🥳 Happy 14th Birthday, Around The Spiral 🥳

Hi there!

Today marks 14 years since I created this website. A lot sure has happened over the past 14 years - from it taking me 8 years to become an official Wizard101 Fansite & Pirate101 Fansite, to no longer being one, to hosting dozens of in-game events, making YouTube videos, creating another website, and so on! The question is... what do I have planned for the future?

It's not a secret that the future certainly holds new in-game events. I'd like to promote them more and to a new audience. Our real world is very chaotic and divisive. Despite this, I want to offer the community a place to come to escape all of that.  There is a community within the Wizard101 community where everyone is welcome at our events regardless of their sexuality, political affiliation, religion, etc. 

I joined Wizard101 in 2009 to escape the real world for a bit each day. I'd like to provide that same escape to everyone here. If you want to hang out with a truly diverse and lovely group of people, I welcome you to attend our in-game events. I want to work with Kingsisle to bring our events to a much larger audience - not to promote my name, but to promote a truly diverse community.

One other thing I hope to do is to make new YouTube videos - specifically Spiral News Season 3. I've wanted to do that for quite some time and will look into it. Regardless, I'd like to share my opinions on the game. I promise I'm not a Kingsisle hater - per my nearly 15 years of playing their game and being involved in their community for nearly as long. I want to share my thoughts on how they can improve their game.

As of late, I've been very proud of Kingsisle - with their creation of Ravenwood Academy (releasing later this year), listening to players on PvE, and the generous gifts to the community through the Fansite Festival which celebrated its 10th year. There is much to appreciate. I've defended and criticized Kingsisle - that's what true fans do. A fake fan would only share hate or only share love about the game. 

Other than that, I'm happy to finally be back and provide more to the community than I have these past few years. It's been very tough. I've lost family and friends. My dad passed away from Covid this past September, but I thank Jesus, family, and friends for helping me get through this tough time. I've had my ups and downs, and sometimes so far down where I am where the Helephant appears from. 

My support system has helped me get through one of the toughest times in my life to do things I haven't done before. Kingsisle, Wizard101, Pirate101, and the community have been in a special place in my heart for nearly half of my life. Blogging certainly is of the past, but I'm using Around The Spiral to transcend blogging. 

I'd like to thank you all for 14 wonderful years of Around The Spiral. I hope we can have another 14 - but I'll be almost 45. Lol. I'm not going to rush time. Thank you all so much for your support. I hope to see you Around the Spiral. I also hope y'all will join us at this year's Pride Run event to meet our community within the community. 

🏳️‍🌈 The Wizard101 Pride Run - Saturday, June 29th 🏳️‍🌈

Hello Wizards!

I'm happy to announce that I'll be hosting an in-game Wizard101 Pride event. Like Pride Parades, we'll have our own parade around Wizard City. You do not need a membership or mounts to participate in this event. All you need to do is wear a pride color (or colors) that best represent you. If you're an ally, wear all of the colors you can! Here's more information about this event:

When: Saturday, June 29 @ 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern

Where: The Commons, Wu Realm

Livestream: www.twitch.tv/AroundTheSpiral

Please share the link to this post with your friends - I hope to promote this event so everyone knows there is a community of love and support. I'm hosting this to let everyone in the community know they are loved and accepted no matter their sexuality, political ideology, religion, race, etc. As a fellow gay man, I'm thankful I got to come out to such a large accepting part of the community. I'm paying the love back by hosting in-game events such as this. I hope you can attend - the picture below is from 2023!

Happy 7th Birthday edwardlifegem.com!

Hi there!

Today is Around the Spiral with Edward Lifegem's 7th Birthday. Seven years ago, today, I made my very first blog post about Wizard101. From there, I started attending community events, making new great friends, and making as many new posts as I could. I feel my messages of Online Safety, Anti-Bullying, and Acceptance has reached a lot of people here in the community.

As many of you now already know, I created this website on May 10th, 2010. That was the first few years of when the community really started growing. I was already in the community months before, but with the creation of this website I was able to interact more with the community than I ever dreamed of. At the time, I was very shy and didn't talk much with anyone. The community changed that part of me, which was a good change because I wanted to make new friends. 

I have seen a lot of people come and go in the blogging community. I am glad blogging is starting to grow again as it did back in the day. My website is actually one of few still making posts even after all of these years. I don't find it bad that I'm bringing such an old theme back into the community, I really enjoy doing that. I think now I'm able to interact more than I ever have before with everyone and that's good! 

