^_^;; Mandatory Rhyme Time
Category: Romance and Relationships

I know this wont be as good as a friend of mines (Miss Understood ^_^;;) but I felt the need to write something like this, and since I have nowhere else to put it...
__________________

So much joy in our hearts,
So much fear in our veins
how could something so wonderful
bring about so many pains?

Head in a fog,
trapped in a cloud,
Stuck in the bog,
screaming so loud.

There’s someone I love
Whom I swear comes from above
She shares this haze with me
Neither of us knowing where we’ll be.

So much care, so much trust
I guess from here it’s forward or bust.

Am I ready? I don’t think so.
Will I try? That, at least, I know.

For her smile
for her peace
I’ll be with her every mile;
my feet will never cease.

So with my answer so sure,
Why do I feel so insecure?

Currently listening : Sweet Home Alabama By Lynyrd Skynyrd Release date: 25 February, 1992

3:25 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Wonderful wonderful... Burdock?
Current mood: cheerful

Most of the people who know what burdock is are probably raising their eyebrows at the screen right now, but before you decide that I've finally lost what little of my sanity I still had, let me explain 

But for those who don't know, burdock is considered an invasive weed which many gardeners kill the second they see it. Usually with some serious gusto, too.
It's also the plant that makes those little brown spike covered ball thingies that get stuck to your socks, shoes, and jeans. In fact, those little guys are part of the reason that burdock IS so amazing! Those are the seed pods of Burdock, and the idea is that they get caught on passing animals or people, and as the person or critter walks around with the seed pot attached, it loses a few seeds, gently having them fall out, like a salt shaker. It's an incredibly brilliant way to spread seeds around in my opinion, but then, I'm a bit daffed and find these kinds of things amazing.

First off, I think it's good to note that while we treat Burdock like a weed, there are other countries which sell it as a vegetable. Why? Well… For one, it doesn't taste half bad. Some people describe it a bit like Artichoke, so go figure. Why else? Every part of the plant is edible, and good for you, from the roots to the spiky purple flowers. I don't think you wanna eat the spiky seed pods though… ^_^;;

One thing I like quite a bit about burdock is that it shows us that even the things we're accustomed to in our daily lives can hold surprises - currently, Burdock, and more specifically, the inulin in the burdock, is being researched as it has the ability to halt tumor growth.

And before this, the inspiration for Velcro actually came from the sticky seed pods. I think I'm the only person who finds this neat, but I still need to mention it.

Traditionally, the roots are generally used medicinally, while the rest of the plant is used more for food, however, the leaves and 'fruit' of the plant are still useful for the same reasons as the roots in most cases.
Burdock is even useful for treating Arthritis - though, whether it actually cures it or whether it simply dulls the pain, I am unsure of. I don't have arthritis, so I can't test this. Darn youth and good health!

Simply put, this plant has so many uses as nutritional food and herbal remedies, so all I can really say is do your own research on the topic 

As for growing… Half the time you don't need to do a darn thing to grow a nice plant right in the middle of any other plants you were trying to grow, whether you like it or not.
Next time, instead of fretting over this 'weed' though, perhaps you'll try it in a salad?

Currently listening : Every Morning By Sugar Ray Release date: 20 April, 1999

11:49 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Music and legality...
Current mood: overstimulated
Category: Music

Currently listening : Into the Night By Santana Release date: 15 October, 2007

9:38 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Chamomile Tea...

Well, since I'm a lover of plants and herbal remedies, I figured I should post a bit about the awesomeness of some sort of plant with useful properties…

So, I've chosen chamomile, which makes a nice tea and looks good to grow ^_^

First off and foremost, chamomile is incredibly useful for… Stomach cramps! This is by far the most nifty use of chamomile in my opinion, because cramps suck majorly… and just drinking a bit of chamomile tea can lessen and even get rid of the pain ^_^ This includes menstrual cramps, or so I hear. No first hand experience on that one ^_^;;

That's just the tip of the iceberg for this plants internal uses too, as it also can be used for gassiness, sick tummy, tummy aches, diarrhea, fever/cold, congestion, headaches, sleeping problems, stress, nervousness (Chamomile is a relaxant, so if you ever feel too tense or fidgety… I *think* that's why it's good for headaches too… but not 100% sure on that one) and it helps digestion!
*phew*
AND it's also useful to help reduce teething pain in babies

Jeeze, that list sounds like the side effects of a bottle of pills…

As for the outside of your body, Chamomile can be ground into a paste (then add oatmeal for desired consistency) and used to help treat burns, rashes, and infections.

