500 Words a Day - Challenge Failed!

Snuggle Time!

I don't know what made me think I could keep up with the 500 words a day challenge whilst staying with my fella. To be honest when he's not at work, I have absolutely zero inclination to sit at the PC and do a post. I just want to snuggle down and enjoy my limited time with him.

This past weekend was a prime example - on Saturday, I had arranged to spend the day with his Mom. We were going to the Botanical Gardens here in St Louis to take some flower photographs and just get to know each other a bit but the weather decided it was not to be so we had lunch and chatted all afternoon instead.

That evening, Cold took us both to a lovely Italian restaurant on the Hill called Zia's. Oh my gosh, I've been there once before and remembered enjoying the food but this time, I enjoyed it even more than before! I even made room in my tummy for the gluten free chocolate fudge slice - talk about rich and heavy but it was absolutely heavenly!

Sunday and Monday disappeared in a haze of playing computer games, eating out and just hanging out together. I can't wait until I have my own PC here so we can play games together instead of one of us watching the other play. I have so much still to learn about how to set up my keyboard for optimum playing and I'm sure he's going to think my bad habits are crazy slow but I haven't been playing games all my life after all.

We're working our way through the Vikings TV series in the evenings - I think we're halfway through season 2 already and I'm loving it. It's not the fastest moving story but the slow, calm and very deliberate storytelling is keeping me entranced through each episode. It's definitely not recommended viewing for anyone who is squeamish about blood though! The Vikings were a violent bunch with a completely different set of standards to our modern world after all.

So I'm going to give up the challenge for now but I'll start again in June, once I get back to the UK and settle into my old routine. I'm still going to keep writing here in the meantime. I enjoy writing but I do struggle with inspiration sometimes, hence the waffling on about mundane life stuff!

I've started playing World of Warcraft again - well, I've logged in to send my followers on missions so far and had a great catch up chat with my favorite guildie but I fully intend to get my Paladin leveling again today - or maybe tomorrow. I'm feeling my other blog nagging me to get some posts done too!

Just in case you were wondering - Marcus and I are planning on recording a new episode of the Journal of Marcus Ty podcast this week so I'll have something to talk about, now that I'm playing again! As I'm so far behind in this expansion and am pretty clueless as to the state of the Auction House and economy, I'm going to use his WoW Gold Guide to get me back up to speed but in the meantime, it's back to snuggling for me!


image ©Sue Tupling on Flickr under Creative Commons licence

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

Last Night, The Warcraft Community Did Great!

This morning, as I do every morning, I scrolled back in my Twitter timeline to where I'd left off reading yesterday. It was a bit of a mega scroll back as I'd gone to meet my fella from the train station and then didn't even glance at Twitter for the rest of the evening.

I'm glad I missed everything that happened though - it's a little too close to home for me to deal with in real time but this morning when I was reading 10 hour old tweets, it still hit home. In case you missed it, someone posted a picture of a pile of pills and a message that indicated something crazy was about to go down.

I moan about drama llamas on Twitter sometimes but this didn't seem like anything to joke about. The tweets in response were all immediately supportive, calling for the poster to respond please. There were so many, even in my own timeline and I don't follow the person who started it all but it was heartening to see so many jump in to try to help.

I don't know who it was in the end but someone managed to get real life details for the original poster and Twitter and Blizzard were contacted too to see if they could do anything. Luckily, the emergency services were called and made it in time to help. This morning, I'm glad to see a response from the original poster on Reddit and I'm also pleased to see so many heartfelt comments and replies and over 600 upvotes. The relief on my twitter feed is almost palpable!

It's at times like these that seeing this 'community' come together to help, reinforces my own belief that there is good in everyone - even the trolls and dickwads who inhabit the internet have a little decency left in them. A last minute, desperate plea for help was heard across the world in our small part of the internet and something good came out of it - a life was saved. That's pretty amazing to me.

I've had my own battles with depression and flirted with suicide as a teenager. Life wasn't so hard back then, I just didn't know how to deal with it at the time. Now life is throwing curveballs at a regular rate but from somewhere, I have found the strength to deal with them. Maybe it's maturity, having someone who understands exactly how depression works along side me or just experience but so far, I'm winning the current battles.

The trick I've found is baby steps - break everything down into manageable pieces. That may mean hanging on & just breathing for the next 10 minutes or it may be get through the morning at work. Once that baby step is achieved, it's onto the next baby step - breathe for another 10 minutes then repeat. At some point, you will look up and realise you've got through a whole day or a whole week and looking back, it wasn't that bad after all. That gives me the strength to keep taking those baby steps - in the famous words of Dory "just keep swimming". It works, it really does and when it doesn't work, give yourself permission to retreat to your bed or to cry for 5 minutes then restart taking those baby steps.


