Our first Christmas tree!

Cameron and I purchased our first Christmas tree together this past weekend. Decorated with care, it has a mismatched collection of ornaments that we've inherited from our folks and grandfolks over the years.

On any given year, my family selects a tree from a local tree farm. The kind of farm where you venture out into a field with a saw, pick your own tree and bring it home. This year we purchased from a local hardware store and it is a pretty beautiful tree, a noble fir to be exact.

We light it all the time. Well, not all of the time we do turn it off when it's light outside or when we are away, but for the most part it remains lit in our living room. A comforting, sparkling glow. A reminder of the season.

Thank you for being here to share in this moment!

Bastion giveaway!

It is the season of giving and I am giving away a free copy of the video game Bastion.

The rules are simple:

A.) You must have the free Steam client installed. Bastion was purchased on Steam and I will be gifting it through them.

B.) You must be subscribed to my blog. If you subscribe via rss or email you will need to tell me, I can see when the numbers change but not who is or isn't subscribing.

C.) You must be subscribed to my YouTube channel. Visit my page and at the top there will be a subscribe button!

D.) After you are done installing Steam and subscribing, comment on this blog and tell me that you have subscribed to both my blog and YouTube channel and that you would like Bastion.

Winners will be drawn and announced next Tuesday December 4th, 2012.

Good luck!

Jinx clothing

I am now a Jinx clothing affiliate!

If you follow the link to Jinx from the top right-hand side of my website or the link below and purchase something after you follow through with that link, I will get rewarded! Yay!

This is just in time for Christmas so if you’re looking for some gamer/geeky apparel for yourself or that special someone. Please support me by purchasing through my link. It would mean the world to me!

Happy Thanksgiving

Here in North America, Thanksgiving day is a national annual holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, marked by religious services and a traditional meal including a turkey or ham. Of course each family is different, some may not attend religious services and some may not eat turkey or ham, that’s not the point. I’ve always felt the main focus is to be together with the people you love and eat a meal together, thankful for all you have.

After all the definition of the word Thanksgiving is the expression of gratitude.

This is a special day where we all express our love and gratitude for the special people, circumstances and objects of our lives. A lot of people, including myself, lose sight of how wonderful aspects of our life really are.

I’ve created a list of the things I am thankful for in my life right now and I hope that I can remember, on more than just this day, what makes my life special.

I am thankful for…

My family
My husband
My new in-law family
My friends
My cats
My turtle
My (relatively) good health
My apartment
My job
My possessions

A letter to my stomach

Dear stomach,

Please note that although there will be a delicious looking banquet of food unfolded before you tomorrow, on Thanksgiving day, you are to exercise moderation. Know that this is not a race to see how fast you can finish the plate and not a contest to see how much you can fit within; there will be leftovers.

I don’t know what you’ve been lead to believe, but this will not be the last food you will ever see, no. No, we can even make some of these dishes throughout the year, rather than wait for one day to use the excuse to eat as much of each dish as we can.

Know that, I the mind, will do my best to restrain your temptations, but please for the sake of abdomen, butt and thighs, keep yourself under control. We have a high school reunion to prepare for my friend.

Signed,

The management.

Batman: Arkham Asylum review

The Batmobile races through the dark and murky streets of Gotham transporting the (once-again) captured Joker back to Arkham Asylum, Gotham's home for the criminally insane. When Batman arrives at the facility with his prisoner something doesn’t feel quite right. The Joker was too easy to catch, almost like he wanted to be brought back into the Asylum and after a “mysterious” fire at nearby prison, the facility has been stocked with hundreds of the Joker's goons. As a wary Batman escorts his prisoner deeper into the Asylum, the Joker breaks free, with the help of Harley Quinn, and his carefully formulated hostile take over begins.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a third-person action video game that places players in the role of the Dark Knight himself, Batman. With the help of a few of Batman’s notoriously hi tech goodies and special training, the player must navigate the isolated Arkham Asylum island: saving the innocents and defeating the villains. All in the effort to stop the Joker from releasing an army of mutated human monsters on the people of Gotham City.