Simply put, this herb is useful for a LOT of things, and it doesn't taste half bad neither if I do say so myself. When me and my four siblings (One brother, three sisters) were younger, our mother used to always give us chamomile tea for stomach aches, and we always felt better afterwards.

Chamomile is generally easy to grow, and it's not hard to find seeds for them at your local garden store ^_^ (I got my seeds from the Gardenweb Seed Exchange forum, though)
Just remember you use the flowers for the tea

8:08 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

PC Game (Not yet released) - Demigod
Current mood: calm
Category: Games

My friend sent me a preview for a relatively interesting game called Demigod last night - why did it catch his/our attention? It's at least partially inspired by a map from Warcraft 3 called "DotA," which stands for Defense of the Ancients.

The game lets you play as a Demigod who's fighting for the honor of becoming a full fledged god. There are two major groupings for the Demigods, one called "Generals" which sounds like it'll play a bit more like an RTS, and one called "Assassin" which seems to be more like a 3rd person shooter/RPG. I'm curious as to how the two will do against each other, whether either type will have a significant advantage. For instance, since it sounds like you don't personally aim the General Demigods attacks, does that mean any time it attacks you all shots hit? Or are you able to dodge, at which point the question arises, how will the general EVER hit you if he has no control over his projectiles? I'm really crossing my fingers that they'll find a good balance between the two Demigod groupings, as admittedly, I'm looking forward to this game.

Just looking at some of the preview pictures on IGN (Article here, images here) makes me want to learn how to do bump mapping, because these are some beautiful models in my opinion. Graphically speaking, I already like this game. I think it still needs a little polishing here and there to make it truly perfect, but all in all, it looks really good where it's at now. I'm especially impressed with some of the effects, and just hoping those aren't just going to be serious lag makers. Who knows, maybe my future computer upgrade will be enough to keep lag out of most games. Here's hoping!

And speaking of hoping, here's one hope I have... that they have a unit that's reminiscent of the "Goblin Techies" in the DotA maps, they're my favorite little buggers... mostly because they're hilarious.
Their abilities are...
Land Mine - places a land mine that blows up when an enemy steps on it/goes near it.
Explosion - Blows up the techies causing massive damage to nearby enemies.
Stun Ward - Drops a ward which will stun nearby enemies when they activate it (this ability seems a bit... out of character... in my opinion. Still quite useful though.)
and their ultimate - Remote Mines - Which allow you to manually detonate them to deal more... accurate damage.

These guys are arguably the strongest and weakest in the game... why is that? Their spells have incredible surprise value, and if the techies take the time to set up traps, they can take down even the most powerful of tanks, though, the Gorgon is always tough with her overpowered mana shield...
So, with all this obvious power, how can they be weak? Simple. A SINGLE ITEM in this game renders the majority of the techie's abilities completely useless. Either the Gem of Trueseeing or the Revealing Wards (Not sure if those names are right, this is going from memory, and I never buy those items ^_^;;) both allow you to see invisible units - which includes the techie's mines.
Once even ONE enemy hero has these items, it renders a large amount of strategies useless, and the only way to get the jump on hero's like these is to place the mines at the top of a ramp, so that the fog of war will cover them until they're already on them... and even that is difficult to do, since they have shared vision with the mini-minions the computer controls, and those guys are always leading the front as the generic cannon fodder.

Ah well, if they don't have a similar character in Demigod, at least I can look forward to going back to DotA with the techies, running towards an enemy, yelling "HUUUUG!" and blowing myself into pieces, taking them and a few random NPC's with me.
So much hilarity ensues when the techie's are out and about.

10:44 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

About me Questionairre
Current mood: bouncy

Saw this somewhere else, so I figured I'd steal it and fill it out. Because that's what I do. I steal things, then write on them.

