Tuesday morning nerdsauce.

Jessika was heard to say the following when she first stepped off the boat at Howling Fjord.

Et Eärello Northrendenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta.

Or at least until the next expansion comes out.

Dammit! Wrong slash.

Cognitive psychologists have documented a phenomenon known as interference in which a memory interferes with another memory. This problem is exacerbated when the stimuli are similar. So what does this have to do with WoW? Well I use a markup language called LaTeX, which has nothing to do with latex (that’s a different post altogether). Special commands in LaTeX start with a “\” so, for example, one might write \emph{italics} to put a word in italics, or \int_a^b f(x) dx to write an equation. But in WoW special commands begin with a “/” so, for example, we type /g if we want to type something to be broadcast on the guild channel or maybe /cast [target=Keredria] Sarcasm (Rank 7) in a macro. So some of the time my LaTeX doesn’t compile and my WoW commands and macros don’t work because I can’t seem to remember to use the correct slash, although at least I don’t get them confused with this one.

I am a conduit for the ancient forces of nature (again).

There was a time, not too long ago, when I thought I had lost all interest in playing a shaman. But you voted, and you were right. Makawee (that’s “mah-KAH-wee” not “make-a-wee”) the Draenei elemental shaman dinged 80 Sunday evening. I’m going to continue to focus on elemental, although I may try some raid healing as resto if we are short, and maybe even dabble a bit in enhancement if I pick up some nice gear for it along the way.

There are several things about shaman that I find very appealing. I enjoy the four-spell rotation of the elemental shaman (fire shock, lava burst, chain lightning, and lightning bolt), and it’s an impressive display of firepower. Alachia has a nice podcast about Shamanamins. She says that when one thinks of a shaman one thinks of a spiritual leader that uses subtle invocations of the elements, spirits, and nature. But a chain lightning proccing lightning overload is certainly not subtle. Ka-boom! And I like the utility. I like that I can be an effective off/emergency healer (chain heal ftw). And I like my totems. I like the micromanagement, and I like that my buffs are very obvious. Hey! You see that lava lamp sitting on the ground over there? That’s my buff to you! Feel the love! Feel it! Excuse me…ka-pow!

And sometimes I like a little change of personality online. I mean, there’s Jessika, and then there’s Makawee.