A week from now and it won't matter... (WoW)

So Cata releases "tomorrow" (tonight at midnight). I really can't stay up to play at midnight, I have to work the next day. I get up really early, I need to be fast asleep at midnight. (Hear that, brain? Let's not repeat last night, okay?)

Usually I log on before work, but A) there will likely be the usual Tuesday downtime, and B) there will be a queue to log on. My pre-work playtime is very limited, so a queue will eat it.

Usually I log on at lunchtime, but A) there will likely be a longer than usual Tuesday downtime, and B) there will be a queue to log on. My lunchtime playtime is very limited, so a queue will eat it.

That means I'll have to wait until after work to play, when everyone else would have had nearly a whole day (depending on downtime) to play.

I tell myself it doesn't matter. I'm not going for a server First in anything. I have no need to rush to 85 or do anything else that Cata is bringing, yet still, it's the old issue that bothers me. "It's not fair."

I'll always remember that I was one of the first players to set foot in Al Zahbi when ToAU dropped in FFXI. I was on the second boat, the first boat had just a couple people on it, I was the first person off the boat. But with Cata it doesn't matter, it's not the same. In a week, a month, some short time in the future I'll likely be back to standing in Dal staring at the AH all day. So it does not matter if I have to wait hours and hours after everyone else... except it feels like it does.

It bothers me that this bothers me. I should be happy I have a job, not annoyed that it's keeping me from a game that I barely care about to begin with.

Ah well. On the positive side, I RPed yesterday! For the first time in a while! And not only that, with a new person! Lots and lots of fun, though it makes me sad that long scenes (4-5 hours in this case) wear me out and are almost too much. It wasn't so long ago that I used to RP from the moment I crawled out of bed to the seconds before I went to sleep for the night! I'm not sure if it's a change in me or just that I've become used to shorter, quicker scenes.

Ramble, ramble.

A week from now and it won't matter... (WoW)

So Cata releases "tomorrow" (tonight at midnight). I really can't stay up to play at midnight, I have to work the next day. I get up really early, I need to be fast asleep at midnight. (Hear that, brain? Let's not repeat last night, okay?)

Usually I log on before work, but A) there will likely be the usual Tuesday downtime, and B) there will be a queue to log on. My pre-work playtime is very limited, so a queue will eat it.

Usually I log on at lunchtime, but A) there will likely be a longer than usual Tuesday downtime, and B) there will be a queue to log on. My lunchtime playtime is very limited, so a queue will eat it.

That means I'll have to wait until after work to play, when everyone else would have had nearly a whole day (depending on downtime) to play.

I tell myself it doesn't matter. I'm not going for a server First in anything. I have no need to rush to 85 or do anything else that Cata is bringing, yet still, it's the old issue that bothers me. "It's not fair."

I'll always remember that I was one of the first players to set foot in Al Zahbi when ToAU dropped in FFXI. I was on the second boat, the first boat had just a couple people on it, I was the first person off the boat. But with Cata it doesn't matter, it's not the same. In a week, a month, some short time in the future I'll likely be back to standing in Dal staring at the AH all day. So it does not matter if I have to wait hours and hours after everyone else... except it feels like it does.

It bothers me that this bothers me. I should be happy I have a job, not annoyed that it's keeping me from a game that I barely care about to begin with.

Ah well. On the positive side, I RPed yesterday! For the first time in a while! And not only that, with a new person! Lots and lots of fun, though it makes me sad that long scenes (4-5 hours in this case) wear me out and are almost too much. It wasn't so long ago that I used to RP from the moment I crawled out of bed to the seconds before I went to sleep for the night! I'm not sure if it's a change in me or just that I've become used to shorter, quicker scenes.

Ramble, ramble.

Start popping out those babies, married women! (RL)

Prop 9, the ban on same-sex weddings, is back in the court today here in California. Driving back to work, I heard some of it on the radio.

The main, central argument of the lawyers on the side of banning same-sex weddings is that a marriage is meant to produce children. So c'mon, all you married ladies. Are you pregnant yet? Why not?! Hop to it, married men! Stop slacking off!

