I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails regarding it, so I figured I should put forth a few things I wanted to add. :)
Most everyone identified with it in some way. But most everyone also told me I was being too harsh on myself. This is true, and not true at the same time. Lemme ‘splain. The tone I was going for in that rant was really less of a “stream of consciousness, actual thought” mode and more of a “Dave Berry Column” mode. I was trying for a sort of humor/life column about growing older. I slightly exaggerated the importance of the events, mostly because I thought it would make for good writing. I never really write structured material, so it was a bit of an experiment.
That being said, I don’t really feel old at all. I know I’m not old. I’m only 23. I had simply had the first of many experiences in my life where I realized that I had grown older, and had lost a bit of my childhood. Hell, i can still go play games. But the place I used to do it in seemed different, that’s all. No real offense felt, and I’ll still go try to play DDR in arcades. :D
Speaking of which, all these e-mails about DDR have gotten me in a mood to play as much of it as I can. Thankfully, we’re heading up to Tahoe for the evening, so I can play some at the casino arcades. The upside of this is that there are far less kids with nothing better to do. It’s Tahoe. The kids in those arcades aren’t regulars… they’ve been dropped off by mommy and daddy while they go gamble, so I tend to have more fun there. That aside, however, too many of you have sent me on to the RedOctane page. The side effect of this is that I now NEED one of those metal pads they sell for 200 bucks. I’m thinking of just dividing up the cost and billing it to each and every one of you that sent me on to that page… after all, it’s YOUR fault I want one now. :D I hate playing DDR on those crappy plastic mats… more often than not, I miss the steps cause a sensor doesn’t work or something. I get too pissed off at that. :)
Oh, and to the jackass who told me I sucked because I couldn’t pass a 5-difficulty song, you can quietly go to hell. I don’t have all day to waste in an arcade stepping on little colored arrows. I enjoy it, but I do not make it my life’s purpose. :)
