Jul 23, 3:00 pm
The Frag Dolls got to attend their first Download Fest sponsored by Seagate this past weekend. We had no idea what exactly was expected of us since this was primarily a music festival, but like anything we do for Seagate it turned out to be great! No long days of demoing, or repeating ourselves with the way girls in gaming are important. The only expectation from Seagate was to challenge people to Rainbow Six Vegas 2. This was such a refreshing change of pace, considering we just got back from working the long days of E3.
Seagate had a tent set up outside next to a stage where local bands played throughout the day. During the festival, music lovers and musicians would come in and play us on the game. We took into consideration that most of the people attending the festival had not played Rainbow before, let alone a first person shooter. We ended up giving out Meet and Greet passes for various bands to whoever had the highest amount of kills on the other team. It was funny to see that a large amount of winners won by only achieving one kill. After we ran out of Meet and Greet passes, we got creative and told everyone if they actually beat us we would buy them a house. We spoke too soon… because at one point two of the Frag Dolls ran off leaving Valkyrie and I to be spawned camped by four FPS fanatics. So I guess those four players will be getting little monopoly houses in the mail soon (Hey, I never said what type of house! 
)
As the day went on, Seagate scheduled local band members to come play against us. Datarock, a band from Norway stepped up to the challenge. Instantly frustrated, they tried to sabotage Calyber’s by covering her monitor with Seagate flyers and turning the loud speakers toward her. Of course this tactic didn’t work, and we still slapped them silly. Nonetheless, I give them credit for trying.
After a long but eventful day, Rhoulette and I realized someone in the tent smelled a little funky so we started an investigation. Despite what the photo might look like, Rhoulette’s armpits smelled like Strawberries. I was surprised because when we weren’t gaming we kicked around Seagate beach balls and played jump rope with the microphone wire in the hot sun. Although we never discovered the source of the brutal smell, we did conclude that girls are like roses. We are pleasant and smell beautiful at all times. Oh and that boys are dirty.
If you want to see more interesting pictures from Download Fest 2008, like Calyber drawing fake mustache’s on random guys fingers, Click here.
Jun 05, 7:00 pm
1. SuperRobot7: If you wanted to have a new life as a video game character what game would you choose and character (like being a Marine or SAS from CoD4 or a Spartan from Halo)?
Easy question! No doubt in my mind, I would be Strawberry, my little gnome Warlock in World Of Warcraft. I daydream all the time wishing I really existed in the World of Warcraft. Life would be so much more fun! Every day I would wake up, pick herbs and create awesome potions with them that I would then sell in the auction house. This is how I would make my income. At night I would spend my time fighting in battlegrounds, preparing myself for the weekends where I would take down bosses. Life would be perfect!
2. Ninja_Raiden: How difficult is it balancing the FD part of your life with other aspects, either personally or professionally? In a choice between the two, which takes precedence?
As sad as this might sound, Frag Dolls takes priority! Only because it’s MLG (Major League Gaming) season and I have three other girls depending on me for competitions. It’s tough balancing the two! It’s hard to explain to people that need me outside of gaming that practicing on Xbox Live is more important! The look on their face is classic though. Thank God I have a husband that understands! A lot of people have had their relationships end because of their obsession with gaming.
3. Ninja_Raiden: Do you need to keep practicing to gel as a team or is it more a case of getting familiar with new maps and modes?
Definitely need to gel as team. Where most teams get to pick and choose who they want to play with, the Frag Dolls were put together. I find our situation more challenging because in some cases we all like to do the same thing. If I were creating a team and I knew I sucked at sniping, I would go out and look for a teammate that had this as a strength. But what if we all suck at sniping? Then we have to deal with it and practice a lot harder at our weaknesses. A lot of teams on the MLG circuit will kick someone off and recruit a player who fulfills their weakness. But with us, we have to work around it.
4. Mischief_FD: You seriously can’t say Cr@p on here?? Ok, that’s my question...
Yes Mischief, because crap means poo and poo is a bad word.