Name: Dean
Gender: Male
Eye color: Hazel, I guess. There's a bunch of colors...
Hair Color: Brown
Birthday: April 14th
Age: Twenty
Lefty/righty/ambidextrous: Lefty for most things.
Do you live in the moment?: I like to think I've survived lots of moments.
Do you consider yourself tolerent to others?: For the most part, yes, unless you catch me in a bad mood. Then I'm tolerant as long as people are out of earshot and visible range.
Do you have any secrets?: Can't tell. Tis a secret.
Do you have any bad habits?: Yessum, but I'm always trying to fix em, so that has to count for something, right?
Do you think life has been good so far?: Yessum. I've got oodles to be thankful for, like the ability to use the word 'oodles' in a blog. What more could I want?
What do you REALLY think of the person who took this before you?: He makes a good webcomic, and he's funny.
Do you...?
Smoke: No
Do drugs: Nope
Drink: Nope again.
Go to church: I probably should.
Take walks in the rain: ...Now I want to. I don't necessarily, but I wouldn't mind it, and I often enjoy watching thunderstorms rolling in ^_^
Drive: No, though I can.
Talk to people even if you hate them: Assuming the conversation isn't going to be a fight, yes, I talk to anyone.
Want to get married: I'd love to, and hoping I will be in a few years if all goes well.
Want to go to college: School was never something I enjoyed, so I'm going with no.
Want to have children: Someday, but not at the moment.
Have you ever...?
Been in love?: Am in it now.
Gone skinny dipping?: No.
Had surgery?: Yes.
Pulled an all nighter?: If gaming from 10PM till 1PM counts, then yes.
Gone one day without food?: I eat like a bird, 5+ meals a day. No skipping a day for me.
Slept all day?: ...I don't think I know ANYONE who's slept 24 hours a day unless they were in a coma....
Been rejected by a crush?: I never had the guts to let any of them know how I felt, so technically no.
Cried in public?: Yes, though not recently... last time I can recall was roughly 2nd grade... and crying just goes hand in hand with that age.
Cried over a movie?: Yep, and over books.
Pranked called someone?: I don't think so.
Passed out?: If I did, that's news to me.
This or That
Pepsi or Coke: Water.
McDonalds or Burger King: My stomach can't handle those - fruit please.
Chocolate or Vanilla: What, I have to CHOOSE now? Fine, Chocolate.
Burgers or Hot dogs: Pineapple :-P
sun or moon: I like em both too much to choose, though, the moon is more fun to stare at, what with it not burning your retina's or something.
hot or cold: I'm pretty happy with all normal temperatures we get throughout the seasons, though, I prefer the hotter months because my plants tend to grow better than when it's freezing out :-P

And there ya have it. 'Fill in the blank" blog post ftw!

2:33 PM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Gaming trip down memory lane...
Current mood: inquisitive
Category: Games

Well, I figured my first blog post here should be about something I like, and so why not use games as a good starting point, eh?

Recently I started playing some older games, and I somehow managed to get sucked back into Diablo 2. Back when I first got this, I beat it once, then IMMEDIATELY GOT BORED. Yet this time, I'm almost to the end, and already plotting out what character to go through next, or how I should go about beating the next difficulty, etc etc... so I'm curious if this is gonna hold my attention a bit longer this time around.

If so, then when I manage to upgrade my computer *crosses fingers* I'll probably see about getting Hellgate: London too, since that seems to be around the same kind of idea, though, I heard some people saying it kinda sucked. I don't know how that can be. You're in london. There are demons. You have guns.
Sounds like a recipe for bloodshed, accents, and excitement to me *shrugs* But we'll see.

I'm also getting pretty excited about Smash Bros. Brawl, although, Metaknight looks a bit overpowered judging by the youtube videos >_<
Pit looks fun to play as though :-3

And on the topic of the Wii, has anyone seen this before? It's a "Wii Media Download" thing, and I'm not sure if it's any good or not. Almost sounds like you can get some free movie downloads on it, but I'm wondering if you can transfer them to your computer afterwards or anything? I dunno. If anyone has it or something like it, please lemme know so I can figure out if I wanna spend some of my cash on this ;-)

And since the "tell us what you're listening to" thing is giving me an error right now, I'll put it in manually :-P
Matchbox Twenty - How Far We've Come

So there ya have it for my first blog post - Short (sorta) and sweet (more or less)

...
Ok, random dribble, but whatever, it's out there.

6:50 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment