theamberdragonfly

When is playing games too much?

When is the time to draw the line?

My fiance lives for World of Warcraft. And I understand this. It is an entertaining, engrossing game. You get to interact not only with game-created characters but with millions of people worldwide. There are time-consuming, overly-involved quest lines that require thought, repetition, and, of course, slaughter of virtual creatures.

There is nothing quite like the euphoria of working together with friends to kill a particularly difficult boss creature.  I enjoy it just as much as he does.  I freely admit it.

Yet when should one acknowledge when playing this time-consuming game is taking over too much of one's life?  My fiance works only three days a week, but these days are 10 hour days.  His work is an hour commute from our house.  His shift is such that he must be up by 2:30 am in order to make it to his job by 4 am.

Thus on nights that he must be up ungodly early, one would think he would go to bed accordingly to get plenty of sleep so he is not overtired or sleepy during the long commute to work nor while he is working with large, dangerous machinery.

Such is never the case.  He will stay up until midnight or later- sometimes, never making it to bed at all- playing World of Warcraft.

After playing it from the moment he gets home from work or has awakened in the morning if he did not have to work.

He is on the computer. All. Day. Long.  And most of the night as well.  We have stayed up until nearly 4 am together on one particular night he didn't have to work, but he became angry with me when I told him I needed sleep.  After all, we do have an 8 year old daughter that will wake up around 8 am and need attention.

This does not faze him at all.  It is still all about me trying to "control" him.

He is a good man.  He is an outstanding father.  He is caring, loving, and the best thing that has ever happened to us.  I am just tired of so many things, us included, being put off by this game.

I have been begging him to find work closer to home, work that will give him 40 hours a week, work that doesn't require him to be up so damned early.  He refuses.  I am glad he likes his job, but with the way he refuses to take responsibility for this job and get much-needed rest instead of playing computer games, I merely thought a change of venue would be more accommodating to his addiction.

Because that is what it is. An addiction.  Even if we leave the house to do something else, inevitably the subject of the game will arise and plans will be made for the next raid or dungeon run or trash kill group.

Is it really so much to ask that we take a break from virtual reality?

Therefore I must question my actions: I have canceled his subscription. Mine and our daughter's as well.  I have told our friends that we need a break from gaming and I hope that they will understand.  

Yet I am bothered by my decision.  Have I gone too far?  I have not deleted his characters nor have I removed any personal information.  His account will merely be in stasis for a while until I can help him understand that it is just a game and not vital to live his life.  It is entertainment, but the enthrallment seems to have consumed his care for almost everything else.

Hence why I am sitting here at nearly 4:30 in the morning, needing to vent and get this feeling of guilt and betrayal off my heart.  Because I know when he finds out what I have done, the proverbial fur will fly.  I am honestly worried about his reaction from the standpoint that he may be angry with me for weeks.  Worse, I fear he will merely go out and buy a subscription card on his own to reactivate his account and my intervention will have been for naught.

Time will tell.  His account deactivates on July 10th.  For now, I must just sit here... and watch him live his life in a fictional world.

So this is what my Death Knight in World of Warcraft feels like whenever she gets rezzed.

Well, first of all I must apologize to all my watchers and friends here on dA.  I have been AWOL for far too long and so much has happened that I cannot possibly begin to explain it all.  Suffice to say I will summarize the important parts and then leave you to ponder the remainder.

Extremely long story short, I have relocated.  My daughter and I are now living by ourselves (with our dog) in a small house in my hometown and I've got a part-time job with Geek Squad once again.  As I require full-time in order to pay my bills and keep my house, I am still looking for work, so if anyone in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area knows of any jobs for a computer geek/receptionist-type person, please let me know!

So now that I am free and rather motivated again, I will be attempting to start work on my very first book as well as continuing the Pokemon fanfiction I started and perhaps even finish a picture or two now that I have Photoshop CS2 to play around with.   Thanks to everyone who has added me to their watch lists and given me virtual support during my absent periods.  You are the main reason I'm still around here.

