Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Keeping Up With The Cons- SDCC 2013 Part 3: Lessons Learned

Here are things I learned from this experience:

1) Buy a parking pass if you can. We spent $50 for two days of parking. Thats $50 that could have bought something neato.

2) Write stuff down. I wanted to see Nerd HQ and the Geek and Sundry lounge, and thought I'd be able to look it up on my phone when I needed to. The internet sucked around the convention center and I couldn't pull anything up. There is something to be said for paper and pen.

3) Don't bring your kids. I know mine got bored, and their boredom made things ten times more stressful for us. Plus, we weren't able to get into any panels because the kids were not going to wait in line for them.

4) Sweatshirt not necessary. I read a few blog posts that said the convention center got cold. I didn't experience that and my sweater was just one more thing I had to carry. The only time I appreciated having it was when we were stalking celebrities at the Hilton, then it was a little chilly.

5) Be polite. That sound be common sense but... People were mega rude if you didn't have your boobies or butt hanging out of a costume or if you were ahead of them in line (see my SDCC Part 1 post).  There's no reason to forgo manners. Or hygiene. People, please shower. Or carry deodorant and perfume/cologne with you for a pick me up. There were some stinky folks there.

6) One day passes are not enough. If you want to do more than just buy stuff, a one day pass is not going to cut it. Lesson learned. I will never be a one day badge holder again. Four day pass or bust!

7) Mia Moore was right. Buy a poster tube! I didn't get a chance to snag one before we left for the Con and it was a mistake. I got a cool Angry Birds poster freebie from Hasbro and by the end of the day it was destroyed. Next year I am coming with a tube, no doubt about it.


8) Find a SDCC mentor. If you know someone that's been before, see if they will take you under their wing and show you the ways of the Con. I am currently looking for a mentor myself. I missed out on so much this year, I want next year to be better :)


Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Keeping Up With The Cons- SDCC 2013 Part 2: Outside the Con

Since we were only badge holders on Saturday, we used Sunday as an opportunity to explore some of the things going on outside of Comic-Con.

We managed to find parking in the Campus parking lot this time, and walked in the direction of Petco Park. We were in search of Nerd HQ and the Geek and Sundry lounge, and I feel like such a noob for even saying this, but we didn't find either one. Fail. But what we did find ended up suiting us a little better.

We started our day at the Ender's Game exhibit. It was really neat because it had actual sets from the movie that you could walk through. And props and costumes that were used in the movie, with plaques that said who used them. Pictures were strongly encouraged, which was awesome because in a lot of the movie/game exhibits they were strictly prohibited. What I found most surprising was how small the sets were, they always look so big in the movies lol. Also, how simple some of the costumes were. The school uniforms will be easy to cosplay, I'm thinking about trying it out myself. I also want to start reading the books on which the movie is based on. Everyone in line kept saying how amazing all the books are, and nerds are pretty good for a book recommendation.

After that we went to the Sega arcade. My son loves Sonic the Hedgehog, and there were demos of Sonic The Lost World set up, so he got to play that. He also got to play a Mickey game, Castle of something (I can't remember), and  my husband and I got to try out a PC game called Total War Rome II. They gave you a good amount of time to try out the games, and all the games were pretty neat. The Nintendo Gaming Lounge was the next stop for us. We got to play a bunch of different games, and the Year of Luigi thing going on was pretty cool. There's a Luigi based game that has no Mario and a new toon named Nabbit who is pretty hard to kill. Most of the games didn't have attendants working them, so people took advantage and played way longer than was polite. It was super crowded in there too, so we didn't spend a massive amount of time in there.

For lunch on Sunday, we hit a food truck. It was a Mexican food truck that was at the back of the convention center and it was pretty good. From there, we hit this area on the other side of the Sky Bridge that is a Comic-Con affiliate. We had gone for a little bit on Saturday because my daughter saw the Hello Kitty truck and just had to see it up close (shes a huge HK fan, like me). It had a Smufs 2 display, some Kia cars done up like Justice League members, food trucks, Hello Kitty Wonderland, Wolverine interactive (which I didn't get to do), a Samsung charging station, and a few other things. The main thing in there, to me, was the Gravity preview. We saw the last showing of it. It was done in realD 3D, and visually it was stunning. I'm not sure about the story line though. I know I will be seeing it however, because my husband is a huge Sandra Bullock fan. Everything ended at 5pm that day, and we stayed until the end. The last hour or so brought rain, which was nice, even though it added to the humidity.

