Keep Yer Ban-Hammer Off'n My Books, Ya Punks

Kirk of Priestly Endeavors issued a challenge to several bloggers concerning Banned Book Week (9/27 - 10/4). I wasn't personally called out but I see no reason for that to stop me.

Of the 100 books from the list of those most challenged between 1990 - 2000, I have indeed read, perused, or out-right studied the following - and I'm not ashamed to admit it.


7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
55. Cujo by Stephen King
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

First of all - check out all the Stephen King on this list! That's my effort to distract you from all the Judy Blume. Hey - I was once a teenaged girl. Hard to believe, but it's true. So anyway - that's 25 of the 100 titles down... now I just have to pick one to read next week! And you know what? Because this is AMERICA I believe I'll just saunter into the local library and check it out. If, that is, I can get the neighborhood 10-year-olds to return it.

Prin Re-Specs Holy; Stubs Toe; Dies

So I haven't had much to say in the Shadow Priest area this week. See, D got it in his head that if I respecced holy, I'd be able to heal a heroic. *snort* Turns out, no, I can't. No, I didn't really try, but even specced holy and in my tragically underwhelming healy gear, Be Imba had me at under 100 for PvE. I couldn't get my +heals over 1k, and yeah, while I could have dropped some gold on enchanting her stuff, I didn't want to pull an Obama, you know?*

Now here I am, running around Sunwell Plateau, attempting dailies. I'm still not Exalted there on Prin, you see. Okay, the coast. I pull a Myrmidon, he badly wounds me. A Siren spawns right on top of me and I'm dead.

Moving on to the demons. Oh, awesome, someone has just killed the big guy. I run over there to plant my flag in its back, and apparently stabbed myself in the foot with it because I'm suddenly at like, 20% health. I'm not even in combat!

I resolve to L2Smite. Geez this feels so alien to me...

Bombing run? Oh, yeah! I can't possibly get hurt doing this. HA. You forgot about the Reservists at the landing dock, didn't you? Yeah, I did. /sigh

Bloodberry bush! Aha! GAH! Since when do these things have THORNS!?

Donate gold to the cause? Sure, why not? It's not like I'm going to have a 400g repair bill, or anything. Anchorite Ayuri's Rough Cuticle hits Principessa for 7,000 critical. Principessa dies.

I'm totally going to go re-spec back to Shadow. I don't know how you holier-than-me people get anything done in this game. *grumble*

*PLEASE do not take this comment as an open invitation to get all political here. I'm just trying to be topical, I'm not trying to ruin my rep as the founding member of the Apathetic party.

New and Improved Felhunter - now with more face-munching!

So I noticed this article on WoW Insider last night. The puppy has long been one of Sister Malarea's favorite minions; I actually like him more than anyone but the Felguard! Mal leveled as Affliction and I always said I'd never spec any other way... until the Beta came along, and I decided to try out Metamorphasis. I had so much fun with the Felguard that I respecced Mal on the live servers to Demonology, as well.

Since then, I've enjoyed the superior tanking, and increased dps... but I'm growing bored with tossing out Shadowbolt after Shadowbolt and ignoring all my dots. I'm also missing instant-cast Corruption.

The intended synergy between the new & improved Felhunter and a deep Affliction spec is tantalizing... as I type this, I'm waiting on the newest Beta patch to install so that I can re-spec Mal back to her Affliction roots. Oh - and since Hawli has dinged 70, I'm deleting her off the test realm and attempting to re-copy her over. BRK has got me itching to try some of the new exotic pets.

Transporter - On the Blink

Still.

CHILLY!!

So there has been much talk of penguins in WoW, especially now that we're gearing up to head to Northrend for yet another world-saving, right?

All news pointed to the Beta servers being down this morning, which put a real cramp in my day since that's how I'd previously decided to soothe myself during normal server down-time. Bummer, eh? Well, there was a patch to install, which I did, and then I thought, why not just SEE if I can't log in? And I could! I hopped onto Tehrawreyes, my DK, for a little herbing.

Hmmm... new mail - from Master Handler Sylvester. Wonder what it could be...

Is he not just the cutest thing you've ever seen!?

In other news, hitting level 75 Herbalism appears to have earned me a new HoT spell... tasty.

The Fourth Level 70 - Hawli Has Arrived

All the hard work, grinding, engineering, raptor-killing, etc., pays off.



Oh - and while transporting into Area 52, there was a tiny little malfunction... thankfully, it only lasted an hour. /eyeroll

Sister Despairity - Take Heed!

http://automagica.blogspot.com/2008/08/frost-specs-zupa-style.html

You are totally going to be working on the above method by Zupa this week. Hawli is only 1/2 a level from 70; it's time for you to come into your own.