(500 Word Challenge - Day 15 word count 560)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

Hello St Louis, I've Missed You!

Well, I made it to St Louis and am now all settled in on Cold's PC! I didn't sleep very well last night - I guess 24 hours awake meant I was overtired & that combined with the relief of being close to my man again just messed my sleep pattern up. I've done nothing very productive today but I did have a 3 hour nap straight after breakfast which definitely helped!

I headed straight to the City Diner for breakfast - it's always the first thing I do when I get here! I love that place and my friend Ginny the waitress there was pleased to see me I think. Some of the other familiar faces were missing though - it sucks to miss changes as they happen because they all hit you at once when you do get back.

I also caught up with my friend Robert, the old guy I mentioned the other day. I thought his grin was going to split his face and his hug nearly made me pop, he hugged me so hard! A whole bunch of the other residents were in the foyer area too and they were all happy to see me - talking all at once was confusing.

It made me realise though, just how few people will miss me when I finally leave the UK. Of course, my family will and maybe one set of neighbours but since my divorce, I've sort of lost touch with so many people and I've been working in temporary assignments too so no co-workers to miss me either.

Strangely I'm not lonely at home though - I guess my social life is almost completely internet based and I can do that from anywhere. That meshes nicely with my ambition to make a living from online business too and if that works as I hope it will, it won't necessarily even be St Louis that I work from!

The long term goal for my online business is to be completely independent of location. As long as I have my laptop with me, I can access internet from almost anywhere and I'll have all my files and any necessary programs on my laptop. It's a bit of a pie in the sky dream for now but if I do the work and follow other successful people who live this way then I have no doubt, I can do it too.

That's partly why I'm pushing myself to do this 500 words a day challenge - it's an effort to train myself to write something every day, even if I don't feel like it or am stuck for ideas. These blank sheets don't scare me half as much as they used to and whilst I'm not sure how interesting my random posts are to my readers, it's still good practice!

I would be interested to know what you think so far - am I just waffling on to thin air or do you find this personal kind of post interesting? I know I enjoy random posts on some of the blogs I read. It gives me a better idea of the person behind the blog and some writers are really interesting people apart from what their main blog topic is!

(500 Word Challenge - day 13 word count 543)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

Fly Day!

Heathrow Airport Breakfast!

Today I fly to St Louis to see my man and words fail me in trying to express just how stoked I am to see him again! It's been a long 4.5 months, that's for sure.

I was originally scheduled to travel to the airport with my Dad and Stepmom but sadly they've had to cancel their trip. Dad still insisted on driving me to the airport though so we had a good couple of hours chat time on the drive before I headed out. I made a big booboo though - for some reason I was convinced I was flying from terminal 5 which is the newest terminal at Heathrow. But when Dad dropped me off, it didn't look familiar at all and when I got inside, all I could see was British Airways desks!

Oops! Commence mad panic to get to Terminal 2 - which is the most recently refurbished terminal - so I was sort of correct when I picked terminal 5 as the newest but I'd gotten it mixed up with terminal 2. Luckily, the Heathrow Express shuttle train is free within the airport so all I had to do was hop on that and then walk what felt like a couple of miles to get to the check in desks. I still had time for a huge breakfast too - although by the time I got there, I'd been awake 5 hours and it felt more like lunchtime!

Once through security, I got my bearings, glad to see a familiar layout at last. I headed for the bookstore to see if there was anything that caught my fancy. My cellphone started ringing and it's such a rare occurance that it took me a few seconds to realise it was my phone! It was my Mom, just calling to wish me a safe trip but we chatted for about 15 minutes. I have no idea what we were chatting about as I'd spent the previous evening with her anyway!

After that, I gave up on the bookstore and had to dash to the gate. I thought I had plenty of time but it's a 15 minute walk to the furthest gates and when I got there, it was eerily quiet. It turned out, I was one of the last people to arrive and I was just about settled in my seat when we started taxiing to the runway - almost 10 minutes early for a change. Even better than an early take-off - I had a full row to myself. I nabbed some extra pillows to make a comfy leaning/sleeping nest and stretched out to nap.

So here I am at 36,000 feet in the air somewhere near the coast of Newfoundland and like the soppy cow that I am, I'm crying over a cartoon character! I chose to watch Big Hero Six as it looked like a fun and light-hearted movie but I had no idea there were sad bits. I won't say what happened as I don't want to spoil it for anyone but if you're a bit soppy like me, you might want to take a few tissues with you when you do see it!

Maybe I'm over-tired or a bit sensitive today and it's not that sad but whatever, it did give me some real laugh out loud moments too. I guess I have a kids sense of humor still because when he had to let the air out, I nearly lost my coffee through my nose, I snorted/giggled so hard!