Stick around for Part 3!

Monday, July 29, 2013

Keeping Up With The Cons- San Diego Comic Con 2013 Part 1

Comic-Con has come and gone. This was my first year at SDCC, so I didn't really know what to expect. I mean, I had been reading blog post after blog post about people's experiences at past Comic-Cons, what to bring, advice, any information I could get my hands on, and then added it to my own knowledge of other conventions like WonderCon. I thought I was prepared, but I wasn't.

The drive to San Diego was about four hours, which isn't too bad considering it was a Saturday. We made it to Petco Park around 10:30am, and managed to find a parking space in the Tailgater parking lot right before they closed it. Getting our badges was pretty quick, there were no lines. Right away we went to the Blizzard Entertainment booth, I was dead set on getting an Epic Purple Lanyard and Shadow Illidan figurine. Once there, we found out that to get a free EPL, you had to go on a bit of a scavenger hunt to other booths, take pictures, etc and then come back to the Blizzard booth during certain times to get your photos authenticated. It was a hassle and I was bummed because I had my kids with me, and I knew that they weren't going to be patient enough for it. We were getting ready to walk away when my husband started looking at the pricing board to see how much the Shadow Illidan I wanted was, and saw that they were selling the EPL as well. It made me super excited, especially since they didn't have anymore Shadow Illidans. While we were getting in line though, I had a girl literally push me and yell "Get out of my way!" because she was also trying to get into the Blizzard line for the Mini Sylvanas figures (they only had twenty left). I was shocked that someone would do that. And it didn't really help her, I still got in line before her, and we both got the Mini Sylvanas. I was also surprised that one of the Blizzard employees saw what this girl had done to me and said nothing. If I was manning a booth and saw someone acting like that, I wouldn't allow them entry in my line. They would've been able to sell that figurine to someone else so easily.

After that we went to check out the preview of Watchdogs. We already have the game pre-ordered, but it was nice to see an extended video of the game play, and it looks like a pretty nifty game. We wandered around a lot, trying to absorb everything. We walked by signings with the cast of the Simpsons and True Blood. And Tom Cruise and Bill Paxton were on the other side of the True Blood signing, but I'm not sure why. It was so cramped and crazy by those areas that I didn't get any pictures. And the security there yell so unnecessarily and are rude. But maybe its because they have so many crazy people trying to see the stars, I don't know. Eventually we ate the overpriced convention food, even though I had packed a ton of snacks (my kids plowed through their snacks). It wasn't that good. I wish we had tried one of the food trucks that was outside instead.

The last thing we did as badge holders was check out the Assassin's Creed pirate ship that was out in the harbor. TV Guide was having a party on a boat next to it, and as we were walking by some famous people were coming off the boat. I didn't recognize them, but the way people were mobbing them, I figured they were special. Later I found out that it was the cast of The Originals. Two of them were really rude to people who were trying to get photos with them or have them sign something, but one guy (Charles Michael Davis, thank you Internet) was really nice and took pictures with people and took the time to talk to his fans. Again, I was feeling a little overwhelmed, so I didn't join in the photo taking (that, and I didn't know who they were). The Assassin's Creed ship was awesome. We got to see a demo of the game and the graphics look amazing. We didn't get to play it though, as we were the last group allowed on the ship and they were trying to get us off of it.

