Link Love: Potpourri from the Blogosphere

Rumors of my death have been gr--... well, moderately exaggerated. I apologize for the quiet week. I'm not much of one for a dozen excuses; I've just been very busy and exhausted from a crunch at work and a convergence of many different real-life energy and time sinks. The work crunch will last a while, yet, but I am hoping that this weekend will give me a chance to clear out the rest of the rubble. I'll be back to a quality pair of posts, next week.

For today, however, here are some great places to go and enjoy the content I'm not up to providing:

1. World of Warcrafts at WoW Insider is not exactly a brand new cloumn, but since it was taken over by Shelbi from The Bronze Kettle, it may as well be. The quality of the crafts she has offered up is already leaps and bounds above her predecessor. If you're looking for an afternoon project, a bit of fun to share with the kids, or just a cool distraction to get you out of the game for an hour or two, then you should definitely check out her column and see what you can make. I'm really tempted to make myself some potion candles for my desktop.
   
   
   
2. Maybe gameplay ideas are more your creative flavor for the week? If so, then I think you should go read Siha of Banana Shoulders. She has great advice for those of the paladin ilk, and I really enjoyed her creative method for Farming For Shattered Sun Rep. When all your quests and group runs are exhausted for the day, you can use this method for eeking out a bit more of the SSO love on your way to Exalted. That's the way to think outside the box, Siha!
   
   
3. Roleplay is always fun, and perhaps never more so than when you're A Cheerful Corpse or an Orc with an attitude and a tendency to cross-dress. Both blogs are short, sweet reads that are guaranteed to amuse or make you think twice about some of your character assumptions. I know I'll never look at Jaina Proudmoore the same way, again.
   
   
4. Another fun blog to visit is this newcomer: Warcraft and Other Hooha. I think if you click the link, you'll immediately pick up on why I like to visit so much. Ankhara has some great screenshots displayed, both of the lovely variety and of the funny variety, and I am excited to go investigate a couple of the obscure quests she's highlighted. She's a promising new blogger, and I can't wait to see what else she brings us.
   
   
5. Mama Druid, true to her name, is trying to protect us from our own stupidity.* She has shared a profile of an interesting and moderately frightening new 'type' of player that might be lurking on the other side of the hedge, hungrily eyeballing your guild bank. I highly recommend you read her description and make sure that your guildies know better than to use the /ginvite command like a revolving door.

Oh, and since I will never, ever, ever write a 'oh, lookit mah shiny new loot' post, I think I'll take this small, unobtrusive opportunity to share a squee from last night. After topping off with a Karazhan run, I took Rhoelyn and her entire wad of 154 Badges of Justice to our new friend, Smith Hauthaa**. After much grunting and sweating, some syllables of obscure words of power, and a bit of magical investiture, my dear Shadow Priest was rewarded with the best thing since sliced bread (although I suppose it would be really good at slicing said bread). We're the proud wielder of the Scryer's Blade of Focus. Faces everywhere had better be trembling in fear. :D

* Talk about aiming high, huh? :P
** I'm very proud of my server for being the first to unlock the smith, but this isn't a WoW News blog. If you want to read more about the path through 2.4 content on Proudmoore, then please go visit Siha at Banana Shoulders. :)