Trolls and Goblins and Elves... Oh My!

Greetings!! I would like to introduce you to one of my favourite hobbies. Belegarth.

Belegarth, in short is a fantasy role-playing game. It is also a sport. It is Medieval combat reenactment with foam weaponry fashioned to look similar to real weapons. The world is loosely based in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. If you're interested in learning about the sport more in depth than please go here. For if I were to explain it all here, this would be a novel, not a blog.

In this game I am Lady Lily Volentia, Elven warrior of Thunder Guard. (Thunder Guard is my realm) I was first introduced to the game about 2 years ago. And quite honestly having only heard stories of it up till then I was inclined to think it was silly. That is until I had a weapon in my hands and started playing. It's a truly exhilarating experience running towards your foes, axe in hand (as in my case, I am primarily a two-handed axe user), with no other thought that to decimate the opposing team. The combat part of the sport give you many things, an exercise workout to be rivaled by an gym for one, increased awareness of your surroundings, a sense of team work and above all fair play. A myriad of different types of weapons are available for use, javelins, maces, swords, axes, shield and even bows and arrows. To name just a few.

And that's just the combat part of the game. I recently attended an event in Illinois at Stone House Park called Oktoberfest. There were 1000+ people there all acting out their persona's, wearing garb and some of them decked out to look like different races (myself included). It was a grand time. You meet some really amazing people at these events, there was a group of people that flew all the way from Puerto Rico just to attend! All in all it was fantastic. There are many events during the year including; SnowBall, WolfPack Opener, Spring Wars and Ragnarok. I hope to attend them all this year, though sadly I've already missed SnowBall II due to ride complications. Not being able to drive does have its down sides.

So that's a little bit about the crazy world of Belegarth. It's a great sport, full of great people and great fun. If you haven't been to an event, go to one! It's something you'll remember forever.

Oh and last night we had our second D&D session for the evil campaign. Our players are astounding at the amount of evilness they're able to come up with. Should I be worried?

Vibrant Tasty Green Beans

So this entry has little, if anything, to do with beans. Green or otherwise. Unless you are referring to the proverbial beans as in 'no beans about it'. In which case this might have everything to do with beans. Or a lack of them. Whichever.

Anyways, on to more linear things. Today's subject is trust. A funny concept. Most people assume that the word is synonymous with honesty. Which is the farthest thing from the truth. As it was so eloquently put by Captain Jack Sparrow; "Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly." And that is the basis of trust. When you trust a person, you trust that they will do exactly what they have displayed that they are capable of doing, or have consistently done. How's that for a mind bender? So when you no longer trust a person, what you really mean is; that person has displayed something beyond your conceived notion of their normal behaviour. They have been spontaneous or unpredictable. Which also means that that loss of trust is not necessarily a bad thing. Most people associate a lack of trust with a negative action. However that is not always the case. And now after explaining that, I will explain why this is my current topic of thought.

It was not until a few years ago that I actually able to wrap my head around the subject. When I place my trust in someone, it is because I am willing to believe they will act in accordance with what I have observed of their character. And if trust is a belief, it also means that with new information it is subject to change. So we never truly stop trusting a person, we just change what it is about them that we trust. I have discovered in the past few months, that I trust everyone. I trust everyone to act exactly the way they have shown that they do. Sort of a personal breakthrough if you will. So when a person breaks the trust I have placed in them, rather than focusing on the betrayal of that trust, I must change what it is about them that I trust.

This change in perspective helps me sleep better. I am able to let go of the bitterness and negativity that goes along with betrayals. And being able to sleep is paramount to one's happiness. That or a lot of coffee.

Mmmmmm..... coffee.

Why are Fire Engines Red?

I tried watching a movie last night. 'Bedazzled' actually, it's quite good, all about the battle over a soul between God and the 'Devil'. I was having a great time, even made some popcorn, all was going well, and then wouldn't you know it... my DVD player went on the fritz. So now, I have a house with 3 DVD players, none of which want to cooperate. With a sigh I resigned myself to the next best thing, YouTube. Not quite as good quality, but entertaining nonetheless.

