Sand, water, and beer

Well guys, I'm taking a vacation!

Its my grandparent's 50th anniversary, so we are all going on a cruise to celebrate and relax.  We're leaving Sunday coming, and won't be getting back until the following Sunday.  The cruise is going to Belize, Cozumel, Grand Cayman Islands, and Honduras.  I'm so excited I could piss myself.  Actually I should probably go clean this up.  RSS me and I'll post some pics and stories when I get back.  Adios and via con dios!

Want a healthier mind? Pick up a book...

Over the past few months, I have really rediscovered an old hobby of mine.  It is something that is relaxing, rewarding, and is a healthy activity for my mind.  

Books.

Before I started reading again, it had been probably 4-5 years since I had read a book just for the enjoyment of it, or because it interested me.  For the longest time, I honestly just saw no need to pick up a book.  Why would anyone read a book when there are movies to be watched, games to be played, and websites to be checked?  I mean, when you think about it, books are really quite boring in comparison to gaming, which provides interaction with the game, interaction with other people, and challenges you on multiple levels.  I mean, how can books compete with a force like that?  Well, back then I was young, dumb, and full of...ignorance.


Books have a lot to offer.  It is incredibly rewarding to flip the last page of a great book.  If it is a fictional book, it gives you the freedom and the thrill of exercising your imagination.  It is very relaxing to sit back, read a book, and completely envision everything that the author is telling you.  Sure a plot and a setting is provided by the Author, but the fine details are up to you to decide.   

Looking for a good fictional read? try The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

This is a great read for any lover of dark fantasy

I have found that while I do enjoy reading a good fantasy book here and there, I really like reading books that motivate me.  It feels good reading a book that motivates me so much that I can't stand but to start writing down ideas and taking mental notes as soon as I close the cover.  

A great book for getting motivated is Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

The book mentioned above is truly a great book to read.  Gary Vaynerchuk, host of Wine Library TV, is a guy who invests everything he is into his passions, his businesses, and his life.  He is truly a motivational guy to his core, and I am appreciative of this book that he has written.  If I had not read it, this blog would still be sitting here collecting pixel dust.  If you are a blogger, a gamer, or hell even a tennis shoe collector, I definitely recommend you give this a read.  Its relatively short, so it is not a huge time investment.  I read it in 2 days on and off.


I'm looking for a new book to read.  What books have you guys read and wouldn't mind recommending to me?  I don't care about genres or categories, as long as it is engaging!

The blogger formerly known as Smashie

If you're reading this post (from my blog, not in your reader), then you probably have noticed my new banner...and new title.  If you are reading this post from your reader, swing by the blog and give it a look.  Why the change?  Queue the long and drawn out explanation in 3, 2, 1:

A lot has changed over the past year.  I play WoW about a quarter of the amount of time that I used to, which has left me with a lot more time for enjoying the better things in life.  Things like my family, my fiancée, my friends, my health, my hobbies, and my community.  While I got a real enjoyment and satisfaction out of playing WoW, I had let it become a distraction to me.  It never got to the point of missing work, or ignoring my woman, or gaining 100 pounds and acne, but I did invest a lot of time and energy into something that I will never truly see a return on.

I find it appropriate that since my gaming interest and "career" has taken a different direction, and since my blog has taken a bit of a different direction since its inception, that I rename it to something a bit more reflective of my interests.  I want this blog to be more about me, my hobbies, my stories, and my LIFE.  Not that of my Paladin on WoW.  So I can hear you asking yourself "What the hell does Medwards mean?"  How can I hear what you're saying?  I'm standing outside your window, but never mind that.

Medwards is my first initial and last name.  Michael Edwards.  It was a name given to me as a computer login at a former job, and people there found it humorous and started calling me that every now and then.  So there you have it.  I know this will probably cause confusion in the long run, seeing as I show up as Smashie on other's blogrolls and links, but thats alright.  I'll probably be commenting as Smashie for the remainder of the week, then officially switch to medwards.  It's a process, you know?

Nashville and back

I took a trip to Nashville, TN this weekend to visit an old buddy from High School.  He is there aspiring as a musician, and I had a great time seeing the city out, drinking beer, and just jamming out good music all weekend.  The downside?  No time, what-so-ever, for R&R.  I got off work Wednesday night, left for TN Thursday morning at 8pm, got back from TN Saturday night at 11pm, left for work Sunday at 3pm.  But it was worth it, Tennessee is a beautiful state.  It makes me want to live near the mountains.

