#18. Hey there, Game-y Boy. Flying through the sky so fancy free.

This one starts off with a picture (usually I build up to my meager photography, but I feel like a change of pace).

Both of those hands are mine. No one helped me take this picture. I'd like you to think about that for a minute.

And yes, I do still play my Game Boy. For a couple of reasons.

1. Aw hell, I’ll say it. It’s ever so much fun.

2. That’s… well… Ok so I can’t really summarize this in a pithy one-sentence blurb, as it’s the focus of this whole post, so let’s just continue on, shall we?

So if you didn’t notice already, my thumbs are all Band-Aided up in that alluring photograph you saw a few seconds ago. Technically, I didn’t actually injure myself playing a Gameboy -you would have known if I had, as I’d have died in shame within seconds. At that point I assume some spunky young reporter would hear the news and write an expose on the dangers of being bad at old videogames, which would sweep the nation. I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. But the Band-Aids symbolize something much deeper- I play videogames a lot.

Okay, that wasn’t that much deeper. But still.

Now, how many of you out there still keep in contact with your best buds from youth? I do. My childhood friends Mark and Jamie (I’ve known Mark since I was four, Jamie since I was fourteen) and I are all still thick as thieves. Right now the two of them go to school in Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively, but thanks to the internet that’s really not a problem for anyone at all anymore. For me, however, it’s ceased to be a problem thanks to the internet… and video games.

Even though I haven’t videogamed my way into a pair of bloody thumbs (thus requiring a Band-Aid or two), it sure feels like I’ve played enough to deserve those fake injuries. You see, for those of you who might not relate to this, I’ve spent my whole life (and in the case of my friendship with Mark, it’s literally been my whole life) playing video games with my friends, and the ability to turn on Skype and grab a Gameboy brings with it a feeling of comfort that’s so strong it’s hard to put into words. Even today, bogged down with two papers, two quizzes, and a slew of blog entries all due this week, I saw Mark was online and spend ten minutes discussing our latest Pokemon strategies before he left for lunch and I went back to my (sigh) overwhelming workload. And just those ten minutes of being a kid again helped me relax my way into what I hope will be a successful week. So I plan on continuing to play way too many video games for as long as I physically can, to the point where my thumbs might actually bleed (if it comes to that, and realistically… it won’t), because not only is it:

1. Super terrific double-happy  fun time

but also:

2. Everything you just read.

Blam. Pithy one-sentence blurb. And just 500 words ago I said it couldn’t be done.

 

 

P.S. I actually tried playing with the Band-Aids on my thumbs- my hands are in a constant state of sweaty nervous horror, and the Band-Aids actually reduced that a little bit. Hooray for me.