Ten random things about me...

Here is thing number 24 in the list of twenty-three things. Bonus time. Similar to, but not to be confused with the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy.
And now, 10 random things about me:

1. I check out way too much stuff from the library.

2. I'm interested in theories on the apocalypse and end of days.

3. I play World of Warcraft on a regular basis. My main character is called "Mula" on the Silver Hand realm. She's a level 70 Tauren warrior specialized in defense. I've got several other characters, but they're nowhere near to 70, yet.

4. I like making cupcakes. For Halloween I made spiders with black licorice legs. My favorite cupcake book is Hello Cupcake.


5. I like to challenge myself. My latest craze is running long distances. I ran the Turkey Trot in 2006, Race for a Cure 2008 (spring), and the Columbus Marathon 5K wellness challenge. My favorite was the Race for a Cure because along the course there were bands playing for the racers. However, I felt I ran my best in the 5K.


6. I love doing the Sudoko Picture puzzles. (a good website is: http://www.conceptispuzzles.com/) It makes art out of a logic puzzle. This website also has color picture puzzles as well as b&w.

7. I collect WAY too much stuff. Porcelein dolls, cross-stitch patterns, recipes, Doctor Who books (no, not too much of that!), crochet patterns, pictures, Star Wars things, Role-playing books (my husband is partially to blame), music, vacation stuff, trinkets, models, minis, books, magazines, and other stuff.

8. I believe there is a god or God. But I feel that there is a correct-ness in pretty much every religion. I don't antagonize people about the way they worship. I'm a firm believer in minding my own business in that respect.

9. One of my pet peeves is having to clean up after other people. Especially when they leave something for someone else to do and then go off and laze about.

10. Did I mention I'm a big Doctor Who fan? I still like Tom Baker (4th) the best, but Christopher Eccleston (9th) and David Tennant (10th) are really great, too. John Pertwee (3rd) is starting to grow on me and Paul McGann (8th) was sadly short lived (at least as far as t.v. episodes go). My favorite enemy of the Doctor is The Master and my favorite spin-off of Doctor Who is Torchwood. Favorite companions: Rose, Ace, Sarah Jane, K-9, and Adric (yes, I cried when he died).

It's the end of the 23 things as we know it...

That's right it started with a blog, pics of birds and snakes and aeroplanes
Lenny Bruce didn't learn and play...
Oh.

um...
Not REM...
So, Learn and Play is pretty much done learning. Now it's time to play with what we know. But first: THING #23...which is basically a recap of things 1-22. Ok. Interview style:
Learn&Play: What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
Monkeygamer42: I really enjoyed learning about Flickr, YouTube, and Mash-ups. I had some trouble at first with Flickr, but once you get to know it, it's easier to use. I also liked LibraryThing at first, but then I found out that you only get to put in 200 books for free; after that there's an annual fee. :( That wasn't even one bookcase. Waaaa!
L&P: How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
M42: I had lifelong learning goals? ...I never had actually made it a goal to get acquainted with Web 2.0, but now, I'm really glad that this program took place. There was a lot of stuff that I wasn't familiar with: Blogspot, Twitter, LibraryThing, del.ici.ous, Mash-ups, and a few others. Now, when someone asks me what a RSS feed is, I can tell them that it's a way to find out what's new on websites that have the feature instead of saying "uhhh...I think a librarian can help you out with that one. :P"
L&P: Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
M42: Well, I did finally manage to make a Facebook account and a MySpace account. I don't think I would have done it if I hadn't been doing learn & play. Prior to L&P, I was very untrusting of the internet in a way that I thought that most websites wanted to get some money out of ya. Heck, even some dictionary websites want to charge you to look up a word. HOW WRONG IS THAT!!! But I now realize that 2.0 is all about free-sharing. It just seems wrong that a website is willing to keep my information on it for free. (Or does it work some other way? I don't know.)
L&P: What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
M42: I like things mapped out for me. Step-by-step processes. What I found to be really helpful were the Common Craft videos. Sometimes even those didn't explain things as much as I'd like. I did like the videos that you could click on though. What if you made a video on how to do the process...like with a person sitting at a computer going through the process and asking common questions about the process...but still keep the video short.
L&P: If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?
M42: Hmmmm...will I get a chance to win a laptop? Probably yes either way.

