Awesome on ice…*

Always some new old magic…I had NO IDEA these whelpings existed!

Today’s word of the day from Visual Thesaurus is “theurgy.”

As If By Magic Word of the Day: theurgy

If you’re wearing your Greek etymology hat you might suspect a god lurking here, and you’re right: theurgy is magic performed with the help of one (or more). Bonus points today for two other more common English words ending in -urgy that denote a kind of skill or craft (in both cases, a slightly more mundane skill than magic).

Considering Harry Potter needed Ron and Hermione as much as he needed his wand, (if not more so), they practiced theurgy on many occasions: a fancy Greek word for ‘magical teamwork.’ We can’t do everything alone, and we can’t do everything together. We bounce around like atoms, paradoxically touching/not touching. Shifting from summer to autumn is one of my most hopeful times of the year. Please remind me of this in the deepest depths of northern darkness, around the winter solstice, when I suppress the urge to set the house on fire just to remind the sun to come back. I love this time of year–I leave Azeroth a bit more, remind myself of other forms of stories and ideas, and harvest new ideas. I had planned on doing a lot of writing this summer, but instead I did none. I don’t have a reason or explanation, no rationalization or justification. I just didn’t. I don’t want to label it, analyze it, or deal with it. I just didn’t. I appreciate that others continue to harness the power of the ‘Azerothian Writers‘ and keep us moving forward. Thanks also to Erinys for this post with careful circumnavigation of spoilers. I think the thing is — (and here I said I wasn’t going to analyze) –I often don’t write simply because I feel it’s all been said before by far more interesting people. And then…and then I will listen to a This American Life episode, hear a story about a “normal” person, and be completely in awe.

I HUGELY annoyed CD Rogue last night when after raiding, and by and large ignoring him, I asked him that he should ask me about my day once in awhile. Why do I start these conversations at 10:30 at night? /swears We can’t fit it all in, I suppose. He just doesn’t want to hear my stories, presented on my metaphorical stage when I interrupt his important routine. I get it. PlaidElf and I were chatting, and talking about paladin tanking – she said “So much of our awesome has cool downs.” * Ain’t that the truth, sister? We all need cool down time.

So join me, fellow Azerothians – listen to something different, read something new, think about something other than Azeroth for a little while.

Here are some I highly recommend:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/492/dr-gilmer-and-mr-hyde

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/532/magic-words

RTMT: Monsters We Created

Sprites my fanny.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled Random Tuesday Morning Thought to bring you little monsters. Specifically, little troll hacking monsters.

Helke alerted me to this news story. Usually when I’m in Azeroth, I’m IN Azeroth – in spite of the chaos, mice, unpaid bills, and Cruel Taskmaster’s BACK TO WORK’s–I’ll get whispers late at night, when I’m snuggled in bed, playing Hearthstone, and it’s hard for me to respond. I wish I had an “Open Sign” that went dark between the hours of 9PM and 7AM.

Oh, and Mr. Snerguls: remember, data are plural: One thing to keep in mind; your data in Blizzard’s servers was were never in any jeopardy.

And claiming national security is not an overreaction, but I do believe it’s misunderstood. It is not that people couldn’t play games, and our responses to national security are –let me just say complex at best. Frisking eight-year-olds does not security create. However, when young civilians have the brains and psychopathic tendencies combined with a steady stream of disassociated reality, we create a potential for even more than disruptive shenanigans.

On a tangential note, Mr. and Mrs. WoW ask about our feelings about Big Blizzard itself. This incident, and many others, remind me that Blizzard is a business, first and foremost; they are allowed and encouraged to employ, pay taxes, and return on investment to the infrastructure and customers that in return, help them make the profits they do. So when I, as paying customer, have an issue, they have been great in resolving it, and for the most part, have turned from arrogance to being more responsive.

As they should.

PS: Dude, those hands.

For the LOVE OF ELUNE THOSE F*CKING HANDS.

Three.

Mr. and Mrs. WoW provided the most epic, elite, toughest challenge for us all: come up with the three best things without one iota of moaning, complaining or bitching. Though admittedly I like a little spicy sausage along with my syrupy waffles, and never do anything all sugar sans spice, ever, I’ll try. It might hurt. It may sting. But like a bandage, best to just rip it off and deal with it. Man up, Matty!

1. Other WoW Bloggers.

Friendships know no boundaries or political allegiances…

This is my true community – without friends like Tome and Navimie, Erinys, Dahahka, Plaid, and many more: all encouraging and inspiring me, not sure where I’d be. Well, I do know. Very sad.

Me. Without. You.

2. Information.

I vote “Best Pun In Azeroth.” Charles Dickens would approve.

Anything I want to find out about Azeroth is only a Google search away: think of the legions of passionate theory crafters, moggers, bloggers, vloggers, and occasionally joggers who fill our bandwidths with whatever we want to know. And yet, its paradox haunts me: all these players sharing what they love, and yet still feel shame when telling a friend or family member, and feeling like a complete nerd, and not the good kind either. I was in a dungeon the other day and a young player confessed he doesn’t even tell his dad he plays, he has a ‘rep’ to maintain, and was from New Zealand and plays rugby, hates basketball, and is now living in Colorado. I learned all this in fifteen minutes while killing ghouls, zombies, and banshees. Not a bad way to spend time.

In any case, Azeroth is kind of like living in Washington State. We want people to know how beautiful it is, but we don’t want them to visit.

3. Bonds.

Little ones, big ones. Little ones that lead me on butterfly chases and I discover the most fascinating things, such as one friend’s addiction to scented soaps, even when I tried to steer her toward Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs. The other day I treated myself to three scents, all based on their descriptions:

 

 

 

 

And I wonder why I am always broke. But what woman doesn’t need a dabble of dragon’s blood? 

The Big Bonds: friendships that have lasted years, knowing that my surface-level conversations maybe carried out in someone’s head later, just as I think about them. It fascinates me, this digital narrative.

Did I pass the test? Pass the pepper, please.