It's that time of the year: I got hit by a creative blogger award. The person I need to thank for this honour (literally, it's in the "rules"!) is Shadowz of The Legacies in SWTOR: so thank you, Shadowz! Shortly afterwards I found out I got nominated by Pizza Maid as well, but I totally missed it. Epic fail, Rav. To make sure I wouldn't try to escape this one, I got knighted to "Ravanel: Literally the Last LOTRO Player in the World" by Targeter of Imperial Intelligence and burdened with the mission to accept that damn creative blogger award (even Constant Warfare chimed in). Which I will do now.
The award is created to get your fellow bloggers a bit better, by tagging them to post five facts about themselves. So here are your five super informative facts about me:
1) Blogging is addictive to me, more so than gaming. It gives this feeling of accomplishment when you hit the "publish" button, especially at times I feel worthless. Games don't do that for me, I think because I know that the feeling of happiness only lasts for as long as you're gaming (and no, gaming 24/24 is no option for me, I know, disappointing eh).
2) Conrad and I often take care of the family dog since we moved in March. She is called Saartje, is 14 years old and a black poodle. Naturally I believe she is the cutest dog of the universe!
This is the look of Saartje having Deep Thoughts.
Thoughts probably revolving around dog treats and strategies to acquire them.
If Saartje would play Star Wars: the Old Republic, she would be a shadow. That black spot in the night that seems to be just a bit more black than the surroundings? That's right, that's our Stealth Poodle. Saartje's preferred spec would be Infiltration: because she isn't trimmed with the classic poodle look, many don't recognize her race. (Oh, and Serenity is definitely out of the question; there's way too much happy jumping up and down involved for that.)
3) I'm not much of a bandwagon gamer. With that I mean that I don't tend to follow the newest hypes in gaming, even though I get very tempted to do so at times (for instance, I might have bought Black Desert Online if my graphics card would've been a bit better). It's always the same with hypes: the first few months people are enchanted and say their newest MMO is the best one ever, after that they realize it's not a WoW-killer and then the hate begins. Playing old MMOs is relatively cheap and has the advantage that you don't get completely absorbed by it, leaving more time for other activities.
4) I love comments, both receiving and leaving them behind on other people's blogs. The perfectionist in me wants to reply to those on Ravalation with the same dedication as people left them and thus I sometimes take a long time before I've answered every one of them. Sometimes I can't come up with a good reply. I'm so sorry, guys! I always feel a bit guilty about this.
5) After a forced break of three years (due to health issues), I've recently picked up running again. I bought my first running shoes a few weeks ago and I love them so much! The first time I used them, it felt like I was flying! It's going okay so far; I'm relieved and even a bit proud that I'm able to run again. I'm ignoring the accompanying 14yo Stealth Poodle that energetically jumps up and down while I'm panting after my daily run. *glares at poodle*
I will now present to you my new running shoes. Warning: it is advised to put on your sun glasses before you scroll down.
They only had fluo colours. Luckily I actually wear turquoise and purple a lot.
Nominees
Now comes the best part: IT'S MY TURN!! Mwouhahahhaa.Here are my
- Vagrant Zero of Just East of West, who just started blogging and already has developed a great sense of humour in their writing. They even play SWTOR and have been reading Ravalation in secret for years. How cool is that?!
- E Grey of The Wild Core Chronicle, who is a fresh NBI recruit and writes about their characters in SWTOR, neatly decorated with cute and colourful digital paintings. Invade and shower with love, please!
- Kluwes from I'm Not Squishy, who writes about a range of games (including Pokémon, yay!) and is currently dusting off Guild Wars 2 (which I'm of course following closely). They are also another NBI newbie: you know what to do, guys!
- Zeo of A to Zeo, who is giving blogging a second try. I love his open-hearted posts about the combining of gaming and analogue life. Zeo also participates in the NBI as a newbie (notice a trend here?).
- Redbeard of Parallel Context, who, getting to the end of this post, thought he'd survived another round and will now hate me forever for this. Hi Red, this is just to wipe that smug expression from your face (sorry)!
Rav, I got nominated. Help, what now? Simple, you post five facts about yourself on your blog, you curse me and you pick some fellow bloggers you'd like to know more about. Oh, and remember, always ignore the rules*.