I finally made it to Newark and on to the next plane. The guy sitting next to me is snoring already but he did manage to stay awake long enough to say he'd been travelling for over 40 hours already. He'd come from India via Brazil to Newark and this was his last flight. I thought I was going to be tired after 24 hours awake but heck, that's nothing compared to his journey!

Only an hour to go until I land at St Louis now. I'm so tired I don't know how I'm going to get from the airport to Scott's apartment but I know I'll have a huge burst of energy as soon as I see him. We're planning pizza for food tonight - I just hope I can summon up enough energy to actually chew my food!

(500 Word challenge - day 12 word count 728. As promised, I wrote this on my trip so I apologise if the tenses and phrasing are a bit mixed up!)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

Up, Up And Away!

Just 24 hours from now, I will be at Heathrow Airport, hanging around waiting for my flight to take me to St Louis to visit my darling man. I have so much to do today, I don't know whether I'm coming or going right now but all I can think is a mixture of /squeee and oh my gosh, where's the time disappearing to!

I was determined that this trip, I would pack earlier than the last evening but I've been awake for 3 hours and I'm only now getting round to being productive! Maybe it's the 4th coffee kicking in at last but I'm getting so hyped to see him again, it could be that which is fueling my mad panic to get all the things done.

This trip is special to me, it will be the third anniversary of my first trip to see him and I just can't wait! It's been a rollercoaster three years, divorce, selling a house and surviving breast cancer as well as learning to live alone for the first time in my life. I've said it before but I don't know how I would have got through it all without him. He's been my tower of strength, my butt-kicker when I needed it but mostly, he's just been there through every thing with me, holding my hand and giving encouragement, love and being a total goofball at just the right times.

Inspiration for Ghostbusters building

I love St Louis too - it's so very different from anything I expected from an American city but then my impressions of American city life come from TV and movies. Of course, I know those aren't accurate depictions of the way of life but it was and is, still a shock to me. I think the huge difference in lifestyle helps contribute to the culture shock too - I've always been a country girl, living in a small town rather than a city girl.

Having so many facilities and restaurants close at hand where he lives is great but it doesn't help my waistline, that's for sure. The City Diner is literally just across the road and it becomes my second home from home when I'm there. Two of the waitresses have taken me under their wings and took me out for a Girls Night last summer. I can't wait to see my friends again - both have had some heavy duty life experiences since my last trip & I need to give them big hugs.

There's also a few friends I have made in his apartment building that I'm dying to see again. Robert is an old man who spends his days hanging out in the foyer or watching the world go by from the sidewalk outside. I struggle with his deep voice and accent sometimes but he's such a nice old man and has some really interesting stories to tell. I know I'll get a big hug and a huge grin from him on Wednesday morning when I see him.

We've made a few plans for some of my visit, including a day out with his Mom, a must do Crawfish Festival at the Broadway Oyster Bar and possibly even a meet up with a Twitter friend or two. There's also an Italian Calzone restaurant he's promised to take me too and I'm insisting we have to go back to the little Mexican restaurant where he took me for my first Margarita way back on my first trip! It's going to be a great 3 weeks and I'm stubbornly refusing to even think about coming home. There will enough time for that later, much later!

Can you tell I'm excited? I feel like a kid on my way to Disneyland :)

(500 Word Challenge - Day 11 word count 621)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

Return To Stormwind - Again!

After writing my post the other day about my feelings for World of Warcraft, I realised that I was being silly by not using some of my stash of gold to buy a token. Ok, so yeah, maybe it is twice the price in gold of the US realms but then I have so much gold, even buying 6 or 12 months gold tokens isn't going to dent my gold balance.

I haven't been feeling the pull to play like I used to but I do sometimes wish I could just pop in for half an hour here and there so now I can and guilt free too! So yesterday, I patched my World of Warcraft, updated all my addons and resubbed for 6 months with gold tokens. I didn't get the best deal because what's a couple of thousand gold here and there huh?

I spent a happy hour or so, doing my garrison stuff on the three alts I've got to Draenor and then I went hunting for my heirlooms to fill that tab up. I'm pretty sure I've lost a bunch of heirlooms somewhere - probably in the mail as I'm terrible for just leaving stuff in the mail system!

I know I had a full set of plate heirlooms but I couldn't find them anywhere - even using altoholic to search alts on other realms. But it's not a huge problem - again, I have so much gold just sitting around, I can easily buy all the ones I might ever need from the Guild vendor.

I can't remember if that's all of them though. I've forgotten so many little details like that. Not only have I not played any length of time since last summer but I haven't leveled a new alt since well before then either.

I head out to the States this week so I don't know if I'll be able to play much for the next three weeks either but it felt good to be back for a little visit at least! It was sad to see the state of my guild though - only one guy still playing by the looks of it but he was always my favorite guildie anyway so I sent him a little note in the mail to say hello!