YouTube is an interesting entity. Anyone, from any walk of life, any income bracket, any, well, anything can be a star on YouTube. For a few days anyways. Users simply upload their videos and presto! Instant stardom with a click of the mouse. In some ways this is a good thing, many people have had wonderful opportunities presented them as a cause of using this medium for creative outlet. And on the flip side, it opens people up to whatever sordid things can be dredged up from the recesses of the human psyche. There is truly some disturbing things on the site. And it got me thinking about the internet on a whole. Anything you want to know, or in some cases don't want to, are their for your viewing pleasure. In this day and age, in the right places, nothing is taboo. And I would suppose in a roundabout way that also means that nothing is sacred. Don't get me wrong, I love the internet. (or the interwebs as I affectionately refer to it as) There's nothing more stupendous then when you desperately need to know who the drummer is for Trivium, you type a few words into the Google search engine, and poof! there it is. All you could ever want to know and more. There are sites that will not only tell you his name, but his birth date, favourite food, pant size, zodiac sign and the name of his childhood crush.

And that's what I'm really getting at here. There is such a thing as too much information. There are many things that we simply don't need to know. The internet has removed all personal boundaries, and our private lives are now up for grabs, and I don't just mean with so-called 'famous' people. I mean with everyone. Recently pissed off your ex? Well those pictures you took last year are now all over Flickr. Had a party last weekend? Well you can bet that there are now pictures of you doing not so professional things on Facebook for your bosses perusal. All in all, our private lives no longer exist. Sad is it not? Even might make you a little paranoid. Or at least get you thinking. If this is how internet culture has progressed in just a few short years, I fear for what it will be like in the next 10, 5 or even 1 year. For myself, I try to ensure there is only information that I have knowingly placed there, or allowed to be placed there, on this information overload phenomenon we called the world wide web.

Oh and as to the title? Well seeing as you made it this far I guess I'll tell you.

Because they've got 8 wheels and 4 people on them, 8 + 4 = 12, There are 12 inches in a foot, One foot is a ruler, There was a ruler named Queen Elizabeth, A ship named Queen Elizabeth sails the seas, In the seas are fish, On the fish are fins, The Fins fought the Russians, And Russians are red.

And that's why fire engines are red. Because they're always rushin'

<3

And Winter is upon us...

So, we've officially had our first snowfall. And I love it. Never used to like snow, but then that was back when along with snow came consistent -20 or lower weather. Thanks to the wonders of global warming that is no longer the case. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. Snow, in my opinion, is very pretty. It's wonderful to wake up, look outside and see everything dusted with sparkling white. But I think that's just the romantic in me. And quite frankly I'm tired of the negativity that is associated with it. All I ever hear is how awful the snow is, how much everyone hates winter... it's very depressing. If you don't like it that much, move. We live in a world of convenience. Where if you can't shovel the snow, there's snowblowers that practically do all the work for you. Heated houses, cars with heaters and in some cases heated seats. Long gone are the days of poorly insulated houses that required hearths that involved hours upon hours of chopping wood. Unheated cars, or even further back carts, wagons and horses. People complain far too much over things that really don't matter. And here endeth my rant about people who can't see the good in life.

On to happier things. I had quite the adventure installing the newest expansion for World of Warcraft. I was so excited when I got it, I practically tore the box open in anticipation. When I looked at the disk however my heart sank. It was a DVD. BOTH of my DVD players are broken. And try as I might, I could not get them to read the darned thing. So, dejected I went to bed. The following day my brother informed me that you could download the game client off of their website. So with renewed hope I searched, and I searched, and I searched. Couldn't find it. /sigh So I gave in and called customer support at Blizzard. A wonderful fellow named Randy told me exactly how to do it and informed me that he had the same problem. Three and some hours later I had finally downloaded and installed the expansion. And let me tell you, it is amazing. For anyone that was put off of the game because of the previous expansion, in this one Blizzard redeemed themselves. They made quests that are actually fun, Death Knights are awesome and the world is no longer static. The quests you do actually change how you see the world. I was thoroughly impressed and I still am. Although it did take me a week to level to 71. I'm a little slow. No, not in that way.

