(Almost) Done

I just finished grading my students exams. The second class had their yesterday, and grading the 51 exams took me the better part of about 5 hours today. One day I will learn to write questions that don’t lend themselves to long, difficult-to-grade solutions.

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Tomorrow I shall enter the grades, and (hopefully) be done with school this semester. Of course that’s a lie, since I have to prepare a lecture for the day I get back (yes, I have to teach the day I get back). But that can be done at home.

The squirrels? Just a little something to make mum smile 😉

Is This Playing The Game?

You may or may not have noticed the link to my PS3 trophies on the sidebar to the right, not to mention the post about it a while ago.

Also, I may or may not have mentioned one of the reasons I got out of WoW was I became aware that the only appeal the game had held for the last few weeks had been the achievements, and once I lost interest in them I realized I wasn’t enjoying the game any more.

Achievements in games are here to stay, and as long as youre score is public then they are – for many – a badge of honour. They can be fun, they can be frustrating, they can be addicting, they can be irritating. They are a double edged sword, and for some players, they are (in my opinion) dangerous indeed.

Read this very interesting article to see what I mean.

I have mixed feelings. Yes, I have done stuff in games/WoW just to get an achievement, but I’d never consider playing a game that wasn’t fun just for the achievements. As for the achievements themselves, well I think they are wonderful. For instance, I’d love for them to have been around forever, and to browse through nearly 30 years of my gaming career in the form of achievements… such as:

“UFO Get” – Shoot down your first UFO (obtained XX/XX/78)

Cowgirl

Here’s a lovely shot of daisy from yesterday morning…

DSC00984 < Great Queen Dodongo

And here’s a pair of shots of her from yesterday afternoon…

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We’re not quite sure how it happened (<- total lie), but somehow yesterday she lost most of her fur. What’s that you say? You want a better shot of her tail? Well, ask and ye shall receive…

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Yep, that’s a 100% classic example of a so-called “lion cut” right there. And she loves it 🙂

But before you think our home is filled with only weird cats (such as lion-cutted little cats that look like cows, or 3 legged frogapillers), let me present this super handsome shot of Yossie!

DSC00979 < Big Sausage Yossuri