The Cult of Dirk Wampaflash

     Well, all I can say is it is the Clone Wars Kids that give me a lot of hits on youtube.  I didn't know my original Dirk Wampaflash video would get so many hits.  I made it when the game was in beta, I think.  Then, the more hits I got, the more time I spent on the game, and then I started making more videos of CWA.  It's been fun.
     Most of the people on the game are nice to me.
     Not every video I make is good, but every once in a while I come up with a good one.
     I just try to have fun on the game like anybody else, despite what some people think.
     The main thing I like to do on Clone Wars is build things.  I'm an artist, and I like that kind of stuff.

     Dirk Wampaflash was born because of an accident.  I originally tried to make an Annakin kind of human character, but something went wrong.  It didn't work.  Then I tried again, and it was a clone with the name of Dirk Wampaflash, and that sounded good to me, so that is how Dirk was born.
     'Dirk' sounds like Kirk from Star Trek, so that worked for me.  There was also a 'Dirk The Daring' from an animated video game I forget the name of.  I wasn't crazy about 'Wampa' but it sounded like 'Wonka' so that was cool.  'Flash' reminded me of 'Flash Gordon'.  So that is why I picked his name.  I usually don't like words that start with 'W'.  They sound weak to me, unless it is something like 'warrior'.

     I don't know if it is a cult yet, but I have a couple of fans, and that is nice.

     The ultimate goal would be to work 'Dirk Wampaflash' into Clone Wars mythology, as kind of a slacker-artist clone who doesn't really want to go to war, because he doesn't believe in it.

Getting Rid of Dark Nebula

     This is an unused photo that I forgot to put into a video.  I have many photos like this.  They are kind of random, but they show all that goes on in the game.

     I ran into some kid from 'Dark Nebula' and I didn't like his attitude or how he talked to me.  It was the straw that broke the camel's back.
     From now on, I will put on my Ignore List anybody I see from Dark Nebula.  That will take care of the problem of ever having to deal with them again.
     I will be glad to be rid of them all.  They are the Nazi bullies of the game.

     It's nothing personal with anybody from Dark Nebula.  All I know is that I want to play the game, and do my thing, and mind my own business, and they get in the way of my enjoyment. 
     I have no problem banishing all of them to my Ignore list.
     Whenever I see one of their members, I will just add them to the Ignore list, and be done with them.
     Truck 'em.

War on English

     I am pretty sick and tired of people on 'Clone Wars Adventures' not even making the slightest attempt to write in English.  The chat style of speech is really busting my chops.
     True, they are young, but that doesn't matter.  It is the attitude.
     It is not cool for young people to be into English.  It reminds them of school too much, and they hate that.
     But if they want to communicate with me, they are going to have to do better.  I have no problem putting anyone on the ignore list, and I will do it in a flash at this point, and just be done with them forever, who cares?  I don't.  They can go talk their crap talk with somebody else, I don't need it.
     The cute misspellings I have come not to mind too much.  Some of it is charming, as it applies to this computer age.  They like phonetic spelling.
     Granted, there are lots of rules with American English, which is heavily influenced by British, German, Finnish, French, African, and also purely spoken methods of English.  It is confusing. 
     I can see how words in a stupid book can be pretty meaningless, especially when there are cool pop songs with rad lyrics set to music.
     Once they realize that a lot of epic poetry was intended to be sung, it will all make sense.  A lot of literature is a song, and it is longer and more enjoyable than a trite song, because when you read long texts, you can find your own music.
     Reading is hard, though, and it requires full concentration.

     Anyway, I know I got to give some of these kids a break, they deserve it.  But the ones that don't even try, I don't care about, and they can go ahead and swim with fish of their own level.

Happy Life Day

     It is a rare sight to see Valencia street in San Francisco completely devoid of traffic.  I took pictures of the street going in both directions.  It was pretty much empty.
     I was on the game this morning.  Somebody asked me if there was a war today.
     "No, there is no war on Life Day.  You do not have to show up to the front lines today."
     "So, I get a day off from fighting?" the soldier inquired.
     "Yes, but I expect you to be there bright and early tomorrow morning," I said.
     "Yes, Sir."
 
     I was unable to tell him about the story during a world war where both sides took the day off on Life Day and played a game of Kickball.  Then the next day, they returned to their respective sides, and continued the fighting.
     The chat box sucks, and to explain all that would have been a chore.

     The AT-RT mount is half off today, and only costs $2.00.  That is a good deal, relatively.    It makes me feel like a sucker because I paid $4 for it.

     I told my brother 'Happy Life Day' but he is a traditionalist, so then I wished him a 'Merry Christmas'.
     He does play TOR.  He told me that my computer doesn't even come close to the system requirements needed.
     I'm in need of an upgrade, but I am in no hurry.  I got plenty of games to play.

     I have enough supplies to last me until Tuesday, but I need an angel to drop some credits into my account.

To Enter into The Darkness

     Odd to play 'Clone Wars Adventures' and then tell a couple of people that I am going to work only to go to the cafe to write about the game.
     It's my job to write about CWA.  I don't see anybody else doing it in quite the same way.  Why should they?  Most of the players are teen-agers.
     A lot of the players only write in one or two word phrases.  The main language of CWA is 'common chat'.  It makes it difficult to communicate.  Couple that with the inadequacies of the chat box, and that means if you like to communicate thoughts in your head, it is very difficult.  The receiving end of some of my sentences is often met with a 'huh'?
     Yes, they are younglings.  Maybe it would help if they picked up a book once in a while instead of getting on video games all the time.
     If I was a kid, and I had a choice between a video game and a book, I would never pick up a book.  Maybe it was good that I didn't have video games growing up.  I read a lot of books.

     Anyway, I bought a jedi robe for my Eeetch pet.  The robe makes him float in a meditation style for a second, or he swings his little light saber.  They also have sith robes for Eeetch.  I wonder what that does?  Probably something similiar, but in an evil way.

     The game does get boring.  I see no point in telling everyone around you how bored you are.  If you are bored, log off the game instead of making everyone around you suffer because of the lack of mental activity in your head.
     Believe it or not, there are other video games besides CWA to play.  There are lots of free-to-play games out there, with Lotro and D & D online being a couple of my favorites.

     CWA is best played frequently in short blasts of time.  I like to break my time on CWA into 'sessions', where there is a beginning, middle, and an end.  Do a little here, do something there, and log out.
     There is no better way to get rid of people than to just exit the game.
     Sometimes it is good to not let people get to know you too well.
     There is no point in spreading yourself too thin.

