Another Lost Wiikend

"Hi, my name is Velvet and I'm a Dance Dance Revolution Addict."

Yes, I have fallen off the gaming wagon and have been under the influence of Wii. What fun. It's really nice to be able to indulge in video gaming without the couch potato-ness that comes along with it. Sure, there are all sorts of standard video games to play on it, but we've been getting a lot more mileage out of Wii Fit, Wii Ski, and the ironically named Active Life: Outdoor Challenge.

Ah, and then there's Dance Dance Revolution... it's a pretty well known game in the arcades, but for those of you who have never seen it, you stand on a square floor pad that has four arrows on it: a left arrow, a right arrow, a front arrow, and a back arrow, all in their respective positions. You choose a song from a list and a pattern of arrows comes streaming up from the bottom of the screen as the song plays. When the arrows reach an area on the top of the screen, you step on that respective arrow on the floor pad. Simple, right?

Well, when we first started playing, we thought that we might have gotten the wrong game in our package because there sure wasn't a whole lot of anything that looked like dancing happening. Had we gotten the black market copy of another game? Perhaps we got Stumble Stumble Revolution, Hop Trip Revolution, or perhaps Desperate Off-Tempo Toe Stab Revolution. It looked like we might have been drinking and dancing which may just be illegal in this state.

At our wedding, our future brother-in-law decided to get out on the dance floor for some group dancing (my hat is off to him for getting out there, I assure you) and ended up doing a dance that we later dubbed "The Hoparena"; it's like The Macarena, only it looks more like hopping arhythmically and touching yourself in random places. I can honestly say that we have now been doing a version of the Hoparena with the best (?) of them. What a shame, then, that we're actually getting better at this. We must have found the Dance Dance Revolution game disc was somewhere in that case after all.

I have discovered one thing, though: there's a "Golden Moment of Dance Dance Revolution". This is the kissing cousin to the Golden Moment of Pool, which is when things are flowing smoothly, you're playing really well, sinking every shot, and then you take just one more sip of your beer/drink... and your pool playing night is OVER. And so it is with DDR, too.

Well, I suppose even us addicts have to take a break sometime.

Irony

So, I was sitting in the waiting room of the mammography office one day, filling out the usual pre-torture, personal/family medical history questionnaire, when my attention drifted to the satellite radio music being piped in over the tastefully concealed speakers in the ceiling.

I listened for a few moments until it dawned on me what I was hearing.

"You make me feel... you make me fell... you make me feel... like... a... na-tur-al.... wo-o-man..."

I chuckled to myself. They couldn't possibly be serious.

New Year, New Post, New Blah Blah Blah

Well, here it is 2009 and I start the new year surrounded by a seemingly endless, post-holiday, ADD wonderland of Nintendo Wii games and more Legos than should be allowed in one family. Not to say that it's bad; on the contrary, we're doing the lion's share of the Lego construction (boy, what hard work for us to play with build all those Lego sets) and the Wii is not for the kids, it's for the grown-ups. Maybe we'll let them play with them if they're reaaallly good... for the next few years or so. Hey, they're bound to hate us for something eventually, so it may as well be for something that we have fun doing.

But back to the present day. We've been celebrating the fresh start of a new year since man created calendars and it's a time of hopefulness that lasts at least for a week or two until life returns to normal and we realize that nothing has really changed. It's not a useless time, though. It can help us reflect on what's been going on in our lives, too, and what we can dream will happen during our next ride around the sun. I suppose we can also think about how we can learn from our mistakes and do better next time.

I don't bother to make any resolutions because, well, I know myself far too well. It would just be something to feel bad about breaking and who needs that? I'd rather be happy. But I have been thinking about the new year and reflecting on the past year a little. It's been... interesting? Educational? Frustrating? I suppose that I've pretty much spent most of my life really, well, "inside" my head, a bit too reflective and philosophical for my own good, but I'll spare you much of the details of what I've found there.

Here is a list, in no particular order and by no means all equal in significance, of some of my thoughts on this past year that I'll pull out of my.... um... hat right now:

-This past year has made me realize that I'm waaaay more political than I thought I was, but won't get into the nuts and bolts of it here. This space would like to remain free of politics and religion, though I have abundant opinions on both.

-Even though we know that the fairy tale is absolute bollocks, even cynics like myself sometimes reflexively use it as a yardstick for how life should be. That is, until reason kicks in. Sorry, Cinderella. The prince probably snores, is no doubt flatulent, and probably has a lot of habits that he picked up from his mother. And while you're at it, doll, you probably have a lot of annoying habits, too. Suck it up and deal.

-I did get around to spinning fire poi for the first time a few months ago, as I had said I wanted to do. I really, really liked it. I enjoy spinning poi anyway (I find it very meditative), but fire was just icing on the cake.

-My friends who don't have kids do not even remotely understand the limitations of living a family life. They won't get it until they get there (if they choose to do so).

-A good friend is worth their weight in gold and true friendships can come from really unexpected places and after even years of being acquaintances. Sometimes they finally click.

-I've come to realize that there really is a generation gap and it seems that I fell through it. I don't fit in with my peers and am having an interesting time seeing what my mindset was probably like when I was in my 20's, like many of my friends. Been there, done that, no wish to re-live it. sigh. Well, it is what it is. As they say in pool parlance, you've got to play the table. Perspective helps.

-Other people make all the difference in our lives, for better or for worse. The middle school-ish social nonsense from a handful of the people in the climbing group that I mingle with have really turned me off on climbing. I've neither the time nor the interest to relive the pre-teenish drama, gossip, back stabbing, and character assassination. It's mean and unnecessary.

-More than one young guy has told me that they'd exercise twice as hard when they get older in order to prevent middle age spread while still being able to eat exactly the way that they do now. To this I have this to say: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Okay, guys. Get back to me when you get there and we'll discuss it.

-that 2009 has the potential to be a very interesting year. Easy? Most likely not. Peaceful? Probably far from it. Prosperous? Well, let's not go into that. Still, it has the making of being something different and most likely not boring at all. And that just may be a fresh start in itself.

Here's wishing you all a healthy, safe, and Happy New Year, wherever you are. Hopefully I'll get a little time to check in on the blogosphere more than life has allowed lately and it would be nice to be mingling out here again as this interesting new year unfolds.