I think gold making might have to take a back seat for a while - I never did get my head around all the garrison options and I barely even know what the names of all the herbs and crafting materials are, let alone how to make best use of them.

So my first goal is to get my Paladin main to level 100 - she's almost level 94 now so she has a long way to go yet. I might even update my Zygor leveling guide to get there quicker! After that, I don't know - maybe I'll focus on her Leatherworking and see if I can understand all the profession changes or perhaps I'll level my Hunter. I don't know - I think I'm just going to take it easy, pop in when I feel the urge and see where I end up.

It did feel good though - there's so many new things popping up in real life to learn and deal with, WoW was like slipping on an old comfy pair of slippers at the end of a long day!

(500 Word Challenge - Day 10 word count 555)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

One Minute Gaming #49 - Back To Bed

This week, I've been playing an unusual puzzle game called Back To Bed. It's quite surreal but definitely gets your brain working.

The basic idea is that you are a weird little dog who has to stop his owner from falling off rooftops as he sleep walks in a weird landscape. You have to pick up a giant apple and place it in your owner's path to make him turn away from an edge but then you have to grab the same apple & place it again at the next danger point.

The objective is to guide your owner back to bed which could be anywhere on the map. One little tip I can give - the owner always turns clockwise so sometimes you have to be really quick with placing the apple as there may only be 4 or 5 steps between turns and edges all around.


It's not the fastest puzzle or the hardest but it is compelling in a weird kind of way.

I'd give Back to Bed a 6 out of 10 - it's not my favorite puzzle game but it's ok if you like this sort of game.

If you have a game you'd like me to try, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time, have fun!

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

My First Kindle Book - Improve Your Flower Photography

Black Eyed Susans or Rudbeckias

One of the new ventures I undertook in the first couple of weeks after my temporary job finished was to create and publish my first Kindle book - Improve Your Flower Photography. I'd had the idea in the back of my mind for months but trying to work out how to format it for Kindle in the evenings after work had proved tiring and time consuming. Once I'd finished work though, I could tackle the challenge fresh in the mornings and have all day to work it out.

The writing part was actually the easiest bit - like this blog, I was writing about stuff I know well so it just flowed easily. Finding the best photos from my portfolio to illustrate each point was a little harder and I had to make some tough decisions as to which ones to include.

US Kindle Store

Being your own editor can be pretty difficult - you have to try to look at your photos without bias and not include a sub-standard picture just because it's one of your own favorites! But once I got the images selected, it was fairly straightforward to adjust the sizes for inclusion to my book.

Uploading to Kindle was also fairly straightforward but when I downloaded the 'new' Kindle version to check the layout and formatting - oh my word! It was bad! Kindle says you can format your book in a Word document but there are many limitations on what you can and can't do in Word. Much of my layout just went haywire once it was processed through the Kindle system so I had to then work out how to correct it!

That took me nearly two days but I got there in the end. It didn't help that I needed to zip all the separate bits into one zip file to re-upload and although Windows 7 has a zip facility, it isn't compatible with the Kindle system! I must have tried about 10 times in various ways to zip that damned file but it just wouldn't work so I had to download Winzip in the end and use their free trial to get it sorted out!

UK Kindle Store

This first book is a practical guide on how to improve your flower photography - a fairly niche subject but one I know a lot of amateur photographers struggle with. My book isn't aimed at experienced photographers at all - it's aimed at those people who love flowers and use their cellphone or little point and shoot camera to take photos in their gardens.

As the sub-title says - you don't need any fancy equipment to get some good flower photos if you know the rules of composition and if you spend just a few seconds thinking before you take your photo. One lady left me a 5 star review and said it inspired her to go find some flowers to photograph!

I have a few other topics in mind for further books but those are more travel photography photo essays rather than practical guides. I also have a couple more how-to book ideas in mind. I really enjoyed putting this book together and even without much promotion by me, it's selling too! That, of course, makes it even better and gives me some hope that I can continue to come up with book ideas for future income generation! It's just one of the mini projects that I have on the go at the moment though.

They say everyone has at least one book in them - I'm not sure a small, 30 page Kindle book is quite what they had in mind but hey I did it!

(500 Word Challenge - Day 8 Word Count 600)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

Thank You, Ladies of my Twitter Feed

There's The Love!

I've been out and about a fair bit today so once I got home, I sat down with a big old mug of coffee and scrolled back to catch up on my Twitter feed. It's something I do regularly - every morning, I catch up with the overnight chat and when I'm working, it's Twitter that keeps me occupied in my lunch break too.