     To think, I've been at the cafe for an hour, and this is all I've gotten done.  Things happen.  There is set-up time, thinking time, getting coffee, talking to a couple of people, and attempting to craft something decent for people to read is not easy.
     I could have just sat at home, and made some credits.
     The thing is, I need my cafe time to get away from everything at home.
     I can't think at home for certain things.  It is all too complicated to explain.
     To be honest, I've gotten myself into one hell of a mess recently, and I don't know how I am going to get out of it.
     My check was supposed to arrive a week ago, but I don't see it anywhere.
     I am pretty much screwed without money.

     It is going to be a sucky Christmas for me, and that is sad.  It's my own damn fault, too.  Now I have to suffer the consequences of my actions and inactions.

     It is going to suck to be me pretty soon.  I'm not looking forward to what is going to happen.  It is going to get dark before I see any light.

•      Most of the people in the game don't even consider capitalizing or punctuating anything.  This makes it difficult to interpret anything it is that they are saying.
•      Talking to some of the players is like entering a cave of darkness that is their head.
•      Ignorance is evil, because light is energy.  If there is no light, there is darkness.
•      A bright mind can illuminate a room.
•      However, the sun brings light, but it can also destroy all life.  Therefore, it is all about the balance between dark and light.
•      Wish me luck, everybody.  I might be falling into the abyss.

The Alternate History of Star Wars - some thoughts regarding the subject

     I am so annoyed and mad.  I am going to have to research it all out.  It is going to take time.  This is going to be a miserable chore.  I have to map out all nine episodes of Star Wars.  It is going to be a pain.  To redo the whole series is not going to be easy.  There are so many annoying things and loopholes in Star Wars, that as I read more, I just throw up my hands, and say, "F*** This!  I'll do it my way!"
     First of all, though it is a dramatic moment in 'Empire', Darth will not be Luke's father.  That is something that was made up after Episode IV.  I'll have Luke say 'Nooooooooo!" to something else.
     Episode I is the first thing that needs an overhaul.  What could have been a great movie turned out to be an emotionless piece of crap.  The pod race scene was designed mostly to sell Star Wars related video games, but really doesn't do much in terms of signifying value.
     Spending time with everybody captured in a net by Ewoks in Episode VI was a pretty weak moment.

     Well, enough time has gone by since the release of Episode IV that an overhaul can take place.  All the Star Wars information is on Wookiepedia, so there actually is a way to put all of the information together.

     The truth is, that despite Lucas not wanting to make Episodes VII-IX, the information is there about what happens after Episode VI.  The story can continue.  Luke and Han can be played by someone else, who cares at this point?  The chance is gone to use the original actors.  Lucas waited too long, and that is a shame.  He blew it, so f it, get somebody else.

     Anyway, that is how I feel.

     The original gripe was that Star Trek fans were more intellectual, and they had more information about The Star Trek Universe.  Well, that has changed.  There is more stuff on Star Wars now.

     'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...'  I am starting to have problems with that line now, though it is a gorgeous line...it is impractical.  The real line is...'In an alternate universe in a time that mirrors our own...' is my interpretation.  It works for me and my purposes.

     For Star Wars to be a history..well, how did Earth ever hear about the story?  If it is in a galaxy far, far away, maybe an alien from Star Trek planted a seed in Lucas's head.  See, that is an alternate reality right there.

     'There are no bras in space' - George Lucas to Carrie Fisher during the filming of Star Wars.

     There are lots of things in Star Wars that retroactively need working out.  Lando Calrissian was originally conceived as a clone.  I just read it on the article for Star Wars on wikipedia, look for yourself.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars

     Well, there you go.  Read the entire article.  It is good reading.

     The wife of George Lucas made a killing when she divorced him.  Sheeez.  Was he that bad of a guy, or was the marriage a disaster?  Who knows what went on, but I sure am curious.

     Basically, since Star Wars was made up on the fly, and it was made up as Lucas went along, this makes it possible to gather all the information, and to rewrite the whole thing, and make it all work.  The nine movies could be redone as a nine book series, in the epic manner of 'Lord of The Rings'.  That would be awesome, and it would help to make sense of the whole 'Star Wars Mess'.

I was on the game this morning...

     I had just woken up, and turned on the game, and Wes Shiptalon was there.  Don't these kids go to school?  Maybe it is the holiday.
     Anyway, Wes is a good kid.  It seems like he comes from a good family. 
     He doesn't talk much, nor should he.
     He is only ten years old, I think.
     I couldn't figure out at first why this kid was following me around all the time, but then I started to accept it.
     I figure I am Batman and he is Robin.
     I know he must have a good Dad, and that is real cool.  Wes must follow certain rules on the game in terms of how he interacts with people.  For example, Wes will not accept any gifts from me.  That is good.  He is his parents responsibility, and they are the ones who should buy him SC, and they do from time to time.  He is a lucky kid.
     Not all kids are that lucky on Clone Wars.  Some kids can't afford membership, though, on double or triple cash day, lifetime membership only costs between $20-$30.  All you have to do on those days is go to the game store, get Clone Wars or Free Realms cards and type the codes in, and buy the membership in-game.
     I have an alternative character I would like to make a member.  I will once I get a job or some art sales or something.

     One reason why I play Clone Wars is I don't have to think all that much.  It takes a lot out of me to play these other online games, like 'Lord of The Rings Online'.  I don't always have the time to get involved in an epic quest.  Even on that game, I just go in there just to do mindless killing.  I like to grind while I am doing other things around the art studio.  I can't devote my life to online games, though, to be honest, it is starting to become a business for me.  Play the game, make a video, get hits,...hey!  Making video game videos has made my character Dirk Wampaflash fairly well-known within the game.

     All attention is on Star Wars: The Old Republic.  So, ....I don't know what to say about that.  All I know is I won't be playing TOR for a long, long time.
     TOR is a kid's game, too, just so you know.  It is designed for people 18 and under mostly.  People of all ages play it.

     Free Realms is way more of a kid's game then Clone Wars.  I feel like I am a kid when I play Free Realms.  With Clone Wars, however, it is war, and that is an adult theme, no matter what anybody says.
     It is an odd thing having clones fight your war for you.  They are...expendable.  They are just clones, right?  Yes, but they are human, too.
     The U.S. Army probably wouldn't mind having trained war-minded clones.  Maybe they will have them some day.

