The movie When Harry Met Sally posits that men and women can never just be friends. My husband was seated next to me through junior high school and became my close friend while dissecting a frog together at East Bakersfield high school. Worried about how I would react to pulling out organs, this introverted guy chatted endlessly about professional wrestling and Metal Gear Solid and we became instant lifelong friends.
We ate lunch together, played video games, I complained about my dating troubles and we watched wrestling. Three years post frog incident we remained close and completely plutonic. Watching Monday night Raw on February 8th 1999 our relationship changed forever, when John reached across the sofa and held my hand.
Married over eight years with two children my husband is still my best friend. A few months ago my friend Henry who lives in Atlanta called and pitched the idea of attending Wrestlemania at the Georgia Dome. We resumed our high school television habits, scrimped and saved, begged our cynical loved ones to watch our little ones and are all set to attend Wrestlemania XXVII.
My excitement has escalated because my favorite wrestling personalities from a decade ago, Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock, have reemerged in show storylines. To you as a reader, professional wrestling may be fake and corny but to me it is a time machine transporting me back to my teens to remember the first touch of his fingertips that changed everything I had known. To my husband, if you are reading this I plan to hold your hand through entire the main even. As time passes we forget how small moments shaped the course of our lives, we must cease every opportunity to rekindle the feelings that brought us to where we are today.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Friday, December 17, 2010
Getting Buff
Last night I learned that my husband has a level 82 character on a server that I am not a part of. After I recovered from my WoW envy, I felt a twinge of guilt that he has been part of this virtual world for so long without me understanding. After this revelation and setting an awesome new Macros for my kitty the party set off to repeat a dungeon that I missed when my computer was being temperamental last week.
I should say before I discuss my play last night that we arrived home from a day at Disneyland at 6pm. After we got home, I taught my Thursday night yoga class. After teaching I got home at 9pm, sang to my daughter and logged into Terenes for scheduled questing.
As we moved forward I died- - a lot. I could blame it on our healer but really it is my own damn fault for pulling agro when I am the lowest level character in the guild. After my second death John reprimanded me and let me know to wait until he drew the enemies before I attack. Even though I knew it would quickly bring death part of me wanted to charge ahead even more. Instead I took my hands off my keyboard and waited for him to verbally say so before I charged forward. I knew before that I did not possess patience but waiting in the wings before I can beat guys up was horrible.
Aside from Johns secret leveling I learned a few things last night. The first is that I need to eat before I play so I am not grumpy. The second is that I cannot be the lowest person in the guild because I like to bait fights way too much. The final lesson for me is that I need to accept my role in a team a little more humbly instead of holding everyone back by dying over and over. This is the same group that replayed the same dungeon for me, yet again, just because they are awesome. And here I was running off when I am with a group of people who know what they are doing. Since I am a bit of a control freak, it is hard being in a situation where I am the least experienced. To resolve my feelings of inadequacy I need to level up so I can more effectively just play the muscle.
I should say before I discuss my play last night that we arrived home from a day at Disneyland at 6pm. After we got home, I taught my Thursday night yoga class. After teaching I got home at 9pm, sang to my daughter and logged into Terenes for scheduled questing.
As we moved forward I died- - a lot. I could blame it on our healer but really it is my own damn fault for pulling agro when I am the lowest level character in the guild. After my second death John reprimanded me and let me know to wait until he drew the enemies before I attack. Even though I knew it would quickly bring death part of me wanted to charge ahead even more. Instead I took my hands off my keyboard and waited for him to verbally say so before I charged forward. I knew before that I did not possess patience but waiting in the wings before I can beat guys up was horrible.
Aside from Johns secret leveling I learned a few things last night. The first is that I need to eat before I play so I am not grumpy. The second is that I cannot be the lowest person in the guild because I like to bait fights way too much. The final lesson for me is that I need to accept my role in a team a little more humbly instead of holding everyone back by dying over and over. This is the same group that replayed the same dungeon for me, yet again, just because they are awesome. And here I was running off when I am with a group of people who know what they are doing. Since I am a bit of a control freak, it is hard being in a situation where I am the least experienced. To resolve my feelings of inadequacy I need to level up so I can more effectively just play the muscle.
Friday, December 10, 2010
My First Time = No Stamina
Last night I shared my first guild experience. I had high expectations for my first time and really thought after one raid I would rue slow paced questing. It was a memorable first dungeon but more because of the company than the play. Because I was still level 15 on this server we got stuck in the Wailing Caverns dungeon and it was lame, luckily I leveled up quick and we could move on.
The dungeon experience was tainted for me because I faced several annoying logouts due to my overheating laptop. Once I leveled up we moved on to Shadowfang Keep and my computer decided it was to tired to let me play a better dungeon. At this point I was ready to just vege and watch some Vampire Diaries. Since I am an awesome wife, I let my hubby finish his boss fight before I watched his angsty vampire show so he could join in.
My first time did not rock my world but playing with real-life people was a memorable experience that I hope will last longer next time.
The dungeon experience was tainted for me because I faced several annoying logouts due to my overheating laptop. Once I leveled up we moved on to Shadowfang Keep and my computer decided it was to tired to let me play a better dungeon. At this point I was ready to just vege and watch some Vampire Diaries. Since I am an awesome wife, I let my hubby finish his boss fight before I watched his angsty vampire show so he could join in.
