Thanks for November, 11/8.

Sometimes you can find a real friend in a virtual world.

So many years ago – when World of Warcraft was still fairly new to the world, there I was riding on my newly acquired mount – thinking how, me in my awesome Level 52 Night Elf Hunter self, looked pretty awesome cruising around Darnassus, when suddenly I saw someone in the city with our Guild Tag that I had not recognized. Our guild was fairly small (most of us having carried over from the previous MMO, EverQuest). So I assumed it was someone I knew – someone’s alt character – so I walked up and did the emote of slapping them on the rump.

Well, as embarrassingly turned out – it wasn’t someone I knew, nor was it someone’s alt character – but someone newly joined to the Guild. (Talk about making a great impression of other Guild members, right?) Well I ended up talking to her and helping her out with several quests. There’s entirely too many hilarious memories I have with her in World of Warcraft – like falling off the edge of Darnassus (because I was on auto follow) – and several PVP memories of where I flagged myself because someone challenged me. (Including once, seeing the same person who challenged me, walk into Ratchet – and me sending my pet owl to attack them, and pick them off with my bow! And she stood right next to me, and flagged herself and perished, time and time again.

She was willing to follow me into all kinds of mischief and madness in World of Warcraft (and anyone who has played an MMO with me, knows I love my mischief and chaos!)

Her name is Karen Halvorson, and I am glad that I made the “mistake” of slapping her rump in World of Warcraft.

For everyone who has said that you can’t have real friends in a virtual world, Karen would be proof that it is not true. She willingly followed me to my forums on my own site, along with a wild collection of people who somehow tolerated me – and from there, I continued to know her better and better. Like me, she’s a fellow writer. She’s gotten several things published here and there, because she is relentless in her pursuit of writing. She has always been extremely supportive of me and everything that I do. She has helped promote all the wild things that run through my mind.

For someone I have never met, she has been very loving and supportive.

Karen, and one of her sons – Ian – helped lend their voices in Episode 16: Dessert City?