* So if posting this kind of thing on your blog isn't for you, that's totally fine; I understand. I won't be offended or mad or anything. Unless, of course, you happen to be called Redbeard, then there's no escape!
I love that first image in the post! I know it is supposed to be silly but it just seems so perfect for the content of this post.
ReplyDeleteAlso, be glad I saw someone tagging you for this before when I got tagged otherwise I'd nominate you for it too in my desperation to tag someone.
Anyway, I am the same with number 3 and number 4. I'd say number 1 too but my lack of posting seems to say otherwise so I won't.
Saatje is indeed a very cute dog and I wish I could pat her!
The colors of those running shoes aren't that bad. Seems to be about the average option for a while. Makes it hard for me when I need to buy new shoes though. And running is something I should try to do too!
Oh, and welcome back from your holidays! :)
Cool that you like the image! I was first looking for a photo of Saartje running (but couldn't find any), but now it's even better because she's like "is she coming, too, or what?" - which is (unfortunately) appropriate. Ah well, I'll get the hang of this running thing. Someday.
DeleteAlso, I inquired and Saartje also wishes you could pat her. (Which is pretty much her response to any petting request, but hey.)
Regarding 4, I must point out that you're somewhat of a replying ninja! You always reply within minutes to the comments on your blog. It's an ability that is much appreciated and I'm a bit jealous at it.
"And running is something I should try to do too!"
It's funny to hear you say this, because I've had several people say the same to me when I mention I've started running again. There's something about running that makes people say that; people never say the same about swimming! I started in January with swimming once a week (even though I used to be scared of water and hate swimming pools) and kept it up until my holiday (I'm secretly a bit proud at this). Now I've started running in addition, I really feel stronger and more healthy. It almost makes me feel as strong as I did before I became ill and that gives me so much (mental) energy! I don't know if you do any sports, but, although it really isn't easy to make it into a habit/lifestyle kind of thing, I personally think it was very much worth it. :)
Well, dogs have four legs so if they are running with us they will easily outrun us any time. That was a fact I found out when I was a child and would run with the family dogs. No matter how much I tried I could never outrun them!
DeleteI reply so fast because I have too much time in my hands and I get bored easily. Also, because I get a notification via e-mail as soon as anyone comments in my blog. The helps too. >_> <_<
That is easy to see why. Running has a pretty low cost/risk involved with it. All you need is some comfortable shoes and some time. If you are too poor or really wants to keep in touch with nature you can even skip the shoes. With swimming though you need a large enough pool of water to do it and depending on circumstances be good enough at it to not just drown.
Of the many things my mother insisted I learned as a child, swimming was one of those things. I kinda liked it but never learned enough to say "Hey, if I end finding myself thrown at the sea I will never drown." which was kinda of her goal for making me learn it.
I don't practice any particular sport but I was doing some exercises with the Wii Fit U start last year. It was making me feel better overall: I wasn't get depressed as easily, I was sleeping better and more regularly, I felt I had more energy, etc. The problem is that there are times where I just end up waking with a foul mood where everything in the world feels wrong, where it should just explode. Then I stop doing exercise for a day, maybe a couple and it soon turns out to months before I get back to it. I am going through one of these phases now. -_-
It's unfair, though, their legs are so short! I accept Saartje's superiority because of the fact that she's been walked with 4 times a day for 14 years. Now she's made of durasteel or something.
DeleteFrom my privileged point of view from a country where there's water everywhere and every child learns to swim (doing not so would be almost inviting people to drown) I didn't really consider that. Still, I'm happy you learned to swim. Even though I *dreaded* swimming lessons at school (a knot in my stomach every Wednesday for two years), I'm happy I learned that vital skill. And now I'm swimming weekly (and I've been swimming more frequently overall since 2013 as it helps soothe my nerve pain) I'm even starting to lose my scare of water. It just took 28 years to get (almost) over that phobia, it seems.