While we walking away from Comic-Con, content with being done with our day, there was a massive stampede of people running towards the Hilton that's right there. Curious, we went over to see what all the fuss was about. We missed Tom Hiddleston by two minutes. Crazy. We heard that other famous people were being brought to the hotel, so we decided to wait it out a little bit. About ten minutes later, Bill Nye the Science Guy and Neil deGrasse Tyson emerge from the hotel and head to a limo. Bill came over and shook hands with a few fans near the limo (which I wasn't) before heading back, but Neil came all the way down the line. Just as he got to me, his publicist came over and told him to get in the limo, so I didn't get the picture with him that I wanted. But...I did get a high five from him! So that was pretty cool. We left not long after that, my kids were beyond tired and wanted to go back to the hotel room. Next year, my husband and I want to try and stay at that Hilton though :)

Stay tuned for SDCC Parts 2 and 3!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Poppin' Off- Video Games Live

Last week was a heck of a week. I spent a lot of time in Southern California. It was nice, but man am I exhausted.

A couple of weeks ago, Mandie of Geeky Glamorous was having a giveaway for a set of tickets to see Video Games Live in Irvine. I was super excited. I had first heard of VGL through the opening screen of WoW. Blizzard had paired with them and was offering a discount on tickets. I really, really wanted to go, but with San Diego Comic-Con being that same week, my husband and I had to save up money for potential purchases, so we didn't get to buy them. Well, I entered the contest for the tickets and I won!!! I was so excited. I mean, first of all, I'm a fan of Mandie's site, so winning something from there was pretty cool. Secondly (and most importantly), I was thrilled to be seeing VGL! 

We got to Irvine a few hours before the show, so we killed some time at a movie theater. It was at an Edwards Cinema, but it only played independent films which was really neat. There was this lady in the bathroom that was making all kind of sexual noises, which was mystifying since she was only putting on her makeup. Anyway, we saw The Hijacking, which was good but a little long. We left for the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater after the movie was over. Parking was ten dollars for self parking, and even though the gates had been open for a while, we still managed to get a pretty good parking spot.

Our seats were amazing. Down pretty close to the stage and on the aisle, and I didn't have anyone tall sitting in front of me obstructing my view :) There was a costume contest before the show started and I'd just like to say, if you're ever in a costume contest and there's a child also entered, expect the child to win. There was this girl that had an amazing costume she'd made to be a character from Final Fantasy something.....Twelve I think it was, she really should have won. But there was a little boy dressed in a store bought Mario costume (I know, my son wore the same one for Halloween last year) who ended up winning instead.

The show was played by the Pacific Symphony and the Glendale Concert Choir (it was the choir from the community college), and they all did an amazing job. They played songs from old school video games, and scores from games like World of Warcraft (my favorite) Chrono Cross. At one point, they had the winner from the Guitar Hero contest go up there and perform The Pretender by the Foo Fighters. Tommy Tallarico  challenged him to get 400, 000 points on the hard setting, and the winner asked if he could do it on expert instead. He got around 390,000 points which I thought was pretty cool. There was a meet and greet after the show with some of the composers, but we couldn't stay because we had a long drive back home to make(and at midnight, traffic through L.A. was still horrible lol, we didn't get home until almost 3am). The show was so awesome that I was hoping to catch it again when they were doing the free concerts at Comic-Con, but I was unable to make it. The concert in Irvine was amazing though, and I'm so glad that I got to go.



P.S. I'm still itching to do that giveaway! Twenty (20) follower on Bloglovin to make it happen :)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Cosplay, A-Okay : The Decision

San Diego Comic-Con brought many things to me: cute Hello Kitty pins, sore legs, more celebrity sighting than you can shake a stick at. And it also brought the decision that I, my almost thirty year old self, wants to cosplay.

I decided almost instantly on Vanellope from Wreck It Ralph. Shes an easy costume to make and its not skin tight like a superhero, so its a less self conscious start. I'm hoping to get all the pieces by Halloween, so I'll be able to do a test run. I'm super excited to try this, but I am a noob, so if any of you experienced cosplayers have any advice, I'd love to hear it!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Poppin' Off- SPANK The Fifty Shades Parody

Last Friday I had the greatest pleasure of attending SPANK! The Fifty Shades Parody. You knew right away that it was going to be a raunchy, sex-filled show because they were selling chocolate penis pops in the lobby before the show.