     I still don't buy the romance between Annakin and Padme.  Their whole relationship just seems all screwed up and emotionless, and they never really have time for each other.  Annakin is into his war thing, and being a jedi, and Padme is into her politics, with her teen-age girl idealistic solutions to problems.

     Luke and Leia are supposed to be twins.  Luke is the older child.  They look nothing like each other.  There would be similarities in the face.  That is what happens when you don't decide Darth is their father until the second movie.
     If they really were brother and sister, they would have realized it just by looking at each other.  Luke would never have had a crush on Leia, because he would have known.
     It's all a little ridiculous.
     I know it is just a movie, but we expect a lot from movies.

     I still don't know what to think of Clone Wars.  I still have a hard time accepting Anakin as a character that I care about.  I care even less about Padme.
     I like Mace Windu more and more.  Too bad they didn't make better use of him in the movies.

     My brother pointed out the other day that people love Greedo, and he is just some guy with a mask on.  Meanwhile, people still hate Jar Jar as a character.  It is too bad they didn't just put a guy in a costume.  It might have worked better. 
     In Babylon 5, people in alien costumes works just fine, just like Episode IV.  An alien costume helps with the believability.  The cgi just...still bugs me after all these years.

•      Wow, almost one-hundred hits on this blog.  I know most of the hits are mine, as I log in to write the articles.  Other hits will come from other sources eventually.  It all just takes time.
•      The Umbara war zone makes me dizzy.  The reason is because I am looking for the holos, or small beacons.  To find them, I have to move the camera of the game a lot, and this causes my head to spin after a while.  The beacons are in hard to find places, too.  To find them, you must have a keen eye, persistence, and determination.  Or the easy way, is to find a friend who is good at finding them.  I had a friend help me find quite a few.  I would never have found that many holos without some help.
•      Yes, now that TOR is out, I don't expect too much attention to be placed on Clone Wars.  Also, I am sad that SWG is done.  I still had not really finished the game.  My characters are now non-existent, and that is sad.  It is like a whole alternate reality was created, and is now dead.  They changed the game so many times, though, that I got confused, and I never figured out what the hell was going on in the game, nor did I have enough time to play it.
•      I still have more than plenty to do on Lotro, so there is no need to play TOR for even another year.  I will let everyone else play, and help work out all the bugs of the game.  I am in no hurry for it.
•      One thing about TOR is, that all the women have large breasts, and all the men wear tight pants with their bulge showing.  The pants are tight even on the guys' butts, and that is kind of gay, just so everybody knows.

This Website is Currently Under Maintenance

THIS WEBSITE IS CURRENTLY UNDER MAINTENANCE.  WE WILL BE BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  THANKS!

     We are all familiar with this saying.  It happens all the time, but none of us minds too much, because all they are doing is making the game better.
     It usually doesn't take them too long to upgrade the game.

     God knows there is plenty of room for improvement in 'Clone Wars Adventures'.  For one thing, it is really tedious to make credits in this game.  To earn a decent amount of credits is really difficult.  I am reduced to playing Mine Buster hard level.  I can make about 10,000 credits in an hour.  I can spend 50,000 credits in less than five minutes.

    
     EverQuest has a lot of zones to go to.  CWA has two, plus everybody's houses.  How exciting.

     Yet, the game is still really fun.  I don't know how they do it.
     A surprise around every corner, I suppose.

     I got all the Shadow armor, and I equip a droid, and different ones give me different abilities for use on Umbara.  On kind of droid gives me faster health regeneration.  Another one gives me better shooting ability.  Pretty cool, huh?

     The wind-up key on the mouse droid gives the droid a mouse tail, and when you click on the droid, it sometimes produces a hunk of cheese, which makes you grow small.

     People can bring joy, or they can bring pain in the game.  The new dynamic with people talking to you is if you are in the war zone.  If you talk too much, you will die.
     There have been more than a few times when a conversation is started, and before I know it, I am being shot at, and I don't even notice.  Then I wind up back at base.

At The Cantina

     Well, I am at the cafe, and I've been writing for hours. 
     I am mentally preparing to go back home and turn 'Clone Wars Adventures' on.
     I don't know what will happen when I do.
     It is a different game every time when it isn't the same.

•      Anyway, look at this...I discovered the 'point bullet' list function on this blog.  Now I can write about item after item.
•      You know what?  There are two sides to every coin, and one time in a million, a coin will land on its edge when flipped.  This has been mathematically proven.
•      R2-D2 has more emotional value than Padme.  I am still not convinced of Natalie Portman's acting skills.  She started young, and I saw her on David Letterman as a youth.  She just seems 'tinny' to me, and doesn't seem to have much resonance as a person.  She might be a delight in real life, who knows?  But it doesn't seem to come across in her acting.  She is a pretty lady, and has earned her Star Wars status as 'Princess Leia's mom' but that's about it.  She is a celebrity, but is she a real actor?  Can she really create a character and make it her own?  Or is she just herself in every movie and just 'acts' her way through it?  I am just not convinced of any great talent she has as an actress.  She looked great in tight white pants at one point, I'll give her that.  But, eventually, the woman gets older, and the ass ages along with it.  Then she becomes a mom, and who else cares after that?  It is just how the world is.  We love youth and beauty, and despise old age in this culture.
•      I like my new Shadow armor.  I still need at least one more beacon to obtain my Shadow rifle, maybe more.  I did find a beacon this morning after looking around for twenty minutes.  Those things are so hard to find, so it is terrible when you find one, and some kid comes along and steals it.  This pisses me off to no end.
•      I have tried to 'train' enemies onto players in the Umbara zone, like you could do in EverQuest, but it doesn't work too well.
•      It isn't easy to get beacons for Jedi Meditation Orange Trees.  It takes a while to get all eight of them.  It could be ten, I am not sure exactly.
•      I am sure that Star Wars: The Old Republic will help to decrease the player population of 'Clone Wars Adventures'.  A lot of players will not have a good enough computer to play TOR, though, so those people will be stuck with me, and I will be stuck with them until I can get an upgrade.
•      It was cool that a dad was on the game with his son last night.  "Hey Dad!  Come over here!"  That was cool to see in the chat box.
•      Well, I could sit on my ass here and type, or go home and play the game.  Hmmm, what should I do?  I have coffee at home I can drink instead of spending more money here that I don't have yet.
•      Well, it looks like it is time for war.
•      It is time to crush and destroy my opponents and enemies.
•      The cafe is a good cantina.  All kinds of aliens come here.  I just saw a guy that poked his head into the door, and he literally looked like 'That Yellow Bastard' from Frank Miller's SIN CITY.  His ears stuck out and were really big, and he had a similar goblin face.
•      I still have not made an Umbara video yet.  I have been waiting.  I know the zone well enough to make a run-through video now.  When I am not lazy, and when I take care of some other things on my computer, like making more memory space on it, I will film it.
•      I always have to explain to people why I can't make a video of them right now.  There are problems, because I make so many videos that it clogs up my computer, so I have to go through this whole process with every video.  It isn't even easy to explain here.  Basically, I have to make one or two at a time, and there is also limited room on my memory card on my camera.  Like I said, it isn't easy to explain, and it isn't even worth explaining.  All I know is I have to follow certain steps.  If I have too much crap on my computer, then the games won't work, and I've been trying to take care of that problem for a while now.  I know how to solve the problem, it will just take time to do so.  I've been a very prolific photographer over the last five years.
•      Okay, I'm about ready to go home now to see what happens.