Hugs to everyone! Dragonfly is back!

~Amber

At least I feel that way.

Well, another year has come and gone, and I am another year older.  Preferable, I suppose, as opposed to the alternative, at least in some regards. vs.

I know I have not submitted hardly anything art-wise or writings-wise in eons, and for that I duly apologize.  I have lost a good deal of my creative MEH, but I DID start a new picture of two characters from World of Warcraft that is now ready to be shaded (if I can find the motivation), and I wrote a rather random, spur-o-the-moment drabbling about these same two WoW characters while tripping off of no sleep and an adrenaline rush from being screamed at by the Master.

As usual.

I also have an old, old sketch of Sasuke that I drew back when I believed he could be redeemed (opinion overruled.  He's failsauce now) that I might toss up here for everyone to look at, but I don't know if I'll line and color it.  I really don't like Saucegay anymore- not that I did that much from the beginning.

BUT!

One bright point is that the Master took his son, my daughter and I to see Alice in Wonderland.


OMGWTFBBQASFLKJDAF and all that stuff.

That was an AMAZING movie- I totally enjoyed.  One continuing thing that bothered me was the wardrobe and makeup (I understand Tim Burton is bizarre, but come ON) but everything else was excellent.  I totally recommend.

And, of course, in the previews was the upcoming movie "How To Train Your Dragon" and my daughter went absolutely frikkin NUTS.  I never heard her squeal so loud.  So when I saw the stuffed black dragon from the movie, I caved and bought it for her as a surprise for when she got home from school today.

The squealing commenced as soon as she saw it.   My birthday and SHE'S the one who got the present.

So, yes, my birthday officially blows, as the Master has yet to acknowledge my spawning day in the slightest and the people who WANT to be able to spend the day with me are too far away to do so.   You know who you are.

So never fear, my friends.  I will get back to my art (hopefully) soon and your inboxes will not remain empty of my works for much longer.  Thank you for your patience and your support.

~Dragonfly

Been ages since I've updated this damn thing, and THIS is what I present you with.

Totally stolen from because her art is EPIC.

001. Real name – Amber
002. Nickname(s) – Dragonfly, Shiir, Hey You
003. Zodiac sign - Pisces
004. Male or female - Female
005. Elementary – Bullying began
006. Middle School – Bullying got worse
007. High School – Please don't make me remember.
008. Hair color - Amber.
009. Long or short - Mediumish
010. Loud or Quiet - Apparently I'm a loud-ass. I don't mean to be
011. Sweats or Jeans - Depends on the day.
012. Phone or Camera – Phone. It has both.
013. Health freak – Gimme chocolate and you may live.
014. Drink or Smoke? – Neither, but I wouldn't mind going out for a drink once in a while.
015. Do you have a crush on someone? – Yes.
016. Eat or Drink – I am required to do both, but not in quite as much excess as I do. >.>
017. Piercings – three in my right ear, two in my left. Wish I could get my navel done.
018. Tattoos – wolf paw print on my right hip, dragonfly w/ tribal on my lower back (will be getting redone) and a gothic-ish dragonfly just below the nape of my neck. Plans for more once I get moneeeez.

HAVE YOU EVER?
019. Been in an airplane – Yup.
020. Been in a relationship – Yup.
021. Been in a car accident – Not any serious ones.
022. Been in a fist fight – Does kicking an ex in the balls count? Probably not. Then no.