Future Plans

This year is going to be a great year! I am going to make a few changes, but those changes will never change who I am. I will still be the same person I've always been. I want to interact with everyone in the community, accept everyone for who they are, and remind everyone that no matter what, I am always here for you! If any of you ever want to talk to me, just ask me to follow you or friend you and we'll talk. I'm glad you're here in the community! What does that have to do with future plans? Well..

I'm planning on hosting a lot of great events this year as I have last year. There is now a change in these events. I want to bring all of the community together as a reminder that no matter what, we're all in this together (I'm pretty sure some of you are singing HSM right now :P). We're going to make this a great year for everyone in the community, not ever a select few.

With blog posts, I am going to catch up on the game and everything that I've missed over the past few years. I've been behind on everything, but now I have a chance to catch up and if any of you have any questions, I'll be able to answer them. With catching up, that means I will also have more blog posts about what I'm up to in the game (such as which character I'm questing, something old I just found out but I wanted to share my thoughts about it, etc). I can't wait to make these new posts for you! 

A Blast From The Past

I've made a blog post every May 10th since 2011. I decided to post a few links here for you to read if you would like to! You can scroll over and then click on the links below to read those posts. Thank you all for all of your support over the past 7 years. It is great to be in this community and I'll always support everyone here. I can't thank you enough for the support you've shown me! Here's to many more years of blogging. 

May 2010: My First Blog Post

May 2011: 1st Bloggerversary

May 2012: 2nd Bloggerversary

May 2013: 3rd Bloggerversary

May 2014: 4th Bloggerversary

May 2015: 5th Bloggerversary

May 2016: 6th Bloggerversary

MAY 2017: 7th Bloggerversary!

Until next time, I'll see you around the spiral!

Why I Deleted Pokemon Go: Likes/Dislikes

Hi there,

I usually don't make blog posts about games outside of Kingsisle games, but I decided to change that and make a post about Pokemon Go today. I downloaded Pokemon Go a few days ago to see why everyone was so addicted to the game and to my surprise I found out why everyone was.. I decided to make this post to let you know what I liked and didn't like about this new Mobile Game hit.

Likes:

Exercise: This game involves exercise such as walking and running if you're really want to catch a new Pokemon (or whatever they're called). Being Outside and exercising is good and can help you feel better.

Monument Information: I'm sure many of you have heard that you can visit monuments or special areas in your town and learn about these areas. Learning new things is a good thing and so is reading - so I will give an A+ to this app for that.


Dislikes: 

No Awareness of Surroundings: This game does let everyone know that they should be around their surroundings, but this game is proven addictive and people will read past that just to get to the game. In the news, I've heard: People walking out in the middle of traffic, car accidents - including a car crashing into a parked car, walking off cliffs, and many robberies (including a few near my town). I'm glad nobody was seriously injured in any of these incidents, but this game is a game that people today should not play if they're not able to pay attention to their surroundings. I didn't have an issue with that when playing this game, but I can tell why many do.

Reality Is The Best: I am not one to blast a game, but this game is not a game I'd play longterm. There is a beautiful and wonderful universe around us and I'm somebody that doesn't always look down and miss all of that. Remember to take a break from this game (if you do pay attention - please pay attention) and enjoy life itself. It's important to do that with any game. I love video games, but the best world that was ever made is Earth for us and the wonderful universe we live in. Enjoy that!


Why Did I Delete Pokemon Go?

I deleted Pokemon Go as a reminder that even though everyone is playing a certain game, that doesn't mean I have to play the game too. I also deleted it because I can tell it's a great game but I'm somebody that could easily not be aware of what I'm doing. I actually did skip past that be aware of your surrounding popup! I think this is great game for people that are ALWAYS aware of their surroundings and even though I feel like I am - this game is not for me. I usually don't download apps on my Cell Phone anyway because I only use it for calling & texting and that is it! That's all I have to share with you all today. Stay safe and don't forget that the best world/universe ever created is the one that we live in now. :D

What Have I Been Up To? Weekly Post #2

Hi there,

I apologize for not making any more posts for months. I have been so busy with school and at the moment it's my #1 priority. I didn't know college was going to be so crazy this semester. I got behind on things and I didn't have time to do anything I wanted to for months. I have been so busy with stuff that even if I had time, I was too tired from working all day on the thing I worked on. As of late, I have been working on my Web Design final and presented it today! I got an A on it. :D I still can't believe I started working on it Saturday and finished it yesterday. (see a pic of my slide show from my presentation below). This weekend I'm going to study for my Math final and I'll be done for an entire month! I can't imagine how fun it's going to be to make Edward Cringle posts, level my wizards and so many other things this month again! That's what I've been up to lately, I promise next semester won't be as busy. I'm taking more online classes and most of my classes are on Mondays & Wednesdays which means I have more time to play on the games. :D I'm going to go for now because I still have work to do, but I wanted to make an update post so you all know what's happening. :D