Moldi books

Not to be confused with books that get wet and are left to mildew over. (If the cover feels squishy it's most likely going to get moldy.)
The great thing about Moldi books... https://secure.libraryreserve.com/clc.lib.overdrive.com/5FAC8958-551C-4AA0-81ED-5B0410607748/10/211/en/SignIn.htm?URL=MyAccount.htm (the website for anyone not knowing what I'm writing about) ...is that Moldi books don't get moldy. :D
If you're looking for some classics that this is a good place to look. If you like a lot of variety...well then, maybe not so much. I tried looking up a book that I was reading right now (or actually the author of the book) and got nothing. I like how you can choose a sub-catagory and browse the items that way, but the selection is still a bit limiting. And as far as reading a book on the computer...I'd rather save the money on my electric bill and just check them out from my library.

podcasts

At first I was a bit leery about podcasts. The websites I looked at didn't seem to have a lot to browse through that I was interested in. And I don't really use Ipods since I have audio books from the library. But, being the Doctor Who fan that I am, I did find a couple of podcast videos that I might be interested in: A Doctor Who video podcast (http://podcastpickle.com/cast/1113) and a John Cleese video podcast (http://podcastpickle.com/cast/10148) I think CML should do a storytime podcast. How cool would that be!

Not Me tube - You tube.

Ok. So, it feels really wrong to be browsing through youtube videos while I'm working. I've never really explored youtube that much before. So, I decided to search for the most watched, most talked about, and top rated. I found the top rated video to be quite amusing:



Here are a couple of "library related" vids I found:





Fortunately I got some help posting these, but now it takes forever to load, type, etc.

It could be useful for libraries to use this sort of feature on their websites to make information more accessible to people who would prefer watching a video over reading a blog.

I don't know if youtube is for me, though. I tend to spend my time reading books, watching movies from the library, playing World of Warcraft, crafting, cooking, running, and/or hanging out with my husband, etc. I thought I'd be using Twitter more often, but it's not convenient to get to Twitter.com for me, and I don't want to run up the cell phone bill. I guess I'm kind of old fashioned like that. :D

All caught up!

So now that I'm all caught up with the learn & play stuff (at least this week), I can now blog about . . . uh . . . well um. JK. So, yesterday my husband and I were shopping for halloween costumes (he's gonna be Zorro! - well a rather short Zorro.) I ran into one of my high school classmates. I went to high school in a small town about an hour and a half from where I live and over 10 years ago. Talk about bizarre! We were talking about the 10 year reunion that I had missed. (That's because I forgot about it.) And some of our old school buddies. So, I thought I'd do a little bit of extra credit with this web2.0 stuff and create a Facebook account. Probably will create a MySpace account, too. Funny, then I ran into my sister-in-law and we got to chatting. Turns out I had forgotten that she had invited me too her friends list in Facebook. I also notice that some of my friends from High School had facebook accounts. Very cool. You know, some people keep in touch with their buddies and some people get caught up in the river of life that takes them on a different path from their friends. Maybe, I should have kept in touch. I don't know. I can't believe it's been over 10 years, though. Puts things into perspective. . . .

Diggin' through CML's toolbox.