Now, this might sound like your typical Batman story -- and it kind of is -- but it's important to take note that this is a fairly adult title. Arkham itself is a dark and gothic place that has just been completely torn apart by every psychopath housed there as they were set free. Dead guards are laid out and debris is strewn about. The facilities have seen better days.

Gameplay in this game breaks down into three main portions – exploring, fist fighting and stealth.

There are six main buildings on the island and each is one is fairly large: filled with cells, laboratories, libraries, and more. Explore! The driving motivation behind a detailed exploration of each location are the 240 Riddler challenges. Every so often, Edward Nigma chirps a riddle into Batman's earpiece that pertains to the room the Caped Crusader is in. It is up to you to locate the answer and scan it with your analysis tool. Beyond these worded riddles, the Riddler's challenges include trophies he's tucked away in the asylum, visual puzzles you can only solve through Detective Mode, villains’ patient interviews, and more. Most of areas that house these items will take your gadgets to find, so it's up to you to crawl through grates, use your cryptographic sequencer to hack security panels, use explosive gel to knock down walls and so on to get where you’re going.

As you move through the facility you're going to run into the baddies. Several confrontations await you, whether the Joker springs a trap with handfuls of guys ready to kill you or you find a crew of goons milling about; this is when you'll make use of your straight hand-to-hand moves. Batman's training allows him to move faster than his enemies and engage them in 360 degrees. Aim Batman towards whatever enemy you want to attack and he will follow through. Through four commands-- strike, reverse, jump, and stun -- you'll unleash the Bat’s fury on the scum of the Earth. You can just mash the strike button and take down the bad guys with a healthy set of animations -- dropkicks, elbows, punches, and more are peppered in -- and counter when you see the icon pop-up, but there's a sweet science to this madness if you use the right sequence of attacks. I felt empowered as I knocked these goons down, grabbed their bats and slammed them back into the attackers.

My favorite part of the game is taking out your opponents via stealth. While there are going to be those times where Joker's men ambush you, there are also the moments where you must be invisible, attacking from the shadows. These scenarios are enticing because they forced me to plan my movements instead of rushing in like an action star. I’d perch on a gargoyle and use an inverted takedown to snatch up my foes, then continue to pick them off one by one.


Some of the folks from Batman: The Animated Series are back to reprise their roles: Mark Hamill is the Joker, Kevin Conroy is Batman, and Arleen Sorkin is Harley Quinn. Mark Hamill is excellent in this game -- his inflection, his timing, and everything else is just spot-on. Thing is, he's not the exception to the rule -- Batman, Poison Ivy, the Riddler all sound excellent. Sure, some of the guards are hit or miss, but the characters you care about nail it. Add in the fact that you have an orchestral score that fits the dark, brooding mood of the game, and you have a title that is everything a Batman game's supposed to be in terms of mood.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the greatest comic book video games of all time. This is an adult Dark Knight story that is well-told, packs some truly fun gameplay elements, has topnotch voice talent, and feels like it's truly of the Batman caliber.

I am Batman.

Check out "The First 60 Minutes of Batman: Arkham Asylum"


Check out my playthrough of Batman: Arkham Asylum on YouTube.

Batman: Arkham Asylum was on my list of "older" games I wanted to experience.

Friday feature - Silk generative art

My friend shared this site with me, titled "Silk - Interactive generative art".

Using the mouse you can create your own inkblot-esque designs with blue smoke-like wisps. Depending on what setting you're on, you can either have vertical symmetry, four way symmetry or no symmetry at all. Relax to the soothing music and create artwork you can share. Pictured above and below are two of my creations.

Check them out! Relax and enjoy.

Do the mashed potatoes!

I will be spending Thanksgiving with my husband’s (and now my) family and I am happy to be contributing to the meal!

