For those of you who don't watch cartoons, or like cartoons but have stayed away from Cartoon Network ever since it started up back in October 1992 (my how the years have gone by...), then you might not have heard of FusionFall.  It's a brand new "free" MMORPG, chock full of your favorite CN characters, ranging from Dexter's Lab to Powerpuff Girls to Ben 10, even Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, which has held a special place in my heart since day one.

You're thrust into this world, just a random cartoony kid, where you get to pick out your clothing for your trip into the future.  It's a nice selection, though I have seen other "free" MMORPGs with a bigger selection.  On the upside, you can find plenty of other clothing and accessories easily within the first hour or two of gameplay within the actual FusionFall worlds.  After creating your character, Dexter of Dexter's Lab fame plops you into his time machine to fight off some mutant menace from another world at some point in the future.  But, as a few Dexter fans may know, DeeDee always manages to screw something up in his experiments.  "What does this button do?"  Oh, not much...  Just sends you a few years too far ahead, where things are MUCH worse than they should have gone.  Alien monsters and machines are everywhere, and there are plenty of areas where you can't even walk without getting poisoned.

Those areas are a crucial point of gameplay, however.  Not too many MMO's that I've seen have had anywhere near the idea of having a platformer in the middle of their quests, and that's something I actually really enjoyed messing around with.  The puzzles are quick, and go more like moving mazes, with moving and floating platforms leading you to the goal.  They're even working on a way to make these into mini-races, so players can compete on a leader board for best times.  Neat.

The first mission was to go around killing the Level 1 mean little green blobs.  Point, click a few times, or just hold down the button, and you're done.  Healing is a lot faster in this game as opposed to a few others I've played, so dying is VERY difficult to do in most places.  It goes by very quickly, and then you're asked to go into the platforming level in order to get to a boss fight within some cavern cave dungeon thing...  basically what any other RPG, either single or multi-online player would do.  The bosses are green, red-eyed versions of big Cartoon Network stars (the tutorial fight is Buttercup from Powerpuff Girls), bent on your destruction.

Wait, did I say "boss fight"?  I meant to say, another green blob.  Seriously, these "boss fights" are in NO way challenging.  You might get down to 15% health and start freaking out looking for your potions, but then you realize that the guy's taking his last breath.  And VOILA.  A little bugger called a Nano appears.  It's a baby-fied version (you may call it chibi or super-deformed) of the "boss" you just took out.  Funny, the Buttercup Nano has been the only one that actually kept the proportions of the original character, with the big head and little body...  Anyways, you get to choose from one of three different powers your Nano can use (stunning an enemy, getting extra money, getting a speed boost, etc), and then apparently they hitch a ride in your pocket so you can yank them out to make them do your bidding.

Nifty.  I go onto the next level.  And the first thing that bugs me...  Every MMO I have ever played has a fight-to-level experience gauge.  Not this one.  You just level up each time you fight a boss.  So I ended up spending 2 hours fighting random crap for the hell of it for NOTHING.  Yes, it speeds things up for the kiddies out there, but jeebus...  warn me next time.

So the next level brings me to Numbah 2 of Kids Next Door.  "Hey, go find me some 2x4s, oh chosen one."  So, I do.  "Now go fight that green skinned, red-eyed version of me in that dungeon over there."  Done.  "Here's a Numbah 2 Nano!"  I level up.

The next level brings me to Eddy (of Ed, Edd, and Eddy) and Eduardo (of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends).  Ed tells me to gather up some random stuff to make glue to repair the time machine.  Done.  Eduardo has to chew the bubblegum to put into the glue mix...  why I can't just do this myself and freshen my breath at the same time is beyond me.  Now I fight a green skinned red eyed version of Eddie, and get that Nano.

Alas, now Eduardo can't find his potatos.  So I find them, and bring them back to my purple amigo.  Then I'm informed of a green haired, red eyed version of him...

Wait a second.

They're reminding me that I can't hold any more Nanos at a time than 3, but that I can hold more at one time with the subscription... and that I can't use the time machine that I'm rebuilding until I pay the subscription.

WHAT.

I've just played the same four missions in a row.  And you expect me to pay to play it 50+ times over?  Oh, I forgot, I get two unique(ly hideous) outfits with my first payment!

=_=;;;  Nope, don't think so, Ted Turner.  Yes, I LOVE CN.  With all my heart.  I loved seeing Eduardo needing my help.  I would find potatos for him any day.  But NO.  Just no.  To a kid less than 13 years old, yes, they will BEG their parents to pay the 5 bucks a month for them.

Cartoon Network, I thought you'd brought me something that would rival World of Warcrack.  Something that would actually be worth my 5 dollars a month.  Something that my husband might even want to grab onto, knowing that he's been attached to the channel for quite some time.

Call me when you make one for Adult Swim.

