Have you lit someone on fire today?

Whenever we try to describe something we know, we tend to draw relations to help explain it. Does crab meat and shrimp 'taste just like chicken'? You might ask. There's absolutely no connection between crab meat and shrimp and chicken, uh well expect for the meat part. Well this is a terrible tangent.

What I was trying to explain by drawing a relation from one thing to another was so that I could explain something by drawing a relation from one thing to another. Indie music has a special place in my heart. Whenever I hear it, I yearn to be a part of a culture if I were different. If I laughed less, talked less, spent more time delving into the abstract instead of the concrete. If I spent less time digging into logical facts and tried pulling an idea or an essence out of the clouds. If I were different, then I could ironically fit into a clique that wouldn't judge me. Perhaps if I were more of a white collared person that drank so much coffee that it bleed out my pores. If I could have been a bit less lazy, and bit less obnoxious in high school... If I lived in the suburbs and drove a Honda, instead of living rurally and driving a Saturn. Perhaps if I were different, then I could be better. Huh. That's what I think about when I hear Indie music. Perhaps in time I might grow out of my less desirable character traits. Maybe there's hope that I will be an Indie kid someday. Hmmm.

But I'm not an Indie kid. They may seem to be happier in their abstract ways, but I am decently content to have an absolute mentality. My head is screwed on too tight to think in such a way that the Indie kids do. I may not write any best selling books that preach of unicorns and grass and carefree love, but I will be able to deal with reality soberly. I will create no illusions, and geeky folk songs and rock from a decade I never knew will be the soundtrack to my journey.

So therefore I will not understand the Indie music. And therefore, I won't understand the concepts of the Indie culture. And therefore I will never be able to mesh my personalities with those that are of the Indie culture and abstract mindset. So ultimately, I will never understand or be like Abbey. When I think of the Indie movement, I think of her. Abstract in fantasies, but happy. No matter how far fetched her mindset and writings get I can only respect her ideas and envy her success. Yes, back when I kept an active "Idea Blog" on myspace I was always in competition with Abbey. No, I wasn't trying to be superior to anyone but I did compare the effectiveness and popularity of our writings. When we were in the same class Abbey and I wrote similarly lengthened senior scrapbooks, but still she had nearly everyone in the class read hers. I could only muster a handful of readers. Perhaps what is abstract is more pleasant than truth. I suppose it allows us to see things through colored lenses and that euphoria is entertaining and comforting. Perhaps what I see in Abbey is her happiness and cheer in every situation. You rarely see that kind of joy that isn't masked by false christian ideals. She's a friend of mine that perplexes me. I don't understand how this friendship is mutual. She seems to have everything and yet she mingles with those that barely have anything. Huh. I don't understand her, but the bottom line is that she's my Indie friend and I'm thankful that I get to share the company of a truly unique person.

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Imma charging my fireball! Tonight I caught the tail end of the first Harry Potter film. Seeing as Harry is a wizard, I couldn't help but bring my mage's mentality to the movie. Whenever Harry was being strangled by those vines I kept thinking "Harry use blast wave!". Whenever Harry was being attack by the flying keys I kept thinking "Quick aoe them down! Arcane Explosion!". Whenever Professor Quill was revealed as the villain I thought "Polymorph that bitch, break the mirror, and then hearth back to Hogwarts!". When Quill threw up the fire wall around Harry I thought "Use Fire Ward and get away!". When Quill attacked Harry I was thinking "Frost Nova him then pop invisibility and escape!".

When the movie's credits rolled by I came to realize how content I was with my class choice in World of Warcraft. Sure, my hunter was neat and all but I feel much more suited to being a mage. Hunter's have to micromanage their pets and would probably have to clean up after the massive droppings they would leave. And how would you fly with your pet? Get him a seat in coach or leave him in the cargo hold? A hunter has to carry more food for him and his pet, plus he loses a bag slot for his quiver. Now a mage on the other hand much better suits my personality. The focus is entirely on you, the character. You have more tricks up your sleeve than a hunter plus you get incredible perks. With the right talent points a mage can be a better sniper than a hunter. A mage has much better movement reducing and kiting techniques than a hunter. While a hunter can CC more kinds of mobs than a mage, a mages CC is ranged, renewable, requires no aggro, and has no cooldown. A mage has better ways to manage his mana than a hunter with mana potions, arcane torrent, mana gems, mage armor, and evocation. A hunter's ammunition is a finite resource, but a mage's fireballs are infinite. A hunter can only stay out in the wilderness as long he has resources. A mage could be out partying on a desert island sipping margaritas. The combat style of a hunter rarely ever deviates; you send in your pet and you shoot the enemy while the pet tanks it. A mage's combat style is much more involved, with every action having a consequence on the battle's outcome. In raids, hunters are disposable and easily replace. Mages are so valuable they are required. And the best part, hunters have to use hearthstones with hour long cooldowns. Mages can teleport to any city as much as they like.

So yes, Viva la Mage! It's good to be magic.