And that was the bulk of my week. Sad to say that my main form of entertainment at the moment is an MMORPG. But hey, I have an entertainment budget of $15 per month. And I am most certainly entertained.

An Introduction

First off, this is my first Blog. I hope anyone that reads this is not expecting literary genius. This is a place for me to post my random thoughts, hopes, dreams, psychoses, well you get the idea. I've been wanting to start one for a while... so here goes.

This is posted in my Facebook profile. But I thought I would like it to be here as well, just so everyone has an idea of what to expect from me.

I'm Magical.

I'm a nerd and damned proud of it. I love my family and friends fiercely, they are amazing and have helped and supported me more than I can ever repay. I love life, I live for the many wonderful adventures that life can bring. I sing pretty well all the time, I love music, and I have been known to break into song and even dance on random occasions. I am opinionated, not about politics or anything nonsensical like that. The really important stuff, like the best way to make chocolate chip cookies. Just kidding, I also have a strange sense of humour, I love to laugh and smile, usually not AT people. I hate monotony, mean people and drama. If you fill any of those categories, don't bother with me. I'm a pretty easy going person, but most definitely not the door mat type, so don't even try. I like what I like, if you like that too well then great! If not, don't try to change me, I like who and what I am, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be untrue to myself. I enjoy anything fun, and hate anything boring... a pretty simple concept but one people tend to forget. Oh, and I'm a smoker, and I enjoy it, so if you don't that's fine, but I don't want to hear about it. No bigger turn off than being told how unhealthy you are... really people, don't you think I'd call you doctor something or other if I wanted your advice on my health? And if all this doesn't scare you off, then we may perhaps be friends =D

So that's me. Well in a nutshell anyhow. I write this after waking up from a well deserved 14 hour sleep. In preparation for session of D&D I pulled an all nighter cleaning and decorating my apartment. It looks damned pretty now. Well I think so, but then I suppose I'm biased seeing as I have to live in it. And I feel very accomplished, it's one more thing I can scratch off the seemingly endless 'To Do' list I've created for myself. Among those things are; learning the Japanese Tea Ceremony, creating a House, working on a database, working on my army, making garb, re-learning the piano, and re-reading the LOTR trilogy. /sigh I could literally go on for hours. But I'm not gonna!

Last night's D&D session was great. Well, it had a few technical difficulties. One of our players lives not in this city, so we had him on a Skype video call, as it turns out, my apartment needs more light. Though it did work out. Oh and second rule of fixing computers, always wiggle the cables. My friend and I are co-DMing the campaign. First time either of us have tried that. It worked well. Thankfully we both have pretty much the same vision for the campaign, so there was only one minor power struggle =P Ok not so much a struggle, it went like this;

player: so where's Mailea's room? (Mailea is my NPC)
Dungeon Monster: She hasn't picked one yet
Dungeon Mistress (me): Yes she has! She's in room 3!
Dungeon Monster: No she hasn't
Dungeon Mistress: Yes she has, are you arguing with the DM?
Dungeon Monster: I am the DM! oh, wait, ya you're right...
player: ooooooh first power struggle!!

Ya, so that was the extent of our arguing. It was entertaining. Or at least I thought so. We get along great, so it was much fun. Lots of laughs and spirits were high. We're running an evil campaign. So it's really interesting the depths to which our players will go to fulfill their evil heritage. They're pretty creative actually. But more on that as it progresses.

At some point today I will have in my hot little hands... yes that's right... WoTLK!!!! Huzzah! I'm so excited! (For those of you who have no idea what that means, it's the newest expansion for World of Warcraft; Wrath of the Lich King.) Level 80 baby! So no one's going to see me for a while. Or like, ever. Or until I get bored of it. Don't judge me, I told you I was a nerd. A Big Nerd.

Alright, I think I'm done, if I don't stop soon this will dissolve into mindless babbling, which although amusing does not paint an accurate picture of the sorts of things I usually talk about.

Seriously.