They played some of the audio from outside of the courthouse, and while it didn't surprise me, it made me really sad. The anti- group was so darned mean, hateful, yelling about how the gay people are sinners, wicked, unnatural, going to hell, etc. The audio from the pro-same-sex side was the white to anti-'s black: Singing happy songs, laughing (in a happy way, not mocking... not that I'd blame them for laughing mockingly!), just basically positive.

It would be nice to be there, to see all this in person. It's a beautiful day today (warm, skies are clear, everything's bright green), I'd love to be there and just stand with people to support them and hide from the scary hate-filled side be among all that positive energy.

They say the court's decision might not be handed down for weeks, but I really can't see it going any other way. How could we have a law removing basic rights from people? How could voters be given that power? If people put 'blacks must return to slavery' or 'women can no longer hold jobs' on the ballot and it passed, would everyone be all hunky-dory and just make that a new law?

Start popping out those babies, married women! (RL)

Prop 9, the ban on same-sex weddings, is back in the court today here in California. Driving back to work, I heard some of it on the radio.

The main, central argument of the lawyers on the side of banning same-sex weddings is that a marriage is meant to produce children. So c'mon, all you married ladies. Are you pregnant yet? Why not?! Hop to it, married men! Stop slacking off!

They played some of the audio from outside of the courthouse, and while it didn't surprise me, it made me really sad. The anti- group was so darned mean, hateful, yelling about how the gay people are sinners, wicked, unnatural, going to hell, etc. The audio from the pro-same-sex side was the white to anti-'s black: Singing happy songs, laughing (in a happy way, not mocking... not that I'd blame them for laughing mockingly!), just basically positive.

It would be nice to be there, to see all this in person. It's a beautiful day today (warm, skies are clear, everything's bright green), I'd love to be there and just stand with people to support them and hide from the scary hate-filled side be among all that positive energy.

They say the court's decision might not be handed down for weeks, but I really can't see it going any other way. How could we have a law removing basic rights from people? How could voters be given that power? If people put 'blacks must return to slavery' or 'women can no longer hold jobs' on the ballot and it passed, would everyone be all hunky-dory and just make that a new law?

"Nappy-headed", offensive?

WoW has been aflutter today not just about the coming expansion (hour and a half until it goes live!), but about the use of the word "nappy" in a quest cutscene. One NPC calls another NPC "nappy-headed".

I'll admit that I had no idea the word was offensive. I did know that it was used only for black folks, and it dates back a long time ago, but I had thought it was probably a valid word to use to describe a certain type of hair.

The topic got me thinking; I was never so invested in racial issues as I am in gender/same-sex ones. I know very little about it, and it took some thinking to remember why.

Back in college (ages ago!) I was a very different person. Pretty much polar opposite of what I am now. (The first election I ever voted in was for a Republican. I made my father happy and my mother sad.)

I was aware my opinions weren't the popular ones, so I basically kept my head down and kept quiet. While my school was just in a boring NY town, nothing much radical going on there at the time, there was a racial issue. (And boy did I stretch my googling skills to find mention of it!)

"Hasbrouck Arrests Throw Campus into Turmoil: Outraged Students Demand Justice"- Over 250 people filled the Lecture Center to offer support and hear the first hand accounts of eight students who were arrested in Hasbrouck Dining Hall on July 29th. The students, one white female and seven black males were arrested after a noise complaint concerning a radio in the dining hall. The students were beaten and held in choke-holds by Campus Police, working in conjunction with the town police force.

Seems so odd to read about now. The eight were listening to a "boom box" (talk about a dated term!) in the dining hall. They're referred to over and over as "the Hasbrouck 8", which makes them seem like something more than they were.

I had been so immature when I was in college. I could have used that issue, or my years there, to learn more about such things, but instead I was close-minded about so much, I hated... well, name a group and I likely hated it. I've never written about this before. It's somewhat embarrassing, but less than it could be for one reason: I grew up.

This may be an unfair thing, but my experience is why I feel bad for all the anti- people out there instead of hating them. Anti-gay, anti-black, anti-whatever. I feel like I grew up, so there's hope others will as well.

