Archive for the 'Games' Category

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My Old Journal: My Elvis Stamp

Published on Sunday, November 25, 2007 in Christmas, My old journal, NaBloPoMo 2007, Photos and Rock Band. 2 Comments

NaBloPoMo – Day Twenty-five

MY ELVIS STAMP by me (11:26pm 01-10-94 Mon.)
Look! I have an Elvis Stamp! Mom would say, “Wow. Big deal…” Dad would say, “Gee, I wish he would come out with a new album.” As you can see they are polarized. I’m kinda in the middle – I like lots of his songs, but I do think he is dead and I don’t go overboard. I’m glad they voted for this “young Elvis” stamp over the “old Elvis” stamp. Anyway, here it is:

[see photo below]

Mom put this on one of her letters to me with some comment about the wonderful “Christmas stamps” Dad got for her. Hmm…thems be fighten’ words! :)

my old journal page 249

Click to enlarge…

The above entry is from page 249 of my old journal. It’s ironic that it’s the next one in line on my “NaBloPoMo schedule” because I spent a good portion of the day, yesterday, doing holiday related things: We went on a shopping spree and completed our “gifts to be purchased and mailed” list! We got the Christmas Tree partially decorated (and I have a feeling with two kitties and toddler in the house it will always be partially decorated.) ;) And, then I spent a while addressing 100 envelopes, printing our Holiday Letter, and stuffing the envelopes with our Holiday Photo Card! My goal is to get them done and out the door by Monday! Of course, I was sure to not neglect my band-duties as lead singer…it’s been a busy weekend!

As I mentioned before, some people on our Holiday Card List will get a “holiday” stamp (Sadly, these stamps are not as cool as the Elvis one, above.), and some will get a silver holiday bell that looks oddly like the Liberty Bell. ;)

ROCK ON

Published on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 in Claire, Fun, Games, It's a paycheck, Rock Band and Video. 1 Comment

Yesterday was a pretty stressful day in my business world, and my day was indescribably horrible. Luckily, it was also the release for Rock Band for the Xbox. I’m not really into all this gaming stuff, but my hubby assured me that this game was awesome, and that I would fall in love with it.

He picked up his pre-ordered copy, and we set it up last night. He was a drummer in a former life, and I was itching to sing. (I used to sing all the time, but I haven’t done that in a while.)

This game is SO MUCH FUN. I cannot even describe how much fun this is!!

My hubby ROCKED the drum-set like there was no tomorrow, and I ROCKED the mic, if I do say so myself. All the troubles of the day were blasted out through my mic. I felt like a rockstar. In fact, I was a rockstar.

In case you’re curious, here is one of the songs we did:

http://youtube.com/watch

Embedding has been disabled, but here is the link to the video of “I Think I’m Paranoid” by Garbage.

This is supposedly the real band, but the resemblance to what was going on in our basement last night is uncanny! ;) You can see me singing lead vocals, and you get some glimpses of my hubby on the drums. For some reason, you can’t see Claire running around and singing into her pretend mic. I’ll have to talk to the videographer about that…

I’m totally kidding. I’m not Shirley Manson, and we aren’t in Garbage. But, last night, the difference was negligible. ;)

Some friends are coming over tomorrow, and all four of us will play. (We have two guitars, the drum-set and a mic.) I can’t wait!

ROCK.
ON.

Addictions get such a bad rap

Published on Sunday, October 7, 2007 in Fun, Games and Random Thoughts. 3 Comments

Years ago I was hooked on a little online game called Bejeweled. I stumbled upon it one day and would play in my free time. I played online, but I never set up an account to keep my scores and always just played the free version.

One day, I branched out, wandered away from the game for a moment and accidentally fell into a game of Hexic. Bejeweled was fun, but this new game was mesmerizing. I quickly became an addict, but I only played the free version online, and again, I only played incognito.

Years went by, and my life got even busier, so the silly little online computer games took a back burner and eventually my desire (or time available) to play them at all dwindled.

Fast forward to the present…

A few weeks ago, my hubby got a new television and Xbox. Imagine my surprise when we discovered that Hexic was one of the fully-loaded games included!

Now, I’m not known as a gamer, and I really have no desire to play the “games” found on the Xbox or PlayStation, etc. I make a great spectator, but every time I’ve been forced to play, hilarity ensues, and my friends wonder if I have any motor skills at all. I can tie my shoes, and I can play a killer game of ping pong. You put a gaming controller in my hand, and I become totally inept.