You don't have to have much knowledge past the first book in the trilogy to know whats being made fun of in the show, which is nice because I only read the first book and part of the second before I just couldn't take it anymore. For those of you living under a rock, Fifty Shades of Grey was written as Twilight fan fiction, which is very easily identifiable to  anyone that's read the Twilight series. Besides the similarities of cities (Washington based), the main female characters' clumsiness and inability to see that they're beautiful when they have all kinds of guys falling all over themselves for her, the ethnic best guy friend that wants to be more and the super controlling, orphaned rich Adonis of a man that they fall for (Batman, as SPANK! points out); E.L. James also seemed to copy Stephanie Meyers' inability to use more than three adjectives that make you want to scream "use a thesaurus bitch!" while reading and I just couldn't bear to trudge through it anymore.

The show is very low budget, but I think that's what adds to its charm. Its a cast of three, and the lady that plays E.B.Jay also picks up the small characters of a waiter, Tasha's roommate, the mailman, and the ethnic best guy friend. There are a few dance numbers done by the male lead which were awkward but hilarious, and some ladies in the audience kept yelling at him to take it all off. There was also some improv, like when a lady was recording the show (which is not allowed), Hugh Hanson told her to knock it off. And they mentioned areas and stores that are specific to my city, so it added a personalized touch to the performance. But the best part was the audience participation. The Tasha character came into the audience about three times, and the last time was the best. She picked a really drunk girl to talk to and.....the comments were so incoherent and inappropriate, it was great.

I was super bummed that Felicia Day wasn't a part of the cast, but the show was still supremely hilarious. Go see it if you can!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Keeping Up With The Cons- The Time Has Come

San Diego Comic-Con has arrived. Last night was preview night and today starts the full on convention. I wish I could be there all four days, but I will only be there on Saturday. And even though I will only be there for one day, I have been reading every article and blog post I can about what to expect and what to bring, where to visit, etc. I have been to conventions before, but not one as epic as Comic-Con.

Planning snacks for myself and my husband is pretty easy, but I also have to plan for my two small children. And not only do I have to bring them snacks, but some forms of entertainment, because I know they will get bored. I plan on packing a small backpack for each of them with their snacks of choice, a small coloring book and box of crayons, a puzzle in a bag and their Nintendo DS's. My backpack will include snacks, water, wallet, pens and a notebook, and my Instax.

I'm hoping to visit the Hello Kitty Wonderland, the tokidoki booth, Blizzard Entertainment's booth,   welovefine and the Nintendo Gaming Lounge. Also I want to see what Nerd HQ is and maybe check out the Geek and Sundry lounge.

Here is a list of my favorite blog posts outlining the finer points of Comic-Con:
*Geeky Glamorous has a great list of things to do outside the Con.
*Mia Moore did a big list of helpful posts peppered with her own experiences, very helpful.
*Holy SDCC Batman! The Nerdy Girlie has so many helpful posts on Comic-Con, you'd be a fool not to check them out. (she's also doing a SDCC photo challenge on Instagram that looks like tons of fun)
*Of course, the official Comic-Con site is going to have crucial info.


Follow me on Instagram (krystellemt) and Twitter (@krystellemt) for updates of my Comic-Con experience. Lets nerd out together!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Personally.....Suicide

Today's WoW Wednesday has been replaced by a personal post. Over the weekend I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn that a long time family friend had committed suicide. He had a wife, children, a great job; was always upbeat, had a genuine interest in what you had to say and was just happy all the time. A bright spot in a dull day. Warning signs? There weren't any. And now there are so many people who are left wondering why and is there something any of us could have done to change it.

There have been plenty of times in my life where I have been low, I mean really low. But I could never kill myself. And if you ever get to the point where death seems like the only option, I urge you to reconsider. Find one thing in your life that makes you smile, if even for an  instant, and then find one more. And continue until you see that all those little things actually mean something.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's website is full of information for those who are thinking about killing about themselves or for people who know someone who might be suicidal. If you fit into either one of these categories I urge you to check out this site or to call their phone number. Don't leave anyone wondering why you're gone, and don't feel like you need to cut your life short. There are things to live for, sometimes you just have to search them out. Everyone deserves a chance to live. Everyone.

