How do you spell OCD? W-O-W

Two weeks into my World of Warcraft experience, my compulsive gameplaying shows no sign of relenting. I successfully achieved 13th level status today and now have a 12th level tiger pet. I named him Cujo. Killed a 10th level demon today, a 12th level Gnarlpine and freed the diseased soul of a druid at the bottom of a cave, among other accomplishments.

I have the inclination to organize a Binary Pulse guild. Chad and Jason should be game. Need a few more recruits...10, I think.

I am positively brain dead at this moment. Playing until 3:30 am on both Friday and Saturday definitely catches up with me on Sunday night. Felt like I needed to check in on the blog, though. Put some new pix up on the main site and got Lori's blog hooked up.

For a weekend that was predicted to be wet (Saturday, at least), it ended up being quite nice. Clear and crisp, mid-60s. Walked to Soup Plantation down the creek path with the girls and Lori on Saturday. One of my favorite casual things to do. Love the slow pace, the quiet sky, watching the cranes glide along the creek bed and the girls weaving along the grass. My most cherished thing is watching Sydney and Emelie holding hands, walking eight paces in front of us. Soon, I know very well, they will walk different ways, at different speeds. I feel optimistic that we are making sure they will always be friends. They honestly love each other, and that is all that matters.

That and teaching my Night Elf to ride a dinosaur.

The only thing to say is WOW

Just a quick one tonight, as I look forward to some much-needed sleep. After no less than 7 weeks of searching and finagling, I managed to procure my very own copy of the impossible-to-find World of Warcraft. It took eBay, a resourceful seller from Utah and $68, but yes, I am now sucked into the most amazing MMO (massively multiplayer online) game of all time.

I won't bother to go into detail about just how spectacular this game is because I've already been called "loser" and "dork" a dozen or so times this weekend by my sighing, eye-rolling wife, but WOW is a positively tremendous piece of concept and execution. Detail and scope.

I am suddenly confronted with the very real desire to spend every waking moment playing this game. More than any PS2 or PC title I've ever owned...all of them put together...I have reached obsession level with record speed. This game represents a huge advancement in gaming. Drawing on the best of role playing, online community, quest-based gameplay and Lord of the Rings type grandeur, this game also offers a glimpse of the future. Soon, broadband access will be as pervasive as indoor plumbing and games will push the envelope of total sensory simulation.

When that finally happens, World of Warcraft will serve as a milestone -- a critical path node when the world realized just how powerful online gaming could be.

And how much sleep it could rob me of.

Good travels,

Mersault (currently 8th level Night Elf hunter)

(Stop) Racism

A few weeks ago I pulled up to an intersection at MacArthur and Main, next to John Wayne Airport. One car ahead and one lane to the right of me pulled a green SUV. Innocuous enough. Glancing across the rear bumper, I noticed a prestige plate of interest.

California, like many states now, I presume, offers the ability to use symbols on their prestige plates. Among these iconic symbols are a heart, a star and a hand. This plate featured the hand. The hand is upright, palm out in the universal stop gesture. I've seen people use the symbol as the rebus character for (HAND), as in (HAND)IT2ME. Really cute...yeah, we get it.

However, this plate apparently used the symbol as (STOP). The plate read (STOP)RACISM. This was confirmed by the plate frame that read "Stop Racism", in case we were too thick to figure it out for ourselves. Perhaps some of her dense friends greeted her with reactions of "huh?" and "hand racism? I don't get it, Debbie."

Suddenly, a question crossed my mind: how do you represent the (STOP) hand on a form? Say, a job application? Do you draw the little symbol? Do you write out "STOP"?

The driver of the car, let's call her Debbie, was obviously a concerned citizen. Not only was she so committed to bringing prejudice to an end, but the other bumper stickers on her car aligned her to Greenpeace and Kerry/Edwards. She was the kind of person who might apply for an important position with the government. You know, community service, working in a halfway house, roadkill cleanup...a make-a-difference person.

So, maybe she goes to one job interview, gets called back for a second. Things are looking up for young Debbie. Maybe they call her back to make an offer and the interviewer says, "Debbie, we're all really impressed with you here at the Department of Justice and Equality for All. Your selfless volunteering, commitment to the homeless and particularly your fine essay on the impact of race on agricultural productivity are all top notch...top notch. We'll just need some basic information for your records and I think we can welcome you aboard."

Debbie, beside herself with excitement, starts filling out the perfunctories. Street address, social security number, emergency contact, vehicle make and model. Then her license plate number. She happily places pen to paper and then realizes, "Wait, how do I do this?" Her face flushes and tiny pinpricks start coursing across her forehead. She giggles nervously under her breath, scrawls R-A-C-I-S-M and pushes the application across the desk. "You see, really it means Stop Racism, I swear. I just don't know how to write it out. Gosh." tee hee

You can imagine the rest. Perhaps, just perhaps, young Debbie's zeal and altruistic soul just screwed her out of the Supervisor of Racial Equality position. How sadly ironic.

What about all the people using those symbols? Do they all share the same dilemma and have same moment of sad epiphany when they realize they're in for years of explaining the real meaning of their plates?

Will SHTNG(STAR) come off like a homicidal maniac?
Is I(HEART)BOB constantly asked, "What, for apples?"

I don't know. I guess I'm just asking..."How DO you write those goofy icons on paper?"

Farewell, Debbie. It's been nice idling behind you.

I welcome your thoughts.

(HEART)2UALL

Props to my peeps

Catharsis. It comes in many forms. And I hope it manifests in many more.

There are several threads that have inspired my immersion into the Blogged world...much less the Web publishing world.

I have not learned a new design skill in probably five years. Management and the occasional print job keep my creative skills relegated to brainstorming, traffic management, invoice approving and pre-flighting in Quark. Enough witnessing and troubleshooting of my Web guys have given me the virtual cajones to try and build a site for the family. Good God, it's about time I learned how to build a freakin' Web site!

This Christmas, I got us a new iMac G5 at home. 20" flavor. What a glorious machine. Now unencumbered by the knuckle-dragging performance of the old G3 hand-me down, I feel empowered to try some publishing at home.

Also inspired by the holidays' usual share of updates and newsletters from friends and families around the country, I thought a family-centric site was a good excuse to tether myself to Dreamweaver for a week and make this happen. Lo and behold.

Factor in the purchase of a digital camera for Lori, and we may actually be able to generate content for this thing.

Due recognition to one Jeremy Bear for an introduction to Blogger.com. Not sure how this blog will change aesthetically over time, but I'm off and running.

Journal writing is not new to me, but the rust and cobwebs are significant. Troy Newman, Jeff Mehl, Doogie Howser and others have all served as inspiration at one time or another to make journaling a habit. I have long been looking for a writing outlet beyond the dozen or so stupid story-starters scattered across my hard drive. Now rather than just torment myself, I figure I can inflict pain on all of you.

This blogger will serve to provide insight on the evolution of my family -- the small things and bigger events. The occasional work commentary. And more than a fair share of irreverant jabber. I was forced to title this Blog in order to set up the account, and JabberDrew was the best I could do on short notice. Pretty sufficient, though. It is what it is, and what it shall become.

So, props to all those peeps who got me here. Let's have some fun!

AndyDrew