Camping...my email

So I finished my last Chapter and sent it to my chair with the previous 3 for editing completion. Except...that was 3 days ago. So here I am, compulsively checking my email every 15-20 minutes. Sooner I get the edits back, the sooner I can edit, then I can schedule a oral defense before the semester end in 2 weeks...

My solution? Send an email that addresses another issue, unrelated to my Chapter 4 in hopes that:

1) He will feel compelled to mention his review progress

2) He will finish the review faster

Let's see how that works out for me...

Is that a light I see?

Maybe...Probably...Inevitably.

In what is likely to be a "Hail Mary" of my academic career I finally finished Chapter 3...again. Someone didn't like the first version so I got emo about it through the summer then dusted myself off and wrote a better one! My chair finally loved it and green-lighted me for the last chapter. So all I have left is that plus some changes in tense on the previous chapters and a short paragraph on reflexivity and I am good to go! Ironically reflexivity is actually me writing this on my blog...about my dissertation. I digress. Wish me luck internet type people for I shall attack that chapter most vigorously!...As soon as I get off this blog...and onto my other laptop...

Post gaming Horizon- Part 2

I have discovered the secret to avoid playing online games. Her name is Zoey and she is a 3 lb Pomeranian/Yorkie mix. Currently she is 13 weeks old still working on potty training and very feisty!

If you don't smile you have issues...

This is my boyfriends screensaver....and I still laugh everytime. Is that wrong?

The end of a rough week

It has been a tough week for me...and I really hate being right in these types of cases.

I spent the greater part of the week scrambling to get my chapter 3 done, I even took off 2 days to do it, not sure how I am gonna pay my bills this month but I felt I would regret it if I didn't try.

I finished Friday and sent my total 113 pages to my chair for review, then he emailed me and asked for tables...

Today should be good but its not...

So I had my proposal meeting today and unconditionally passed. Which means I don't have to make a whole lot of changes and I am green lighted to go ahead with the rest of the dissertation. Great news right? Should be, but it instead I just feel bad. It's like one of those times you get good news but you feel like there is a huge "BUT..." following it.

Progress....I hope

So the dissertation continues, and I finally set a proposal meeting for March 21st. A week later then I had hoped because someone on my committee has to go get their freak on in Vegas for some bachelor party fun....

So anyway I am looking at this weekend to finish up my Chapter 3 and next week start on Chapter 4. Then I have to assemble a power point presentation for my meeting. I am thinking of using some colorful online gaming media to spice it up a bit, but I haven't settled on what to use just yet. I am thinking a short clip of South Parks WoW video to depict media stereotypes on gamers. Any other ideas?

Post gaming horizon- Part 1

It has probably been 30 days since I have been on an online game, I canceled my WoW account, and of course FFXIV is still running free so no need to there. I haven't logged in, but I admit I still check my guilds private website to see whats going on. I try not to visit any of the community sites or news pages for online gaming, because frankly the pictures try to lure me back in. So far so good...except I traded one obsession for another, a puppy! A co-worker at work has puppies she wants to give away and asked if I was interested. I thought long and hard and decided a puppy might give me something to do in my free time once my dissertation is done. After all, what do other people do when they don't play online games, aside from work, because I already do that.

However, true to my compulsive nature, I traded looking at online sites and forums for looking at puppy and pet boutique sites and making wish-lists for puppy supplies... Its just anticipation right? When the puppy comes I am sure my attention will shift away from the PC and onto the puppy and going out with it. or at least I hope...

Who doesn't love a cute face like this?

Into the swing of things

I am currently in full dissertation mode, trying to finish up by the end of the semester. I decided it was time to wrap things up, barring any unforeseen circumstances. The casualty of my dissertation is of course my online gaming. Also, it seemed a bit too ironic to be working on a dissertation involving problematic online gaming while I was online gaming....


Currently my finished proposal draft is being held hostage by my committee chair until this Tuesday when he either gives me feedback or gives me the ok for the official meeting. Crossing my fingers for the latter of course. We are on a time crunch here people, and I have an addictive personality! Don't leave me too long or else I will find something else to do.

Taking a break on blogging for the week

Due to deadlines and of course my own procrastination, I am taking the week off gaming, blogging, and hopefully other forms of procrastination to put a serious dent in my first chapter.

If all goes well I will be back to post more adventures and thoughts when I return.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Time to give thanks for all the good things in your real life and gaming life!

Suicidal Turkey won't last long...

Companion Pets: Gotta catch em all!

The Pre-Cataclysm patch hit Tuesday and with it it brought changes to the old worlds of Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor but more importantly it brought me 4 new vanity pets to collect! I have been keeping a close eye on my pet collecting news watching warcraftpets daily as well as scouting out my favorite pet blogger perks n peeves. I logged on with a plan of attack for getting my companions in the most efficient time possible. First I headed over to Hillsbrand Foothills to find Brazie's farm and play a version of plants vs. zombies to obtain my sunflower. It took me a couple tries but I got the last wave down with some liberal use of pumpkin bombs.

She sings a soft sweet tune, while emitting constant positivity...

Collecting is My Bag Baby!

In all MMO's there exists various types and forms of playstyles. The PvPer, the Altaholic, the Raider, the Roleplayer, the Achiever, and my personal favorite the Collector. What the hell is a collector you might ask? Well I am for one! However, as a simple definition anyone who enjoys collecting things as a sub-aspect of the online game they play. I might even goes as far as saying the Collector is the rarest of the MMO subtypes. For them the simple task of collecting their objects is just as satisfying if not more then the usual aspects of playing an MMO. Everyone can have aspects of all these subtypes, but the true extremists/OCD types will go all out.

Rank 26 Walkthrough "Together We Stand"

This week I had the opportunity to experience the rank 26 storyline quest "Together We Stand". Visually this quest was a feast for the eyes and another introduction into other creatures who inhabit the world of Eorzea. This was not a difficult quest and I easily completed it on my Botanist and was rewarded with 78,000 gil. The quest starts in Uldah once again regardless of what city you belong too. Below is the general guideline for the quest as well as a visual walkthrough because I just can't resist taking pictures of the slyphs. Spoiler alert below!!!!


Once you attain Rank 26 on any class head over to the "dunes" or merchant wards in Uldah. It is the same teleport option as the market wards, except choose the second option "merchant wards". Once you zone in speak to Tataru who is just inside the door. She will instruct you to go down the hall to meet Minfila who is trapped inside her office by a few slyphs.

Shattering My Expectations

So I decided to peek my head back into WoW yesterday after the latest patch hit which shattered the old worlds and revamped all the old questing areas. My ulterior motive was also pet collecting cause I am a sucker for vanity items... I have been keeping an eye out on the WoW progression to their new expansion, more so recently due to FFXIV's epic failure. After all my alter ego needs to exist in a world full of promises and content, which unfortunately FFXIV has none of at the moment.

Weeks 3-7 Goals: Check.

Wow where has the time gone....where did my weekly updates go? I think I am like many others who are struggling to find their way in this game which is by everyone's standards very incomplete. So between reading negativity on the forums and struggling to find my own motivations to "stick it out" I think I let my self-reflections slide for a bit. Perhaps I would have been too jaded to have enjoyed writing my blog like I usually do. Or maybe it is the cognitive dissonance I was struggling with while complaining about the game on one hand but continuing to play it on the other. At this point I am not forcing myself to log in if I don't feel like it and I am taking it on a week by week basis.

Rank 20 Walkthrough "Fade to White"

As one of your classes reaches rank 20 you will then be allowed to proceed in the main quest storyline. "Fade to White" unites our 3 nations in Uldah to venture together from this point on. This quest is very easy and requires almost no running around and zero combat. At the end of your cutscenes you will be rewarded 60,000 gil and a path companion to accompany you on your future storyline quests. Be prepared to choose your companion carefully because at this point there is no changing once you have selected! It actually took me over an hour to find a companion I liked...Keep reading for a visual walkthrough and to view my screenshots. Spoilers! You have been warned!

Slacking on my updates

Sorry guys that I have dropped the ball the past couple weeks on the frequency of my updates, I was sick and felt a little unmotivated. I have some updates coming for another rank mission guide and an update on my weekly goals. Perhaps a glass of good wine will get the creative juices flowing again.

For this I give you a failpic.

Custom PC Build and Gaming upgrades finished!

So as I previously posted the work in progress last week, my PC is finally done and my setup is complete. Of course it wasn't without its trials and tribulations of building a PC and I made many trips to Ace Hardware for smaller screwdrivers and Best Buy for other last minute additions. A big thanks to my boyfriend for creating and building it for me^^.