Friday, July 17, 2009

Slowing down

It’s in the middle of July and everyone seems to be on vacation. Even Tobold has taken a well deserved break from blogging. At The Pink Pigtail Inn, we’ve been keeping up business as usual, but finally I have to admit it to myself: summer is here. To me it means that everything will slow down for a couple of weeks – in game as well as my presence in the Blogosphere as a writer and commenter.

The summer debuff
Even though I knew it was inevitably incoming, the summer debuff took me a little by surprise. Last week our guild had no problem whatsoever to grab 25 people for the weekly mass slaughter in Ulduar. And now we’re all vanished, gone to do some Real Life questing. The officers are making a tremendous effort to try to keep up some alternative raiding during the vacation period, if nothing else 10 man raids. But the pace in the game is definitely a lot slower than usual. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think we all need some regeneration of mana, rage, energy or whatever that keeps us going. When we come back we’ll all be hungry for boss kills and loot, prepared to take down Yogg and then whatever challenges that await us in 3.2.

I too will soon take off to explore a little bit more of the world outside of Azeroth. Next week I’m off to Paris, where I’m planning to scare the kids with a creepy walk through the catacombs and some breathtaking views from Tour Eiffel. And after that I’ll probably go hiking in the Swedish highlands. (I get itchy rashes if I don’t get some fresh mountain air every once a year.)

Of course this means limited access not only to WoW in itself, but also to blogging, and since I haven’t prepared a ton of prewritten posts, the updating here will be a bit slow and irregular for a while.

In the meanwhile
You won’t be left all on your own though. My bartender may give you something to munch on, which definitely will give you a treat. His (sorry, I mean her) latest post Landscapes of Heart must have been the most poetic and beautiful WoW blog entrance I’ve ever read. Seriously. I’m so proud to have you in the team, Elnia!

If you still crave for some Larísa reading, I suggest that you have a look in the archives. There are some 350 posts there and I doubt that there’s anyone but me who has read them all.

Or why not check out some of the blogs in my blogroll? I keep adding new gems as I find them. The latest addition is Tamarind at standing at the back in my sissy road. I’ve only been following it for a short while, but he has made quite an impression. It’s got all the qualities you can wish from a blog: light-hearted, well written, with a nice and lively commentary section. And as an extra bonus it looks awesome (at least if you agree with me that blogs shouldn’t look like the major boulevard in Las Vegas).

A final word from your innkeeper: don’t worry about my absence. I’ll be back. And the conversation will continue. Don’t forget: it’s you – the readers and commenters – who give life, depth and warmth to the inn. The post about my gender ponderings the other day rendered 60 comments. Every single one of them was nice, relevant and interesting. There must be some magic protection aura surrounding the inn that keeps the trolls away. You have no idea how humbled and grateful I am.

Well that’s about what I needed to say. In a moment I’ll just grab my backpack and silently sneak out the backdoor before anyone can stop me. In my bag I have a 900 page adventure book, Shantaram, which is the most fascinating book I've encountered in years. Go read it when you're done with Arthas: The Rise of Lich King (if you'll ever come around to read that one after Tamarind's lustfull picking at it). Mind you, this book isn't about WoW at all, it's about India, so sticking to the theme of PPI, I probably shouldn't even bother to mention it. But I do. If I was half as good at writing as the author, Gregory David Roberts, I'd be a very happy little gnome.
And now: go to the bar and have another beer. Enjoy yourself and enjoy the summer (or the winter, if you're an aussie)!

See you in a while.

I love you all!

Larísa

16 comments:

Darraxus said...

Best of luck on vacation Larisa. We will hold it down while you are gone.

MLW said...

I'll miss reading your posts. Sadly, it's freezing here in Australia.

KiwiRed said...

As someone who never voluntarily travels, I'll wish you "Bon Voyage" with some degree of incomprehension - I hope the trip goes well for you, and I'll be among the crowd of readers awaiting your triumphant return. (As someone who doesn't live in Australia but does live in the southern hemisphere, I'm looking forward to the return of summer - complaining about how cold it is has lost its charm, and I want to get back to complaining about the heat)

Anonymous said...

Whoah... Have a great trip.. enjoy your dungeons and towers... Enjoy your mountains.. both up and down...

Winter down here isn't too bad.. sun's still shining (for a portion of each day)...

Anyway... Winter is just the gateway to Spring... and Spring is lovely in Melbourne!

Gevlon said...

Have a good time in vacation and come back reloaded with mana!

Carra said...

Have a nice holiday.

Acrecia said...

Enjoy your vacation!

Firespirit said...

Everyone needs a break now and then :)

Have a wonderful vacation, and come back with many, many funny stories that you can share with us!

We Fly Spitfires said...

Have a good holiday!

Hatch said...

Enjoy Paris!

Svenn said...

Have fun in Paris. Make sure you try the duck (or canard in French), it is delicious!

Fish said...

I will miss your blogging but enjoy the break. Strangely I find my blogging is inversely proportional to my workload. Summer boredom at work = more blogging time!

Fitz said...

Recharge those batteries, as Yogg-Saron, Anub-Arak, and Arthas will be waiting for your gang of conquerors!

I'm on vaca next week also. Time to go see a beach!

Jenneke said...

Have fun in Paris :) I wish I was only taking a vacation break from WoW... However, reading your posts makes me happy and very motivated to get back in Azeroth as soon as I have the time.

Bristal said...

The Catacombs are amazing!!! Who knew that underneath a city like Paris you could literally walk by MILES of the stacked bones of people dead for centuries. You should post a picture when you get back.

Enjoy and Bon Voyage!

candy said...

Yeah for traveling! Be sure to pack a small fan of some sort (manual or auto) to brave the sweltering heat! And a compact mirror for checking out ornate ceilings without craning your neck all day...
:)

Amazingly, our guild has picked up on progression rather than slowed down over the past few weeks. First time I have been in a guild that didn't get hit with the summer doldrums...