Reflections

What is this blog about?

So, you’ve stumbled across this page… How unfortunate. There’s not much to see here, really.

What is Reflections about then? Well, there’s no set answer to that. I rant about technology, gaming, university life, current news and more. In short, this blog is whatever I want it to be at any point in time. Yes, it MUTATES! Argh!

Alright, who’s the crazy lunatic behind all this then?

Hmm, good question; I’ll have to get back to you on that.

My name is Regan (i.e. not Reagan – though I don’t really care to be honest) and I’m currently studying computer science (with a minor focus in business) at the University of Waterloo. To you online denizens, I’m better known by the following aliases: Illianthe, Dyrama, Dragonire and Spirit. That is by no means a comprehensive list of nicknames, but it sums up everything I’ve been referred to as in the past few years. Indeed, my aliases change almost as frequently as the moon in its lunar cycle.

My interests lie in computer science (obviously) with an emphasis on topics such as software engineering, databases and graphics. I also enjoy reading novels and may occasionally dabble in photography.

I consider myself a relatively hardcore gamer who enjoys role-playing and real-time strategy games (though I’ll pick up random games at … random). My MMORPG of choice is Guild Wars (actually, ArenaNet – the development studio behind the game – defines it as a CORPG, but well…), though I’ll likely switch to Guild Wars 2 when it comes out. I mean, not only is it a sequel to one of the best games ever made (IMO), but it’ll feature dragons laying waste to the poor inhabitants of Tyria!

…and yes, if you haven’t already caught on, I’m very big on high fantasy (dragons in particular).

Do your nicknames mean anything?

No, not really. There is (usually) a story behind each of them though.

Spirit is a derivation of my nickname in Utopia – a browser-based strategy game that I’ve since stopped playing (around 2006-ish). It’s what most people call me nowadays (probably because most of my other nicknames are ridiculous to pronounce and remember).

Dragonire was inspired by “Dragonair” – one of my favourite Pokémon. It remains my alias of choice on MSN and several forums.

Dyrama is, I believe, the name of a dragon I designed for a short story (English assignment in Grade 7). I no longer have a copy of that story (as far as I know), but I faintly recall him being rather evil. (Hmm, it seems pretty much every story I’ve written in high school had some sort of draconic influence, heh. I wonder how I got away with it. )

Illianthe is the dragon of dreams – and it is he who I role-play.