When I found my husband was contributing a pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin soup, I felt the need to share something I could make as well…mashed potatoes!

Mashed potatoes are incredibly simple to make.

• You start with potatoes, what type is your preference, I normally use russet.
• Peel each potato using a potato peeler or knife.
• Cut each potato into bite size pieces and rinse one final time in the sink to get any extra dirt off.
• Place the potatoes in a pan of water large and full enough for the water to cover all the potatoes.
• Boil potatoes until soft. You can test this by sticking a fork into a piece and pushing it against the side of the pot.
• Drain the water and mash up the potatoes. You can use a utensil or hand mixer.
• If potatoes are too dry you can add a little bit of liquid. Water, milk or broth (by preference).
• Add butter and whichever seasoning you would like, it’s your potatoes!

I’m usually a huge fan of recipes with exact measurements, but really, mashed potatoes are all about personal preference. You take a core food and build on it.

How do you like your mashed potatoes?

Share the holidays

One of the key ingredients to a Marriage is compromise.

Cameron and I were married in June of this year and with the arrival of the two major holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, we are figuring out how to fairly divide our time with each family.

After much discussion amongst ourselves, we’ve come to the conclusion that this year we are spending Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas day with mine. Christmas eve will be divided between both families. Next year we will switch days, spending Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas day with his.

Since this is our first time doing this there may be some alterations, especially in the future when we have children to take into consideration. For now this will probably be the fairest way to distribute time so that we see everyone without having to drive back and forth too much.

There have been couples I know or have known where one of the individuals takes over every holiday and makes their family the priority. In certain situations this might be ok, but is important to talk about it and see how your significant other is feeling. Remember this is not just you and yours in this relationship, but they and theirs as well. Think of their feelings as well as that of their parents, siblings, grandparents and so forth.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is free to play

Star Wars: The Old Republic will feature a free-to-play option as of November 15th, 2012, that's this Thursday!

I was overjoyed when I purchased this game last December, fully intending to play it through, but life got in the way and I had to suspend my account. At the time I had horrible Internet and reached a stalemate in the storyline I could not pass with the lag I was experiencing. When we moved into our new apartment the Internet turned amazing, but my funds did not. I am currently subscribed to World of Warcraft for a year in return for a “free” copy of Diablo III. Paying $14.99 a month for one game is doable, but I cannot pay for two right now.

I can hardly wait to start playing again when the game switches over. I will most likely re-create my Jedi Consular since I enjoyed playing her the most. I’ll give you all the details when the time arrives so we can play together.

As I mentioned before I already own the game, which I re-installed last night. If you don’t already own the game, you can download it from the SWTOR website, or find it at a local retailer. As of right now the standard version is $14.99, but that may change.

Free to play will have full access to class storylines level 1 thru 50, but there will be some limitations on other game features. You can view the differences between subscription and free-to-play accounts on the SW:TOR website.

Take a look at the videos below.

Tomb Raider - Keeping an eye on Lara Croft

“Find though she be but little, she is fierce” – Shakespeare

Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Lara must fight to unravel the dark history of a forgotten island to escape its relentless hold.

On March 5th, 2013 Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix release a new installment of the Tomb Raider series, aptly named Tomb Raider, that will completely refresh and revitalize the series. This particular game will be a prologue, leading into future releases within the same universe and following the same storyline.

Words alone cannot express the excitement and anticipation I feel for this game. Lara Croft is a strong and intelligent female heroine; women want to be her and men want to be with her.


At the beginning of this story, we experience Lara embarking on her first job after graduating from a University. She shows fear in the face of danger, initially lacking confidence in her own abilities and judgment. Still, we can see the seeds of what Lara will eventually become. She possesses a powerful sense of moral courage. She is clever, resourceful and determined.

What intrigues me about this game is Lara’s vulnerability. She’s not the already perfect badass that everyone already recognizes her to be. She’s young, inexperienced and naïve the way most of us would be in her situation. She’s just beginning her journey and we are beginning it with her and as we identify with her experiences we are becoming tough and battle-hardened survivors along with her. Understanding her much more than ever before.