So, this week we're supposed to rummage around someone else's toolbox and see what we find. Reminds me of that Ghost Hunter's episode that aired on 10/8/08. The two ladies on that show are always snooping around. If I were a ghost and saw people snooping around in my stuff, I'd not give them the satisfaction of showing myself to them! Ok, we're supposed to be looking for ghosts, let's have a conversation about something else and snoop around. Ok, but I digress. Toolbox...digging...CML...snooping - no not snooping. LOL. So, CML's website has a power tool section. No, not drills and nail guns. http://www.columbuslibrary.org/ebranch/index.cfm?pageid=209 <- That's the link. :D

I'm pretty familiar with some of the links on there: twitter, gmail, librarything...etc. Some, didn't have much appeal to me: Firefox, Technorati, TechCrunch not to be confused with Captain Crunch. I looked at boing boing. That was kinda weird. It didn't really interest me much except for the bit about Jay Walker's (founder of Priceline) library. You gotta read this: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/08/nerd-library-to-end.html Talk about extravagant. Ok- maybe BoingBoing is a bit cooler than I give it credit for. So, here's the link: http://boingboing.net/. Another link that interested me was the one called MAKE...and the link to that one: http://makezine.com/. Halloween's coming up and I don't have a costume. Maybe this is the answer? Maybe si...maybe no. I was disappointed by http://www.stumbleupon.com/. Seemed like it kept giving me the same websites. Who knows, maybe there's more to it.

Here's a pic of that guy's library:

And the winner is...

So this week I explored http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0 or in other words: the best (according to a select few) of the best of web2.0. I really wanted to try out http://www.hairmixer.com/ since I think it'd be neat to see what a hairstyle looks like before you actually get it done, but since I didn't have a photo of me, I decided to put that one on the back burner and check out some of the other sites. Oh, they all look so good! Which one do I pick? Which one do I pick? Hmmm... do I want to brush up on my Spanish? (http://spanishpod.com/) Or maybe I want a drink? (http://www.cocktailbuilder.com/) Maybe I should research my past and create a family tree? (http://www.myheritage.com/) -uh sounds like a lot of work. Ah, here's something I'll definitely be looking into...yes, I think this one takes the cake: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer. That way I can keep track of my favorite tv show. Well...maybe, maybe not. (hint: see reference in previous blog.) :D LOL. Yeah, I've got 'em all on my del.ici.ous account. (http://delicious.com/monkeygamer)

Googley - eyed docs

So, here's my google test document! (You can tell it's a google doc from all the different colors and typefaces!) Seems like it's about the same as blogger, except that it's probably easier to edit. And you can create essays for school or resumes for work. Fun! Maybe it has a few more fonts to choose from. Or if you need to work on a document at work and at home as long as you have an internet connection. That seems pretty cool. Brrrr! Actually, this is kinda like the poor man's (or woman's) Word. How cool is that! Sub-zero, dudes (and dude-ettes)! Now you don't have to pay 200+ buckaroos for the software. So, what's the catch? I haven't got a clue. Oh, and since this is connected to the internet, I bet it's easier to add links. http://www.monkeygamer42.blogspot.com/ Very cool. Wow, looks like you can create web-pages with this, too! Nifty. Gotta wonder how all these web 2.0 sites can remember all this stuff that's shared on them. Well, it's cool that it's not taking up my computer.

Learnin & playin & playin @ Learn & play @ CML

So, this is a fun exercise. Of couse, I like promoting my favorite t.v. show - Doctor Who. Ah, but I get ahead of myself. Linking my blog on the favorites page ( http://learnandplaycml.pbwiki.com/Favorite-Blogs ) was pretty easy. . . and typing about my fav. t.v. show was also pretty easy, too. It's cool to see what your co-workers are watching. I had a bit of trouble trying to link one of my favorite books on the web-site. Apparently, It's still not linked either. I kept saving it then re-editing it trying to get the link to work to no avail. Sorry, y'all, but you're gonna have to hand type it in to the catalog. Waaaa! .Overall, though, on the Learn & play @ CML stuff, I don't know how much I'll use it. Honestly, with all this stuff to keep track of, it's a wonder I can still remember my password to blog anymore. Here's a very cool Doctor Who montage found on flickr:

Wikikikikis

Wikis. Wikis awe what bwing us togethew...today. (Princess Bride reference there.) Anyway, I checked out a few wiki sites. Let's start wiki the booklovers wiki: http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/Princeton%20Public%20Library I thought it was wiki limited, (maybe it's new - I didn't check) but I can see wiki there is potential. Certainly, I wouldn't want to base wiki or not I read a book on some of the opinions presented in the site. It seems to work wiki enough though.
I also checked out the Bull Run wiki: http://bullrunlibrary.pbwiki.com/ I liked what they presented, showing the calender and some of the sidebar links. Seems like the staff are the ones wiki-ing on it. It's not necessarily as wiki-friendly to the public to edit as the booklover wiki.
I'm not sure how much I like wiki's. Seems like trying to push your way into a clique in high school. You might not be welcome.

"We seek them here.

We seek them there.

We seek those wikis everywhere.

Are they in heaven?

Are they in heck?

Those darned elusive wikis!"

Love the Pimpernel!

Library 2.0

I just got done reading several articles on web 2.0. ...actually quite a few. The two that stood out most for me were: http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/6.htm "To a temporary place in time..." and http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/2.htm "Away from the 'icebergs.'" In the 'icebergs' article, I was able to relate to the concept of de-cluttering the library. I am currently struggling with pack-rat-itis myself at home and have been reading books on how to de-clutter my house. Well, it makes sense for the library to de-clutter as well. Come on people, do we really need a 1998 guide book on Disneyworld? (By the way, I know for a fact that the Pirates of the Carribean ride information would be completely out-dated.) "But we need that just in case all the other Disneyworld books are checked out." NO WE DON'T! :D Okay, so that's the extreme version. LOL.

I liked the other article "to a temporary..." because it mapped out where we were (Library 1.0) and where we're headed (Library 2.0, 3.0, & 4.0). I'd say right now, we're a 1.5. We've got the collection and slowly getting to 2.0.

There were other articles but they got too (for lack of a better word) 'technical' for me. Where's the Library 2.0 for dummies book at?

D.e.l.i.c.i.o.u...s

I wasn't sure where to put the dots. So, I'm not one of those people who like to browse the internet that much. Perhaps it's the overwhelming factor of hundreds of thousands of websites out there. Perhaps it's the search factor and getting 10,000+ websites for a search you did that you thought was pretty limiting. Perhaps I just don't like spending my time like that. So, why do I like delicious.com? Because half the time, I can't remember the complete web address for the site I'm looking for. Heck, I'd be lucky to remember what I did yesterday. Delicious: easy. http://delicious.com/monkeygamer So, that was a link to my bookmarks. Not a whole lot, yet. http://delicious.com/ for those of you who'd like to get you own list started. Now, if only there were a website for all my password and usernames. :S

LibraryThing

This is a site that allows me to catalog my books. If you're not a librarian, this is a good site to pretend that you are one...without the degree. I've got four 5-shelf bookshelves at home. So far, on LibraryThing, I've cataloged a little over a hundred books. That was only about two shelves. Of couse, then again, I haven't got enough shelf space for my books and need to stack and double-up books on some of my shelves. If you're itching to find out what I've got well, here's a link: http://www.librarything.com/home/monkeygamer42

tweet, tweet, tweet

What am I doing now? I'm typing this blog. I just got done creating my first twitter account. And yes, if you really want to know what I'm doing some of the time you can certainly check it out at http://twitter.com/2monkeygamers . I have to say. My Web 2.0 confidence levels are increasing. I didn't have any major hic-ups on the past two activite on the L&P website. So, cross my fingers & hope to goodness that I'm this lucky with the rest of the needed tasks on http://columbusmetropolitanlibrary.wordpress.com/ . I'm also suffering from vacation relapse (ie. vacation was good but now upon returning home got to catch up on learn&play stuff, bills :( , regular life, work, and responsibilites.) But anyway, I think I could get into twitter, ...that is, if I can find someone to twitter with. =s What am I doing now? I'm counting down the minutes until I get to go home (72), and hoping more people come in to make the time go faster. :D

I knew that I'd have fun doing this exercise!
http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=aa87633&skin=original from http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/ The mrpicassohead is a nice way to feel like you're a natural picasso!