A Short Session

     I just had a short session of 'Clone Wars Adventures'. 
     It was fun.  I played Mine Buster on hard level, earned some credits, and received my crate of the day.
     I looked around the Officer's Club for Jedi Meditation Orange Tree beacons.  They were popping up there, but I did get one in the Jedi Lightsaber Chamber.
     I traveled to Umbara, and ran through the airfield on my AT-RT to the other side, and killed a lot of enemies.  I got lucky when I found a beacon for my Shadow rifle.
     I have all the Shadow armor now.  That took a while.  There is no rhyme or reason where the beacons are on Umbara.  They show up randomly it seems, though sometimes they appear when you kill a large number of troops.  That is all I have to go on.  After I get my Shadow rifle, I don't know what the point of being on Umbara will be.  It is not a good place to make credits.  The pay is lousy at two credits per kill.  It is a dangerous job, too.  If you talk too much while on Umbara, you will die.

     I was able to get enough beacons last night in the Officer's Club to get four orange trees.  It is best when you have the room to yourself, then you can get all the beacons that appear.  I often play Mine Buster in there, and then look for beacons and spheres.

     There was a dad on the game with his son last night, so this game is for all ages.  I just don't happen to have any kids.  Everybody is family, though, and despite attempts to call me a child rapist by mean bullies on the game, I treat everybody as equals.  Most people know that.

     I am trying to maintain a balance of 100,000 credits, because just like in real life, it sucks being broke.

     The worst thing on the game now is when you find a beacon on Umbara, and some kid comes a long and steals it from right under your nose.

     It's a kid's game, especially with the serious gaming that is now going on with Star Wars: The Old Republic.  My computer can't handle that game.
     I'm going to need a new computer for that game.
     I bought this one just so I could play Star Wars Galaxies, but now that game is defunct.

     It is kind of cool to play CWA, and then go right into the blog, where my memories are still fresh.

     I've gotten better at surviving on Umbara.  What you do is you run into a big group, and pull back immediately.  Then you press 2, and shock wave them dead.  Then you shoot them up, being mindful of health and mana floating circles, using them when you need a replenish, and not wasting them. 
     I can survive for quite a while this way.

     My Astromech droids have Christmas lights, and it is pretty dang cute.

     I was able to put up the video on youtube to advertise this blog with a link.  I am hoping over time that will help in getting hits and clicks on this blog.
    
     Writing about CWA is interesting to me.  I can play the game, and come here right away and write about what I just saw and experienced.

     One person took me off of their friend list while I was playing, apparently for no reason at all, unless there was one.  Maybe he saw a video of mine he didn't like.  I have no idea.  Friends are easy come and easy go on that game.
     It still hurts a little when somebody unfriends you, though.  I can't explain why.  I guess because it makes you feel that you've been rejected.  I know that feeling well.  Too well, in fact.

     Anyway, so there you go.  I think I covered every main thing, except that I also ran into the pirate camp, and a ship followed me down there.  I had never seen that happen before.

     The rancor is pretty hard to kill.  It helps if you have at least five people there to destroy it good and fast, otherwise, you will die.

     My bling gun works real good in the Umbara zone.  I was impressed.
     I did use my Spring Fever gun on Umbara, and it works good, but the bling gun works better for killing.  It was just funny to kill things with a blast of flower power, especially since Umbara is such a cold, dark place.  It was nice to bring some happiness to that desolate war torn planet.

My mount disappeared, but it is back now and other stuff

    F***.  I just got off the game.  My eyes are all batty from running around on Umbara.
    Imagine my freak out when my AT-RT mount just disappeared.  It was a lag thing.  I rebooted the game, and it came back, thank god.  I was thinking that they would wear out, and that I would have to buy another one, and at four bucks a pop, that would suck.
    I almost gave both myself and Vann Blazebreaker a heart attack with the fact that my mount had disappeared, because I was telling him what happened.
    Anyway, I helped Vann to get an orange tree in the Officer's Club.  He was happy when he finally got one.

    A kid named Sam took took two of my beacons that I was standing right in front of on Umbara.  I was just about to get them and the little bastard stole them from me.  I was mad because I just spent an hour looking for them, and then when I found them they were stolen right under my nose. 
    So, that is the new kind of kid, 'The Beacon Stealing Kid'.  What they do is follow you around on Umbara and let you do all the fighting, and then they scan the landscape, and steal what ever beacon might be there.  You are too busy fighting, so you don't even realize what happened.

     Anyway, I was able to put three new orange trees on my Kamino lot, so I was happy.

     It is nice to just sit here and write after the game, because that new zone, while being awesome, makes my eyes buggy.

     In comparison to EverQuest, and even Free Realms, CWA doesn't have that much real estate in it.  Umbara is going to get old really fast once enough people get their Shadow armor.  They are going to have put new quests in the zone eventually, and more things to do.

     'Clone Wars' still has a long way to go as a video game.  I'm glad it keeps getting better and improving, but it is not epic yet.  I hope some day it will be.
     While I'm at it, I also hope they get some better writing in the Clone Wars t.v. show.  I don't know why they have to keep that sucktastic feeling from Episode I going, where the characters feel so wooden, and the words have no feeling.  Padme is an emotionless character.  It is really hard to care about her.  R2 has more emotional depth, and he's a droid.