I love my Twitter feed - I've managed to miss most of the drama llamas and a few of the less than positive people I used to follow have stopped tweeting lately. It was the Twitter community around World of Warcraft that gave me an audience for my AHAddict blog and this one too. It was Twitter that led me to Cold (in a roundabout way) and that was one of the best things that's happened to me in years!

I also have a bunch of wonderful ladies on my Twitter feed - strong, opinionated, funny, outspoken, generous and kind. Some are going through the same long distance relationship journey as I am and some have their own problems but still stay positive on this public space. Some are just plain outrageous - in my slightly old-fashioned eyes anyway.

I will admit to a bit of a twitter crush on one or two of my wonderful ladies. I was brought up with the old adage 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything' so I struggle to be outspoken on stuff or really to voice any strong opinions but these ladies just say it & stand tall. They've learned to not give a shit what others think of them and to stay true to their beliefs and opinions. I still care what others think of me although as I get older, I find that I am worrying less about it. I'm still on my own journey after all.

I've known other women who gaze longingly at slim models and wish their own less-than-perfect body was like that - I don't do that very often, I just envy those women who seem to have it all worked out, the ones who seem to know where they are going and why. Oh don't get me wrong, I know they probably have their own secret doubts and fears too - they are only human after all but that inner strength still shines like a beacon to me

So my lovely strong, funny ladies - keep saying what you think or coming out with the most crazy stuff. There's a lot of us out here, reading your words and wishing we had the balls to stand up publicly like that and we admire you for your individuality and strength. You may not always feel you are strong but those of us who are quietly strong in the background, still stand by and look on, wishing we could be so forthright.

So if I favstar one of your tweets, please know that it resonated with me - either made me smile, giggle or nod my head in full agreement of your statement. I've been told I'm too nice for my own good sometimes but I'd rather be known for being nice than many other things!

(500 Word Challenge - day 7 word count 535)

****************


Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography


****************

One Minute Gaming - Help Request!

Deemo - One of my favorite game images

So if you've been hanging around here at all, you'll know I do a regular segment called One Minute Gaming. I play various free iOS games on my ipad and then record a one minute review.

Some of the games I've reviewed and didn't rate very highly, I find I am still playing and others that I rated highly on first few plays didn't last the distance. I'm currently hooked on Mini Warriors which Cold talked me into playing and Cooking Fever which someone on Twitter suggested for my segment. I just finished my 200th level on that one and I haven't bought gems yet!

There's also Clash of Clans keeping me occupied as well as a solitaire card game and a game called 1010 which I play when I'm chatting on Skype as it isn't timed or noisy.

Cold was wondering recently how many of the 49 games I've reviewed so far, do I still have on my iPad - well, I did a quick count and I currently have 22 different games on my iPad. I haven't reviewed all of those yet as I've just downloaded a few for the next three or four segments.

As for how many I had before I deleted a bunch to make room - well, let's just say my iPad was almost completely full so I had to delete a load of stuff including about 15 games that I had been playing occasionally. Overall, I'd guess about 26-30 of the games I have reviewed are either still on my iPad or have only recently been deleted!

I'm beginning to struggle to find games to review - yes, there are 1000's out there but so many are just plain awful and many are obvious clones of others, so it's becoming harder and harder to find a game that is either different or even vaguely good!

So, I'd like to ask for your help in finding new games to try out and review. Do you have a favorite that keeps you occupied or one that you play occasionally but don't want to delete off your phone or iPad?

You can leave a comment below or message me on Twitter @Nevahaddict and this time, I promise I'll keep a note of your name alongside the game you recommend unlike the Cooking Fever person - I wish I could remember who that was - their ears must be burning as I swear at them every time I lose another 30 minutes playing it!

I've also updated the page with all the games I've reviewed - if you need inspiration for a new game, you can check out my list and see if anything takes your fancy. There's a Soundcloud link in each post so you can either read the post or listen to it, whichever suits you best. I hope you are enjoying these One Minute Gaming segments - I know I really enjoy doing them and it's a great challenge to keep to about the one minute mark!

(500 Word Challenge - Day 6 word count  510)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

Are You A Multipotentialite?

I can't remember where I found the link but a few weeks ago, I stumbled into a website called Puttylike. As I read the post about not being able to chose a business niche, I felt goosebumps as a chill ran down my back and very soon, I was choked up and pretty emotional too. Before I knew it, I'd read about 10 posts and lost an hour or more but I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

There wasn't anything wrong with me! I'm not lazy and indecisive, never finishing anything, never settling for one subject, always distracted by the next new thing - it turns out I'm a multipotentialite! I have described myself as eclectic in the past as I have so many interests but being a multipotentialite makes so much sense to me and goes back further than my adult years too. Other terms commonly used for this is scanner or Renaissance mind.