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-8255


Monday, July 15, 2013

Monday Mix Up #4

A small little list of links to help you procrastinate the start of another week.

*Rock-a-Hoola. Its an abandoned water park on the way to Las Vegas and I love it. Its covered in graffiti and it looks so creepy and awesome. Its my goal to do some type of photo shoot out there one day (photographer needed!). 

*The Fighting Whities. Started as a response to people getting so upset over Indian based sports names, it was meant to be an insult. However, it took off and mostly everyone just thinks its funny (I know I do).

*iam8bit-the gallery. I'm so disappointed that I found out about their last exhibit on its last day. It had a huge Scrooge McDuck treasure cup you could climb into! But, now that I know about this place, I can be on the lookout for other awesome exhibits. I also think that its pretty cool that one of the co-curators has my name (well, my old name).

*PMS Clan. Lady gamers, that is all.

*This Avengers print from Electric Alivia. I wants it.

*And this Avengers hat done by tokidoki and Marvel. I actually bought this hat in Vegas and it is awesome.

Also, don't forget about the giveaway! Help me reach twenty (20) followers on BlogLovin' and I'll announce the giveaway details!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Keeping Up With The Cons- SDCC Exclusives

So freaking excited! I just found out that tokidoki has some exclusives coming to San Diego Comic Con. I am a huge tokidoki fan. Check out the ever growing list here.

Also, Geeky Glamorous did a nice roundup about a week ago of some of the stuff that's going to be available, so make sure to check that out here. The link at the bottom of that post is especially helpful (here it is).

If you know of any exclusives that aren't listed here, please leave a link in the comments section. San Diego Comic Com is about a week away and I'd love to update my list!


Friday, July 12, 2013

Poppin' Off- The Package Tour

This past Saturday I had the great pleasure of seeing The Package Tour at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The trip to Vegas overall was womp womp, but that was for a lot of personal reasons. The concert was AMAZING though. Truly.

The show started promptly at 7:30pm. It opened with Boyz II Men (minus one group member) and they sang all their hits pretty much without stopping. They did a lot of old school dance moves and they had high energy through their whole show. They closed with my favorite song, Motownphilly.

Without pause, Boyz II Men went off the stage and 98 Degrees came on. Nick Lachey still looks good, but other than that, there wasn't much to their show. I was excited to learn that I knew more than one of their songs, but something in the performance was just.....lacking. And it wasn't just me that felt it. It was during their set that most of the audience decided to get drinks, go pee or sit down. There was a serious drop in energy. They weren't horrible though, it was just not the greatest.

There was a ten minute wait between 98 Degrees and New Kids on the Block. They had this little video play at the start that said they'd be singing for two hours. I was like what?!?! And yes they did. They started right at 9pm and ended at 11pm. There were no encores though. They played some songs from their latest album and their last album, and a lot of their old stuff, which was fantastic. They kept saying that they'd been a group for twenty five years and at one point Joey joked,  "we started when you guys were eight years old" and all the older ladies laughed because they were really like in high school or something. And its really funny for me because I really was that young, younger actually. I was five years old in 1989 (that's when the group really took off. They officially became a group in 1984. Read about it here). Yes, I have been a fan for that long.

This makes the second time I've seen New Kids on the Block in concert (the first time was two years ago when they were on tour with the Backstreet Boys) and I'm really hoping that I'll get to see them again. I'd like to finally be able to get close to the stage. If you love 80's/90's boy band nostalgia and have the opportunity to see this concert, I highly recommend it. And not just because I love New Kids on the Block. It really was a good show.

Also,  if you have the chance to go to Mandalay Bay, check out their buffet. Its a little pricey, and I usually don't eat a grip at one time, but that buffet is soooooooo delicious. Its well worth the money and if its the only meal you eat that day, you'll be alright :)

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Anyone Want Some Loot?

