The Internet - Portal to friendships

I think Tsunaze looks pretty bad ass in this picture.  I love the look on her face.  As if she's saying, "Really, you want a piece of this?" as she takes on a ninja pose.  Tsunaze, is no ninja.  Right now, she is a shadow priest, trying to make her way to 100.

Chinese to you? Yeah, if you haven't played World of Warcraft, it probably is.  You may have seen commercials announcing the latest "Expansion" for WoW.  Worry not if you haven't.  I won't be speaking about which quests I'm currently on, what my iLevel is at, and which dungeons I'm looking forward to.  I started playing again this weekend with this latest release of the game.  I always find them fun.  I've been playing this game, on and off since sometime in 2005.  Along the way, I made some really good friends - Soraxen, Acroyear, Calex, Ronho, Jeager, Mervyn and so many others.  Okay so those are their screen names, but I also know them as Brian, Al, Ann, Mo, Will and Jon.  

You see, the internet can be a place where you meet wonderful people.  I've met wonderful ladies through the BBC loss forums.  I met amazing women, inspirational women through blogs.  And in WoW, I made some everlasting friendships.  For several years, we "hung out" together several times each week, working as a team, toward a goal of defeating "evil" monsters in WoW.  Some battles took months to conquer.  But we did it, and the cheers over "Ventrilo", a voice over IP software we used to talk to each other as we did "battle" were so much fun to here and partake in.  Forever, our battle song was Jeager's bottle opener.  It's okay if you don't get this one ;)

Speaking of Jeager, he kind of inspired this post by contacting me this morning, letting me know that he had donated to the American SIDS Institute to honor Preston and also let me know that he reads my blog all the time.  #SpreadHappinessForPreston has continued on today!  I was so touched, because we haven't really played WoW together in a long time, yet that friendship was built over the internet, and it created a bond, where we all really care about each other.  Sure, there were so duds along the way, Ciera the mage anyone? Hehe.  But, for the most part, we had a great bunch of people within our guild, our group.  Some have come and gone.  Some have returned and left again.  Some visit seldom, but a lot of us have stayed in touch, whether we are still playing or not.

I've met several of my guildmates, in the flesh.  We visited Sean, Ann and Al in 2007.  I met Brian and Davide for dinner in Denver last year.  Brett had dinner with Allan and I think Carl was there too.  We had breakfast this summer in Denver, with Mo and his wife Sarah, who also plays WoW but I haven't had the chance to play with her much.  Steven attended our wedding!  We had dinner with Chris (Modrid) in Boulder a few years back.  And, we also met Simon, who was visiting his friend in Colorado and he surprised Brett for his birthday. We stopped by David's place while he lived in Toronto.  Gosh, I miss Lumps now!

The internet can be filled with crazies, that is for sure.  But, when you spend as much time as we did together.  When you bond, whether it be trying for months to defeat a monster while playing a game or you bond because you've had a similar experience like the loss of a child, you can form bonds that are ever lasting.  You can form true friendships.

With the magic of the internet, and these friendships that were formed, happiness was spread in so many different places.  Colorado, Quebec, Ontario, Nevada, Maryland, Alberta, South Africa, Wyoming, Idaho, Hawaii, California, Illinois, Washington, Missouri.  I'm sure there were a lot more places that I'm just not aware of.  I've been amazed to see where I've had readers.  The majority are in the States and Canada, but I've still had quite a few in other countries.  The diagram below doesn't show every country, but it shows the top ones, all time.  I always get excited when I see a country I haven't seen pop up before.  It makes me smile, to think my little guy, is travelling the world, one person at a time.  Thank you Internet.  Thank you for crossing my path with so many special people.  Thank you for allowing me to keep in touch, with old friends and family.  Thank you for being like a magical portal for friendships.

Games

 

I've always enjoyed games.  Playing computer games is probably one of my earliest memories.  We had an Apple II computer with hundreds of games.  The ones I remember the most are Qbert, Ms Pac-Man, Lode Runner, Conan, Montezuma's Revenge... I think there was one called Lock N Lock?  I had a lot of fun playing these games and learning how to use a computer.

Once our Apple II computer stopped working, my dad got a (work) laptop.  It was bulky, heavy, and thick.  I'm pretty sure that's the computer I first played Civilization on.  Awesome game if you've never played it.  It's probably one of the strategy games I've enjoyed the most.  Adventure games were also a type of game I enjoyed.  I enjoyed the linear storylines though it got frustrating when you just couldn't figure out the next part of the puzzle!  I enjoyed the King's Quest series and the Hero's Quest first installment.  There are others I'm sure I'm not thinking about.

I bought my first computer with money I made babysitting.  It was a Celeron 333mhz.  Really fast at that time.  It was great! I got to play games in my room when I wanted, and also got to use it for my school papers.  I was also really proud to have been able to make such a large purchase.  I must have been 13 or 14 when I bought it.  Time escapes me.. I suppose I could have been 12...

If you've read my blog, or know me well, you know I played World of Warcraft for a long time.  I first played a hunter.  I found it appealing since I'd played a rogue when playing Diablo (and a rogue was more of an archer in Diablo).  I also liked the fact that you could have a pet who would help you in combat.  As the game is ever changing, the hunter was modified so much that I didn't enjoy it anymore. So, I changed my main character to a priest who I named Tsunaze.  I was actually hoping to name her Tsunade, after a character from the Naruto manga.  Yes, I'm a geek, you can say it :P.  Tsunade is a ninja; a really powerful healing ninja.  But since the name was unavailable, I tweaked it and Tsunaze was born.  In World of Warcraft, the priest can be a spellcaster who uses shadow spells to harm enemy targets or can be a powerful healer who will keep the team alive during encounters with monsters.  I made Tsunaze a healer and rather enjoyed it for a long time.  I liked the thought of "healing" or helping others.  I haven't played in a while.  I played quite a bit after Preston passed as it kept my mind occupied, but I felt I needed to be more productive and haven't played in months.  Perhaps once winter comes around I'll start to play again for a little bit.

I did meet my husband playing World of Warcraft.  Our characters can be seen below.  That was what they looked like in 2007.  I'll have to get new screenshots, they look so different now.

Board games and card games are also something I enjoy.  Brett and I play poker about once a month with our friends.  I haven't won in forever, which is frustrating.  Once the tiling renovation is completed, I'm hoping to have people over for a game night.  I feel pretty embarrassed by the state of our carpet right now to have people over.  No matter how much I try to vacuum, it's now to a point where nothing can really make it look better.

I enjoyed playing games with Preston.  He rather enjoyed "this little piggy" when he was about 10-12 weeks old.  He would coo, and laugh in his own little way, since he hadn't quite mastered it yet.  In the last couple weeks he was alive, I would blow on his belly and he would giggle like crazy.  I found a new game just about a week before we said goodbye.  I would pull my tongue out at him and make funny sounds.  I never heard him laugh harder and louder.  It was the best sound in the world.  I think he was starting to get the hang of it too, as he would pull his tongue out constantly, wanting to copy his mama.

I miss your giggles, and your smiles.  I miss your constant kicks and your starting to learn what your hands were capable of.  I miss your coos, and your cries.  I miss how upset you would be when you were wet.  I miss the pure joy you brought me.  However, I cherish all these things and will do so for the rest of my life.  These memories, the games we played, even if they were few, help pull me through each day.  Games remind me to have fun, even when it can seem like an impossible task.  Games, remind me of your smile, and remind me that I should smile too, if only to honor your short sweet life.