     You know what I am saying?  (  Just so you know, I hate that phrase. )

New Dynamics about the game

     Well, good morning and Happy Monday.
     You know, I could be on the game at home playing, but instead, I am here at the cafe about to write about 'Clone Wars Adventures'.
     I just had a session, and so many things happen, that it is very difficult to describe to people what is going on.  It is hard to explain it to myself.
     One of the compounding problems is the challenge of communication.  The chat box sucks, basically, we all know that.  The English language is slaughtered with that thing.  Add to young people who speak primarily in 'chatspeak' and you got a problem.  They often don't understand a sentence when they read one.  So, there is user error with language, and there is epic mechanical failure with the chat box.
     In 'Lord of The Rings Online' and other games, they have speech capability if you are in a group.  I don't think they will have that in 'Clone Wars' anytime soon, but it would sure help to communicate ideas.
     Anyway, I will put up the video today to advertise this blog on youtube.  Not much will happen for a while.  Things take time, but who knows?  Over time, I may find some people who want to read what I write and think about 'Clone Wars Adventures'.
     It can get really confusing with four or five people talking at me at once when I am in the Umbara battle zone and with my brother in a gmail chat box.  If I talk too much in the Umbara war zone, I will die.  It's happened many times already.
     So, basically, the main reason to be on Umbara is to collect beacons to obtain the Shadow armor.  It takes a long time.  I still have more beacons to get after days of collecting.  There are a lot to get.  If you can find a beacon within ten minutes of looking, count yourself as lucky.  Some people are really good at finding them.  I am not one of those people yet.
     Also, the new dynamic is that people will try and steal the beacon you just found.  They follow you around and scan the landscape while you engage in battle, and they take your freakin' treasure, the little bastards!  Anyway, that happens, so just be aware.  At first, I thought they were following me because I thought they liked me.  I didn't even know about the beacons at first.  I always get my information on the game second hand because I don't have the time or the desire to keep up to date in the forums.  I don't gravitate towards forums of any kind.  The worst feeling is being lost in forum, and navigating around in there trying to find something.
     Anyway, the new Umbara battle zone is a big success.  People really like it.
     There is a rancor to kill, and pirates, and the zone solves the claustrophobia problem that the game has had for a long time, with only having the jedi temple to run around in, it's been pretty sucktastic.
     The AT-RT is worth the four bucks, because the Umbara zone is pretty big, and the AT-RT allows you to run through all the enemies so you can find the beacons.  To do it on foot is possible, but it becomes 'Not Fun' really fast.  Also, the AT-RT allows you to find beacons in the airfield.  On foot, you get blasted to hell pretty fast.
     It's sick, but I am just getting started, too.
     I'm going to stand outside and take a break, brb.

* * *
     I just had a 'shoot the s***t' session with my friend Marco.  You see, we play 'Magic The Gathering' every Sunday night, and if the only thing that comes out of it is idea generation, then it is a real useful thing.  We both like Monty Python, and talking about stuff that goes on in the world.  Our dialogues are seasoned with talk about rock and roll, hard rock, heavy metal, and death metal, as well as film and movies.

     Anyway, back to Clone Wars.  Well, the game has suddenly become better with the Umbara battle zone, and with the collections.
     I hung out in the Officer's Club today for an hour, and I was able to get enough beacons in there to get the new Orange Tree.  That is awesome.  Just the fact that there is a new reason to even be in the Officer's Club is really great besides just being there to avoid non-members. 
     There is no point to play the game unless you are a member.  The game doesn't offer much to non-members.  All you are as a non-member is to be an extra in a movie or to stand there like a prop.  It isn't much fun.

     So, the communication is rough in the game.  The people are a pain at times.  But you know what?  The game is a lot of fun, regardless of everything.

     The other dynamic is the relationship between Clone Wars and youtube.  That is a whole other subject which I could talk about at length, when I gather some more ideas about it.  Youtube is basically how a lot of people got to know me.  Besides them watching my videos of what I do in the game, the comments section allows people to express themselves.  That is a good thing, since, as I mentioned, it is hard to express yourself in the game, where there are tons of misunderstandings.
     Some kid called me a prick because I didn't feel like making a video of him, so I put him on the Ignore list right away.  I didn't like him at all.  I have found that to be a friendd with someone like that is only going to get worse, so it is better just to banish them to The Phantom Zone, and be done with it.

     I like putting people on the Ignore list if they give me a reason, they will go there right away.  They can stay there until next Life Day.  Once a year, I remove everyone from the Ignore list, and give people another chance.
     A year is a good amount of time.  A lot can happen in a year.

     Anyway, that is all I got to say about Clone Wars right now, but more will come later.

     ( The Orange Tree is part of the Jedi Meditation Tree Collection?  Okay.  How many different trees will they have?  I don't know. )

My Mission was a failure

     I was so excited about triple cash day, so I left my place on my bike to go to 7-11. My mission was to return before midnight.   Simple task, huh? 
     It was not to be.
     Well, I made it home, but I was so hammered that the first thing I did was to take out the sc cards and put them at my computer area, but I put them in a place that was not easily visible.
     Then when it came time to pump in the codes, I was like, "Where the F*** are my cards?"
     It is a long story what happened after that, but it was not pretty.  I was really upset, as I watched minute by minute go by wondering where my cards were.
     I finally found them, but midnight had passed, and I missed out on an extra $60 to go into my sc.
     I was sooooo sad.
     I still am sad, because I blew it, but at least I found the cards and I got something for my trouble.
     Man, did I get hammered.
     All I had to do was to put the cards in a place where I could see them, but I didn't.
     Nothing I can do about it now.

     Then I ended up having an argument with my oldest brother in the gmail chat box.  After all these years, he still wants to argue with me.  Unbelievable.  He hasn't learned a damn thing.

* * *
     So, it is my quest to find all of those canisters or beacons so I can get the shadow armor.  Those little things are hard to find.
     I did get the RT-AT, thank god.  It is pretty cool, but it does not shoot.  'Wtf?' was my first reaction.  It does not shoot.  I could not believe it.  What is the point of it?  Well, the point is that you can run fast through the zone which makes it easier to find the beacons.  What happens as you run through the zone is all of the robots and soldiers start following you around, and then when you pick up the beacon, you die.  It is worth paying 1000 credits just to get that beacon because they are so hard to find.
     I don't know how many more of those beacons I need to get.  I know I have found at least ten of them.  I will probably get them all in a day or two.
     I bought a new droid for $3.00, but yeah, I really blew it on Triple Cash Day.  I was so bummed out that I misplaced those cards for a while.  I was distressed.