Signs of Multipotentiality

Here's some of the most common signs of a multipotenitalite:

• You never knew what you wanted to do when you grew up - choosing a career path was difficult and as a child you wanted to be a doctor, fireman, cowboy, ballet dancer - all in quick succession as each new idea struck your childs' brain.
• The thought of a single occupation for the whole of your working life terrifies you - I know I struggle with this. I'm lucky in that accountancy gives some variety in the occupation but job-hopping is one common symptom that I do suffer with.
• You are a Jack-of-all-Trades (or Jill, like me!) - You rarely become an expert in one thing but you do many things pretty well and can apply knowledge from one area to another if needed. This is another definite checked box for me!
• You love to learn new things - not necessarily connected either! You probably have a whole list of interests, hobbies and skills. It's the learning that gives you a buzz and when you've got as far as you want to with a topic, you drop it and move on to the next learning experience.
• Shiny Object Syndrome is a real thing for you - so many ideas, plans, things you want to do. You get the basics done on a new project then you probably get bored and wander off to the next bright idea. I know I do this - my family just roll their eyes and sigh when I start getting hyped about a new idea.

My Multipotentialite Symptoms

This was a whole new eye-opening revelation for me. I know I drive my parents crazy by not knuckling down and sticking with one job. My Dad did 40 years with one company but the longest I've ever worked for one company is 6 years and my job changed 3 times during that period so it kept me interested. My resume is a nightmare too - if I list every job, it's over 4 pages long and that's without too many job descriptions included! 

My hobbies are also wide ranging - I used to read a book every 1-2 days and the topic didn't matter - I just had to have a book in my bag! I can knit, crochet, sew, cook, embroider, decorate cakes, write poetry, scuba dive and glaze ceramics. I've done art classes for different disciplines and I jumped at the chances to abseil and paraglide for charity. My photography suffers too as I haven't developed my own recognisable style - I just shoot whatever the heck I feel like! Of course there's the game hopping too - I'm not very good at most of them but I still enjoy the learning process. 

Recently I've been trying to fit all these interests into an online business or at least, to narrow down to a niche I can work in. I had a great conversation with Marcus Ty today and I think I may have finally managed to find an area I can focus on. Whether I can make it work remains to be seen but I feel more positive than I have for a while now.

I guess this 500 words a day challenge is another 'symptom' too - it's not like I don't have enough to do right now but here I am, starting yet another project! But it's helping already - I feel like I'm achieving something each day even if it isn't moving my business ideas forward. Having a tangible target is important when you're working at home and are alone all day. It's too easy to drift into the doldrums and get absolutely nothing done but that's a topic for another post!

Do you recognise yourself in these signs of multipotentiality? From my twitter feed, I get the feeling many of the people I follow might fit this 'label' and I'd love to know what you think.

(500 Words Challenge - Day 5 word count 828)

© Urs Steiner under Creative Commons licence

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

One Minute Gaming #48 - Sky Force

This week, I've been playing a game called Sky Force, recommended to me on Twitter by playrider2. It's an airplane shooter and it's pretty good fun!

You control an airplane by swiping with your finger, It auto-fires mini laser bolts at enemy planes & ships but you have to pick up stars and rescue people too - all the while,  avoiding elements of the landscape and the weapon attacks from your enemies.

The stars you collect can be spent at the hangar where you buy upgrades for your ship like additional health and better weapons. The first couple of levels aren't too difficult but you do have to achieve all the objectives before you can progress. That took me a few tries I must admit, my reflexes aren't what they used to be!



It's not the most addictive game I've played but it is good fun albeit a bit frustrating at times & I get cramp in my finger if I play too long! lol

I'd give Sky Force a solid 7 out of 10 - very playable, quite fun and great graphics but it's not grabbed me like some other games have.

If you have a game you'd like me to try, you can contact me on twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time, have fun!

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

DC Universe Online - First Impressions

Inspired by - Green Lantern, Superman and the Joker

We've been getting a bit bored with most of the games we've been playing lately, so when Cold suggested we try DC Universe Online, I was quite happy to give it a try, especially as it's free to play.

It was about a 20 Gb download so that took a while but once I got in to the character creation screen, I was happy to see so many options! You choose from a few basic body shapes, next is the skin type and then you can either choose a look based on existing heroes and villains or you can create your own. You have about 10-15 options for every gear slot as well as hair styles. Once you've chosen your look, you can customise the color too - either an overall color scheme or you can go into each piece of gear.

You choose whether you want to play as a hero or a villain, then you choose your fight style (fire, ice, mental etc) and you also get to choose a mentor. You also get to choose your method of movement - I chose flight for my hero and Cold chose acrobatic. Both take some getting used to but I love the flying bit - seems much quicker than walking or running everywhere!

