Not Dead Yet -- An Indirect Apology

No, I didn't hide from you. Not at all.

Hey, my faithful and probably very disappointed readers. I know I haven’t been the most frequent blogger over the past few weeks (if I ever was).

That has several reasons, which I’m not going to bother you with. Let’s just say I’m lazy, work piles up because of it and, to make matters worse, I was away for some time.

Ultimately, this post is something like me handing you a forget-me-not with puppy eyes and asking you to give me a little time to get everything sorted out before I go on posting in a regular and topical fashion (at least I hope I’ll do that eventually).

Oh, and it is a short recap of “things that were, things that are, and some things that may yet come to pass.”

Gawk?

The Blog

I’m pretty happy with how the first posts of the blog turned out. I like to think they were informative and educative for some, while still being fun to read. I know they were fun to write, at least.

However, there are still a lot of things that need to be adressed, such as the addition of a blogroll, the customisation of the blog’s layout, getting the blog noticed by some of the big sites like MMO Melting Pot, starting to translate everything, at least into German (which means creating a co-existent blog with the German stuff on it, which I hesitate to do before I get the layout done), and fulfilling the high expectations of all the people expecting me to write about the basics of WoW (now that Hydra has told everyone to check out the blog regularly on TNB, well, THANKS for THAT ONE *smirks*), all the while having fun doing it.

Shiny and purple. Epixx?

Podcasting

As I had stated previously, I was a guest on the excellent Double O Podcast (hosted by Oestrus and Ophelie) alongside Lodur, Jasyla and Lynesta. I had a blast doing the recording, and I hope I don’t sound too stupid (or intimidated, for that matter). All of the guys were really great, and the two Os did a stellar job of giving everyone a chance to say something (which is demonstrated by the fact that even I say some things). If you are at all interested in healing (or would like to hear me rudely yell “pet healing” in the introduction — shame on me), give it a listen.

Don't tell me you don't remember the good old days of ICC gunship.

“Artsy” Stuff

I like drawing things. I’m not particularly good at it (I might still be a bit more advanced than Aldous, but he’s catching up pretty quickly, and if his sight wasn’t obstructed by the booze all the time, he’d probably be better at it than me; and I’m definitely no match for Vidyala or Liala), but I like to doodle whenever I feel like it (which has become a rarity, I fear). Hey, the picture above did win me a flying pony that poops stars (under my warlock’s name Bartol), at least.

I had never done any commissioned work for anyone other than myself (I don’t see the picture for Qieth as a commissioned work). But a while back, Lonomonkey of Screaming Monkeys asked for an artist to draw a short comic for him. I replied hesitantly, that I could do it if he didn’t find anyone else (as I tend to do quite often — this darn insecurity). World of Tanks is not really in my wheelhouse (is that how you’d say that?), but I gave it my best shot. And finally, after way too much time spent not working on it, the comic is done and ready for you to enjoy (or not enjoy, whatever you fancy).

////Edit: Having successfully fiddled around with everything involved, my reading of Bravetank’s Case of the Bloody Five is finally out there. All praise goes to Bravetank for the awesome script. I’m just reading off of it.\\\\

Training with the small Ragnaros

Playing TEH GAEM

I’ve not played much over the last few weeks. Partially because I was away, but (ever since I’m back) also because I didn’t feel like getting any guild drama handed to me the second I log on (it seems like every time I don’t log on for a week, something stupid happens in the guild — when the cat’s away, the mice DO do play, I guess).

Firelands seem to be the same as when I left. My warrior’s raid seems to still only have Shannox heroic down (but that one consistently, I gather), and the priest will probably struggle with Rag (nonheroic) this week. Again. Nothing new here.

My little shaman (my first char on an English speaking realm) has reached 35 and feels all-powerful, both as DPS and healer (who needs mana? Go on, tank, chain-pull the whole instance!), but still has to meet someone from The Raggy Dolls to get an invite (maybe I shoul log onto the shaman at other times than in the middle of the night?) and harass Shelly into keeping on tanking. Umm, did I just say that?

On an almost unrelated note, thanks to Rades my warrior can now extinguish the fires in Firelands (see picture above).