It's the wee hours of the New Year, said year not even seven hours old. We stayed awake long enough to see midnight (the lil' one didn't make it past 9:00, she passed out in my lap), had a quick sip o' bubbly & went to bed. Unfortunately my internal Timex is telling me this is my awake-time so here I am, typing. You know, I have had plenty of wild-party New Years, a few spent at a radio station when the hubby had to work, and a few where I just went to bed early & replaced the calender in the morning, I have spent New Year's with close friends, no friends, and one memorable one spent in the company of several drag queens. Those end-of-the-year celebrations mark a lot of different Jo's, but I'm amazingly content with the one I am now. It's been a long, strange journey, but it's had a helluva lot of scenery.

Happy New Year, all. Hope your road is a smooth one.

I was looking up some stuff to blow my Christmas gift cards on & saw that Musicland, the company that owns Sam Goody and Suncoast Video Stores, is closing down stores across the nation. Also noted that that they're marking down inventory in the stores remaining open up to 40%. It's a great time to go out & stock up on your games, movies & anime! It doesn't look like any in my area are going under, but I do hate to see the two franchises sinking; they have been an excellent source of entertainment for me in N.C., and it most likely means selection is going to suffer. Guess I'll be doing more ordering online, now...

    Finally!  I got Final Fantasy XII!  Whoo-hoo!! And Okami!! Double whoo-hoo!!  Now if I only had time to play it...well, I got time at home, but both the Hyperactive Hubby and the Offspring of Hades are home from school & work until January 2nd...I'm afraid I have to go bond now....:cry:(sigh)

Work at my job has slowed down to a crawl...oh, yeah, I work for a book manufacturing company, in the Electronic Imposition Dept. When the work is slow, usually they give people unpaid days off & just keep one on each shift to cover EI in case something comes thru that's really hot, like a rework or whatever. I like to volunteer to be the one with time off, but with Mr. I-Got-Your-Flu-Bug Hubby at home I've been the one to volunteer to stay. It's all good - nothing to do but sit on my rear, get paid, and read! We do a lot of printings for universities, journals & such - not a lot of general interest stuff, but I really get into some of it. There's a new quarterly journal out - can't find it right this minute, so I can't tell U the name but it publishes articles on socio-economic & politcal ramifications of games and their communities. In their first issue they had this really fascinating article on gold-harvesting - can you believe that China actually has gamer sweatshops? People actually play games on 12-hour shifts and do nothing but earn gold (or gil, or whatever the coinage is for that particular game) to sell online for cash. Call me Mrs. Naive, I knew that harvesting is a running problem for the gamer communities, and I have known a couple of people that have sold their earnings or weapons online, but it never crossed my mind that there may be the equivalent of a Nike outlet going on! The Chinese get paid the US equivalent of $3 a day. Almost makes you want to move to China...NOT! Any thoughts on the subject, O Gamespot Readers? If I can find where I put the stupid PDF I'll post the name of the journal - it's a subscription-only deal but it's really trippy stuff & worth looking into if your'e interested in the broad view of our little pixellated world.  Hope I'm not commiting any legal argy-bargy here, but I'm really interested in hearing opinions on this.

Well, let the angels sing halleluja, Rob found a Wii for his extortionist son.  Only had to shell out an extra $60 over retail on eBay.  So now the poor guy volunteered for any overtime Christmas weekend to pay for the thing.  Ah, the tangled web we parents weave....

I also managed to foil the evil elf and procured a Raptor for my kid.  My five-year-old DAUGHTER, mind you.  Her letter to Santa went like this:

DeAR SAntA,
     I WAnt A RoBotRAptER.  I Am GooD.
LOVE, NaOMi

I noted on the box (in the 3-minute slot I actually had time to examine the fossilized android thingy before she got home from school) that it has limited AI and is capable of "guarding an area".  Guarding an area?  What, is somebody gonna steal her Hello Kitty pillows?  What if it eats the cat?  It's about a foot longer than the cat.  Have I brought a prehistoric feline-munching cyborg into the house?  CURSE YOU, SANTA!!!  Um, not that I mind that she wants something like that...I remember when I was a kid, I asked Santa for the Millenium Falcon playset, but what he actually gave me was a Cowboy Barbie and Ken...um, CURSE YOU, SANTA!!!

P.S.  Maybe I misrember, but I think it was Dave Barry who noted toys are now packaged by the Department of Defense.  Judging by the packaging, I doubt I have to worry about her present escaping to consume the family pets.

 

Right now I feel great sympathy for my friend Rob. He has the misfortune to find himself a few weeks from Christmas attempting to locate a reasonably-priced Wii. His kid, smug in the fact he has made straight A's and Honor Roll since school started, has informed his dad that A) he has placed his order with Santa well in advance of the usual mall crowd, and B) Santa would not dream of denying him his system of choice. In fact the whole POINT of the Santa business was good behavior plus good grades = toy of your choice. And thus, because Rob is a gamer himself, and his seven-year-old has mastered the fine art of emotional extortion as it applies to single dads, he is now attempting to rationalize paying nearly double the retail price in order to keep his son from nuclear disillusionment. He has about 15 of this fellow friends & coworkers scouting the shops in the hope of finding one on a shelf somewhere (yeah, riiiiiight....), and says things like "Well, I could justify it if I get one with the games included, even if they're not really good games, because if I bought them separate I'd pay that much anyway, right?" while hunting on eBay.
I guess it's interesting to note that he also considers this a worthwhile gift because it's one that both he & his son can spend time together with. They both dearly love stomping each other into the pavement, and spend quite a bit of time doing so. And it's a hobby where both can start out on equal footing. None of this "here's how you do it, son" business. For a seven-year-old, the kid's quick to master controls & concepts, and runs a very real chance of being better than his father at something his dad does a lot. So what if Dad is four feet taller & about 180 pounds heavier? He can still whup him in the wrestling ring. Or driving. Maybe not at shooters, but it's only a matter of time....
Luckily for Rob, I really think he gets it. It's a bit more to him than not bursting his kid's bubble about Santa Claus. It's about having a goal, and being able to realize that it IS possible to live out what you imagine. Expensive game systems are attainable for good conduct. You can take it out on Dad if he ticks you off, and walk away without being grounded until you're 37. And just maybe, one day he can become something great because he knows it can be done.
Personally, I would have loved the chance to have blown my dad up a few times. Not that he was a terrible father, but the grease of parent/child relationships does run dry from time to time. I should be more sympathetic, though...my kid wants a RoboRaptor.

NekoTheSpook