The Future Of This Website

Hi there,

The past month or so I've been thinking about the future of this site since I'll be going to college soon. Well, soon is actually next Wednesday and I'm nervous but I think everything will be fine. :D Most of you know I make a ton of blog posts about Pirate101 & Wizard101 on this site and it does take a lot of work to do that. I'm not upset it does because I enjoy every single last moment of it. The past year or so I haven't had much to do and I've made plenty of blog posts. Next Wednesday I will be starting college (Major: AAS in Computer Programming) and I don't think I will be able to make as many blog posts as I have in the past. I don't want you to think I'm quitting though.. I'm still going to be here.. Wait! If you thought I was quitting and closing down this site, you're wrong! I've done too much on this site in the past 4 years, there's no way I'm giving up now. :D Anyways.. I've decided that I will be cutting down on a few things.. Here's a few things I'll be changing on each game blog post starting with Pirate101..

• Edward Cringle Posts: From now on, I'm going to make at least one post per week since it does take about an hour to make a post. It takes 30 minutes to quest and sometimes 30 minutes to make the post itself and I think it'll be nice to only make one post per week so you won't get tired of reading posts about him. I promise I'm not going to stop leveling this character. He will be entering Mooshu soon! :D 
• Contests: I have contests on this blog and I do judge contest entries and send everyone their codes if they win something. This takes longer than my Edward Cringle posts but there's no worry about this. I have plans to begin and end contests on Fridays or Saturdays. I will email any contest winners with their codes on those days. If it's for example, and art contest, I will make a post about who won the contest and will publish it on Friday or Saturday.
• News/Updates/Events: I will make blog posts about any news or updates that will be happening on the game since they don't take as long to make. Everyone needs to be updated and I will make posts Mondays-Thursdays if there are any news updates at the time. When I have events, they will be on Saturdays from now on. I will no longer have any events any other day of the week. More information about my college hours/days can be found below my Wizard101 blog post changes..

• Character Updates: I plan on making posts about my characters and where they are on the game. I know I didn't make it to level 100 on all of my wizards but I'm still not giving up on my wizards. I will make many character updates. I hope you enjoy those because I know I do since it helps me get farther in the game. :) Thank you all for reading all of my new blog posts.
• News/Updates/Events: I try to make posts about any news, updates or events that's happening in the Spiral any day of the week (usually during the early morning hours). If I have events in the future, they will also be on Fridays and Saturdays. I don't have many contests on this site for Wizard101 but I plan on the changing that soon also. :D

• Follow ATSWEL: I will no longer update you on when I make new blog posts on my Edward Lifegem Twitter account and Facebook. I will update you on my Around the Spiral Twitter account (click there to follow ---> @AroundtheSpiral  ) and my Around the Spiral Facebook Page (click there to like my Facebook Page -----> Around The Spiral With Edward Lifegem). You can also look at the right column of this blog and Follow and Like the pages I mentioned. I will always update you when I make a new post.
• Monday-Thursday: Mondays through Thursday will be busy days for me since I'll be going to college then. I don't have many hours to go during these days but I plan on having an entire day each day to study. I will not make any blog posts unless it's news updates or I have a post I didn't get to make during the weekend that I wanted to make. I promise I will still make blog posts for each game but most of the time you won't notice any new blog posts Monday-Thursday and sometimes Wizard101 or even Pirate101 won't have a blog post one week. That doesn't mean I have stop blogging though. This will happen the next two years until I get my job at KI (KIDDING) and then I'll make blog posts Monday-Thursday again. :D That's all I have for now.. Thank you for reading and supporting this blog for all of these years. :) I'll see you around the spiral!

Edward Lifegem's Favorites

Hi there!

I don't have a game blog post that I could make today. I've been trying to blog everyday of the month but sometimes there's nothing to make a post about! :O I challenged myself the beginning of this month to make a blog post everyday in July and I will do it. :D Today I have a Q&A of my favorite things in real life :P. 

Question: 

What's your favorite movie?

Answer: 

I have many favorite movies! My favorite Christmas movie is Home Alone. A normal movie though? well..  I love Iron Man so... I guess the first Iron Man! :D

Question:

What's your favorite television series?