And I so, so know what you mean with those phases, unfortunately. I'm so sorry to hear you're in one now. Exercising regularly is the one thing I'm managing to keep up with and the fact that I *need* to, otherwise I physically feel very weak and crap (because of my illness), plays an important part in that. My studies are suffering severely from depression, though. I need to send all kinds of annoying e-mails asking for favours because of being sick (I hate those so, so much) and I just can't push myself to do it. I really need to pull myself together, but until I do, I feel like I hate myself and life seems without future. I'm hoping for a more positive phase for both of us soon.
The way I see it dogs occupy a different niche in nature. They get to run faster, have sharper senses, fur that can give some protection against the cold and sharp teeth. But we get to build some very complex tools and culture. I want to see the group of dogs that can build a complex communication system that would allow them to talk to another dog in a different side of the world!
DeleteWell, I learned to swim in a pool where my feet can touch the bottom and still keep my head above water. Anything deeper than that and I am screwed. Which might happen sooner than later considering that I am a short person and the average height gets bigger with each generation. Anyway, swimming is fun and can be relaxing. I am glad you starting to enjoy it! Or at least not getting scared so much.
I did start to exercise again this week. I am already seeing some improvement in my sleep. My muscles are also complaining about the exercise but that is a sign they are working. :p
I can relate to that. I also hate to ask for favors, even if my mind logically understands I have no choice and the other person probably wouldn't mind it it still bothers me. I also hope for a more positive phase for both of us soon.
Sorry for the slowpoke reaction! The flu kicked in and that nasty fever kept me from replying at length. I haven't been suffering like this for at least 5 years (possibly 10, but really, I don't remember so long back in time). Luckily, the worst part is over now, I think. Although, if someone could remove that lighter from under my throat that would be great (thank you).
Delete^Whiny part
It's great to hear you've started to exercise! Now the challenge will be to keep it up. :P And I know that the muscles will be complaining, but I agree, it's sort of a "good pain". As you may know I suffer from chronic nerve pain and one frustrating thing about it is that it is so absolutely pointless (to nerve system: yes, I did get the message after 3 full years that those nerves got hurt, thank you very much). So when I get muscle pain I'm like "Yay, pain that serves a purpose! Maybe I'll get some of those muscles back." The first time I really was like "I've *missed* this!", which probably makes me sound like a retard, but that's what it was like to me. This makes you feel really odd.
^Oh oops, the whining did continue.
Once the flu is over, I'm going to battle those favors I still need to ask, I promise myself that. (Now let's hope I'll hold myself to that promise, or I'll feel miserable again.)
Gee, thanks.
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/hide
DeleteOh my gosh, I love the title image you created for this post:P Saartje is completely adorable, I love her floppy ears! Such an old gal too, I'm happy to hear she still has a lot of energy! I'm completely with you on 1 and 4. I wish I had more to blog about, because I always feel so accomplished when I get a new post up!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I love her floppy ears too! I sometimes take them and do a "Dumbo tries to take off" impression. The poor thing then makes the following facial expression:
Delete-_-
It's interesting to hear from both Rakuno and you that you also recognize yourself in 1 and 4. Reassuring to read I'm not alone in this! Although, like Rakuno, you're awesome at replying to people's comments. I'll be putting in extra effort to follow your example!
And I'm always happy when you put a new post up. I read them all, even though I don't always have a reply at the ready. :)
Hahahaha, it's nice to see posts that are fun, even with very few real life information. I love dogs, so to me all dogs are beautiful. as for the shoes. I turned down my brightness on my monitor to look at them, I am a "Black color only" type of person, and since we all know that color seems to go with everything.
ReplyDeleteWhahaha, you win at the internet for finding the gamer equivalent of putting on sun glasses. Gave me a good grin. :D
DeleteWhen I went to the shop to buy the running shoes, the girl that helped me brought three pairs that were fit for my style of running and feet: one was fluorescent orange (not my fav colour), the second the turquoise-purple depicted above and the third fluorescent pink! I was so relieved when the turquoise-purple ones actually turned out to fit best!!
Although I do wear a lot of black as well, I like colourful clothes because they brighten up my day. When it comes to running shoes, fluo colours really seem to be heavily in fashion at the moment: there were no non-fluo shoes available. I still prefer them to white shoes, to be honest, those look dirty way too soon. ^^
Yay for running! :)
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