5. MillerMan2707: Hi, I’m a member of a uk xbox clan and just wondering a few things. Is this the place to post a challenge to the infamous frag dolls? Do you play xbox 360? and do you play Call of Duty 4?
If you played Rainbow Six Vegas 2 then we would scrim you for practice. We look for scrims everyday on this game to help us get ready for MLG.
6. MEXICANCRACKER4: Wanna buy me smthng
Nah, not really. But I can make you a picture on Paint that might resemble scribbles.
7. PhaQ1981: …the issue’s with this game is unreal after spending the money to purchase it to have and just turn around and waste 6-9 hours of my life with non-sense just seems crazy
I’ve never played Beowulf on PC so I have no clue what you’re talking about, but I can comment on your concern of wasting 6-9 hours of your life. LUCKIEE! Try wasting years of your life on gaming. 60 hours on WoW, two thousand hours on the first Rainbow 6, and God knows how many more wasted on the rest of the Rainbow series. And let’s not forget casual gaming!
8. Trankrusader: Halo or WoW
WOW! DUH!
May 29, 10:19 am
Part 3: My Wedding…
After my grandma Doris died I was emotionally drained; I thought there is nothing that could lift my spirits, even my wedding. Honestly, at that point I didn’t even care about my wedding anymore. I just wanted to get on a plane to California and start the new chapter of my life with my husband and my dog JJ.
Just when life seemed to be filled with sadness I received the most amazing text from my friend Rhoulette. She wrote:I know you’re going through a rough time but I have a little piece of good news. Six of the Frag Dolls will be attending your wedding. We want to be there for you during your saddest time and your happiest time.
My heart sank, and just when I thought I had no more tears left, I cried. For the first time I got an overwhelming sense of how important and special my friends are to me. Any sadness I was feeling soon was lifted knowing there’s amazing people out there in this world; for them to drop their lives and be with me during this time meant the world to me. I love you all!
Let the fun begin! - You guys didn’t think this blog would be all sadness and drama did you?
Friends and family started to arrive, and to my surprise everyone got along. We danced, told jokes, ate good Kansas beef and got drunk! My wedding turned out perfect! Having an entire night with my family and friends is what it’s all about. Looking around at everyone’s faces and seeing them all smiling and enjoying this night made the entire year of planning and stress completely worth it. Instead of describing the wedding in detail I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
In random order and from random cameras, I would like to present, John and Brooke Butkus wedding pictures:
Geiger and Valkyrie performing Sir Mix A lot… Baby Got Back!
JB’s parents
My mom and aunt Tina
Frag Dolls were the first to dance. Of course!
Jinx and Geiger rockN out to Rock Band.
May 22, 1:00 pm
Part Two
My grandma Doris passed away this month. But before I tell this story, I first want to apologize to Psyche who lost her grandfather last year. Before when hearing about a death, I never had a feeling to relate it to. I simply said, “I’m sorry for your loss,” but never truly realized the hurt people were dealing with. Now that I lost my grandma I wish I could go back in time and hug you Psyche, and let you know I understand. I just wish I was there for you as all the Frag Dolls were there for me. Thank You Frag Dolls! I love you!
My final week with my grandma…
A week before my wedding, I visited my grandma in the Life Care Center. She was really sick and had been staying there until she got well. When visiting her for the first time it was hard to see her, knowing she was lying in that hospital bed inactive all day.
Doris was always independent and to see her not as mobile as she once was sadden me inside and apparently her too. She straight up told me on my first visit, “Grandma is ready to go, I’m going to make it to your wedding then I’m out of here” I remember thinking, ‘Whoa! Did she really just say that?’ Thinking about it now, I understand why she said this; she was an 80 year old woman with cancer and diabetes, she was unable to do the simplest daily tasks. Her favorite thing to do in life was to help the people that needed her the most and plant in her garden, but she became so sick and tired. She just wanted to go and be with her husband and son she lost years back.