I want to host a giveaway. I like sending things to people when I can, I really do. So here's the deal: when I get twenty (20) followers on BlogLovin', I will host a small giveaway. Details won't be released until the goal is met (don't you just love surprises?), so lets do this!!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

WoW Wednesday- Blizzard to Visit San Diego Comic-Con

Yes that's right, normally beachy San Diego is set to experience a Blizzard during this year's Comic-Con and I couldn't be more excited. This is my first year attending SDCC and I was hoping my luck in getting tickets would extend to BlizzCon, but sadly it didn't. And I'm sorry Blizz, as much as I wanted to attend, I just couldn't stomach paying $500 for the charity dinner ticket that also gets you into BlizzCon. So a little over a month ago when Blizzard announced that they will be attending San Diego Comic-Con, a small squeal of delight came out of my mouth.

Then they announced that they would be selling some exclusive merch while there. I am really looking forward to trying to get Shadow Illidan by Funko and the Epic Purple Lanyard. I hear that most Comic-Con exclusives sell out during preview night, and I won't be there until Saturday, so I'm really hoping that's not the case. But even if they do, it'll be a great experience (I hope).

And here's the link to Blizzard's signing and panels scheduling in case you're interested.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Monday Mix Up #3

A small little list of links to help you procrastinate the start of another week. 

* The Neon Graveyard. I don't even think they call it that anymore. All those old signs are really awesome though. 

*New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men. The Package Tour. I may or may not be writing about it for this Friday's Poppin' Off since they were the reason I was in Vegas this weekend. 

*Juice cubes! The sweet alternative to last week's coffee cubes. 

*Bowser and Wario muscle tees from Forever 21. I want these. 

*Dry shampoo. I don't know about you, but some days I don't feel like washing my hair. I still want it to be fresh though, and that's where this stuff comes in. Its a little too hot right now to not be washing my hair, but I still love dry shampoo. 

*This Phoenix Suns hat. Its cute and I need it.

*Rainier cherries. I am addicted.



Friday, July 5, 2013

Poppin' Off- Feed Project+Target and Monsters University

So this week's Poppin' Off is another two-fer, but these things aren't really related to one another. I just really love Monsters University and the Feed Project/Target collaboration.

*There are no intentional spoilers here. But if even vague overviews ruin things for you, do not continue reading*

Okay, Monsters University. Monsters, Inc came out my senior year of high school and I fell in love with it. All these years later,and not only do I still love it, but my kids love it. So we were all really excited to hear about Monsters University being released. I finally got to see it this Tuesday and it was such a cute movie. If you're worried about it being a rehash of Monsters Inc, don't be. Aside from seeing some of the characters from the first movie, there are no similarities. It shows you Mike's journey to his first dream of attending Monsters University and how he meets Sulley. It was really surprising to me that their educational journey didn't go as planned (its really hard to talk about it without giving that part of the story away), but it also wasn't because Disney is always good for a hidden morals lesson. And there were two big ones in this movie, which I can appreciate. The first: your actions have consequences, and you better be prepared for them. And secondly: work hard, keep moving forward, and you can achieve your dreams (which is a theme they put in a lot of their movies, Walt Disney was big on that). The movie is great, it really is. I definitely recommend seeing it, even if you don't have kids.

For the past few month I had been seeing magazine adds for a Target and Feed Project collaboration. I almost marked it on my calendar, that's how excited I was (am) for it. The Feed Project was founded by Lauren Bush Lauren in 2007, and each purchased Feed item helps feed families around the world. The collaboration with Target is especially great because 1) the proceeds are going to feed families here in America and 2) the pairing with Target has brought the price point down a little bit, so its affordable for more people. I've already purchased the kitchen towels, the snack bags, and the two pack deck of cards and I fully intend on buying more before the collaboration is over. All the items are super cute, and it goes towards a great cause.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Fourth of July

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July! The clip above is from one of my favorite Simpsons episodes.