     So I finally pumped in the codes and then the game decided not to work.  Just my luck.  I finally got it to work this morning. 
     But yeah, the chat with my oldest brother John was miserable.  I don't care what his problem is, he has to leave me out of it.  But he doesn't.
     Anyway, I went out and got a piece of chicken, some rice and beans.  It was damn good.
     Then I was still really drunk, so I went outside and found a woman who wanted to come over, so we both went to sleep.  We didn't do nothing.  She didn't like me at all, so I kicked her out at 8 a.m.
     Then, I got onto Clone Wars, and bought the mount, and people try to talk to me while I am in the war zone, and if I talk too much, I die.  So then what happens is I have four or five kids saying, "Dirk!  port to me."  Or, they put a question mark '?', or they say, 'Dirk, where are you?"  I can't answer because I have twenty robots shooting at me.  Then they keep typing in the box, never thinking for a moment that I might actually be busy or occupied.  This never occurs to them.

     So, it was one hell of a night.  I was drawing at the bar, and people kept buying me beers, and it was all a splendid good time.

     It was unfortunate about my sc cards, and the whole triple cash thing.  I can't believe I blew it.  I can't believe it.

     EPIC FAILURE.

     My mission was a failure.

    Damn it.

Triple Cash Day - "I pity the fool who does not take advantage of this day"

     Today is Saturday, and I have less than twelve hours to get to 7-11 and back to redeem the SC cards I will buy.  I am definitely going to buy at least two $10 cards.  I could buy three.  That would give me $90 worth of SC.  That would last me a while.  To buy two will probably be enough, though.  That will give me $60 worth.
     Today is the day to get Lifetime Membership.  On triple cash day, it only costs $20.  Great is the Clone Wars Fool who does not take advantage of this.
     Meanwhile, the Umbara Battlefield is going great.  It is a pretty big area, and the kids can run around and kill as much as they want.  However, you only get two credits for each kill, and if you die, and pay to respawn at the same place, there goes all of your efforts down the tubes.  In other words, it is not a good place to make money.
     The zone is similar to the zombie zone in Star Wars Galaxies, where you just kill one after another until it sickens you.  That game is now defunct, sadly.  I'm surprised they just didn't switch it to free to play.  There is an emulator for that game, so maybe I could play it that way, but I don't know if that is any good.  I like official games, not the hack-offs.
     I'm seeing the reason how this blog will be useful for me.  I can write about things in Clone Wars that I don't have time for in a video.  Also, I can really work out my thoughts regarding the game.  That prospect has suddenly become interesting.
     One thing about being on the battlefield is, that if you talk too much, you may die.  It has happened to me several times, where some kid will start chatting away, and so much is going on that I don't notice that my health bar is going down.  The issue is compounded if two kids are talking to me at the same time.
     I didn't find out about that you could get shadow armor by doing the collection in the Umbara zone.  That gives a reason to be there, because I was trying to figure out what the point of it was.  Running around in a war zone gets old pretty fast unless you are going after something and have a purpose.  A friend of mine helped me to find a lot of armor canisters, so that is one thing I can do for people which is to help them find the little shining beacons.  Somebody is helping me to find them, so then I can pass that act of good will along and help other people.  The reason is that they are very difficult to find.  Helping somebody in a video game is A Noble Act of God, sometimes more important than helping people in real life.  It certainly means a lot more.  So many people have helped me, especially in EverQuest, that in honor of those people, I must help others, or at least provide some kind of service if I can.
     So, I have my work cut out for me.  I have to write my articles here, and then go home, jump on my bike, and ride to 7-11. 
     I don't know a store that sells Clone Wars cards in this area, so I have to ride into town.  Fortunately, it doesn't take long.

     Let's see, anything else that I want to mention about Clone Wars right now?  I'm not sure at this moment, except dirk wampaflash2 was a 'Cling Kid' yesterday, following me around all the time.  It was getting annoying after a while.  I hope he doesn't do that anymore.  I need my space.
     Also, Deannik Blackson always wants me to visit his house.

     I wanted to mention that in the war zone, kids have figured it out that all you have to do is follow somebody, and they do all the killing, and then you look for armor beacons.  How annoying is the person who does that.  So now, not only do I have to be careful of enemies shooting at me, but of kids trying to steal my hard-earned treasure. 
     "Little Bastards," is all I can say.

     This is the second Triple Cash Day they have had.  The last one was last summer around July 4th.  So, for two days a year, you can really stock up on SC.  I pity the fool who does not take advantage of this day.

The Invasion of Your World

     Hello, I am David Lovins.  I am 44 years old.  I play 'Clone Wars Adventures'.
   
     My character Dirk Wampaflash is a clone.  He is the same age as all the other clones.
 
     Most of the people on the game are playing characters that are older than they are.  So, their characters often have the mind of a twelve year old.

     It is sometimes difficult to navigate around all the young minds.  I've been attacked recently because of my age.
     However, I have found that no matter what the age of a person is on this game, they will be attacked, too.
     A friend told me he gets verbal attacks everyday.

     There are some mean little bastards on the game, whose only purpose is to attack other people, for no reason whatsoever.
     This sounds exactly like junior high and high school.

     Why do humans do this?  I know not.  Ignorance in action is my best bet.

     There is a lot of stupidity in the human race, that much is for sure.

     People develop at different rates.

     When people go through adolescence, things can get confused.

     The body often does not normalize until age 22.  I am not kidding.  There is a high risk of going crazy until that age.  It is best not to do too many drugs or drink too much alcohol during this time, because you can end up going crazy for life, like some people do.
     It is true.
     I have seen a lot of whack jobs in my time, that is for sure.

     The crazy person then becomes a burden on others, and they never realize that it might be them who are a pain in the ass.

     In a way, some of them let themselves slip, because they can't hack it anymore.  They want to be taken care of just like Mom and Dad used to do.
     In reality, that just doesn't happen.

     People have to be ultimately responsible for their own actions, and the choices they make.  They have to pay the consequences of what happens.