Answer:

If you follow me on Twitter, you should know that my favorite show on t.v. is ONCE UPON A TIME! I could make an entire post about this show but I won't now.. You should check it out on ABC! Btw... If you like Frozen, Elsa is going to be on it... Okay I'm done talking about the show, for now... :P

Question:

What's your favorite food/dessert?

Answer:

Pizza! I love Pizza, and I have many favorite desserts.. I guess I'll say cake because my Birthday cake yesterday was delicious and it's my new favorite. :P (with cotton candy ice cream)

Question: 

What's your favorite console game?

Answer:

I have an xbox 360 and I love playing the Bioshock series. This game is for 17+ and if you're any younger, you shouldn't be playing this game! :O I still like this game though, it's one of my favorite console games. I can't pick one with this because I have a second favorite that's also my favorite... Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex. I told you about this game a few weeks ago. I played this game on my Playstation 2 when I was younger. I still love it today!

Question: 

What's your favorite PC Game?

Answer:

I don't have a favorite PC game... KIDDING!! I have two favorite PC games. I created a blog in 2010 and started making blog posts about my first game I started playing and a few years later I started to blog about my other favorite favorite PC game... WIZARD101 & PIRATE101!!! :D

Question:

What's your favorite season?

Answer:

I love Winter! I love cookies, hot chocolate, Christmas, New Years, and of course SNOW! :D Most of you know that by now.. That's why my first wizard was an ice wizard. :)

Question:

What's your favorite sport?

Answer:

I have two favorites.. I like Football (American Football) and Basketball! :D

Question:

Will I do another Q&A?

Answer:

I don't know if I'll do another Q&A anytime soon. I wanted to make this Q&A since I didn't have anything to blog about today and thought it would be fun to blog about this. I won't let you all know that this post has been published on my social sites, so you'll have to find it! Thank you for reading. If you want another Q&A click on one of the reactions below!! :D

Birthday Post!

Hi there,

I wanted to make a blog post thanking all of you that said and will say Happy Birthday to me. I'm having a great day so far and it's only 9:00 A.M.! How am I having an awesome day and it only be 9:00 in the morning? Well.. I'm happy God gave me 21 years of life and I'm celebrating by eating cake, ice cream and celebrating with my family by eating pizza and possibly watching a movie at the end of the day. I also get to celebrate on here with you all (my 2nd family) and I'm thankful I have all of you too. Thank you for supporting me and everything I do! Well.. I should go.. it's going to be a long, fun day! :D

Oooh, Balloons! :O

My First Time Out Of Missouri!

Hello Humans...

I've come here to take over your planet.. Kidding... Lol, you probably thought I was an alien at first right? No? Okay... :P Well.. I thought since I'm traveling somewhere in a few days that I'd create a new label on my blog to tell you how I'm doing in real life! It's new, but I won't be blogging all of the time since I will be busy making P101 & W101 blogs. I know I haven't been making any lately but I promise I will once I get my hard drive replaced.. I made a W101 blog the other day and said I had no issues at all for this computer and all of a sudden.. maybe a few seconds after publishing my w101 blog, my computer tells me I have a hard drive problem. I had to contact HP to ask them if they knew what was happening and they told me I needed to replace it. I'm mad because I can't make as many blogs as I wanted to this week since I won't be able to Friday-Monday. I might be able to make a blog tomorrow but don't really know.. I'll be pretty busy! Anyways... I ordered a new piece and it will arrive next week so everything should be taken care of by then.. Oh! I wanted to tell you I plan on making another blog (maybe Monday) with pictures of everything I traveled through. Yeah, traveling by car so I'll have PLENTY of pictures! It'll be my first time traveling out of state.. Yeah I'm 20 (21, July 28th) and I haven't been out of state. That will soon change! I will get to travel through the Missouri Ozarks and plan on taking plenty of pictures of that. I will also get to travel to Arkansas for the first time! Like I said, the body I'm in now, that's typing this blog (yeah I don't sound like an alien at all, well maybe crazy), will get to travel out of state!!! I'm so excited!! I get to travel through Jeff City, Springfield and Fayatteville, Arkansas. So if you live in Arkansas Or Oklahoma, EDWARD LIFEGEM, I mean.... I will be in the same state as you :D Okay... that's it for now! Thanks for reading everyone.. Hope you enjoy this new label. I would like all of you, not just wizards and pirates to know how I'm doing in real life, but if you don't want to read, don't click on these posts. I know, I have a lot of comas in this post, how many do you think I have, a lot, yeah... LOL Okay. BYE!