HI EVERYBODY.

Just to let everyone know...

The CVS that I am currently working for is offering an AWESOME deal on 8x10s and 5x7s... If you'd like a print of one of my pictures, I'll send an 8x10 out for $5.00USD and a 5x7 for $4.00USD, postage included. One dollar per extra print, since it'll be in the same package.

COME ON! IT'S AN AWESOME DEAL.

High quality, Kodak prints. Not just out of my printer. This is professional stuff, probably the same (if not at least on par) as what DevArt uses for their prints. Waterproof, pretty and shiny... Can't miss out on this one, folks. It's going on until December 31st, so if you want to send out gifts, or decorate your home for the new year, now's the time!

Also, requests for pictures are included in this deal. 10 bucks for those, including shipping. The 5 dollar photos are for pictures already in my gallery (found at http://usagisailor.deviantart.com).   ^_^

Photos, drawings... ANYTHING that could be printed in my gallery is up for grabs.

So it looks like we're not moving to Beaufort any time soon...  Which sucks, because this house just isn't letting us breathe.  It's getting smaller (yes, I know that sounds odd, but the walls are just closing in, you know?), it's freezing in the winter and blazing in the summer (and if we want to make it comfortable, it costs near 300 bucks), and the wood panel walls are scientifically proven to put ANYONE into a depression.  But it's free, and we're working on the insulation issues...  Meh.  I can look past that.

There's some random bs going on with Will's job right now.  Sucks.

And then we move on to my creepy old Scottish dude stalker.  This guy tried to pick me up last night (knowing FULL well that I am married with kids), and on his way out the door earier tonight, he tries to freakin kiss me on the mouth.  I mean, a cheek kiss, that's a european thing, I got no problem with that.  NOT ON THE MOUTH.  I managed to duck out of it and ask him what the hell he was doing, and he told me "I gotta take a chance"...  Yeah.  If he manages to take that chance, my knee's gonna be shoved so far up his groin that I'm gonna hit sternum.  I could care less how my kneecap will fare in this venture.

Want to move, but can't.  Job woes.  Creepy old guy stalker.  =_=;;;  Yeah.  But hey, we're going to the circus this weekend, then it's Superbowl Sunday.  Not a great day for Will, but it's a chance for me to party with my coworkers/boss.  So whatever, it might work out, I might get cheered up this week.  Oh, and I get stitches taken out of my shoulder on tuesday.  Fun stuff.  Had a suspicious mole cut out last tuesday.  It's been a great week.

Venting blog, ahoy!

So USC loses to Clemson by two points, in the last three freakin' seconds of the game.  Okay, that's respectable.  I can deal.

I'm driving home, from my last trip alone from Beaufort, my last night at Beef's, trying to figure out what I'm going to say to the people I have to train on monday.  *I like to plan ahead like that...*  Suddenly, my radar detector goes WILD, and I realize, wait, I'm on the outskirts of Varnville, doing 55 or so...  And then it hits me.  I passed the 40mph sign about 50 feet back.

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*

(Censorship sponsored by Family Entertainment of Amerca Association Ltd.)

Cop pulls me over, and informs me that my radar detector must be working great.  As were my brakes.  Yeah.  I'm screwed.  I got clocked 57mph in a 40.  CRAP.

I explained to the guy what I was doing, and that I didn't even realize that I was THAT close to home until the radar went off.  Seeing that, and how it was my first offense, he bumped it down to 45 in a 40.

57 in a 40 includes:
4 points on your liscense
208USD fine.

45 in a 40 includes:
2 points on your liscense
77USD fine.

WHEW.  Thank you, Officer Cook.  Plus, the court date is after New Year's, so I don't have to worry about it dipping into my Christmas fund.  Jeebus.  =_=;;;

And now Will's making me feel like an emo kid.  Or like Brian from Family Guy.  He's being Stewie.  He's about to feel the sting that Brian sent him the third time around.



Yeah.  That last part.  Watch yer back.  *glare glare glare*

ADULT MATERIAL IS INVOLVED IN THIS BLOG.  PLEASE STOP READING IF YOU ARE UNDER 18, OR IF SUCH MATERIAL IS ILLEGAL IN YOUR AREA OF THE WORLD.

And with that out of the way, we begin.

As most of us know, World of Warcraft has sent many people to a lifetime of getting a tan via their computer screen.  It's destroyed marriages, made kids flunk out of school, caused embarrassing bladder incidents...  But it's also brought people together in a strange way, letting people converse and game together, and sometimes build virtual friendships in a way that pen pals never could.

Okay, cool.  At least it's limited to a friend thing, until you move it out of the WoW area.  From what I can tell, in most MMORPGs, you've got to get out of the actual program, or go to an EXTREMELY private area of the servers to get "something more" out of the game and the interaction between another user.

