to find me gone

Oh it's been so long, been so long
The sound of my heart stopping, a surprising sound

wow! people, i've been away from here so long. i suppose no one even reads me anymore. anyone? anyone? i didn't think so.

i won't bother recapping what's been going on here to keep me away. that would be boring, even to me who lived it. but i will say this: i worship a new idol now.

well, maybe two idols.

they compete for my time and space in my heart. they are Wii Fit, and Harvest Moon Tree of Tranquility. I curse the mueller clan for bringing this foolishness into my life. i haven't been so obsessed with a video game since the days of laying with my brother and sister, three in a row, on a soiled old mattress on the bare concrete floor of the basement rec room, taking turns at the paddle wheel of Atari Kaboom! until our eyes bled from the sockets, the primitive buckets a blurry whir on the screen, napping a little between turns. or, i suppose in college it would count when my roommate carrie and i would crouch behind our friend kiwi as she played Legend of Kyrandia on her PC. we wouldn't even play! we would sit for hours (hours!) after dinner in the dining hall, watching as the little elf Brandon (odd name for an elf) would try and save the kingdom.

scott go Wii Fit for me as a birthday present. i didn't ask for it, and i didn't necessarily think it would be much fun. but MAN! was i ever wrong. in the weeks following my birthday, i played it every day. and when i wasn't playing, i looking forward to the next time. but it wasn't a total obsession. not really. i couldn't play it endlessly, hours at a time. it is a very finite game - there are set amounts of yoga poses, excercises, and goofy games. once you unlock them all, that's it. and once you play them all, there's really a limit to how many times you can play "super hula hoop" or "hey, i'm a penguin, watch me catch fish!" before you either collapse from exhaustion or just get bored for the moment.

but not Tree of Tranquility. oh no. not that.

scott's sisters got it for me for my birthday. i thought, gee, that's nice, sounds neat. and tara said it was awesome. so hey, nice present! i waited a while to try it out, mostly because i didn't know a thing about the game and honestly, the cover of the game looked a little childish and dull. even the first time i played was only so-so - lots of weird legend that i only half payed attention to... lots of talking... preferences... set up. and even when i got to the game itself, i was annoyed by the long loading-up time as the game paused between scenes. but i stuck it out. AND NOW I CAN'T STOP, so help me. we got home from ohio on saturday. i started playing it sometime around 6:00pm. with a break for dinner, and a short break for a shower, i played NONSTOP until 2:00 in the morning. then i got up at 9:30 and played until 11:00. if scott hadn't been around, i would have surely played all day, eventually rotting into the cushions of the couch. even now, at work, i wish i were home playing that DAMN GAME.

but it is so fun.

it sounds reeeeaaaally dumb. here's how it goes: you are this anime-type character (see? i can't even speak the lingo) who gets sent to this island for some reason (again, i didn't really pay attention), presumably to set up a ranch/farm and also to possibly solve a mystery about a goddess and a rainbow, and save the island. you mess about fixing up your little house and exploring the towns, and buying seeds and planting gardens and harvesting and.... man, this sounds lame. but it's friggin addictive. maybe it is because i love to garden, but i am very impatient? in the game, plants take only a few days to start producing. maybe it's because i like having chores to do? on the island, i have to water my fields every day and harvest produce every morning, before i can do anything fun.

i'm going to stop talking about the damn game because by now you likely think i am crazy. plus, it is making me want to go home and play more. instead of making dinner. doing laundry. playing with my other christmas presents. i am an addict. i said it, OKAY??! are you HAPPY??!

geesh.

i hope you all had a lovely holiday. someday soon i'll remember to post some pictures of what i've been up to.