This is from a mosaic creator. Here's the link: http://flagrantdisregard.com/flickr/

And these three are from http://www.letterjames.com/ Thought I'd go with the CML phraseology on these!

All were very cool and very fun for me, being the artist that I am (not that you need to be an artist to play around on these programs.) ;D

Rssssss's (part 2)

So, I've got my blogline page set up with all sorts of nifty feeds and then on cml's L&P (learn&play) site I notice that part nine is to add feeds to my blogline. I had done this already using blogline's nifty search feature. Then I clicked on the three links from the L&P site and instantly became baffled. So, I let it muster for a while. (So long, in fact, that I haven't looked at them since.) :P I've managed to gather 24 feeds, some using bloglines, and some from my own searching. So, now that I'm well fed (LOL - oh so corny!) I think it's time to move on.

RSSssssss

10 feeds for me.

1. Allrecipes daily recipes for main dish
2. books - guardian.co.uk
3. chocolate & zucchini
4. ew.com: movie reviews and box office news
5. kotaku
6. rotten tomatoes: movies
7. simply recipes
8. unshelved
9. joystiq
10. and of course... Learn & play @CML

now all I have to do is find time to read these and the 12 other feeds I signed up for. waaaaaaaaa!

Technomology . . . techology . . . uh yeah that thing-a-ma-ging

The thing that I've been enjoying most about technology, and sadly I'm not going to lie about it, are...are...ARE...MMOs, in particular, World of Warcraft. (Probably should add a link for that, too: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml What's a MMO? you might ask. Here's a link for ya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game What's so great about MMOs? you might ask. Well, I'll tell you. The following is my top ten (in no particular order) reasons why:

9. Someone else has already done the hard work (programming stuff, etc.)
6. It's a good way to meet people.
3. It's also a good way to see how different people behave (if you're into that Sociology stuff).
10. You can upgrade your account with (free) add-ons to make the tough stuff easier.
8. Great way to relax! I think it's a great stress reducer so that means it's good for your health (when not used in excess.)
4. All that chatting with other people can help increase your typing skills (my spouse is living proof of that!)
2. Crime preventer. (Hey, if your kid is playing the game, they're not out there getting into trouble. They might be getting into trouble in the game, but they're not out there causing problems.)
7. You get to learn a little bit of Chat. LOL, NP, GJ, GG, ROFL, :P, :D (I need a dictionary for some of the others, or you can just ask the person that used it what they are talking about.)
1. Good way to have fun!
5. Might even inspire young people to try it on as a career!

How exciting! I managed to get this to work out! This is a picture I took at the beach on Culebra, off the coast of Puerto Rico. Yes, I did get sunburned!

All Mashed Up.

So I have attempted to explore and "play around" with mappr, montagr, flickr color pickr (totally didn't get that one), and I'm not sure if it counts, Trip Planner: http://travel.yahoo.com/trip . The closest I got to a successful experience was Trip Planner, but I ran out of time before I could really tell. I tried to use Montagr with one of my photos, but that didn't work. It just came out as dark bunch of photos that shared no resemblance to the picture I chose, and the picture I chose didn't even show up. I couldn't even begin to figure out how to use mappr. The flickr color pickr seemed like something you gave your kids to mess around with; I didn't get the point of it. I was planning on putting up a cute photo mosaic of the photo I took of the Lego Main Library (using Montagr) here...but as you can see I didn't manage to figure it out. Maybe I'll get it figured out later. Who knows.
I think I'm gonna need the K.I.S.S. version of these mashups to make any sense of 'em. I'm a step-by-step kinda gal, and all I got is a starting line and a finish line. No one told be about the 6' high hurdles.