In the free to play version, you get 2 character slots and a choice of three mentors on each side but if you pay to play then those options greatly increase. The mentor bit only changes the storyline once you get into game so if you choose Superman for example, you don't necessarily have to be a flying character.

Villain Nev!

Once you actually get into the starting zone, you play through a tutorial type area. The combat system is totally different to anything I've played before and it's taking a while to get the hang of it. We made it to level 10 last night and I still don't know what all my combos do!

The worst part for me was arriving at the Justice League's Watchtower. It's a multi-level rabbit warren and the quests there are designed to show you around but there's no obvious signposts, just a big yellow arrow on the side of your mini-map. That's fine until you realise there are levels above & below you so you then have to back track to find stairs to get to your objective!

We had a lot of fun though and we even did a dungeon - although I'm not sure dungeon is the right word - maybe a group instance would be a better description! That was fun although Cold and I both died a couple of times through just not knowing our way around and taking on too many mobs.

I'm going to create a villain to play on my own as we can only play together a couple of evenings a week. I think I'll get better if I can go at my own pace without trying to keep up with the super speed that Cold plays at! There's a lot to learn and a few bits are frustrating me already but I'm sure I'll work those out once I make some combo notes and have time to read all the skill details!

It's definitely worth a try if you're looking for something different to play. If you play already, I'd love to add you to my friends list and maybe we can play together sometime. Leave a comment below and we can get that organised :)

(500 Words Challenge - Day 4 Word Count 585)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

How I Feel About World of Warcraft Right Now

DC Universe Online Character

I started playing World of Warcraft in the middle of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion and played constantly until the middle of Mists of Pandaria. Somewhere along the way, I lost the first guild full of people I thought were friends but we rebuilt and I made a whole new bunch of friends. It wasn't the same though, the new bunch were lovely people but we didn't have an obvious leader so we just poodled along, doing various bits in game together in a very haphazard way.

Eventually I found myself so wrapped up in gold making and blogging about the Auction House, that I began to feel my guild obligations were intruding and I found more and more excuses not to do group content. I let my subscription lapse early last summer but I resubbed for a month just before Warlords of Draenor was released. I got my Paladin main to level 94 and my warrior to 92 before my month ran out and I've been meaning to resub ever since.

WoW just doesn't have the pull it used to have for me now though. I haven't played since before Christmas - not through any conscious decision but more because I am distracted by trying to build an online income for my future and if I'm not working or reading about that, then I'm vegging out in front of Netflix, crocheting like a crazy old lady!

My Baby Bank Alt

I thought I'd resub when the WoW tokens became available but I haven't yet. I begrudge paying almost 40,000 gold for a token when I can get one for 20,000 gold on my US account! Unfortunately, I don't have Warlords of Draenor on my US account and I really don't want to pay out for that until I know I am going to play! It's a catch 22 situation - pay for WoD on US account & use cheap tokens or pay out in gold instead to play on my EU account.

The other thing that's suffered by me not playing is my podcast with Marcus Ty (the Journal of Marcus Ty) - I just don't feel right being on a show about gold making in World of Warcraft when I haven't played for almost 6 months! I think I am going to bite the bullet and go with my EU account though - I love podcasting with Marcus and once I have the current crochet project finished, I'm going to have to give it a break. Anything can become an addiction for me it seems so I have to pull back when I start accumulating a stash of materials that I'll probably never get through!

Will I start writing again on my AH Addict blog? I honestly don't know. I haven't kept in touch with the current gold making situation but from the few tweets I see in my Twitter feed, it looks like a tough proposition these days. If I find that I am making gold fairly easily then I will probably write about it but I doubt I'll ever write as frequently as I used to. That's a shame though because I am proud of what that blog became for a while and it's sad to see it just sitting there, unloved by me these days.

I haven't stopped gaming completely though - I've been playing Heroes of the Storm with Cold on his days off and some of the free games I review for One Minute Gaming have caught me too. Whoever it was who suggested Cooking Fever has a lot to answer for! I just opened my 5th restaurant in that mini ipad game and I can't see me stopping anytime soon!

Cold and I have also dipped back into Titanfall and Path of Exile recently. Titanfall was fun again after 5 months of not playing - I cannot believe how quickly you lose the skills so I was absolutely awful at it! We've just downloaded DC Universe Online to give that a try later today. My superhero is gorgeous even if I do say so myself and I love the character build options. The fighting and movement stuff is going to give me problems though I think!

I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow probably!

(500 Words a Day challenge, Day 3 Word Count - 711)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

Just Do It - 500 Word Challenge, Day 2

Addicted to Crochet - Just a few of my latest bits!