My first time did not rock my world but playing with real-life people was a memorable experience that I hope will last longer next time.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A Perfect Pair
Travel Form was worth the lack of sleep. However, having a partner that can’t keep up makes it less useful. I keep offering to grant a level so that John can ride a horse but he doesn’t want to get too far ahead of me.
I finally have WoW professions for my Druid. I chose herbalism and skinning because I can just collect stuff.
My plan was to quest while the kids napped today. But my kiddos never napped. So instead I waited until john got home, we took a family walk around the local path for a few miles. The kiddos both feel asleep at 7:30 and we got our two hours of questing without neglecting sleep. Needless to say I feel productive.
Today we were productive in pairs. John wrote two papers, we each leveled twice, we walked two miles and played WoW for two hours. Overall a great day.
I finally have WoW professions for my Druid. I chose herbalism and skinning because I can just collect stuff.
My plan was to quest while the kids napped today. But my kiddos never napped. So instead I waited until john got home, we took a family walk around the local path for a few miles. The kiddos both feel asleep at 7:30 and we got our two hours of questing without neglecting sleep. Needless to say I feel productive.
Today we were productive in pairs. John wrote two papers, we each leveled twice, we walked two miles and played WoW for two hours. Overall a great day.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Will Travel Form be less impressive in the Morning?
My plan after yoga this evening to go to sleep early has been thwarted. With the elemental attacks going on at Kilrog I had to play WoW for just a few minutes. If you know what the heck I am talking about you likely also realize that just a few minutes is not what happened.
Basically there are cool mini-tornados swirling around waiting to get beat up by me in kitty form. Since I am starting my third server in three weeks, I am only at level 18. However, that is good enough to get both travel and sea form. I can turn into not only a cat but also a cat that runs fast and a cat-like creature that can breathe under water. I am almost ready to admit that John is right and we are not going to make to level 80 by the expansion. But I have not given up entirely.
The point of this brief and fruitless post this evening is that my I did not get extra sleep, grade or do dishes. I just spent the last 3 +hours playing WoW. I feel that my new abilities in game and 5 gained levels are a means of productivity. I wonder when I wake up early tomorrow to bright eyed toddlers and a long to-do list if Travel Form will seem as impressive?
Basically there are cool mini-tornados swirling around waiting to get beat up by me in kitty form. Since I am starting my third server in three weeks, I am only at level 18. However, that is good enough to get both travel and sea form. I can turn into not only a cat but also a cat that runs fast and a cat-like creature that can breathe under water. I am almost ready to admit that John is right and we are not going to make to level 80 by the expansion. But I have not given up entirely.
The point of this brief and fruitless post this evening is that my I did not get extra sleep, grade or do dishes. I just spent the last 3 +hours playing WoW. I feel that my new abilities in game and 5 gained levels are a means of productivity. I wonder when I wake up early tomorrow to bright eyed toddlers and a long to-do list if Travel Form will seem as impressive?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
WoW vs. Grading
Because of the time of year my progress in WoW is a slow going. John has final papers, math labs & I have a mound of end of the quarter grading. Once the kiddos are asleep I am faced with a daily dilemma.
I started a new Druid last night and dragged John along for the ride. We found that he can successfully write portions of a paper with WoW minimized, unless I draw agro and then he needs to jump in and help instead of just follow. We joined Kilrog & John is getting back in the habit auctioning again so we don’t go broke. We are both arguing about how far we can level our characters during the winter break so I will keep you posted on how we are doing.
I started a new Druid last night and dragged John along for the ride. We found that he can successfully write portions of a paper with WoW minimized, unless I draw agro and then he needs to jump in and help instead of just follow. We joined Kilrog & John is getting back in the habit auctioning again so we don’t go broke. We are both arguing about how far we can level our characters during the winter break so I will keep you posted on how we are doing.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Intro to Video Game Studies & Married Life
In the winter quarter at California State University, Bakersfield I am teaching a course titled "Introduction to Video Game Studies." I am upping my gaming research IE gameplay time. It always seems to bring a spark into my marriage when I re-commit my spare time to gaming.
I started WoW on October 30th (after a 6 year hiatus) and I am working on my second Druid. I am currently at level 12 and only walking around in cat form. Things are slow going because of time limitations but John playing in a party with me is helping me level quickly. I work all day on a Mac but have been playing at home on a PC and the short cuts and typing are a bitch. I have almost got my interface right and then I work all day on a smaller computer and feel like I am back at square one.
We plan to resume finishing up Tomb Raider co-op soon. I planned to wait until I was done with grading but that seems to be a pile I will never get under. So instead we are looking more optimistically at this weekend.
If you have suggestions about fun games to play side-by-side please pass them along. We may have completed our 100 days but the quest to remain a happily gaming couple forges on.
I started WoW on October 30th (after a 6 year hiatus) and I am working on my second Druid. I am currently at level 12 and only walking around in cat form. Things are slow going because of time limitations but John playing in a party with me is helping me level quickly. I work all day on a Mac but have been playing at home on a PC and the short cuts and typing are a bitch. I have almost got my interface right and then I work all day on a smaller computer and feel like I am back at square one.
We plan to resume finishing up Tomb Raider co-op soon. I planned to wait until I was done with grading but that seems to be a pile I will never get under. So instead we are looking more optimistically at this weekend.
If you have suggestions about fun games to play side-by-side please pass them along. We may have completed our 100 days but the quest to remain a happily gaming couple forges on.
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