     Back to the subject of 'Invading Your World'.  I will continue to be there in 'Clone Wars'.  Don't f*** with me.
     Basically, when I play the game, I don't even initiate any conversations.  I let people decide if they want to talk to me or not.
     As it is, I am flooded with people who want to talk with me.

     The trolls will receive a gun to their forehead, that is all I can say.

     I have no problem putting anybody I feel like on my Ignore list within seconds of them being a dick to me.  If I sense that there is no indication that the person in question will ever be useful to me, then on to the Ignore list you go.  No problem, buddy.  Bye.

     When I am on the game, I am 'Dirk Wampaflash'.  I behave as he would.
     I will take care of any bugger who bothers me, sooner or later.

     I hate to put people on the Ignore list, actually.  It saddens me that I have to do it, but you know what?  Sometimes there is no other choice if there is someone who is not on my side, I have to get rid of them, pronto.

     There are people who don't want me there on the game.  Well, it is too bad.  I am going to be there.  I don't know what their problem is.  They are prejudice against my being older.  They also don't like that I basically watch what they do, and I have the power to put stuff on youtube.
     I am liked by some, and hated by others, just how it goes.  A lot of people have that problem on the game.
     There are an outstanding number of bullies on the game.  It is almost unbelievable how many there are.
     Conceited little bugger bastards.
     They will get what is coming to them, that is for sure.

     A lot of the kids take out their aggressions in the game.  Probably some of the mean kids in the game are picked on in real life, and they have lots of hate that they dump onto other people.

     Well, I am ready, and it is war.

     It is no longer wise for me to just be defensive.
     I actually have to go on the Offensive now.

     My, my, am I going to have fun.

     I...will...invade...your....world.

Morning Pontifications about CWA.

     It's pretty fun playing CWA, and working on my lots.  I really like how the characters move and walk in this game.  It feels alive, and filled with life.
     I know they have plans to never add to the Jedi Temple area, but maybe they should change those plans.
    
     Supposedly they are going to have an Umbara lot come out today.  Wow, they just came out with the Asteroid lot last week.  Also, there is supposed to be a new mini game.  The Clone Wars programmers are on a tear. 
     Actually, they plan all this stuff out months and months in advance, and then release when it is ready.  It looks like it is a strict schedule they all keep.
     Is working for Lucas fun?  I don't know.  It must be hard, especially being a computer animator doing all that stuff all day long.

     It's been funny to see that Star Wars has a world-wide cult following now.  People love all Star Wars stuff.  The Star Wars universe has really been fleshed out into a real place.  The Star Wars wikipedia is very thorough.

     Star Trek has it's fans and always will, but I don't see why they don't do a cgi series like Clone Wars, and just bring in new actors, and do the real five year mission.  No reason why they couldn't do that.  Well, it would be expensive.  Star Trek has a lot of loopholes.  So many it's like a colander that can't hold water.  The fans love Star Trek, though.  I think a lot of it has to do with grown women in mini-skirts and black knee high sex boots.


     So, my life on CWA has been better since I declared war on everybody, except for my friends.  I no longer tolerate people saying 'sup' to me.  I don't like hip-hop talk on the game, which is rarely funny.  I've talked to people on the game who speak like that normally, and believe me, there is not anything in their heads.  'Nothing' is a word they often use.  These people just seem programmed and stupid to me.  They are so into hip hop culture, that they can't escape it for five minutes on a video game.  They can't even pretend to be somebody else for a while.  It's more like, "I was raised on the streets, Holmes, so when I play CWA, I'm going to bring my culture with me where eva I go, nigga!'
     Big deal.  A lot of these kids are white and live in Illinois, and they bought some rap records when they were 12.  Big f-ing deal.

    

Bling Palace and other stuff that I feel like talking about.

     I worked on my Bling Palace today for four hours straight today.  It is coming along.  The blocks are very expensive, and it takes a long time to earn the credits to buy the new white and yellow Cody blocks.  If you play CWA and you want to buy me some Cody blocks, go for it.  Otherwise, it will be six months, and I still won't be finished with the palace.
     I'm hoping to make it as elaborate as all hell.

     It was nice that some kid said I was famous on youtube.  That is really sweet.  I don't have a paycheck coming in from this supposed fame, but accolades are always nice.

     I don't know what will happen, all I know is I am continuing to work as hard as I can with my writing, and with my artwork.  I was thinking of making a new blog devoted to The Artwork of David Lovins.  That sounds like a good thing to do.  I like that idea.  Then people can see easily what I do.  I have a website that my brother put together, and I like that website very much with what he did, it doesn't get updated enough.  He's been busy working on the stuff he needs to do, so that is understandable.  With my own blog, I can post whenever I want, and upload whatever pictures I want, so that will be nice.  Also, with my art, there usually needs to be some long explanation with what I do, just because some people miss the point.
     Some kid said the other day that I draw like a kid, and to me, that is a great success.  That is exactly what Picasso was going for in his adult life, to be able to go back into the innocence of childhood with his art.  The kid meant it as an insult to me and my art, so screw him.  All I know is that I know I can draw.  I've proved it to myself and others multiple times.  I don't have to prove it to every single person I encounter.

     More friend adds today.  It happens almost every time I log in that at least one person will add me.

     The last I heard, Clone Wars Adventures has a million people signed up for it at least.  Many people have multiple accounts so that number may be lower or higher, I'm not sure.

     Yeah, some of the kids need a lot of attention.  I just can't be best friends with everyone.  I do say hello to everyone that says hello to me.  I never initiate a conversation.  I don't have to.  People start up the conversation, and now that so many people know me, I can have over five conversations going on at once.  I end up talking to the ones that have something interesting to say.

     The worst is when some kid will say, "sup".  I have found that 100% of the time that a person who starts a conversation like that has nothing good to say.  I ask them what is going on, and they say, "nothing" and the conversation is a deep downward decline from there.  It doesn't even seem like anything is in their heads. 
     I know what it is, too.  I encounter the 'sup' people in real life.  So when I have to deal with 'sup people' in a Star Wars video game, I'm like, ".....ugh..."

     Anyhow, hope you enjoyed this censored but monetized blog.  I try to keep my Clone Wars blogs clean and mostly acceptable for both Blogger and my audience.

Some girl lied to me about how many people were at her party

     I only like to go to parties in CWA if there are at least ten people there.  So many times they invite me to a party, and THERE ARE ONLY TWO PEOPLE THERE!!
     Bleep this S***.
     So I told her there needed to be ten people there before I would show up.
     A little while passed, and she said
 
     now

     Meaning that there was now ten people there.
     I showed up to her little padawan place, and THERE WERE ONLY TWO PEOPLE THERE!!
 