Someone has bridged that gap.  Folks, I regretabbly introduce RedLightCenter.com, where you can meet and greet random users, just like visual chat programs such as IMVU and Kaneva.  There's one crucial difference, however...  For $20 a month, you can have adult interaction with other users.  Yes, you can have virtual, 3-D model sex with other users.  Yeah.  You can facepalm now.

So now, instead of computer addicts finally having to hunt down someone to have sexual interaction with outside of their own homes, they can have something else (and probably just as good in their eyes) and never have to leave their chair...  just as long as they have an empty 2-litter bottle nearby.  And some tissues.

The site's virtual tour advertises that you can "Meet real men and women".  The binary code is not a real man or woman.  And who's to say that just because they have a digital vagoo, that they are in fact female?  On the other side of the spectrum, a pixelated penis does not make you a real male.

Might I mention you can spend virtual cash (which I'm pretty sure you have to buy with REAL cash) to buy your online lover flowers, jewelry, or that new dildo they've always wanted?

Oh, how I long for the days where "massively multiplayer online" sexual interaction involved pressing the crouch button repeatedly in order to teabag your downed opponent.

Tagged by the Ant-Man...  Post 10 strange, wierd, random, whatever facts and/or goals about yourself, then tag another person.  You can't tag the person that tagged you, so I can't tag Ant, and if I tag you, you can't tag me.  Got it?  Let's begin.

1.  FACT:  I am a gamer chick, and a pretty good one at that.  My favorite games include Halo 2 and 3 (only 'cuz I haven't had the chance to play 1 too much), Sims2, Rainbow Six Vegas, and random online simulation games.  I'm also a fan of almost any free MMORPG that I run across, though I rarely stick to them for long.

2.  FACT:  I am a firm believer that there will be an epic (and possibly earth-shattering) battle between Tacgnol and Longcat.

3.  FACT:  I have yet to have a honeymoon, thanks to our roommate back in 2004 not paying his share of the rent and bills for three months, which equals out to 800 dollars.  We quickly told him that this was Sparta, and kicked him into the local bottomless pit.

3.  FACT:  I'm hoping to finally have said honeymoon this winter, in Helen, GA.  Nice little Bavarian tourist trap that my family frequented when I was growing up...  great tubing, great scenery, great food, and I'm hoping some good beer, as we're thinking about taking all of our buddies down for Oktoberfest next year.

4.  FACT:  As a child, I would constantly introduce myself to strangers as Dorothy, then point to the ground beside me to introduce my dog, Toto.  No, there wasn't even a stuffed animal there.  It was nothingness.  But to me, apparently, it was the world.  I remember none of this, but my family swears by it.

5.  FACT:  I do it like a weasel.

6.  FACT:  I love walking through a sudden downpour, as long as I don't have anywhere to be.  If it's barely raining at all, just enough to speckle my glasses, I absolutely hate it.

7.  FACT:  The first car I ever owned was officially out of commission within three months.  I honestly shouldn't have even driven it those last two.

8.  FACT:  I can probably recite, word for word, every Spongebob episode through the first four seasons, thanks to Tonya.

9.  GOALS:  I'd love to get a comic going one of these days, if for nothing more than to say, I finally did it.  If it makes me famous, all the better.  But between the kids, a weekend job, and driving Will to Charleston for his boxing training, I definitely gotta give myself a good kick in the pants to get started.

10.  If I can't do that, I'd like to become a local cop.  I've always had an urge to be in the police force, and once the kids get into school, I'm planning on at least attempting police academy.

I tag:  Will, Jor-rel, Maz, Chris Ulmer, Trish, Valerie, Adam, Stevo, and this little guy.


He counts as two.

Every kid grows up wanting to be the superhero.  They want the special powers, the gadgets...  But what kid wants the responsibility?  The pressure?  The willingness to listen to a problem, and take care of it before any harm comes out of the situation?

Anyone can do a mild representation of it, just by opening a door for someone.  Try something one day...  do a series of small favors all day, open doors, allow a few "after you"s, give someone else that parking space...  Then recall just how many times you were thanked.  I'm guaranteeing it's half or less, even here in the south.

So why do we bother?  Hell, some of us don't.  Some of us just have days when we don't feel like it.  And that's okay.  We're not Superman ignoring a comet the size of the moon.  But on the other side of the spectrum, there are some people trying to save not only Metropolis, but the world.

The less thanks we get for "saving" these people, whether it's protecting them against Armageddon or letting them buy their two items before you buy your two cart fulls, the less these everyday superheros start to care.  Without these guys, the world isn't going to amount to much at all, if it even survives.

What's worse is that when you do manage to run into one of these everyday superheros, society has forced you to wonder just what they could be doing when you turn your head away.  He allowed me through the door first, is he trying to pick my back pocket?  They just complimented me while I was having a rough day, are they making jokes about how I REALLY look behind my back?