The original Tomb Raider game made its debut in 1996. Set in an early example of the 3D genre, the game presents a series of tombs and other locations through which the player must guide Lara. Using an over the shoulder third-person shooter mechanics, Lara must defeat dangerous creatures and humans while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to the ultimate prize, a powerful artifact.

In previous games the storyline was usually driven by the quest for aforementioned powerful artifact, pitting Lara in a race against a sinister shadow league who want to obtain the relic for their own purposes. These artifacts usually possess mystical powers and may be of supernatural, or even alien, origin. Often in the series, the antagonist uses the artifact or pieces of it to create terrifying mystical monsters, creatures, and mutants which Lara must defeat throughout the journey.

The new Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened and naive young woman, to a hardened survivor. Setting out on a voyage to make her mark on the world Lara's ship, the Endurance, is hit by a violent storm and split in two and she finds herself stranded on an isolated tropical island in the Dragon's Triangle. Lara has to find food and water to survive, fighting off the more dangerous animal inhabitants and trying to trace any other survivors. But a darker threat awaits as she is forced to face a group of malevolent mercenaries who seek to kill her and her companions.


As we draw nearer to the release of Tomb Raider I will keep you posted on any new news or details. When the game releases I will be doing a playthrough on my YouTube channel.

You can preorder Tomb Raider at the following stores.

Grainger Games
GameStop
Best Buy

The Tomb Raider website has confirmed that the game will be available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox360. As of right now it looks like the stores are only offering PlayStation 3 and Xbox360, but that could change shortly so stay tuned!

World of Warcraft - elemental shaman leveling rotation 61-90

Welcome fledgling shamans!

If you are a fan of visual guides then you’ve come to the right place. Here you will find visual aids of elemental rotations by level using the current icons for those abilities. Whether you are aiming to raid or prefer to experience all PvE content has to offer (this is not a guide for PvP), it’s best to start good habits early!

Keep in mind there may be some abilities not shown here that are circumstantial, but important. Spells like these are not used in an average rotation so we will cover them at a later time. In the meantime, read the description of each new spell you receive and apply it when needed. If you have any specific elemental questions let me know! I am here to help!

Elemental Shaman rotations levels 61 through 90 (See bottom of the post for other levels).


At level 61 your rotation should be as follows: Buff yourself with Lightning Shield and Flametongue Weapon. After checking your buffs, place Searing Totem, Flame Shock, then Lava Burst. While Lava Burst is on cool down, spam Lightning Bolt and Earth Shock when there are 7 charges on Lightning Shield.


Circumstantial! At level 66 you receive the Fire ElementalTotem. This can be used in longer fights to boost your dps.


Circumstantial! At level 70 you receive Bloodlust/Heroism. This can be used in longer and/or harder fights to boost you and your raid party’s casting speed by 30% for 40 seconds. If you are in a raid, do not cast this in a fight until your raid leader asks you to! Keep in mind once this is cast it has a cooldown of 10 minutes.


Circumstantial! At level 72 you receive Bind Elemental. This can be used for crowd control situations to restrain a hostile elemental for up to 50 sec.


Circumstantial! At level 75 you receive Hex. This can be used to turn most humanoids and beasts into a frog for up to 1 min. This is very helpful in higher levels when you need to take care of one mob at a time.


At level 81 you receive Unleash Elements. This can be used to really bump up the damage on your Lava Burst Spell. Alter your rotation. Buff yourself with Lightning Shield and Flametongue Weapon. After checking your buffs, place Searing Totem, Flame Shock, UnleashElements, then Lava Burst. While Lava Burst is on cool down, spam Lightning Bolt and Earth Shock when there are 7 charges on Lightning Shield.


Circumstantial! At level 85 you receive Spiritwalker’sGrace. You can use this to move while casting any non-instant spells. Which would be very useful specific situations.


