Intro: The Author

We writers are masters of disguise. I'll just bet you didn't know that. It's a well-kept secret in our world, but it's so critical to what we are, what we do. We put on faces like hats, taking on many different identities in order to express ourselves and our purposes through these little pixels that you read as words. Language. Our nifty little brains twist and turn until we are what we're writing, and we imbue every ounce of identity that we can create on all kinds of wild and wacky persons, places, and things. On bad days (or are they extra-good days?), we can get very, very confused by it all. :)

Because of that, I can't tell you who I am in just a few stats and sentences. No, especially for this eclectic and rather schizophrenic journal, I need to tell you who I am in pieces, give you the parts of my identity that you're going to hear from in the various entries. And because I am a being who loves efficiency, I am also going to use this as an excuse to introduce you to my organizational tool - color coding.* I want to let you know at a glance whether the entry you are looking at is fiction, philosophy, or fact. No guesswork involved for my audience, nosirree!

So meet Rhoelyn in all her incarnations and appearances. She and I** are looking forward to sharing our thoughts, our lives, and our adventures with you, and I hope we'll inspire you to share the same with us. :)

./who AC Bamblett

Age: 25 years
Gender: Female
Day Job: Designing Casino Game Cabinets
Creed: What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
Likes: Creative expression, philosophizing on the mundane, eating chocolate, not LOOKING like you eat chocolate, and cuddly cats.
Dislikes: Math, closed minds, impolite people, chaos, and tentacled overlords of evil that are bent on the destruction of all life.
Phobias: None, but arachnids are gross, icky, and horrible.

Overview:

I fought hard to not play World of Warcraft.

Surprising, isn't it? I knew that the game was going to be an impressive synergy of fun play, an intriguing world, and measurable goals. I knew I'd love it. I knew I'd want to explore it fully and thoroughly and (in all likelihood) repeatedly... which is precisely why I didn't want to play it. I knew it would be a huge time sink and a good time that I simply wouldn't want to resist. My only chance was to never even set foot in that huge, immersive world.

Needless to say, I failed in my attempt to avoid it. My husband turned those lovely, blue eyes of his on me, asked politely (and repeatedly for about 2 months), and I caved. I crafted a toon, dreamed up a name, logged in and was lost. I'm still lost, and to add irony to injury, my husband stopped playing about 6 months ago. So here I am, 3 years and 8 alts later, still rushing home after work to make raid, still geeking out on a daily basis about spell damage, talent trees, and guild e-drama, and still researching Lore on my lunch break. He just laughs at me, an evil kind of 'look how I've corrupted you' laugh.***

Involved as I am, though, I still fight the pull of the game long enough to find occasional time for my other activities. Goodness knows, it's not enough, but then my list of interests is about five miles long and three feet deep. Two lifetimes and an extra century could quite possibly still not be enough. I do what I can, treading carefully to try to find time for writing; art; fantasy, sci-fi, and romance novels; arts and crafts; home improvement projects; friends; pets; web design; decorating; and sports around the immense time sink that is this wonderful, fascinating game. I share information about these hobbies and the more personal side of myself as vayenne on Livejournal, but part of this blog will be sharing WoW-related art, fiction, news, and crafts from other artists as well as myself. It's part of making the game a larger experience, and I just love to see how it inspires and motivates all of us outside of Azeroth.

That's why I know that I'm going to have fun with this journal. By spending time here, I will get to geek out about WoW as well as polish my writing, explore my love of creating and appreciating art, nail down all those philosophical ponderings that the intricate social situation of an MMO spawns, and also pass along the knowledge and interesting information that I have gained, both in real life and in the game. It is my most fervent intention to do this in a way that will be educational, amusing, and interesting to all of you, but I hope that you will feel free to tell me whether I am succeeding or failing. I am always open to questions, suggestions, critiques or even guest content. Feel free to leave me comments or notes at any time!

The Gyst: Author-posts are from me, the person behind the words - that real, live being whose fingers are tappity-tapping away at the keyboard right this minute. Journal entries in 'Default Teal' will be about the real-life influences and consequences of World of Warcraft, helpful hints for treating your body with the same care you give to your toon, and the philosophy of the virtual world's reflections in the real world. Here is where you will find social commentary, mental and physical health and wellness advice, guild information, and real-world news related to Warcraft and other gaming.
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* Ah, who doesn't love a good bit of color?! (Apologies to the color-blind, but I'm 1/2 artist. I couldn't do without my chartreuse and cornflower blue.)

** See? Told you it gets confusing for me, at times. :P

*** Lesson to learn, here? Men are evil. The truth is out...

That First Step

It's always funny how that first step is naturally the hardest. It's almost as if the human psyche is as susceptible to Newton's First Law as the body is. You need to exert a large force just to get things rolling. A bit of pow and bif just to get the brain off its dimpled rump and into motion.

Well, I've got the pow in my purpose, here, and the can of Diet Coke on my elbow is bringing in the mad bif, so let's get this show on the road and see just where we roll!

Welcome to Points of Convergence, a tale and a blog and an intellectual challenge all at once. Quite literally.

Posts here will be mixed between philosophy, theory, fantasy and fact about the influences of the World of Warcraft on our real and imaginary selves. We'll talk about taking care of yourself as well as your toon. We'll talk about phat porples and strategies to get them. We'll talk about classes and advantages and abilities and macros and all those theorycrafting elements that the best WoW players dream about at night. We'll balance all the practical with a bit of fancy, and maybe a bit of artistry. We'll explore Lore: characters, histories, race and creeds. We'll wander Azeroth from the perspective of its denizens by way of fiction. We'll wander Azeroth from the perspective of its participants by way of fact. We'll enjoy stories, information and even art to help give greater depth to this digital interest that we all share.

Get your Riding Crops and Mithril Spurs ready, ladies and gentlemen. We're about to start a journey of exploration in the biggest digital world the Earth has ever known. :)