lokkipop

Well sorry for the absence but time to get back into blog scene again. Glad to report that my image editing class ended well. The final project can be viewed at http://pics.unjaded.org.

Next classes are my last 2 final adventures all in web development. I’m extremely excited.

Pretty quiet on the crafts at this point. Hoping to have some new ideas as I get to them. But I have started cooking more and finally using the cookbooks mom gave me.

Took a break from warcraft and have ceased raiding due to my work schedule. Finally logged in last night to pvp on the priest. Been reading more warcraft novels which has sparked my appreciation for my priest in new ways.

Will keep the updates coming.

Hey folks sorry for the lack of updates. Been taking some time to myself with school, true blood fandom and of course work.

Taking an image editing class and studing Photoshop cs4. Pretty nifty improvements here on adobes behalf. So far I give cs4 5 cupcakes for faster editing and easier masking options. The program is on my list of tools to buy and waiting a couple pay periods to scoop this baby up.

Props to UoP for having a digital remote desktop that emulates cs4 for me. No purchase necessary for my class. Downside is the desktop lags and is frustrating to work with especially with big images. Technology is wonderful though.

Maeria the warlock finally hit 80 as of this past Friday morning. She has grinded heroics and attended a Naxx run and I am pleased to say that at this point she’s lacking 3 purple items. The damage is no where near ready for Uldar and above but I feel confident she could pug Naxx easily for awhile.

So some might think I’m crazy to roll another alt after just leveling one. But alas I have and launched her into the world of humans (thanks for the Mage port Kaito) last night.

If MMO-Champion is correct: http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=92919 this may be the last chances to do Old World as we remember. So in my downtimes while I’m waiting for pug raids I can level an already twinked NE priest with 3 heirloom items.

I have hopes to see all old areas before they are altered and it should be fun:)

A friend of mine via Facebook made a comment about how much blogging has changed in the past 10 years, from elitist to everyday Joes. I certainly have to agree. I myself remember building a website from scratch, and blogging platforms, although available were hard for the “basic” user to manipulate let alone find a hosting provider who would let you upload applications into their servers. I remember adding to my “posts” by editing the same HTML page over and over again.

Later there was Diaryland followed by Xanga and other small HTML based journal groups, and then the popularity of Movable Type and Wordpress hit the scene. Then came Friendster, and Myspace, and now Facebook with it’s ever growing list of available  feeds to pull into ever aspect of your life.  I have to say the old “web page” has been killed off by the streamlined blog approach.

I remember blogging when you were lucky enough to be sponsored by any advertiser. If you had ads - you were the big time, the real deal. Now you can’t read a blog without figuring out who’s being paid to throw stuff at you, or if they really mean the content.

Call me a purist, but I still believe in the faith based, click my ads if you liked what you saw. There should be no tricks, no games and no motives forcing you to dump more money into mine or someone else’s pockets.

I signed the pledge today to blog with integrity and I urge others (who do the same) to add their blogs to this growing list. There’s alot of hard work (with personal investment, provided to readers all free) that go unrecognized because some people misuse the art of online journaling.

Check out the link on the left hand pane under Communities. Go add yourself.

Oh yeah, and Mr./Mrs. Russian spammer, don’t add yourself. You waste my time with your “fake” repeat spam comments to the post titled “Harry Potter”.

This weekend I took my first adventure in candle making and produced a crown shaped stacking candle. Awesome effect for layered non dull candle goodness!

You will need:
Candle wax
Melting bags
Wick thread
Metal wick end
Sewing needle
Scent
Cookie pan
Cookie cutter
Vegetable oil

Coat your cookie pan with vegetable oil and set aside. Using the bags melt your wax and add scent just before pouring. Pour the wax onto the cookie pan and wait a few minutes for the wax to become semi hard. Using the cookie cutter press the wax to form your shapes (just like your making cookies.) Begin removing the excess wax being careful not to damage the shapes. I peeled away starting at the edges moving the shapes only when they hardened by using a press and slide approach with my fingers. Thread the needle with the wicking thread and carefully thread through the shapes. Finish with a fastener and a bit of wax between each layer to hold the candle together and your done!

Finally rain has been visiting off and on this week! Nice to see the ditches overflow and the greenery get greener. Not digging the power flashing off and on but hey I’m mainly at work when it does. Here’s my baby boy infront of a ditch that flooded and some storm clouds that rolled in earlier in the week. More rain hopefully:)

I’ve given this a week, and marinaded on it, however in the end, I am quite saddened with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The ending especially. I was prepared to cry and wallow like I did during the book, and instead the funeral is “glossed” over. Although for a younger audience I can see this being necessary, it still did not have that “oomph” affect when I first read the book. And Snape, oh my Snape… his little speech to chastise Harry for using his own spells against him = WEAK. When reading the book I was stunned, almost shocked at how cruel Snape could be, but this lame, tired and bored tone used in the movie… I’m floored. My advice is to wait until DVD if you can. No rush to run to the theater. There is some cuteness though, and Ron wins in the cuteness factor. My Fave part is when Ron is “bewitched” by Harry’s intended love-laced chocolates. The special effects are amazing as ever, and Malfoy - boy is he a tall young man now!

Overall 3 cupcakes. 2 for ending on such a sour note.

A coworker of mine surprised me with a clipping that finally rooted! My task is now the transplant it into soil. I’m excited!

It’s been years since I’ve grown seeds. So during my last errand run I picked up a jiffy tray with the peat pellets. I’m attempting to grow echinacea and lavendar flowers. This is a pic tonight, and no growth yet. Added some more water, and happy to see condensation was present on the plastic cover. Wish me luck!

I have been using Hashcash to help block spam, and have utterly found it to be useless. Although it blocked over 400 attempts, over 200 attempts made it through, and are sitting in my comments queue awaiting approval. So today I reinstalled Akismet, the only plugin that historically has worked for my Wordpress blogs, and I hope to see some spam free days in the near future.

Although I love my hosting provider Dreamhost, I have found that on all sites I have hosted with them, that spam from Asian and Russian areas are quite commonplace. Out of loyalty I haven’t left, but I wish they would do a wee bit more to block persistent spammers.