At level 87 you receive Ascendance. Alter your rotation. Buff yourself with Lightning Shield and Flametongue Weapon. After checking your buffs, place Searing Totem. Cast Flame Shock, Unleash Elements, Ascendance and then Lava Burst to your heart's content. Once Ascendance has worn off and while that and Lava Burst are on cool down, spam Lightning Bolt and Earth Shock when there are 7 charges on Lightning Shield.

Levels 1-30
Levels 31-60

Stay tuned for insight on talent trees and glyphs!

Apples = amazing

I am going to take a moment of your time to gush about apples.

Fall brings the season of apples, apples are plentiful this time of year and one of the reasons I love this season. Apples are my favorite fruit. Why? They are easy to find, easy to serve, always affordable and extremely good for you.

Apples are packed full of antioxidants and a fiber called Pectin. Pectin is a soluble, fermentable and viscous fiber; a combination with a huge number of health benefits.

• The free-radical fighting power of the natural antioxidants found in an apple help prevent aging effects and breakdown of the brain; reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
• Red apples contain an antioxidant called Quercetin that can help boost and fortify your immune system; reducing the risk of sickness.
• Several compounds found within the apple’s peel and in the apple itself help prevent the growth activity of cancer cells in areas such as the liver, colon and breast.
• The fiber in apples lowers cholesterol by binding with fats in the intestines and passing it out of the bodies’ system. In slowing the build up of cholesterol and preventing the cholesterol in your system from solidifying, the fiber in apples also helps keep the arteries and heart cleaner and reduces the risk of heart disease.
• The fiber in apples will help you maintain weight by filling you up without costing too many calories.
• Biting and chewing on apples stimulates saliva production in the mouth. Saliva reduces tooth decay by lowering levels of bacteria.

This is only a short list of the benefits of apples. I could go on longer than you dare to read. Suffice to say, they are incredibly good for you and it is very true that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”.

How do you consume apples?

I like to eat them cut into small pieces for easy snacking (better than chips while you're gaming!). When I feel more ambitious I will cook them with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top or convert them into homemade applesauce. And then there is the always amazing fresh apple cider…or any apple cider for that matter.

Friday feature - Gargoyles

Gargoyles is an American animated series created by Greg Weisman. The show aired in 1994 and continued to 1997. It was then continued in 2006 to 2007 by a comic book also titled Gargoyles, written by Weisman and produced by slave labor graphics.

The series features a species of nocturnal gargoyles that turn to stone during the day, focusing on a clan led by Goliath. The clan originates from 994 A.D. Scotland where they coexist with humans in an uneasy truce until they are betrayed and cursed to remain frozen in their stone form until their castle ‘rises above the clouds’. In 1994 a billionaire, David Xanatos, purchases the castle and reconstructs it on top of his skyscraper in New York, awakening the six remaining gargoyles. Upon waking in this new modern world the gargoyles are aided by a sympathetic NYPD officer, Elisa Maza, and quickly come into conflict with David Xanatos. In addition to the gargoyles adjusting to their new life in New York, the series also incorporates various supernatural threats to their safety and the world at large.

Gargoyles has to be one of my favorite cartoon shows of all time. I started watching Gargoyles when I was in middle school and it became part of my nightly schedule to watch it on the Disney Channel before bed. I believe what appealed to me the most were the supernatural species incorporated into our modern society.

My favorite gargoyle was Brooklyn, who was your favorite character?

Homemade hot cocoa mix

• 3 cups non-fat powdered milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ½ cups white chocolate chips
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Mix ingredients together into a large bowl. Pour about half the bowl’s contents into a food processor and process until smooth. Repeat with second half of the bowl’s contents. Store in an air-tight container.

This recipe yields about 20 servings.

To drink: Add 1/3 cup cocoa mix to 1 cup hot milk. Milk must be hot or it will not absorb the powder.