Tuesd…eh, screw it, some shit about my week.

I feel that I should start this post off with a warning.  I am incredibly tired right now, and as such I anticipate that this post is likely to be a little on the rambly side.  Why am I so tired, you may be wondering?  Well, partly because I made the grave mistake last night of starting Glee Season 2 after watching Friday’s episode of Fringe.  I thought I would be OK.  But then the Britney episode came on, and it was all down hill from there.  Three hours later (and way past my bedtime) I was still not asleep.  Let me tell you, people who call Warcraft crack must have never seen Glee.  Just Sayin’.

However, that was only one reason.  The other reason is that my dad came to visit this past weekend.  I’ve not seen him for five years, so I was very excited about it.  I toted him all over Seattle – to my favorite restaraunts and attractions.  By the time we got home each night I was exhausted.  In a good way.  I had a great visit with him, and because I don’t have a whole lot more to say about that, have a picture of my dad with a butterfly on his head.

On Raiding

We are still trucking along on Heroic Ragnaros.  In fact over 3/4 of our raid time is spent largely on this encounter.  The fight is still incredibly challenging, and we continue to make progress.  The thing with progress on this fight is that sometimes it’s small and sometimes it’s lateral.  But I feel it’s important to recognize that it’s still progress.

Last night we took 13 pulls on Heroic Rag, four of those pulls were “warm up” after having not looked at the fight for almost a full week and 7 of those pulls saw phase 4.  I was extremely happy with this.  We still have some things to work out in phase 3 – like how to not blow up the entire right side of the room with meteors – but I am optimistic that with the consistency we saw last night we will find a solution to this that works for us and will be able to attack phase 4 in earnest.

The feeling that I get from many people on the raid team is that they are very excited by this.  I am very excited about this.  It’s almost like getting a glimpse at the light at the end of the tunnel, even if you know that light is still miles away.  I think there is something to be said for actually being able to see the finish line – and honestly, I think that is a huge motivator.  I know at least for me, I feel like I am finally standing at the top of the mountain looking down.  It will still be hard work and I know there is still a very long journey ahead of me, but I feel like the hardest part of the climb is behind me. 

Maybe once we get further into phase 4, I’ll change my mind on this, but right now I’m going to enjoy the view from the top of the mountain until I become disillusioned by the climb down.

For those people indicating that Firelands has been “nerfed to the ground” and expressing their disappointment, I would encourage you to keep pushing through to Heroic Rag.  I feel that there is still significant challenge in the encounter, and I would honestly be surprised if many guilds still do not kill him in this iteration before 4.3.  On that note, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if he didn’t see another nerf before 4.3 goes live.

On Recruiting

Recruiting still remains the hardest raid boss in Cataclysm.  It’s so disheartening at times.  I miss the days were being a long-standing, fairly progressed guild actually meant something to a great many people.  But that is probably a post for another day.

What I had intended to state here was that we are currently looking for an Elemental Shaman to fill out our progression roster.  If you are interested, or know someone who is, please visit http://www.monolithwow.com Additionally, I’m happy to answer any questions about the guild that you may have.

On Alts

With much of my play time occurring after my dad went to bed all week, I spent a fair bit of time on my little Rogue.  She is now somewhere around level 50.  One of the things that I wanted to make a point in doing was to be sure and explore my favorite zones and instances: The plaguelands, Scholomance and Stratholme.  Now, I’ve not had the time to hit Stratholme yet, but I have completed the plaguelands and Scholomance.  And I have to say that I was very pleased with the zones.

I was very happy to see that not much changed in Scholomance and that Jandice still freaks people out (seriously people TAB – use it, love it).  I was also happy to learn that I’m a little bit of a bad ass on my rogue.  Well, at least I feel like one anyhow.  So take that for what you will!

I may have also ventured in to do a little PvP as well.  I picked up a subtlety spec, and I will admit that I found rogue PvP…fun.  Seriously, if you tell anyone, I will find you and shiv you.  But just between you and me I had a blast stealthing around and sapping, cheap shotting, and shadow stepping all over Warsong Gulch.  In fact, I had fun devising a PvP spec.  Let me tell you about the serious theorycrafting that went into selecting my talents: “this looks like it will make me a huge pain in the ass, I WILL TAKE IT!”.

All in all, I’m a little surprised how much I’ve been enjoying live in the shadows.  I might be moving slowly, but I’m having a good time on the way.

On Books

I am still working through A Song of Ice and Fire.  I’m about 75% of the way through A Storm of Swords, and I’m pretty enthralled.  I will also admit the stating aloud “HE DID NOT JUST DO THAT!” several times as I follow the story.  I’m looking forward to the next two books in the series (even though I’ve heard book four is a bit slow).

I’ve also picked up the new JD Robb book, and have my calendar marked for my guilty pleasure John Grisham release.  Right now I have so many books lined up to read on my kindle, I’m feeling a bit “So many books, so little time!”.

On Movies and TV

I took my dad to see Moneyball this weekend.  And I loved it.  I hate Brad Pitt – but this movie was fantastic.  If you are looking for a good movie, I’d certainly recommend it.

I finally finished Season 3 of Fringe, and have started watching Season 4 as it comes out.  I have to say that I seriously love this show.  I’m not sure that I’ve enjoyed a SciFi show this much since The X-Files went off the air.  If you’ve never seen it, it’s one of those that you really need to start with season one or you will be lost.  However, it’s completely worth it and I don’t think you will be disappointed.

I’m also (obviously) catching up on Season 2 with Glee.  I love this show, even if it can be cheesy at times.

I have the last season of House sitting on my shelf still as well, and after seeing the teasers for the new season I’m kicking myself a little bit for being a full season behind.  But honestly, I don’t have time to keep up with all of these shows in real-time.  So I’m going to have to let some go until I can get them on DvD and watch them on my time.

I think that I’ve rambled quite enough!  How was your week?  Reading or watching anything good?