On my second visit to see her, my mom and I were excited to give her some good news. We told her I was going out to buy her a new outfit for the wedding (My grandma LOVED new clothes) and my mother told her the doctor was releasing her in a couple of days, thinking this would cheer her up. She just turned her back to us and went to sleep. I think my mother and I knew at this point she was ready to go. Later that night, after getting back from the mall with my grandma’s new outfit, my mother got the phone call, “Doris has stopped breathing.” Just like that she was gone. Actually, there is a lot more to this story that I’m deliberately leaving out. I want to remember my grandma as the energetic, loud, caring person she was. So this is how I will tell the story of her last days with us.
Honestly, I’m quite frustrated writing this blog right now. I’ve always been so bad with expressing my emotions. Although God did not bless me with writing skills, he did give the gift to my sister, Shyla. I’m attaching the Eulogy my sister wrote for my grandma’s funeral. It tells my grandma’s story beautifully and explains exactly the kind of person she was:
My grandma… my grandma had a very humble childhood.
She was raised in the swamps on Louisiana by a French conservative mother and a simple small town American Cajun father.
She was the youngest of four siblings and according to her, pretty spoiled by her daddy… not spoiled materially, but with her father’s affections.
My grandma was a great story teller. She always had wonderful stories about her adventures as a child - from trapping muskrats for their oil to shrimping on the Bayou with her dad.
My grandma escaped death many times and, in fact, was given the last sacrament twice growing up. But Doris was a stubborn lady… a fighter… a survivor… and she would never do anything before she was good and ready.
Grandma was very animated when she told a tale, and if you’ve ever heard my brother or I tell a story you can tell that the art of embellishment must be genetic in our family.
It is like an unspoken family philosophy that if what you had to say didn’t have everyone on the edge of their seat or laughing to the point of tears, then why say it.
My grandma loved to be entertained as much as she entertained us for so many years. Doris loved music. She is the only person I know that despite the changing times and the different music we listened to growing up she loved it all.
It must have been the rich Cajun culture influence, because if one of us came near her with some music playing, my grandma would start tapping her foot, clapping her hands and eventually doing a little dance which would make us all smile.
Another memory of my grandma is that she had an eye for handsome men. I remember she told me the story of how she met grandpa. She said that she was working in a restaurant where all the sailors would come in. She said when she saw grandpa she said, “Oo-la-la!” She said he had this gorgeous dark brown hair with this little curl that came down, and she was instantly smitten. She said that although he was with a date, she gave him the eye the whole time to let him know she was interested. Although he was resistant to her advances at first she keep feeding him, kept cooking and he fell in love with her cooking and that got her way.
I feel so blessed to have been Doris Burley’s granddaughter. In the many valleys of my life, my grandmother represented tradition. She connected me to my heritage and made me feel safe. She gave us all the things we could count on, like the best potato salad you have ever eaten… to deviled eggs perfectly sprinkled with paprika and a slice of sweet pickle on top.
My fondest memory when I was little was fighting with my sisters on who was going to get to spend the night at grandma’s house. Graaaandma’s house. Is there anything more comforting than grandma’s house? First, the smell of grandma’s house, the smell alone made you feel invincible, safe, secure and loved.
For many of us after a long night of wearing every piece of jewelry my grandma owned and clacking around on her hard wood floors in a pair of her heels. Grandma would let us pick out one of her silky night gowns to wear to bed. Then she would tuck us in to the most comfortable bed we ever felt with cool, soft feeling sheets that smelled of her.
In the morning you would be awakened by the smell of grandma’s famous oatmeal, with just the right amount of vanilla and cream and the smell of perfectly buttered toast cut in little triangles.
I remember I would run in the kitchen to find my grandma in what she called ‘her house coat’, which was a robe that zipped from bottom to top. She would just be putting the last plate of toast on the table and when she saw me come in she would become very excited and start showering me with affection.
There is no better memory from my childhood than those moments.