Seems like it would be difficult to find what you're looking for in this place. This is my first picture download, too. I feel like this is an analogy for my experience so far with web 2.0. Lot's of information, but not sure where to look for it.

Learning 2.0 ... and trying to stay sane.

So, trying to learn how to set up blogs and create Flickr accounts hasn't been too difficult for me. The real hitch for me was linking the blog incorrectly to my work's website (IE I brought a tennis ball to a basketball game) and trying to download pictures for Flickr. Flickr is the goal and I'm at the start of the track. The gun went off and...I'm running in the wrong direction. Next thing I know I'm off the track trying to get directions. I had my running shoes on but they're untied. etc. So, a half an hour of fiddling with my shoes and trying to check out other equipment, I managed to get back on track and and make it to the part of the track where it curves. IE, I've got some of the pictures downloaded and I know what to do, but I see that bend and it scares the willies out of me. My boss says it should take about 15 minutes a day. Sure, if you know what you're doing. Running a mile should only take 15 minutes (and that's being generous), but I'm out of shape and find myself having to walk most of it (that's a metaphor by the way, I can run the mile in under 15 mins.) And this stuff is the easy stuff, too. Ah well, I guess I'll do what I usually do and muck on through it.

ten favorite tv shows

...In no particular order except #1.

5. MacGuyver - duct tape and bubble gum - oh, the possibilities!
7. Stargate - SG1 & Atlantis
9. Monty Python's Flying Circus - it's...
1. Doctor Who - including the corny older episodes, but not the episode where the Daleks became human/Dalek creatures, that was just pathetic.
10. Scare Tactics - fear IS funny!
2. American Idol - nothing like listening to a tone deaf American try to weasel their way into the show!
6. Torchwood - except for the Cyberwoman episode. :P
3. Perfect Strangers - so 80's, so good!
4. Ace of Cakes, Iron Chef America, Bobby Flay's throwdown, etc. - Food Network.
8. Black Adder, House, Dresden Files, New Amsterdam, Heroes, Robin Hood (BBC version) oops, that's more than one - what the hay, who cares! Combined they count as a favorite. Or maybe I just don't want to leave them out. :D

10 books I like.

I'm not going to say my ten favorite books, because I have a terrible memory and I would be doing myself an injustice by saying that. So, in no particular order:

6. Harry Potter (series), J.K. Rowling (re-readability factor: very high.)
3. Song of Ice & Fire (series), George R.R. Martin. (you almost have to re-read his stuff just to get it all down. anxiously waiting for Dance of Dragons to come out.)
8. Discworld (series), Terry Pratchett (definitely good for another go.)
1. Anything by R.A. Salvatore (who doesn't like Drizzt?)
7. The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas (classic!!)
10. East of Eden, John Steinbeck (huge book, quick read!)
9. Where the Red Fern Grows, (I loved this book when I was growing up!)
4. Daredevil, (graphic novels) (got to get some variety here, lots of drama, love 'em!)
2. Duma Key, The Stand, & The Drawing of Three, Stephen King (and many others)
5. Sword of Truth (series)Terry Goodkind (lots of drama! ... and finally a fantasy series with an ending!)

So, there you have it!

7 & 1/2 for 23 things

(as with the past blog- i've rated each one. 1-easy to 10-difficult)

