The Girl with Purple Hair
Here I am, again, at the end of another month without posting. *sigh*… I absolutely hate excuses, and I’m not going to even try to excuse my slacking with this blog. Things are still rough around here and I just don’t have a lot of motivation to write uplifting things. I don’t want to write a post with nothing worthwhile to say, either. Simply put, my significant other and I are not making much progress in coming together again. These last few months we’ve gone a ways in understanding our situation better, but that’s about it.
Both Emmy and I are very religious, and we’re making some special efforts this weekend to see if we can’t make some more progress to work things out. In my efforts to explain my understanding of our situation to her, I had an idea to write a story for her yesterday. It’s in the same vein as a story I posted previously. I think it’s worth sharing, so I’ve included it in its entirety below. Maybe one day I’ll sit down and turn it into a children’s book with some nice art. Read it, enjoy it, let me know what you think. I like it and think it accurately describes what I’ve been feeling, however, I’m crossing my fingers that things turn out a little happier for me!
Before I get into that, however, I have some happy WoW-related news! Yup, I’ve had some very special friends return to WoW! I’ve sure missed them a lot in the last six months! We’re already having a blast and are trying something new this time – twinking! We’re rolling new toons with as much BoA gear as we can get and then stopping their xp gain at level 24. Our hopes are that we can do battlegrounds and dominate all the free-to-play accounts that are stuck at level 20. Although we’re not quite to 24 yet, so far we’ve done pretty well, even with our mediocre and partially enchanted gear.
My twink is Tricxy, a goblin subtlety rogue. I’ll update my characters sheet with her once I get her at twink level… and get an awesome portrait! She loves small sea creatures, Martin Solveig & Dragonette’s song “Hello“, and specializes in killing flag carriers. :D
So ready for my newest literary masterpiece? Grab a snack, get comfy in your chair and enjoy!
Coming up for air…
Whew! I almost let August slip by without a single post. You know, when I started this blog I didn’t expect that I would post too frequently, but I did plan on being a little more reliable than this! Honestly, life has been hard, and that’s why. As I’ve chronicled a little in these two posts, the last two months have been some of the emotionally hardest of my life. This month, in particular, has been a grueling journey through the vast, dark, and uncharted wilds of my relationship with my love.
The good news is that I think we’re finally out of the rough. The bad news? We’ve not arrived yet – rations are in short supply and wounds are still healing. We’re both very weary from the length of the journey, and are wishing to be back home, safe and secure. We’re trekking onward, though. We’re rebuilding and making progress. It’s slow, but it’s progress nonetheless, and hopefully we’ll not have to come this way again.
Tonight I wanted to share a special piece of music that is very dear to my soul. It’s one of my favorite moments in opera – the final scene of Claudio Monteverdi’s (bap. 1567 – 1643) L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea). While there is some doubt to the details of the composition and premiere of the work (as is often the case), it is generally considered by scholars to be Monteverdi’s fourth and final opera, finished in 1642 and premiered the following year. Giovanni Francesco Busenello (1598-1659) wrote the libretto.
On Archaeology, or, Surveying the Survey
What was the first thing you did upon logging into World of Warcraft – Cataclysm? I expect the answers are varied. In fact, if I wasn’t afraid of having my already-tender heart broken, I’d set up a poll asking this very question. (I’m just not sure that I can handle the harsh reality of a poll with zero votes right now…)
Well, me, I had it all planned out for my first night of Cataclysm. Admiring the new (and very much changed) Orgrimmar, I made my way directly to Grommash Hold in the center of the Valley of Strength. Grommash Hold? Garrosh’s headquarters? Yes, indeed, but not to get that vomit-colored brute’s autograph. No, I had a date with a much more debonaire acquaintance – the dapper Belloc Brightblade.
Who, you ask? The archaeology trainer. I was so excited for this profession! Having already read about the basics of the profession, I immediately opened up the map to find the nearest dig site in nearby Ashenvale. I ran up to purchase old world flying and was off. I didn’t do anything else until I gathered enough fragments and assembled my first artifact – the splendid Necklace with Elune Pendant.
And, well, then, I stopped surveying. Not completely – but it certainly wasn’t a priority. As much as I was excited for it, I just couldn’t justify spending my limited in-game time leveling this profession. Fast-forward 7 months later and I’m sitting at 500 archaeology skill, 6 completed rares, 2 more in the works, and a love/hate relationship with this profession. To put it succinctly: I think it is brilliant in conception but somewhat flawed in implementation.
My love hath returned!
“Just once — that’s all I ask for, just once — let the lass ride with me…”
-Molok
She’s back!
It’s been a very rough few weeks, but my love has returned, and we are making progress in rebuilding our relationship. I did not realize how broken it was! I’m grateful that we have a second chance to make things work, though. We still have some significant issues to work out, but I have hope that we can work through them!
Unfortunately, because of the real-life issues that have come up, my WoW time has been reduced significantly and I’m now about a week behind in my Molten Front dailies. Not that this is a huge deal, but I’m looking forward to some more game time! I even dreamed about my guild the other night – I logged on after a long hiatus and they were excited to see me. It’s nice to be wanted. :)
To both celebrate the return of my love and explain to her my experiences during her absence I wrote an allegorical story. I’m proud of it, so I’ve included it in its entirety below. Enjoy!
Patch 4.2 Firelands Daily Quests Structure
Edit (7/13): As of a July 6 hotfix, it now only takes 1 day to open up the Molten Front, down from 3. The image has been reworked to better show the structure and now also contains the correct info!
I’ve noticed a lot of confusion on my server as to how the new dailies are organized. Players will progress through stages, each opening up access to additional dailies and rewards based on acquiring and spending Marks of the World Tree. This currency is earned through the new dailies, and will mostly be used to access the different stages. While there are many good guides out there already, I wanted to provide a visual map that shows the flow and structure of the different stages. For more detailed information, I recommend Wowhead’s guide and this very thorough one at Icy Veins.
I’ll put in more information (like how long it takes to build up 125 Marks for the final three stages) once I get there and know for myself. If you happen to know, or spot any other inaccuracies, give me a heads-up and I’ll update the chart.
I’ve had a lot of fun doing the new Patch 4.2 content already, and I haven’t even stepped foot in the Firelands raid yet!
On Sadness
:*(
I’ve had some unhappiness in my life this week. I found out that my love has been having some desires for someone else. It’s not as serious as it could be – she’s not left me – but the fact that her heart yearns for another’s breaks mine.
We’re in a difficult place right now and I’m not sure how to proceed. I still love her but I’m feeling many conflicting emotions, including hurt, anger, and desire.
(note: the information contained in this post is current as of patch 4.2)
Two circumstances have expedited this post. See if you can figure them out from the screenshot above!
Did you get it? Yup!
- My bags are full of gear
- I have 3710 Valor Points, 3540 Justice Points, and patch 4.2 is only weeks away
I’ve had very few forays into the new Cataclysm raids since reaching the level cap. Early on I tried to build a raid set where I was hit-capped against raid bosses but was unsuccessful – I couldn’t come close with the amount of hit that was on the gear I had, and wasn’t raiding consistently enough to justify spending all the time and gold to try to get there. Furthermore, I wasn’t exactly convinced that capping hit would result in a dps increase.1 Well, there are more gear options now and there is no real reason for that wonderful Pyroblast! proc to miss Magmaw anymore!
