Panem, a nation founded on the ruins of North America, and it’s various Districts creates an extremely interesting backdrop for a re-imagining of the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur from Greek Mythology. The main character and narrator, Katniss Everdeen, is a resourceful and independent young lady thrown into a horrifying set of circumstances. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that this young adult book is not only a story about a coming of age, but also one of budding romance. When I first came to this realization I was nervous, and even a little disappointed. I’m happy to say that in this case my feelings were unwarrented and that Katniss grows in ways I hadn’t expected – but she manages to remain true to who she is.

I haven’t picked up the second and third books yet, but when I do I’m fairly confident that the character that so impressed me in the Hunger Games won’t disappoint.

It was inevitable that I’d have to pay tribute to such a fine pair of dwarven adventurers. Please, if you haven’t already trek on over and read through their impressive archive at flinthammer.org. You won’t be disappointed.

Ringo, Beli, Bael and Frostmaw Flinthammer belong to the fine folks at flinthammer.org.

I’ll have been married for 10 years this October, and while all loves have their up and downs I’m lucky to have had a fairly placid ride. My husband and I share a lot of interests, and I think that’s one of the keys to our success. The other is that neither of us places a whole lot of stock in the unreasonable emphasis placed on romantic gestures and holidays. For instance this year he helped me complete the Love Fool achievement with my main, which netted her the Violet Proto Drake at last. In return I helped him finish off his savings for the Master Riding skill on his Paladin. I’ll take Epic Flight Speed over roses any day of the week!

The title of this post was inspired by a bit of writing by one of my server mates. I was so tickled by his representation of a Tauren’s attempts to express his love that I had to put pen to paper and illustrate the image it planted in my mind.

Part of what made my December particularly hectic was the fact that I was working on two pieces of gift art for various friends. One was a commission for some fine folks in my husband’s raiding guild, and the other was some art for my friend’s birthday. Now both sets of people have received their gifts so I can finally add those pieces to my gallery here.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and enjoy some more Cataclysm.

Here’s a larger version for those interested in detail. For reference I work at about twice that size.

You can check out the full sized version of United Forge over there.

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The page is pretty monstrous already, and I’ve been trying to think of a better way to sort and organize the art in there.  My main problem is that the wordpress plugin that I’m using (NextGen Gallery) isn’t doing some of the things it’s supposed to, namely opening the images in a neat little flash browser. I suspect it might be having a conflict with the Comicpress software because all the usual fix issues (missing php lines) don’t apply. Rawr!

When I have time (hah!) I may explore some alternatives, until then enjoy the mess!

Here’s a little color sketch of my pets that will go on a thank you card to their Vet.