So...

WHY ISN'T IT THE 11TH MARCH YET? I WANT THIS WHOLE GAME NOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Ehem.

It's awesome, is pretty much all I can say. The fighting is much faster paced, but you can still pause and assign your peeps to do stuff for when you unpause. It made things much easier to liberally use the pause key.

FLEMETH. I know the part I got to play was before the whole 'kill Flemeth quest' (and if that is spoilers, where have you been?) but she was so cool. And kitted out for war. And I kind of hope she's back in the rest of the game as well.

The graphics are excellent. The armor looked a lot better, the designs were great, Flemeth's feathers were feathery, etc etc. I know some of the earlier screenshots looked a little cartoony, but no, really, it isn't.

The skill trees are nice. Means the characters will be more specialized compared to DA:O.

Hawke has a voice! I like this, much like I love Sheppard's voice over in Mass Effect.

In fact there are a lot of similar things to Mass Effect. I love the new conversation system, which is almost exactly like the one in ME2. And the influence system is similar to the old one, but show differently and I like it. There are also a hell of a lot of options to customize the look of your character. They weren't available in the demo but you could see what they were.

If you aren't decided about buying the game try the demo and see if you like it. It's well worth it, even if it did break the internet :D

Dear Internets:

Kaz made it to Swindon safe. Currently she can't get on her Grandma's internet, so no updates from her, but that might change.

Love me.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vga-10-mass-effect/708363

Mass Effect 3 teaser trailer. I WANT IT NOW!!! Next year should be a good year for games.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vga-10-batman-arkham/708342 - BATMAN!!

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vga-10-elder-scrolls/708369 - NEW ELDER SCROLLS!!!

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/cg-directors-deus-ex/708299 - DEUS EX!!!!

(no more caffeine for me.)

http://kateharding.info/2010/10/06/on-good-kids-and-total-fucking-assholes/

I know a lot of people have probably read this, but it's a damn good post on bullying and our culture.

I think I might have found something I want to do.

It's an apprenticeship with the NHS, working as a lab technician and looking to gain a Level 2 qualification as a Laboratory Technician. It doesn't pay much, but I'd probably still be eligible for housing benefit and once I turn 25 I'd probably also be eligible for working tax credits to top things up.

From there, I could still go into nursing with an idea to specialize as a phlebotamist, or I could look into continuing lab work.

This one isn't letting my brain go. There was one working as a chef, but this one is really pushing my buttons.

This is what I could end up doing - http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id=251

Ok, so things on the healthcare front seem to be a little more sorted.

Benenden have an arrangement with the Nuffield hospitals which means that Benenden will cover the whole cost of the colonoscopy outside of the £1500 for diagnostic tests. All I need to do is get them sent the original doctor's referral and a report from the consultant saying that he's recommending the colonoscopy, and they'll cover it. Just like that. Leaving me the £1100 to cover any further tests and meaning I don't have to tap my Dad up for money (at least until Uni).

This is good.

I am however still incredibly stressed, nauseous and practically running round like a headless chicken. Bwark!

(Seriously though, totally good news and I should still be able to get it done next week.)

because once again the world needs more fluff.

♥Fluff Friday♥



( For more cute, click here )

For those of you thinking about seeing Splice:

http://yuki-onna.livejournal.com/586183.html

http://makesomelove.livejournal.com/227249.html (Capslock warning)

Both posts have trigger warnings, but then it seems the whole damn film should come with trigger warnings. There are some very good reasons to not see this film.

Yeah.

And since I've been nagged about not posting this yet:

My new tomato sauce recipe - taken from Smitten Kitchen, another of the food blogs I now follow. (text taken from the blog, for those who don't want to follow the link)

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions

Serves 4 as a main course; makes enough sauce to lightly coat most of a pound of spaghetti

28 ounces (800 grams) whole peeled tomatoes from a can
5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan (it fit just right in a 3-quart) over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you didn’t need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

I personally tend to blend the sauce down once it's cooked, but that's because Kaz doesn't like tomato lumps in anything.