It's Guinness TIME!!!

We're doing to do the 35mm commercial shoot today. Strangely I'm not too nervous about it. Usually I am a little, but I figure that I've done all that I can possibly do, including running up and down Soho, Covent Garden and into every pub in a 1 square mile radius to find a Guinness Coaster. It's amazing how many pubs don't have any coasters anymore. And Irish pubs don't have any Guinness ones. I consider last night an exercise of willpower and almost utter futility.

Still, it didn't end up too badly as I called Blair out of the blue and we met up impromptu in Leicester Square and moved onto Chinatown for my long-awaited dinner (after that much walking one would be famished). We chatted on about old times in WoW, the world, our lives, mutual friends and stuff. One thing I realized was that how much has changed since I left WoW. I'm doing something I really wanted to do finally in my life, and things are slowly but surely falling into place. It isn't easy and probably won't be 100% easy, but at least I'm moving somewhere and I'm happy about it.

Now to actually somehow get a picture on this blog using a MAC. That would be a great achievment for me. ><

Unthinkable, you think?

I just did the almost unthinkable last night. Yups, I signed on for 1 month of WoW, albeit for 3 days playtime, and then I'm not even sure I'll log in those 3 days. Yes, paying one month - 13 Euros - for one day's worth of playtime.

Why, you ask? Why on earth would I go back to WoW? The answer in itself was quite simple. I'm off to London for 1 year to do my film school and I won't be able to log into WoW for 1 year due to school commitments.

I wanted to say bye to friends that I made in that game. Sure, the game is raiding, questing, levelling up, grinding, blablablablabla.....in other words, a huge time sink. But after all those things are said and done, one realizes that one is empty in that huge virtual world without friends. Like the real world, sometimes, those of us who step into the huge gates of Azeroth are lonely people, without friends in the real world. Maybe some of us want to escape our reality. Maybe some just like to cause pain to others which they couldn't do in the real world - corpse campers, this means YOU!!!! >< - but all have one thing in common, we need friends, if only to brighten up our day that little bit more. To give cause to playing and to give a reason for living.

One hard truth about friends is that they argue. They fight. No illusions or lies there. True friends are often borne through adversity and a shitload of arguing sometimes. They know all about you, they know where to hit you where it hurts, and they won't be afraid to mince words with you. Sometimes blunt truth hurts the most, yet makes us reflect and change for the better when properly applied. Ass-kissers and yes-men just can't do that. They can't change or mould you for the better. They just want you to like them, to give them favours. With which they'll discard you for something better if it comes along. Sure there's pain both ways but with friends, the pain is only temporary on the road to a better friendship.

I didn't think what I'd do last night - just sitting up on vent talking to people I missed for 5 months when I last logged out of WoW. Talking over the past, about the time I wasn't around, about the future. Realizing that in the end, the game was nothing but about friends. Loot and drops are just 1s and 0s on magnetic tape. Virtual commodity that's worth nothing in the real world. Of course we work hard for them on our raids, but in the end, it's the friends we make that keep us in the game.
New content, yes. New skill sets, yes, but only till their novelty has worn out then it's back to the same boring grinding all over again. But friends, they'll be there when you're up and you're down, they'll cheer you up and keep you going.

So here's big kudos to - if I forget any names I'm sorry, there's just so many of you to remember - Malekhit, Turbomage, Kara, Medusa, Beast, Blair, Zeus, Shader, Puddin, Seny, Galdre, Vanda, Green, Gotrek, Kim, Mora, Minara, Kathura, Igorn, Okti, Samu, Valoryn, Oomkin, Gnomie, Maqisu, Jitters, Day, Mimi and all the ex-BA guys from EU-Balnazzar. You made my time in WoW great and I'll miss you all.

I hope you all have a great new year 2007 and don't get *too* drunk!

Maybe some will never read this post, but it's ok because it's something I had to say .