World of Warcraft ramblings

I recently put WoW on the shelf, but I find that I still have some things I'd like to get done with it. So I've taken it back off the shelf, and am experimenting with program controls to only let me at it for a limited window each day, in a particular chunk of morning time that's never productive for me, and in a late-night slot that's very seldom productive.

This is my plan: I want one character of each armor type, of a sort I find beautiful. So I made a night elf hunter and a blood elf rogue, and got each of them in guilds associated with a roleplaying game forum where I have a goodly number of friends. That leaves me with (likely) a draenei warrior and a forsaken or blood elf warlock to make somewhere, not necessarily right away. But I'm curious: anyone want to recommend a trans-friendly guild for either side? RP server by preference, but I'd go regular for a good group. (I don't do PVP servers.)

I know of at least one fine general-purpose guild that's all around decent, and since it's on Australian time, it'd be good for the late-night slot. But I'm really looking for places to hang my notional hat where I can count on relaxing about sex and gender stuff. I know of a couple LGBT-oriented guilds that are in practice heavy on gay guys given to innuendo, and that's not what I'm looking for, either. So recommendations would be welcome.

(Guild considerations: I have no plans to raid at this time, particularly with starting fresh all around. When I do, I would much prefer 10-person to 25.)

Photography: more urban semi-abstracts

I went walking. My camera went with me. Photos came back with us and climbed into the computer once I let them loose on the desk.

Two nuts by =Cericonversion on deviantART

Column wall by =Cericonversion on deviantART

Mossy bricks by =Cericonversion on deviantART

Jared Diamond fails impressively

The author of Guns, Germs, and Steel is in big trouble. It appears that an account he wrote of an act of vengeance by his Papuan driver is grossly wrong, and he's up against a lawsuit for it. This blog post nicely reviews the issues of race and other hierarchy involved, and links to more details.

I learned about this from Jon Mandle at Crooked Timber. Comments there might be interesting or might just be boring trash; CT threads go either way.

Weight Watching engaged

Now I'm signed up for Weight Watchers, and am having a lot of fun playing with their online tools. There's a huge library of resources available, including some really ingenious stuff—for instance, there's a page where you can put in the ingredients for a meal, and it'll suggest alternatives lower in calories and fat. Exercise videos. Advice on wardrobes for various grades of weight, including heavier than me, with separate entries for people over 40. I'm really impressed, and looking forward to making more systematic progress.