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing – Ears
024. First best friend – Jackie. Back when I was 5.
025. First award – College Art award when I was in middle school.
026. First crush – Boy down the street. Can't remember his name. I was... 4? 5? I kissed him on the bus and got in trouble.
028. First big vacation – Florida when I was 2.
029. Last person you talked to – My daughter this morning before school.
030. Last person you IMed – Yve.
031. Last person you watched a movie with – My daughter ("Space Chimps")
032. Last food you ate – Lemon poppyseed muffin
033. Last movie you watched – "Avatar" (thanks Mike )
034. Last song you listened to – "Crazy Possessive"
035. Last thing you bought – Burger King
036. Last person you hugged – My daughter

FAVES:
037. Food – chocolate. And seafood. But not together. >.>
038. Drinks – Unsweetened tea, grape juice, Dark Chocolate Mocha Frappuchinos if I can get one
039. Clothing – that I wear on a consistent basis or clothing in my closet that I love but never get a chance to wear?
040. Books – Anything by Julia Quinn, Piers Anthony, or Amanda Quick.
041. Music – Disturbed, Godsmack, musicals, soundtracks, 80s
042. Flowers – Gardenias, lavender roses
043. Colors – purple, black, pale yellow
044. Movies - LotR trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean triolgy, Ever After (sucker for happy endings), just about anything action-y, fantasy, or tasteful romantic.
045. Positions – Woof.
046. Subjects – Back in HS it was Art, computers, and English (I loved to write)

IN 2009 I....
047. [x] Kissed in the snow. (My daughter, but it counts)
048. [x] Celebrated Halloween
049. [x] Had your heart broken
050. [] Went over the minutes on your cell phone
051. [x] Someone questioned your sexual orientation
052. [] Came out of the closet
053. [] Gotten pregnant
054. [] Had an abortion
055. [x] Done something you've regretted
056. [x] Broke a promise
057. [x] Hid a secret
058. [x] Pretended to be happy
059. [x] Met someone who changed your life
060. [x] Pretended to be sick.
061. [] Left the country
062. [x] Tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it
063. [] Traveled to high mountains
064. [] Ran a lot on the beach
065. [] I live on a beach
066. [] Stayed single a whole year.

CURRENTLY:
067. Eating - Lemon poppyseed muffin
068. Drinking - Grape juice
069. I'm about to do – procrastinate on my homework and balancing my checkbook to go play World of Warcraft with Mike
070. Listening to – A rather smexy voice talking to me on my headset, my iTunes favorites playing quietly in the background.
071. Plans for today – what I SHOULD be doing: go to class, post some semi-intelligent comments, apply for a work-from-home job, balance checkbook, pay bills.  What I will probably end up doing: playing World of Warcraft for a little while before succumbing to this evil cold.
072. Waiting for – divine intervention.  And June 27, 2010.

YOUR FUTURE:
073. Want kids? – Hellz yes
074. Want to get married? - very much so
075. Careers in mind - Anything that will help pay off my student loans >.>

OR OR:
076. Lips or eyes - Eyes
077. Shorter or taller? - Taller
078. Romantic or spontaneous - Both would be great
079. Nice stomach or nice arms - Neither is important- personality and intelligence are key
080. Sensitive or loud – lol well that depends.
081. Hook-up or relationship – Relationship
082. Trouble-maker or hesitant - A reasonable balance

HAVE YOU EVER:
083. Lost glasses/contacts – Frequently.
084. Ran away from home - Sort of.
086. Killed somebody – Yes. But then a paladin came along and rezzed him, so it was all good.
087. Broken someone's heart – Unfortunately. And I will regret it until the day I die.
088. Been arrested – Never! I'm a good gurl, I am.
089. Cried when someone died – Of course.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
090. Yourself – Nope.
091. Miracles - Only one-  my daughter.
092. Love at first sight – Used to.
093. Heaven – Sorta.
094. Santa Claus – nope.
095. Sex on the first date – Depends on if he's hot. lol, no, not really.
096. Kiss on the first date – Depends.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now? - Yes. And I can't be with them.
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life? – FUCK. NO.
099. Do you believe in God – Still figuring that one out.
100. Will you tag 20 people - pfft. I don't KNOW 20 people.

Now I KNOW America's gone crazy.

twilightbarbies.com/



My eyes... they burrrrrrrn....



Question: does the Edward doll sparkle in the sunlight?

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On another note, today is my dr. appt to go get the growths on my glands looked at.  Wish me luck!