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, and I have a few posts lined up for this week.  Some Starcraft II related, some social media related, and some related to my personal interests.  RSS me and keep your eyes peeled!

Update

I just thought I would take a minute and tell everyone where I have been over the past 2 months and what I have been up to.  There are quite a few things that have contributed to my absence from the blogging scene and the WoW community in general, so I thought it would be interesting for you guys and for myself as well to write them out in a bullet or list format.  So here goes:

Work.  Work has been crazy over the past two months.  My coworker has been out on medical leave so I have been doing both of our jobs at once, as well as picking up the usual slack from first shift.  Yeah, I have a bad case of shiftism...so what.

Tekken 6.  When I get burned out on WoW, it always helps me to play some console games for a while.  I love how the pace is so different.  There are no serious demands on your time with console games like there is with WoW, so it just makes for a nice break...without jonesing for some video games.

Holidays (family).  Man I can't believe that this year has flown by so quickly.  I still remember buying Valentines presents for my Girlfriend, and now i'm scrambling to get Christmas gifts already.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, personally.  I love the fact that I get to eat incredible amounts of food and not have to feel guilty about it, because I know almost everyone else in America is doing the same lol.  I also love being able to do some catching up with family members over coffee and football.

Music.  So I've found a real obsession with Pandora.com.  Man I love that site.  I use all 40 of my free hours every month, and at that point, I just switch to playlist.com and listen to random playlists from random people.

Football.  So it's no secret that I love college football.  Sure my team is out for the season with the worst record under Mark Richt's nine year coaching career at UGA, but thats alright.  Next year is already looking to be more promising.  The SEC is still the strongest division in NCAA football, which always makes me smile.

Friends and Girlfriend.  Anyone who has ever raided or PvP'd on a serious scale knows that it definitely has some serious demands on your time, which in turn has some serious consequences.  When I'm playing WoW on a serious level, I lose touch with my friends, I spend less time with my girlfriend, and to be honest, I just feel like a complete loser.  I always have the image of "that which has no life" in the back of my mind...and I really don't want to be like that guy lol.

Well, theres my last two months in a nutshell.  How have you guys been?  I've been reading blogs when I get a few minutes online to do so.  I hope everyone's holidays were as great as mine.  I've started a poll to find out what everyone's favorite holiday is, so please take a second and vote.  And if you have an extra 47 seconds, let me know in a comment why it's your favorite!

edit: Oh, and one more thing.  Personally, I love Christmas music.  I made a Christmas playlist for this season, so feel free to give it a listen!  

Sleepy Smashie

I just want to take a minute and apologize for my lack of updates this week.  My church asked me to renovate their website, which is obviously a dinosaur, currently being updated on a quarterly basis.  I'm using Wordpress as the template for the new site.  It has been interesting experiencing the differences between Wordpress and Blogger.  So my lack of updates this week is largely due to my devotion of time to that, on top of a busy week at work as well.

(Hopefully) This weekend I will be adding a PvE version of my spec guide, as well as highlighting a few of my favorite blogs to read.  Being a new blogger, I have spent a lot of time recently studying other's blogs, and there are a few of them that really stand out.  I'm looking forward to giving my opinions on them.

Warcraft addiction?

I read a series of articles on google last night about people who were so obsessed with the progression their character that they completely abandoned their real life responsibilities.  They lost their jobs.  They lost their families.  They lost their ambitions in life.  Although many of us have not made decisions bad enough to lead us to the same circumstances, I’m sure we can all relate to wanting to play for only one more hour before work or sleep, or even sacrificing a little time with RL friends in order to play on raid night. 

As I read through the articles, I couldn’t help but notice how much I have in common with some of these people.  Maybe not losing my job or family, but in the past I have had what I would consider a problem with WoW.  I knew the amount of playtime I was having was not healthy and I could see that in my relationship with my girlfriend and my friends, but even still it was difficult to stop playing.  But, thankfully, I have matured past that stage in my life.

