Hello, world!

source: Wikipedia

On Christmas morning, 1978, I unwrapped one of the best presents ever: an Atari console. That system is now known as the Atari 2600 (when it's ever discussed, at least). But on that Christmas morning, it was simply the Atari.  I have no earthly idea what else I got that year because any other toys were outshone by the sheer fun I had with that console.

From Combat to Space Invaders, the late '70s and early '80s were all about come home from school, get the homework and chores done, and then hop on the console.

Fast forward three decades...

I'm forty years old. I work full-time (often way more than full-time) as a Project Manager in the computer software industry. I've been happily married for over a decade and I have three children between the ages of 2 and 10. My wife and I enjoy spending time with each other, yet we also retain separate pursuits on our own.

At the moment, the kids are in bed. She's catching up on DVRs of shows I really don't care for, and I'm in front of the MacBook with Blizzard's Launcher blinking in the Dock.

I haven't changed all that much in those three decades. I still take care of my chores and then spend some of my free time enjoying a video game. However, instead of having to take out the trash, my chores are now all of the responsibilities that go along with having a career, being a father, and being a husband. While the demands of those things can be substantial, they're also rewarding.

As you can imagine, most of my waking hours are already claimed by other aspects of my life.  However, when I can make some "me time", I enjoy losing myself within a video game -- World of Warcraft.

I started playing WoW at the launch of the Burning Crusade expansion. I had been playing Everquest for a few years, and the guild I belonged to had several members quit EQ in favor of Warcraft. About the same time, Blizzard offered a free promotion to try the vanilla expansion for 10 days free, so I figured why not?

I downloaded the installer, which then had run over night; broadband of the late 2000s is not the broadband of today. After work the next day, I installed and the rest is history.  I made my wife watch the opening cinematic -- twice. That dwarven hunter with his bear was the reason I rolled my hunter -- still my main toon today.  I was totally blown away by the quality, the story, the pure "epicness" of the game. I loved questing, and grouping, and crafting, and dungeons. Mostly, I enjoy the escapism of it all -- getting away from real life and immersing myself in a fantasy world that always evolves.

It took me nine months to reach level 70 on my hunter, but I enjoyed the hell out of the experience. Once I hit 70, I wanted to repeat the experience, but this time as a healer so I rolled a priest alt.  The addiction reached new levels: today, I have seven level 85s [hunter, priest, death knight, shaman, druid, warlock, and paladin]. Also in that stable are two characters [rogue and mage] progressing through Outland in their 60s, and a level 29 warrior loving Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin.  Hey, PVP with BoA gear is ridiculously fun!

I never succeeding in joining a raid team during TBC, but I was fortunate to raid as both a hunter and a priest during the Wrath expansion. My raiding experience culminated with Arthas' defeat the week before 4.0 was released. Since then, I burned out (which translates to wanted to get more than four hours of sleep) and I have reverted back to questing, instancing and rambling through Cataclysm at my  own pace. With the coming Mists, I'll add an eleventh alt  -- if you guessed Pandarian Monk you're on my wavelength -- and continue towards my personal goal of having a max-level character of every class.

So consider this a teaser or a text-based trailer into Me. The whole point of this blog will be to share my thoughts, musings, ramblings and rants stemming from my experiences in and out of Azeroth. I have no idea how this will shape up, or the direction this will lead, but I hope to have some company along the ride.

Until the next post!