When I was a teenager, my grandma was always over. I think for many years it was almost every day. When grandma came over, it was automatic, all of us would make ourselves a cup of coffee and sit with her at the table. She would start telling a story from her past. I remember getting lost in her words and forgetting that I was being told a story at all. My mind would take me there to that moment, like I was seeing it first hand, connecting me to my ancestors and making me realize that I was a part of a bigger picture.
The best part of who I am started with my grandma’s love and was continued by my mother. I can only hope to be the kind of mother my mother was to me and the kind of Grandma, Doris was to everyone, not just her grandchildren for she was Grandma Doris to many people.
My Grandma was the glue that held us together. She is what made us all so close to one another. She is what made us… a family.
As grandma’s life began to slow down, what gave her the most joy was sitting with us and hearing the stories we had to tell. Grandma truly enjoyed us all.
As we all grew older and we were living out our own life stories, so grew the distance between us. Some emotional distance and some just physical. Those times together with each other and with our grandma became less frequent. And at times to me, I felt like our family was growing smaller.
I said earlier that grandma never did anything until she was good and ready. As her health began to fail and she grew tired and weary and could no longer do the things that brought her so much joy, she let all of us know that she was ready to say goodbye. But my grandma always liked to have the last word. My mom can testify to that.
What grandma could no longer give us in her living she gave to us in her passing. She brought us all together again… gave us that feeling of closeness and renewed our tradition of story telling around the table… all of us together… a family. And for that grandma, I thank you.
Thank you for making my world so wonderful.
We all love you so much and we all will miss you dearly.
-Shyla Mcfrederick
May 16, 2:30 pm
Part One
Where do I begin? This month has brought so many new emotions into my life; emotions I never truly knew the definition of until now. It all started a month from today… JB got offered a dream job with Blizzard and as excited as we were for this new change, we soon realized that stress was about to take over our lives.
Step 1… Putting our condo on the market.
I’m not sure how people reading this blog have gone through this process, but talk about intense! We began by staging our condo for an open house. While clearing the house we noticed our dog, JJ, destroyed the carpets. All this time we had been living like those cat ladies, you know the kind, the ones where upon entering their homes you’re welcomed with an overwhelming scent of piss. I’m still baffled at the fact I became so immune to this odor. I blame this partly on all my friends; I always asked them if they could smell anything, but now I know they were just being polite. The carpets were beyond repair. After spending $3,000 replacing the carpets (Thanks JJ!) we could finally have our open house. I guess we were hoping some big spender would come in the first day and say, ‘ I LOVE IT! I HAVE TO HAVE IT!” Boy, were we wrong. A month later and our house is still on the market.
Moving on to step number 2… THE MOVE!
On the day of our first open house we checked into a nearby hotel, while all our belongings were being shipped off to a storage unit somewhere in Southern California (I’m still not sure where our stuff is being held). Poor JB had the responsibility of driving to California and moving us into our temporary housing provided by Blizzard. I couldn’t help him with the move because I was to get on a flight the next day to work New York Comic Con for a week. Right after New York I was scheduled to fly straight to Wichita, Kansas to prepare for my wedding taking place in 2 weeks. The plan was for JB to get us settled into California and meet up with me in Kansas 3 days before our wedding. At first, I felt like JB got handed the crappy part of the stick, but I soon realized he made off easy. Wedding planning is NO joke….
Step 3… The last minute planning begins.
Stepping off the plane into Kansas I was immediately hit with wedding questions, “How many flowers do you want ordered?” What color do you want your chair sashes to be? Did you ever order the guest book, unity candles, and flower girl baskets?” The questions didn’t stop until the day after my wedding. Anyone that knows me, knows how much I HATE talking on the phone and how much I despise having to think! Yeah, I said think! So you can imagine what kind of stress I was dealing with for the past 2 weeks of being in Kansas. Looking back now, telling this story to you guys is actually the easiest of the task I was handed this month. Part 2 of my blog I will go into how the stress of wedding planner soon turned into the worst heartache of my life. So, stayed tuned.
