineptitude+Chemistry=Fun. I went to the Auction House to sell the leatherworking stuff none of my characters could use and to look for potions the last quest needs; they weren't all there, so I had logged off, had my alchemist make them, mailed them to this character, and logged back in.
Took the Tram to SW. Got Speaking of Fortitude, which I finished immediately and got Brother Paxton. I finally bought a polearm; now I own one of all the weapons for which I am trained. Turned in Scroll for Mauren and accepted Devils in Westfall. Turned in Brother Paxton and got Ink Supplies. I zipped into Westfall and took care of the Dust Devil one really quickly. Then I flew to Redridge and turned in Ink Supplies, taking Rethban Ore. I accepted and then quickly turned in Unwelcome Guest (meant to do Bellygrub earlier and forgot), running up the hill to take care of the Rethban quest. By this point, my potions had arrived in the mail.
I returned to SW and turned in Devils in Westfall, accepting Special Delivery for Gaxim and Retrieval for Mauren; this brought me to Honored among the gnomes. (That should be a TV movie: Honored Among the Gnomes.) I turned in Rethban Ore and Return to Kristoff. At this point I dinged 25 and spent the talent point on Go for the Throat. I caught the Tram to IF, turned in the potions quest and accepting the next leg, and then took the tram back to SW, where I trained my fishing and accepted the two quests in the Dwarven Quarter in for Dark Mines (Collecting Memories and Oh Brother). Then I did the recordkeeping and parked this character by the mailbox.
5. I was obviously not very useful today. I made dinner, but that meant making her a peanut butter sandwich and me some frozen potstickers. I folded my towels and put them away. I think that was about it.
The occasional Lazy Saturday is good for the soul.
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