/hug

August Poll Results

Okay, it appears that a lot of people are looking forward to playing their priests once WotLK releases - second only to Death Knights.

Why?

Too Sexy For My Horns

So... Prin finally managed to score the Viking Horns of Vicious Death, Doom, and Chaos!! Or whatever they're called...

Sister Mal has been rocking these for a long time, now, and has pretty much scorned all other headgear as being just not sexy enough to replace it.

How to get these bad boys? Well, pull up a chair, my darlings, and I'll spin you a yarn of Ogres and Murkbloods, of the Crypts and those freaking wandering Ancestors (who knew they'd be elites?).

Here's the quest that awards the horns: http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10212. If you don't happen to be sporting a Shadow Priest, or other caster, you'll notice that there are some really awesome pieces for other classes, too. You'll also notice that the reward comes at quest #14 in what seems to be a long - yet do-able - chain, right? Hold on to your knickers, there, this quest chain doesn't even OPEN unless you've completed the three - yes, THREE - prerequisite chains first. Greatmother Geyah takes a hint from Linda Evangelista and refuses to wake up for less than $10k. Or a &*^%load of quests.

Anyway - how to get started.

Introduction to the Mag'Har

Start with taking The Assassin from Nazgrel in Hellfire Penninsula. This quest line will introduce you to the small group of Mag'Har in that zone, and eventually lead you to Thrall in Orgrimmar to spread the news of his peoples' survival.

Mess Up Some Ogres

How? Talk to Jorin Deadeye by the bonfire in Garadar to get The Impotent Leader quest. Three full sets of Ogres later you're sent to find the Blademaster for another full chain of quests.

Get Out Your &%^$-Stirring Stick

And by that, I mean you're going to hook up with Lantresor to cause a little trouble between the Kil'sorrow and the Warmaul Ogres. Once you've set both groups up for each other, take Lantresor's message back to Garrosh. Garrosh, however, is still being a whiny little girl and it appears that he's going to need a big smack back into reality. Hmmm...

If I Were a Mag'har Captive, Where Would I Be...?

Well, you might be Teddy Roosevelt, but you're not. You're in the Murkblood camp - or rather, he is - and he requires some escorting out. By you. Yes, you. Take some friends if you must, but you don't have to escort very far and this one wasn't as teeth-gnashingly frustrating as most escort quests. Once you've got him back to the road, he drops a cheerful bit of news on you and vamps.

Those happy-go-lucky Orcs in Nagrand offer a whole slew of Murkblood quests, might as well grab them up and do them all at once, since you gotta be there anyway. Mirite?

And Why Are We Taking Quests From a Night Elf, Again?

At some point, Matron Celestine will send you out to locate Altruis the Sufferer. You just know this guy is gonna be a barrel of laughs with a name like that... and oddly enough, he does chuckle a bit every time you turn in to him. Anyway, Altruis is concerned with the two demon camps nearby. Now, this chain you WILL want a couple of friends for, since it's just frothing with elites. A drunk engineer in Shattrah helps out a bit, for an errand of his own, and shaBAM! we're in business now!

Tell Us A Story, Greatmother

Garrosh sends you into the Inn to speak with Greatmother. If you've been following the lore this far, you're really going to dig this chain. Greatmother Geyah decides to train you to be the next Miss Cleo, and explains how she's going to teach you to communicate with the ancestors. After much hither-ing and yon-ing, you're given the task to defeat Exarch Maladaar in Auchindoun. No problem, right? Well, no, not really, but he IS the final boss in Auchenai Crypts so you ARE going to have to put together an instance party for this part. In all the excitement after Maladaar falls you just might miss the Sha'tar D'Ore decending from the ceiling to complete your quest for you. Don't - what a pain to have to do it over again, right?

The item D'Ore asks you to pick up is right there in the same room as Mr. Boss Man, a glowing purple crystal-thingy. Grab it. It's time for some elite action back in Nagrand. I found the best place to nab ancestors was on the little rise just south of the Consortium camp, leading down into Oshu'Gun. Although the quest advises 3 people in a group, you can easily 2-man it with just about any party composition. And since they are susceptible to fear, I even solo'd it on my 'lock.

Okay, then - the hard part's finally over. Yes, finally. I didn't say this was an easily obtainable bit of gear, now, did I? In the interest of not ruining any of the story - and you have been paying attention to the story, right? - Let's just say that once you're completely done, and back in Garadar, and you hear the drums... wait over by the eastern entrance to the town. Don't leave Garadar until the show is completely over, trust me on this one.

By FAR one of the coolest quest chains ever, this quest also introduces you to D's & my favorite NPC in the entire game: Floon. It is suggested - nay, imperative - that you call out his name in a high falsetto tone repeatedly while on that leg of chain. FLOOOOOOOOOOOONNNN!! There is no more fun to be had in WoW than this.