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Monday, December 17, 2007

Parsifal: my first BPAL fragrance

I had looked at Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs before. I love the wonderful descriptions and art for the fragrances…but I wasn’t sure if I would like it!

But BPAL.org has such great reviews (though you have to register to see them) that I quickly found a couple of limited edition Yule scents I just had to get. Plus, I was able to pick a set of six Mad Tea Party (Alice in Wonderland) fragrances to buy as 1 mL samples for my sister. (She has a Wonderland addiction…)

But then I discovered there was a retail outlet in Atlanta for BPAL! (Amazing: there are only four, total!) I went right over to the Whole Foods in Roswell, and now I’m the proud owner of a 5 mL bottle of Parsifal, a retail-only exclusive fragrance! Yay.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

More Guild Wars Goodness!

Okay, if you aren't a gamer like me, you've probably read my raves about Guild Wars and thought, "Guild what?"

Guild Wars is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG. "Massively multiplayer" means that lots and lots and LOTS of people are all playing it together. "Online" is pretty straightforward: it's played, well, online. And you probably know what a role-playing game is; think "Dungeons and Dragons," the most famous role-playing game around. (And no, D&D is not Satanic. And no, it does NOT drive people to suicide.)

Guild Wars is a fantasy RPG; it's not set in our normal world. Instead, it's set in a world where magic is real and a human can get in a fight with a huge troll and win. (Hey, it's a game, remember?) You fight on the side of good, campaigning against evil. This usually involves killing lots of bad things and traveling lots of places.

So, let's say you have a mission to clear out all the bad guys from an area. You have two professions; your professions determine what type of stuff you do. If you're a warrior, you run up to the bad guys, choose someone to attack, and start whacking it with your sword or axe or hammer, until one of you is dead. If you're a ranger, you may turn it into a pincushion with your bow or send your pet in to fight it.

Elementalists have lots of fun: throwing fireballs, hurling ice shards, shooting lightning, or knocking down enemies with hurricane-force winds. In general, you make them miserable through the wonderful world of the elements.

Perhaps you play a necromancer; then you would curse them to steal their strength. And if you are a necro, you can make nifty little minions out of their corpses, which you can use to fight the other bad guys! Isn't that nice?

Of course there are healers: monks, in this case. But monks can also smite. I guess Balth doesn't much like the enemies...

But if you're me, you're probably playing a mesmer. I love mesmers! They have highly trained minds, and use them to do most of the work. They may hex their enemies and give them migraines, so they can't cast spells or even move very fast. A mesmer may follow that up by interrupting their actions, stealing their health or energy, or turning them into pacifists. It's fun, but it's also one of the hardest choices.

Anyway, those are the core professions. The other campaigns add other professions, but those six make up the bulk of every party. Try it sometime; just don't start as a mesmer like I did...

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

So sick of being sick

Every year, I catch a cold and end up with a cough that lasts for months. Literally: I caught a cold about a week after Dragon*Con, and my cough has never gone away. That was early September!

Last week I had a cold, and it lasted a couple of days. But last Wednesday night I lost my voice, and my cough started getting really bad. And that was after the worst of my cold was gone!

At the time, what I really wanted was to get my voice back by tonight. Our church Christmas concert, A Midnight Clear, is Sunday. Tonight is our tech rehearsal; tomorrow is our dress. I really, really wanted to sing.

Now I just want my cough to go away. Forget singing; my cough was so bad yesterday I was sitting on the floor, doubled over. I was coughing too hard to actually do anything.

I can't wait for this medicine to work. At least if I can't sing in the concert I won't have to wear my hideous choir outfit, more commonly known as the "total sparkly mistake."

Monday, December 03, 2007

Step One: Post More...Step Three: Profit!

Did you know last month was National Blog Post Month, or NaBloPoMo? Me neither. I knew about NaNoWriMo, but NaBloPoMo?

Anyway, I missed it. And just when I was thinking I should post more! But no matter. It's always the right time to be loquacious, right?

I actually have two other blogs, so I'm going to go back and forth between them. Let's see how well I can communicate this month. :) I'm talkative enough in real life; this should be a cinch!