And this is Buck Owens. I'm sure you've all heard of Hee Haw. Hes a local celebrity and the red, white and blue guitar is a cultural icon. It screams Americana, and is so fitting for the Fourth. Image from LSquared Imaging

                                                         Image found on fanpop.com

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

WoW Wednesday- Child Neglect and the World of Warcraft

The other day I was watching the video down below (thank you Trade Chat!) and it saddened me to hear that another WoW playing couple was in trouble for child abuse. I don't have tolerance for child abusers, I really don't. There isn't anything a child can do to an adult to warrant hatred, neglect, abuse, whatever the case is. And I have no problem with child abusers being put on blast in the media, they deserve to be shamed. What sucks though, is that when they play a game like World of Warcraft, the media hones in on it like the game is the cause of these people's awful parenting skills. Like these people wouldn't be neglectful, horrid people on their own. And you know they probably would be. But they give the rest of us a bad name.

I am a parent of two young children, and my husband and I both play World of Warcraft. Our children are well fed, well dressed and very well taken care of. We don't play WoW all the time. We only play together on his days off or a little bit before he goes to work. Most of the time he plays when he gets home from work and I'm already sleeping. I'll play when hes at work sometimes, but only if one of my children is napping and the other one is where I can see or hear them. Also, I don't raid. I decided a long time ago that raiding isn't for me (people take it way too seriously, and really, I don't have the time to sit there all night fighting the same boss over and over). He raids though, and that's fine. I'm still available for our kids if they need us, and we can both still play the game. It baffles me how people can get so caught up in the game that they don't address their children's most basic needs.

When I first started playing WoW, I was in a really great guild. I miss that guild a lot, except for this one girl. She was the type of girl that girl gamers hate - she constantly used the fact that she was a girl to get things that she wanted in-game. Anyway, she was always logged on. I mean, always. It didn't matter what time I signed on, she was always on. She's kind of like Clara from the Guild (just not as funny). At first I thought she might just be lonely and all her friends were in-game, which I kind of understand (I don't really have any friends locally, and at that time, that guild held all the people I could count as friends). But you could hear her kids yelling for things to eat when she was talking on Vent and she'd get so put out about it. And when her husband was home, she never did anything. She always made him do stuff for the kids. He was in our guild too, so we got hear both sides of it. Eventually it came out that she had started a thing with someone in the guild, and he went to visit her. He said that her house was filthy. He said that it smelled like urine, and that she let her kids run around in just their dirty diapers. He also said that the kids were really dirty, and that she barely fed them (mostly just juice and crackers). And even while he was there, all she wanted to do was play WoW. Talk about an addiction. I do believe that authorities were called on her, but I don't think anything ever came of it. I always think about her when I hear about these abuse stories though, if shes going to be one of them one day. I don't play on her server anymore, and since her guildie romance went South, I don't know anyone that talks to her. I can only hope that shes changed her priorities and put her kids ahead of WoW.

Whats that tip from Blizzard that appears occasionally on the loading screen? Take everything in moderation, even World Of Warcraft (I might be paraphrasing there). More people should take Blizzard's advice.


Monday, July 1, 2013

Monday Mix Up #2

A small little list of links to help you procrastinate the start of another week.

*The June Loot Crate! The theme was Mash Up and everything in it was amazing. 8-bit sunglasses, Warhead candies, a Mario/Ninja Turtle sticker, a Deadpool Kool Aid Man tee shirt....just to name a few items. I'm hoping that they sell surplus crates because my husband isn't sharing anything that came in his lol. 

*Pixel oven mitts. So cute! I don't cook too often, but when I do, I have a tendency to burn myself. I think these would help me not injure myself. 

*Skylar Grey. Final Warning and C'mon Let Me Ride - two very different types of songs, and still very awesome. 

*These Armada Controller leggings by Jeffie. They are so cute! I wish they were in stock so I could snag a pair. 

*Color Changing Pixel Heart Mug found on Store Envy.

*Wornontv.net. I stumbled on this site while trying to find a teeshirt that Abed was wearing on an episode of  Community. I found the shirt thanks to this site! Other shows on there include The Big Bang Theory, The Carrie Diaries, Awkward, and Pretty Little Liars.

*Lazy Meadow/Desert and Hicksville. They just look like fun. Maybe in the fall though, since the desert is no place to be in the summertime. 

*Coffee cubes! I can't wait to put some in almond milk (no cow juice for me).