June 28, 2005

I Have NO Self-Control

Okay. I'll admit it. I'm weak. I went from thinking about my Commodore-64 to idly blipping through eBay . . . I know, I know. I couldn't resist. Yep, I bid and won a C-64 with monitor and old 1541 disk drive. And some software.

While I was flitting around the C-64 stuff on eBay, I did notice that NO ONE had my favorite game of all time: it was either called Space Shuttle or Space Station. It came in a container similar to a Disney VHS -- all plastic-y and big, unlike most software in its little cardboard box. This game, though, was really complicated, which meant that it was nearly impossible to complete a game on the old 64 kb Commodore. First, you picked out your shuttle crews -- you had profiles of all these different scientists and you were supposed to try to match up their psych and personality profiles AND make sure that you had the scientific specialties that you needed. You had to schedule enough scientific experiments and payloads for other companies/countries to keep your NASA program in the black. Then, you have to schedule the actual shuttle launches and get enough pieces of your space station in orbit so that you could do more involved scientific experiments and make enough money to fund the rest of the project.

I never did finish a game. I'd set aside a nice chunk of time . . . get everything set up . . . play for maybe 30 minutes . . . and then Mom would decide I'd been on the computer too long.

Damn! It just occurred to me that this pretty much still happens to me today. I get a chunk of time all set aside for working/playing on the computer (hey, it's all the same thing to me) . . . get everything set up . . . really get into the project . . . and then something from outside the computer demands my attention. Time to feed the dogs; time to go to bed; time to go to work; time to let my other half work on her criminal justice paper . . . details, details, details.

The worst, actually, is being deep into doing something in Photoshop or Dreamweaver and then having to pee. I don't want to stop and lose my place in the project. I'm going to forget that niggling little bit of code that I've been fine-tuning for an hour. It will just take me a second to get the last of the background cut out.

Did you ever notice that computer time and "real world" time are NOT the same? They flow at vastly different rates. A thinks that I'm just hyper-focusing again and need to up my Strattera. I maintain that there is some weird time vortex secreted in all processors - Motorola and Intel alike.

At any rate, I can't wait to get my hands on that C-64 later this week. Now if I can just find copies of all my favorite EA games: MULE, for one. Then there's Broderbund's Bard's Tale games. Blue Max.

Oh! Did you hear, did you hear? There's going to be a NEW Bard's Tale game. Oh, and the PS 3 is due out in March of '06. I'm saving my pennies now.

I think my Strattera wore off.

Posted by Red Monkey at 6:52 PM | Comments (0) | People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken | Stumble

May 16, 2005

The Story of the Red Monkey

I love antique stores and junk stores. I have this thing for toys, particularly old toys. I'm fascinated by everything from the packaging and advertising to the toys themselves. The problem is a lot of those so-called antique stores - at least the ones that also sell old toys - are really antique store and collectibles store combos. So I'll see a booth full of Nascar stuff next to one with clothes from the 20s and 30s. Not a big deal, really, it's usually all interesting stuff - if it wasn't for the crazy prices some of the collectibles folks tend to charge.

Anyhow, this is about 1999 or 2000 and I'm walking through a pretty cool antique store when I round the corner to the biggest flippin' display of Ty Beanie Babies I've ever seen. And despite their frenzied, must-have popularity, some of these little guys are really cute and clever. I already had a handful of the things, ones I thought were really cool or cute. I have the otter, the Ireland bear and a few others. (Why haven't they made a dolphin yet??) I also have the first monkey they made, cuz I've always really liked monkeys.

So, in this display case they have this really cool new Beanie Baby I haven't seen yet, a little red monkey with a cute tan face and a little fluff of hair on top of his head. I have to have him. DId I mention that some of these collectible places think they can charge 4-5 times the retail prices on a toy that's just come out? Not a toy that's been out and then discontinued, excuse me, "retired." A toy that is currently being mass produced but just barely started hitting the shelves - those toys are worth the retail price. Not "scalper" prices.

So this scalper booth wants $20 or $25 for a $5 stuffed animal. I stomped past, growling and grousing about opportunistic scalpers and this kind of artificial supply and demand being among the worst of human impulses. I do not "have to have" something like a little stuffed animal so badly that I will pay 5x its actual worth. I would pay $1 or $2 more to have it now - I can be that shallow and that careless about my spending money from time to time. But this, this is not capitalism - it's stupidity. Stupidity on the part of the seller and on the part of anyone who gives in and buys the overpriced goods.

Yeah, my friends are tired of that rant, too.

So, later that night, my friends and I are sitting in the living room watching a movie. It's a pseudo-SF movie called Strange Days. It's an awesome movie set just a touch in the future when people don't just watch reality tv, they experience it through virtual programs on the computer.

Well, I'd seen the movie before and it was fast becoming one of my favorites, but I was a little restless and bored that night. So everyone's really really into the movie, the tension's building and I'm kinda looking around the room. I see my little beanie-baby monkey on the bookshelf.

"I really want that red monkey," I say aloud.

The whole room turns to stare at me in shock. "What?"

The movie had to be paused and rewound a bit. Evidently it was a really intense point in the flick.

"What?" I ask, all wounded innocence and surprised at their reaction.

"Where did that come from?" they reply.

"I was just looking around the room and saw my little monkey and that reminded me of the beanie baby we saw in that store today - " there's much eye-rolling at this pronouncement "-and I just realized that I really want that little monkey."

"We're in this intense part of the movie and you're talking about a stuffed monkey?"

Somehow, my explanation did not help my case at all. "I've seen the movie before" I point out helpfully.

"I repeat, we're in this tense and intense part of the movie and you are thinking about a toy monkey?" The room is staring at me now. Finally someone grabs the remote and flips the movie back to play, muttering, "You are so ADD."

You've maybe seen the t-shirt that says "They say I have ADD, but I don't think ...Hey look! A chicken!" Well, my chicken is a red monkey.

Interestingly enough, a year or so later I was diagnosed as ADHD.

Now, I have a McD's teenie beanie version atop my monitor at work and the regular-sized one in the home office.

So, that's the story of the red monkey.

And now you know lots of important tidbits about me.

1. I collect toys
2. I rant about scalpers and other stupid people
3. I like SF and computer-type movies
4. I like comic books
5. I have ADHD
6. I like monkeys, evidently particularly red ones

Important tidbits that got left out:

1. Apple computers rock
2. WWdN rules
3. I'm from Texas
4. Notre Dame sucks
5. I'm utterly fascinated with the southwestern tribes and the concepts of hozho and koyaanisqatsi
6. Hodgkin's disease is Cancer Lite

So now you know.

Posted by Red Monkey at 8:36 PM | Comments (9) | People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken | Stumble