So, it’s no surprise that when my hubby told me Hexic was on the gaming console, my first instinct was to run away. I totally suck at learning moves. Like I need something else to learn? It’s not like the computer version. How can you effectively play with no mouse? Learning all these buttons is making me feel stupid. Yet, I was oddly attracted to playing again.

And then it happened. The addiction came back, and for once, I felt empowered. No one was yelling at me or laughing at me because I was going the wrong way on some ridiculous track, or because I had my guy stuck in some weird sand pit. I was reaching new levels like I’d written the game. I beat the 50 level game the first try. I felt awesome.

I’ve beaten that level and others many times since, and the thrill is still there. The bing-bonging of the game is so soothing. It speaks to me. It makes me feel calm and excited all at the same time.

My hubby is shocked that I have such Hexic skills, and he is happy that I am enjoying the Xbox, but he is concerned about the beast he’d unleashed. He has to share his new toy. He hadn’t figured that into his master plan.

Admitting I have a problem would be the first step back, so I’ll be doing no such thing. I won’t be telling anyone that I play the game in my free time or that when I’m not playing the game how much I think about how long it will be until I can play the game.

I’ll continue paying until the thrill is gone, and you can’t stop me.

I have set boundaries, so I should be fine. I don’t play during the workday, and I can actually pause the game and attend to Claire’s needs or more domestic chores. Remember that one day when I forced myself to fold the laundry before I started playing a new level? See? I don’t have a problem. An addict wouldn’t have that kind of willpower. Granted, you’ve never seen someone fold underwear so fast in your life. ;)

Somebody’s name is on the Nice List

Published on Monday, September 24, 2007 in Christmas, Fun, Games, Home Improvement, Home Improvement - Master Bath, Movies, Random Thoughts and TV Shows. 2 Comments

Well, it’s like Christmas came early in our household this weekend. My hubby has been painstakingly researching and tracking new television sets for the last five years. Research of this magnitude is a long process for him. I think he thinks it’s half the fun. He’s also been talking about getting a new Xbox 360, so that he can play Guitar Heroes. (He already has an Xbox, but I’m told it’s just not the same.)

It’s not that we have a tiny or low-quality television now…it’s just not new. It’s not all the new technology the kids are raving about these days. Honestly, I don’t understand it all, but it makes him happy, so I try to understand. Really, I do.

So, we’re sitting at the kitchen table on Saturday eating lunch, and he’s looking at the laptop. He’s checking out all his deal-watcher sites. Suddenly, out of the blue, at one of the stores near us, he finds a random deal that includes one of the TVs he’s been eyeing and the Xbox 360 all for a really good price. Of course, the sale ends today! He was planning on buying them separately anyway, so if we can save money by buying them together, why not?

Santa admitted that my hubby had been such a good boy, that he didn’t have a problem coming a little early this year. ;)

He had been doing some painting work in the bathroom and working on cutting and installing the moldings. So, he rushed around putting on “normal” clothes so that he could run to the store. He was entirely too excited to think straight. I was hoping they still had the TV he wanted in stock and that the deal was real…for his sake.

Sure enough, they did and it was! I don’t think his feet have touched the ground all weekend. Now, he’s so motivated to play with his new toys that he got a *lot* done on the bathroom on Sunday, and we may be close to putting on the final touches! (And it’s not like he was being a slacker before!)

Speaking of the bathroom project, he got all the moldings sanded, cut, installed and primed. He also got the exhaust vent cut in the side of the house and connected and all the electrical work done for the new fan/light. He also got the doors and door frames painted. It’s amazing how a little extra motivation will kick things into high gear… ;)

We thought that moving the old television off the entertainment stand was going to be the most daunting of tasks, especially with my back…that and the fact that the TV weighs as much as my car. ;) Luckily, we were able to rig one of the computer chairs to help us. We used it like a furniture dolly, and it worked like a charm.

Oddly enough, the new 50” television, which is technically bigger than the older television weighs a lot less. It was a challenge getting it from his car to the house, but I powered through the pain, and we made it!

We joke that it’s *his* Christmas present sitting downstairs right now, but it’s something we’ll all enjoy. The new TV is nice. It’s amazing, actually. We watched a movie on the new system, and I was blown away.

We watched the movie on the Xbox, which will actually replace our DVD player. Hear that, DVD player!? Your days are numbered! Your random seizing up and stuttering will no longer be tolerated! Granted, we’ve watched a lot of movies (hundreds and hundreds…thanks to Netflix…), and I think we’ve almost successfully driven our DVD player insane.

I’m really not into any of the Xbox 360 stuff, but I will admit that the graphics look incredible on the new television. I guess if I have to be a Gaming Widow, it’s nice that Claire and I won’t have to go far to see Daddy. ;)