While I was reflecting on all of this, I couldn’t help but wonder…with 12 million+ subscribers, how many people can have this problem?  Can WoW even be considered an addiction, and if so, why? Here are a few things to consider:

Can WoW be considered an addiction?

I don’t think any of us can ignore the fact that WoW has the ability to suck you into the game completely.  While many of us are able to make decisions that will not lead to us losing everything precious to us, there are many who are not. 

Dictionary.com defines addiction as “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.”  There is no doubt that WoW has psychologically addictive properties, but how about in comparison to truly addictive substances such as drugs or alcohol?  While alcoholism is an addiction, it is not only psychologically addictive, but physically addictive as well.  Your body can become dependant on the presence of alcohol.  That is why a detox period is needed for those who depend on alcohol on a day to day basis.  While there are "detox" programs available for WoW addiction, they don’t require your body to adjust in a way that a chemical dependence does.

So although WoW does have psychologically addictive properties, it is not something that our bodies can actually become physically dependant on.  But there is no denying that there is a worldwide problem with the addiction to WoW.

Why?

I think the biggest factor here is that the game never ends.  Sure you can grind out 80 levels, but that is only the beginning of the game, in all honesty.  Once you hit 80, and are wondering where to go from here, you realize that all the shiny, fancy gear that the big boys are wearing is actually within your ability to achieve now.  There is also a constant supply of new and fresh content to experience.  Aside from expansions, there are new instances, new areas, and new achievements released with patches.  This not only increases the temptation to play, but it also increases the demand that the game has on your time.

I would love to hear your opinions.  What do you think, can WoW truly become an addiction?  Have you had problems with it in the past?  Are you having problems with it currently?  

Just to lighten the mood a bit, if you have the time, watch the video below.  I got a chuckle out of it.

Level 1 blogger!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! This is the first post (obviously) of my first official blog. I am looking forward to becoming a part of the blogging community and meeting all of you. As a reader, you can look forward to grammatically correct (for the most part lol), well thought out, and (hopefully) engaging blog entries. If ever I do not deliver in any of those areas, please let me know so that I can improve! I would love to hear from you guys, whether it be feedback, criticism, or even random drunken jumbled text. Not only will it be fun for me to read, but it will also help me improve myself as a writer/blogger.

What to expect:

So what can you expect from my blog in the future? Well, a majority of my posts will be World of Warcraft related. My main is a level 80 Dwarf Paladin who is dual spec Ret/Holy. I am also in the process of leveling a Human Death Knight, so I may blog about that occasionally as well. Apart from WoW, I will also be randomly discussing my thoughts on other topics such as sports, movies, music, and possibly politics.

Experience:

I have been playing WoW since its release in Nov of 2004. My very first character was a Night Elf Rogue on whom I cleared all of the vanilla content except for the origional Naxx. At the release of Burning Crusade, I leveled my Paladin and cleared all of the BC content before the big PVE nerf in Oct of 2008. Unfortunately, I am no longer able to raid on a serious level due to my schedule at work, but I do still log on to enjoy fishing, cooking, and running battlegrounds and wintergrasp.

I love to play the game. I enjoy knowing my class well and playing it to its fullest potential. While I may not be a three-time Gladiator or a member of a world top 50 guild, I do have a deep understanding of the game and a passion for constant improvement.

About Me:

So here are a few things you may want to know about me as a person. I work for a little company known as Target (some of you may have heard of it lol). I work 2nd shift, which is from 4:00pm to 2:00am, so that puts a huge handicap on me when it comes to raiding. There simply aren't very many competitive guilds that raid when I am able to be online. In the past, I have raided with morning guilds (8am pull time) in order to experience new content, which only left me with four hours of sleep on an average raid day. Needless to say, I couldn't continue doing that forever. That is the reason I no longer raid on a hardcore level. I still play casually, doing mostly pvp and a few pugs when I have the time. When I'm not playing WoW, I enjoy most of the same things any average 24 year old man does. I love spending time with my girlfriend, going out with my friends, fishing, watching sports, and listening to music.

Well I think I have covered enough today. Whew, I'm glad I got all the boring stuff out of the way in my first entry. Now I can move on to more exciting things...like WoW! Be sure to follow me and check back regularly for updates. I give you my word, you won't be disappointed!

Smashie