bond, james bond

those of you who know me, know that i have an unusual love for anything and everything james bond. i own every single move on DVD—except for diamonds are forever (but i'm still on the hunt for that). so much, that i recently spent $$$ to change 4 of my character's names from my world of warcraft account to reflect any female or male character from the james bond series from its original big screen inception of dr. no in 1962. now all 6 of my active characters each have james bond-related names—kissysuzuki from you only live twice, rogermoore, camillé from quantum of solace, vesperlynd from casino royale, tiffanycase from diamonds are forever and of course, our favorite, høneyryder from dr. no.

i even have a series of james bond pop art designs i created as my personal tribute to the super-manly agent.

what is wrong with me, you ask? simple. i love james bond. i love what it represents. the retro-lifestyle of living as a secret agent and traveling all over the world fighting 'bad guys' is a fantasy i have always envisioned. will it ever come true? of course not. but it's fun to daydream about, isn't it?

fantasize about someone like daniel craig emerging from the water wearing nothing but tight, slim swimming trunks are to every girl's fantasy. so who wouldn't want to be his go-to gal? minus the typically dying at the end scenario, i think it's the perfect dream come true.

dashing off to europe on a moment's notice while in tow with my superhunk to protect me sounds so exhilarating, doesn't it? And when we head "home" after all of the traveling, we arrive to our mid-century modern home equipped with the latest technology and sportscars in the garage.

Ahh, if only life were this simple.

daniel craig as james bond 007

sean connery as james bond 007

george lazenby as james bond 007

roger moore as james bond 007

pierce brosnan as james bond 007

timothy dalton as james bond 007

more world of warcraft screenshots

as promised, i am adding more screenshots that i have taken this week. enjoy!

blood elf paladin, vesperlynd - (level 22) - silvermoon city

draenei hunter (with raptor pet, goldfinger), rogermoore - (level 36) - darnassus

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - felwood

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - un'goro crater

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - on flight in isle of quel'danas

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - sunset in scholozar basin

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - maestra's post, ashenvale

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - duskwood (in front of boss)

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - isle of quel'danas

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - hinterlands

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - darkshore, auberdine

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - netherstorm (outland)

the world inside world of warcraft

it was the end of january of this year, and i was bored. unemployed and bored. the weather was cold and wet, and since my daughter was in school for most of the day, i needed something to occupy my time. i have never been one of those people who can spend their entire day at a health club (not that i shouldn't, however), but always had a passion for video games. yes, i admit, since the age of 14 in 1979, while stealing quarters from my dad's change bucket and heading to the nearest pizza shop to play pac man, i have always loved video games.


i just chalk it up to the fact that i am a graphic designer, therefore i have a special appreciation for anything that's computer created.


fast forward to this century and with video games being everywhere—whether you play directly from your computer or a console—they have become the fastest-growing and most popular industry that we know of today.


now keep in mind, i have a mac. i love my mac. can't imagine my life without my mac, but if you're a video game junky like me, you soon realize that your options are unfortunately limited for this platform. sad, but true.


so by the time i exhausted my play of the first person shooter game, no one lives forever, i needed another outlet to enhance my appreciation for video games. but which one? it seems anything out there are army related (hate it), alien related (hate it), or worse, crime related—definitely hate it.


a virtual friend of mine who is also a graphic designer (thanks, nate) recommended world of warcraft—but he soon warned, it is very addicting. well, since on the average, i would play a video game for maybe an hour at the most, i figured i could handle it.


boy was i wrong, and he was right. ever since i started playing, i have been glued to my computer ever since. sad, but true. but it's not just playing the game itself that caught my attention, but the world within world of warcraft that piqued my interest overall.


i couldn't believe how detailed and expansive this world was. and i felt it was never-ending. even after 7 months of playing religiously everyday, i still have yet to visit every single area in the game.


since i'm mostly an alliance player (for those of you non-world of warcraft fans, i won't delve into what all of this means for the time being), i am not that familiar with the horde areas within the game. and since i have two level 80 characters and several more that i'm working on leveling, the alliance areas are mostly what i'm familiar with at the current time. however, since i recently created a horde blood elf paladin, hopefully i'll soon be leveling quickly in search of the unchartered horde territories that i now know.


in november of this year, blizzard (creators of world of warcraft) will be releasing a much-anticipated expansion called cataclysm. it's supposed to be their biggest expansion yet! i'm excited, yet bittersweet at the same time. most of the classic areas of world of warcraft—known as azeroth—will be completely altered. will it be for the best? i don't know. only time will tell. but for now, i wanted to capture as many screenshots as i could as a keepsake of what azeroth was like before cataclysm ruined it all.


so even though i discussed my love (a.k.a. addiction) of this game when i first started playing, and my night elf druid was my one and only character at the time, i wanted to give a much-needed update to my playing experience.


so please enjoy these screenshots that i have attached. i plan on making this a work in progress until november to try and capture most (most likely not all) of the azeroth areas. and now that i have a horde character, hopefully i can explore farther to give a much broader perspective of the game.


i will post more screenshots as i go along in the game.


enjoy!

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - teldrassil

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - darnassus

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - moonglade

my draenei mage, kissysuzuki - (level 50) - bloodmyst isle

my blood elf, vesperlynd - (level 15) - silvermoon city

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - crystalsong forest

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - coldarra

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - star's rest in dragonblight

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - zangarmarsh

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - sporeggar

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - fizzlecrank's flight strip in borean tundra

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - the storm peaks

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - dragonblight

my new addiction — world of warcraft

sad, isn't it? i am a grown woman, mother of one, wife of one, full time graphic designer, and i am still finding the time to sit down and play world of warcraft? yes, i'm afraid i do. i admit, being a graphic designer i love everything about cool graphics and the like. whether it be movies with special effects or an interesting website showing the talent of that particular web designer. i love it all!

additionally, what falls within this category are video games. they're everywhere and they're hot! it's the most profitable industry out there. i only wish i could have gotten a piece of that pie as the world of video games first appeared on the scene. maybe i was born during the wrong generation, but i always wish i could have had the education and wherewithal to learn everything there is to know in becoming a gaming designer. maybe it's something i would have grown tiresome of—which seems to fall within every job category these days—or maybe i would have actually loved my job and made great money at the same time? at this point in my life, these are answers i will never have. talk about endless nights in front of a storyboard.

all of that "wishing" aside, i recently started playing the mega video game, world of warcraft. now keep in mind, i have only been at it for a good week now and i realize there is much more to learn within this amazing world. for instance, i still cannot seem to figure out the whole goal and purpose of this game. is it to just gain more quests to go farther and farther within the game? is it the goal to try and explore and discover new "worlds" instead? i honestly have no idea. i have tried to read up on world of warcraft from their direct website as well as the creators, blizzard, but so far, i'm still at a loss.

admittedly, with most video games, when you start anew, there is always that frustrating learning curve you encounter on a daily basis until one day, you just get it! ahh the bliss and accomplishment of that moment.

we finally got the wii system for the holidays and being a person that loves everything and anything james bond 007, i bought the wii james bond 007: quantum of solace game only to be frustrated with my lack of shooting abilities. why can't i aim it properly? i seem to be aiming the gun in the air instead of at the villians. ugh! either way, i will conquer this quest to be proficient as a wii game shooter if it's the last thing i do! :)

for now, i will continue to enjoy the world of warcraft environment to which i have so become accustomed, and my character, 'kyraline', will prosper and go forward! i made the step to go from trial user to the full upgrade, so i think i'm ready!

wish me luck!

my world of warcraft character, "kyraline"