In some form or another, these favors are 9 times out of 10 just something nice, a bit of security and protection for some random stranger.  Everyday superheros are paying it forward, in dollars and cents, not mansions and Rolls Royces.  But really, what's a dollar gonna buy you these days?

So Tonya woke up this morning with a bad tummy ache, and started throwing up.  Yay.  And her without Medicaid...  Ah well, at least I have all the paperwork I need!  Will's pay stubs were submitted three months ago, I FINALLY have a notice from Park Grille saying I'm not employed there any more (managed to get it a week before they shut down, what nice and prompt people they are), I've got Tonya's birth certificate, as well as her social security card...  Should be no problem to get her Medicaid in order and my little girl into a doctor's care.

But NOOOOOOOOOOO.  Of course nothing is that easy.

"Okay, ma'am, all we need is her immunization record."

LOL, WUT?

Three months ago, I was told that in order to renew Tonya's insurance, I'd have to bring in an original birth certificate and an original social security card....  Which I had already on file over there, but due to law changes, I have to bring that crap in EVERY year...  (Even though the contract/application I sign says that I don't have to...  gotta love how they stay SO very up to date on this crap.)  But NOTHING about an immunization card.  I explained to them that I'd never been told that, and the woman behind the desk told me it was because of immigration laws that took effect last year.  But, maybe I could figure something out with the case worker.

Oh, and somehow, Will's paystubs are worthless.  We have to get new ones, because we all know that a waiter's hourly wages go up exponentially every couple days.  =_=

So the case worker gets there.  "There's nothing we can do.  The laws were changed last year, and the immunization card is required for children."

"Last year, huh?"  They nod.  "Funny.  I came in here THREE MONTHS AGO.  Nothing was mentioned about an immunization card."

Their faces drop.  I know something's up at this point.  "Well, there's nothing we can do."

"Gee, thanks."

I heard them wish me a nice day as I walked out the door.  I was close to walking back in just to give 'em the finger.

Will went over to ask them just what in hell they were doing...  they showed him a list of allowed forms of identification, and sure enough, the immunization card is listed as a requirement.  "We were never sent a notice that we needed that.  Nobody ever told us."

"Oh.  Well, someone came in last week to tell us we needed to start taking those."

My god.  Our school systems must suck.  Because last time I checked, LAST WEEK IS NOT LAST YEAR.

I'm moving to Canada.

THE SPOILERS ARE RAMPANT, AND ARE CONTAINED THROUGHOUT THIS BLOG.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

First off, I'd like to say that while it was a great book, it wasn't the best out of the Harry Potter series.  (I still think that title must go to Half Blood Prince.)  One of those that was a really good read, but you really had to force yourself through the first half.  A few too many detailed scenes that didn't really have to be detailed, and a lot of "let's repeat this so it'll get into your thick skull" repetitive plot points.  I don't know how many times they talked about Mad Eye's death...  O.o;;

And speaking of deaths, I could have sworn that JK told us that there would be TWO deaths in this book.  TWO.  Not like, ten.  Geebus...  I'd heard rumors that killings would be rampant, but I figured it was random muggles and nameless witches and wizards.

There was one particular scene that I read while I was at Beef's, and if I hadn't been there, if I'd been at home reading instead, I believe I would have started bawling my eyes out.  No, it wasn't any Snape scene, as several of my friends are probably assuming at this point...  It was when the bodies of Lupin and Tonks were found.  I mean, they just had a little hair-change baby!  WHY, JK?  WHY!?  I guess it wouldn't have hit me so bad if I wasn't a parent myself...  But having a little boy probably about the same age as their kid, it hit home.  Damn parental mortality.

And this goes out to Jor-rel...  HAHAAAAAAAAAA!  WHO'S A GOOD GUY, HUH?  WHO'S GOOD?!  Oh, and lest we forget...  WHO BEGGED FOR DEATH?!  Alright, now that that's out of the way, I'm glad Snape was a good guy.  I kinda figured it, especially after realizing just how many times he was accused of doing something evil, and then finding out he did the exact opposite, or just ended up having nothing to do with it.  I suppose that MIGHT make up for Lupin and Tonks.

And I think all of us can give a big round of applause to Mrs. Weasley.  Calling Bellatrix a bitch, and then killing her.  MAD props.  XD

There are rumors flying around that JK is making a Harry Potter encyclopedia, and if she does write it, the profits/proceeds will go to various charities.  Nice of her, considering she's already the richest author in the world to my knowledge...  I mean, seven books under her belt, and a billionaire...  I don't think Stephen King can say the same, and HOW many books has that guy shoveled out?

Well, it seems that my little boy is getting up from his nap, so I must go ahead and close this out.  A good read, you just gotta get to the second half for it to go anywhere.  :3