So my brilliant plan of writing these 500 words every morning as the first thing I do each day kind of slipped badly today and it's only day 2! I do have a very good excuse though. I had a day's work, helping out a friend in her yarn shop and after over three weeks of working at home, Mum away on her travels and almost no social interaction elsewhere, I have to say it was a huge change of scenery for me which although fun, has left me drained and also fairly emotional.

All I had to do was make tea and coffee for customers who stayed for a chat. My friend was running a charity yarn day - tombola, guess the teddy's name, free hot drinks and cakes as well as goody bags for the bigger spenders. As you can imagine, I met a lot of older ladies today - many of whom knit or crochet for every baby that enters their own social circle. But there were also a surprising numbers of younger females too - several very heavily pregnant ones included.

The guys who came in to the shop were obviously just waiting for their womenfolk to get their supplies - which is a shame because there's loads of other craft related stuff on those magical shelves and racks - but I guess these guys preferred more 'manly' occupations like DIY, gardening or tinkering with car engines.

I've recently taught myself to crochet using Youtube videos so I had a great time chatting to the old biddies about different stitches and learning a few neat tricks too. I had the chance to show one young Mum-to-be how easy crochet is and she left with supplies to make her own baby blanket. That felt pretty good.

If you want to try crochet, this is the video that I started with.

There is something special about my friends little shop. People just pop in to say hello and stop for a chat as well as to buy their wool. Some of the ladies knit so much, they bring stuff in for my friend to sell for them. it's not really a profitable venture for them, just enough to cover their yarn costs and make a little extra.

It's almost like an old fashioned haberdashery - lace, ribbons, buttons and fancy trimming all adorn the wall racks and one wall is just a riot of beautiful yarn colors. I wish I had taken my camera with me - that wall of yarn was calling to me all day - especially the 10 or so different purple yarns! I wonder if I could make a quilt one day or would that really make me feel old!

In a small town like mine, these lovely old fashioned shops often act like small community centers. We have quite a few elderly residential homes as well as warden assisted living units so those old ladies who can still get out and about, pop into the shop just for a chat. We had some good giggles with one lady today - she was a character and a half. Some of the stories she told were hilarious but we also found out about the new Princess from her and how to enter the London Marathon. She's thinking of entering next year - not bad for someone I'd guess was about 75!

It was a great day and reminded me how much I miss my grandmother. She was a prolific knitter and she taught me when I was about 5 years old. I think she'd be pleased to see me crocheting these days athough I have my doubts that I can ever reach her prolific output! The other thing I learned today was no matter how old I feel now, there's still loads of life left to live (God-willing of course) and there's nothing to stop me doing stuff except my own fears and mindset. Maybe Nike do have it right after all - Just Do It!

Word Count - 657 :)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

500 Words a Day Challenge - Day 1

Yesterday Jamie posted his first blog post in ages about a 500 Words a Day Challenge and as I was having the shittiest few days ever, doubting myself and everything I have done for the last 6 weeks, it kind of resonated with me. Add to that a suggestion late last night from Scott to start writing here again & here I am, getting back to my random thoughts blog and filling my screen with words.

I followed the link in Jamie's post to James Greig's article and read through that too. I don't want to be a writer - that's not the point for me. It's more about writing everyday to create a new habit & bring some discipline into my free form days. My life is changing all around me and I'm attempting to build a business for myself, working from home or anywhere I can get internet access.

It looks like I'll be spending more time on James' blog too - he's been or going through this process and the couple of articles I've read so far, suggest he could be an inspiration for my own journey. I'm also following Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income blog and podcast - he's an interesting guy and I'd recommend his podcast to anyone who has dreams of a side hustle or making money online. I don't get the creepy feeling from his stuff that I get from so many entrepreneurs out there. Many are just snake oil salesmen using the internet to make big promises they can't keep!

I also came across this quote from Game of Thrones last night - it seems my prayers for inspiration and guidance were answered - I named this blog 'She Rides Dragons' because of Anne MacCaffrey's books and I always felt that the dragonriders were the bravest souls and I was fighting my own battles at the time.

Truly, I'm still fighting - not cancer or divorce anymore but myself. My seemingly complete inability to finish one thing before starting another, my endless supply of bright ideas that distract me or my tendency towards depression. It's all a form of procrastination - I know that but fighting that shiny object syndrome is probably going to be one of the hardest fights of my life. It's a personality trait I've had for almost 50 years after all.

I'm also not including words I write on my other 2 blogs in my word count. The 500 Words a Day is for this blog - it gives me a specific task to achieve and even if I have a bad day & get nothing else done, at least I can check this off my to-do list each day.

So let's do this challenge - 500 words a day for the whole of May & post worthy ones too! I will be late on one day as I'll be flying Stateside but I'll hand write my words that day & post it the next so I'm not even going to give myself an excuse to not post!

Wish me luck!

(word count day 1 - 514)

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************