I probably shouldn't include this paragraph, but since I won't name names maybe it'll be okay. (Sorry, person, if it's not!) There's someone I know who is somewhat like I was. Over the years, this person has changed. It's slow, it's little steps, but there have been changes. I've never told this person, but I have hope for them, that one day they will change as much as I have. I think it's possible, even though I'm sure this person doesn't even want to change at this point. :) But I'm pretty sure the old-person wouldn't be so happy with who the person is now, so who knows what further changes will come in the future.

I'm aware the last two paragraphs probably sound conceited. "My way is the best way!" I don't know. I'm pro- pretty much everything these days, which has to be better than being mostly anti-, right?

Hour left to Cata. I really need to go to sleep, but my brain is wide awake and racing (not even about WoW, about all these big, RL issues). :/

Edit: I should have written about this sooner. I feel better for it no longer being a secret. I don't like who I was in college, but I'm not that person anymore. I don't really believe in karma, but I'd like to think I'm slowly making up for the harm and negativity I brought into the world back then. Part of me wishes I had grown up sooner, but I know these things take time.

"Nappy-headed", offensive?

WoW has been aflutter today not just about the coming expansion (hour and a half until it goes live!), but about the use of the word "nappy" in a quest cutscene. One NPC calls another NPC "nappy-headed".

I'll admit that I had no idea the word was offensive. I did know that it was used only for black folks, and it dates back a long time ago, but I had thought it was probably a valid word to use to describe a certain type of hair.

The topic got me thinking; I was never so invested in racial issues as I am in gender/same-sex ones. I know very little about it, and it took some thinking to remember why.

Back in college (ages ago!) I was a very different person. Pretty much polar opposite of what I am now. (The first election I ever voted in was for a Republican. I made my father happy and my mother sad.)

I was aware my opinions weren't the popular ones, so I basically kept my head down and kept quiet. While my school was just in a boring NY town, nothing much radical going on there at the time, there was a racial issue. (And boy did I stretch my googling skills to find mention of it!)

"Hasbrouck Arrests Throw Campus into Turmoil: Outraged Students Demand Justice"- Over 250 people filled the Lecture Center to offer support and hear the first hand accounts of eight students who were arrested in Hasbrouck Dining Hall on July 29th. The students, one white female and seven black males were arrested after a noise complaint concerning a radio in the dining hall. The students were beaten and held in choke-holds by Campus Police, working in conjunction with the town police force.

Seems so odd to read about now. The eight were listening to a "boom box" (talk about a dated term!) in the dining hall. They're referred to over and over as "the Hasbrouck 8", which makes them seem like something more than they were.

I had been so immature when I was in college. I could have used that issue, or my years there, to learn more about such things, but instead I was close-minded about so much, I hated... well, name a group and I likely hated it. I've never written about this before. It's somewhat embarrassing, but less than it could be for one reason: I grew up.

This may be an unfair thing, but my experience is why I feel bad for all the anti- people out there instead of hating them. Anti-gay, anti-black, anti-whatever. I feel like I grew up, so there's hope others will as well.

I probably shouldn't include this paragraph, but since I won't name names maybe it'll be okay. (Sorry, person, if it's not!) There's someone I know who is somewhat like I was. Over the years, this person has changed. It's slow, it's little steps, but there have been changes. I've never told this person, but I have hope for them, that one day they will change as much as I have. I think it's possible, even though I'm sure this person doesn't even want to change at this point. :) But I'm pretty sure the old-person wouldn't be so happy with who the person is now, so who knows what further changes will come in the future.

I'm aware the last two paragraphs probably sound conceited. "My way is the best way!" I don't know. I'm pro- pretty much everything these days, which has to be better than being mostly anti-, right?

Hour left to Cata. I really need to go to sleep, but my brain is wide awake and racing (not even about WoW, about all these big, RL issues). :/

Edit: I should have written about this sooner. I feel better for it no longer being a secret. I don't like who I was in college, but I'm not that person anymore. I don't really believe in karma, but I'd like to think I'm slowly making up for the harm and negativity I brought into the world back then. Part of me wishes I had grown up sooner, but I know these things take time.