     I asked her about it, and she said, "Everybody left".

     So, within a minute, she had ten people there, and then eight of them simultaneously left is what she was saying.
     Lying little bitch.
     I don't know why people lie to me, I'm going to find out the truth.  All I know, is if you lie to me, you're going to get a blog entry written about you, and I might even include your name if I get really pissed off.

     Overall, nonmembers are a pain in the ass.  They can't scrape up $30 on a double cash weekend to buy a lifetime membership using game cards.  That isn't too hard to do.  On the one time they had a triple cash weekend, a full lifetime membership was only $20!
     So I don't want to hear about people's complaints.

     Two things I can't stand are thieves, and liars.

Brandon Nicholas and other stuff

     Anyway, when I met Brandon, he was in his human form.  He is now a Togruta.  He did the Annakin thing as well as anybody could do on that game, and he looked good doing it.  The girls liked it.  There were jealousies about  the attention he was getting.
     I looked up the name of Brandon Nicholas on the web.  It is a pretty common name, actually.  The thing is, that it seems to be a name that girls like.  It's so pert.
     My name?  Dirk Wampaflash?  No one could give an 'F'......lol.
     Anyhow, so we made a CWA video with Michael Jackson's 'Beat It'.  It turned out to be a pretty good video.  I would give it a B + now.  It was a difficult video to make.  It took me damn well three hours to finish that in one sitting.  It was quite a time commitment to make that video, geez.  But it is up on youtube forever.
     My brother made Brandon a website, but it's been not easy to update since he is really busy now.  I prefer blogs to websites.  I can put a lot of text in, pictures, and video, np.  I can control the blogs.  Websites seem to be too much work, but a blog like this is easy as pie.  Plus, I control everything in my blog, and that's how I like it.
     Well, Brandon's had trouble with people joining his squad, and then ranking up, and then deleting members that are lower down on the tier.  So, there is treachery on Clone Wars Adventures.
     I've declared war on everybody on the game except my friends, but that's another story.
     To continue, Brandon seems to be engaged in the Nova Squad/Dark Nebula war.  I am just out of that one.  I just want to avoid all the petty drama within a Star Wars social game designed for kids.
     Has Brandon brought some of it upon himself?  Maybe.  But even that is none of my business.  I don't make the news, I report it.  I think maybe Brandon has kind of brought attention to himself with the whole thing about being 'The Chosen One'.  He seems to be over it now, which can only be a good thing.

     Brandon and I still say hi to each other once in a while, and we are on good terms;  but, I am just out of the drama.


     In other news, my Rebels and Rogues squad is going good.  I hardly have any members, just like how I like it.  There is a new member by the name of Remulus Fluxorbit.  Nice kid.  Out of the kindness of his heart, he bought over 30,000 credits of asteroid furniture for my Asteroid Lot.  Cool.  Then I made the video of the lot, and gave him credit.   Apparently, this kid needs a lot of attention.  That is why I have a small squad.  Let's put it this way, if I had a full squad with 100 members, and every kid needed as much attention as Remulus needs, I'd go insane.
     My solution when five to eight people are talking to me on the game at once is to just log off and escape.

     My goto game to escape to is currently Lotro.  Remulus asked me what my character name on that was.  That's all I need, to go to that game and have somebody say, "Hey Dirk, it's me, Remulus!"

     So, the new Asteroid Lot is pretty cool.  It really gives the feeling of outer space, which I am really happy about.
     In addition, I finished laying down all the Cody white tiles on my Kamino Lot.   It took a whole week to do this.  I will do a full count of how many tiles I laid down, then I will be able to calculate how many credits I spent on that.  It's a lot.  Each one costs 200 credits.  It took countless games of Mine Buster on hard level to buy all those.  Was it a waste of time?  Yes, but the floor on that lot will be there forever.  It was an accomplishment to put in that floor and took a lot of persistence and willpower.  I'm exhausted from it, but I am glad it is finally done.      My god.  It's all for my Bling Palace, so it actually has just begun.
     I wish they would have some staircases for sale so I wouldn't have to build ramps all the time.  Also, Free Realms have elevator platforms that take you from side to side, and up and down.  Clone Wars doesn't have that, and it sucks.  The chat box sucks in both games with their prolific editing of the English language, even with clean words.  It more than pisses me off slightly.  Anyhow, I need staircases, I need more household items, I need blocks of different sizes to build with.  I feel limited with what I can build.  They are finally starting to have a good vocabulary of things you can build with, and you can do a lot with what they give you, but I'm still not satisfied.  I need more.
     Building on Free Realms has it's limitations, too.  I'm frustrated with that.  There just hasn't been anything exciting to build with on that game for a long time.  I was happy to put in some vampire coffins, but I was hoping by now they would bring in some more furniture items.

     Okay, so there is all that.
     Let's see, what else is there?
     I don't know for now, I think I covered all the bases for the meantime.
     Laters,
     Dirk.

Beg Kids

     Basically, it started on Free Realms with all the Beg Kids, but there they would try and hustle you into trading your blackspore gloves for example.  There were lots of people trying to take advantage of others who didn't know the value of their items.  It became ridiculous to wear valuable items, because people would just friend you in order to try and obtain the item.

     Anyway, on Clone Wars Adventures, the beg kids were of a different breed, or spawn, if you will....haha.
     To continue, uh, ....these kids were very aggressive and persistent, and I noticed a tendency to not take 'no' for an answer.
     Ultimately, the best thing to do is to just say that you are broke and that you have no credits and no SC.  They seem to go away.
     As Beg Kid Spawn, they must feed constantly.  They are like little aliens that must constantly consume.

     Funny enough, but there are beginning to be kids who are RBG.....Recovering Beg Kids.  haha.
     Being a beg kid is as if you have a disease that you must recover from, as serious as alcoholism..haha.
     What they need is a Beg Kid Recovery Center....haha.

Clone Wars Adventures War Journal

     Hi.  My name is Dirk Wampaflash on Clone Wars Adventures.  I have been on the game since beta.
     Originally when I started the game, I was just planning on having around ten friends.  That was not to be.  I now have over three-thousand.
     Anyway, I have witnessed and observed a lot of interactions within the game, and this blog will be the record of my experiences.