1. goal. get through 23 thing - learn & play - and have a better understanding of web 2.0. (3)
2. accept responsibility. go out and do it. keep updating it. don't abandon it. (6 - keeping up with it could be difficult)
3. view problems as challenges. get help from other l&p participants. take a step back and think about the problem. don't let it stress you out. (5 - i like challenges, but i don't like problems, and i tend to let it stress me out.)
4. confidence. this can be gained with experience. the more you do it, the more confidence you will have. continue to experiment with the technology you're learning. (3 - i don't think this will be too much of a problem for me.)
5. toolbox. look at other's examples. the web can be a wonderful toolbox. library books on the subject. people can be part of the toolbox. (3 - this is pretty much set up, just a matter of knowing where to look in the toolbox.)
6. use tech to your advantage. this goes along the lines with your toolbox. i'm pretty sure you can type almost anything into a web search engine and get help when you need it. don't make it more complicated then it is. (6 - since i'm new to the technology, finding a way of using it to my advantage could be difficult. but then again...)
7. teach. the best way to fully learn something is to teach others. answer questions. get others interested. if you're too embarrassed to teach others, just teach yourself. pretend you're new at it and go through the steps. explain it out. (4 - i've got no problems teaching others the technology. besides, that's why i'm doing the 23 things anyway, to help customers with the technology.)
7 & 1/2. fun. don't make it all business. put some pizazz into it. make it personal. if you're not enjoying it, then it probably won't be successful - as in fulfilling. (4 - only because i tend to get a bit analytical about the learning process. just got to remind myself to personalize it and have fun.)

7 & 1/2

7&1/2 Lifelong learning habits...and how difficult they are to achieve. (In my opinion.)

1. Goal (4)
2. Accept responsibility (2)
3. View problems as challenges (4)
4. Develope confidence (4)
5. Create toolbox (5)
6. Use technology to your advantage (5)
7. Teach others (4)
7 1/2. Play (3)

On a scale from 1 (easy) to 10 (difficult), I have rated each item (in parenthesis) according to difficulty.

As you can see, on paper it seems pretty easy. Of course sometimes things crop up and raise the difficulty level for each one. Sometimes a person can become a "problem" and you've got to find a way to solve the problem. Just for fun I'm going to include an example.

I've decided to learn how to play World of Warcraft.
1. goal. Learn how to play WOW, create a character, level said character up to 70 (80 when expansion comes out).
2. accept responsibility. said character is made. can't just leave it to sit and mold over. got to develop on-line relationships with other characters. possibly join a guild. level up skills. that sort of thing. $15 a month is also a good reason to perservere.
3.Problems. rude players. (either ignore or have "fun" trying to cope w/player. takes too long. (make a different character, go to some other part of the world, leave it for a while and read a book)
4.confidence. online relationships get better. although it's slow at times you are levelling up.
5.toolbox. don't forget food, water, constant breaks away from the computer.
6.technology. download helpful add-ons, check out the WOW website for additional help and tips. use macros to your advantage.
7.teach others. tell others useful tips. for chatting, levelling, and basic commands. teach about add-ons. etc.
7.5 fun. If it is no longer fun, then take a break. try something new. read. let someone else have a go at it. it's just a game. don't take it too seriously.

so in this case number 3 would be the hardest since it's on-going. and 7.5 would be the easiest since it's a game.
Some people might find 5 difficult, since they get so caught up in the game, and getting away from it could be difficult. That's when a good R.A. Salvatore book comes into play. :)

Apocolyptic Dreaming

So the other night I had a dream that my home city was being bombed. Bridges were being taken out so that the bombers/terrorists could control who was leaving. Buildings, cars, etc. Very realistic. And I'm huddled with my husband and friends on around the fifth floor of this building that has somehow miraculously survived the bombings. Unfortunately, I woke up before the dream could be resolved or any action could take place, but it made me think: why was I dreaming this. Am I subconsciously worried about the end of days. Am I concerned about terrorists. Then I remembered I had re-watched that one movie with Will Smith, and the parts where they took out the bridges in the movie seemed vaguely familiar to my dream. Oh, what was it called...the Last...something. Then I came across this book by Mary Shelley, never heard of it before, The Last Man. Wait a minute, the Will Smith movie was called I am Legend. Not to be mixed up with I am Omega, which has the host from Iron Chef and falls along the same lines, nor should that be mixed up with Omega Man. I'll get back to you on the Mary Shelley book. Of course, then again, maybe I dreamed that because I needed something to relieve the monotony.