I'm obsessed with playing the Sims. A day does not pass that I do not put in the CD and spend at least half an hour on the game. It's usually more like three hours. Addiction shows its ugly side when I find myself considering buying a laptop just so I can have a computer dedicated solely to the game -- John can just forget about checking his email if I'm in the middle of an escalating relationship between two Sims. You think addiction is too strong a word? I definitely suffer withdrawal. I can't wait to get home each night and settle down to searching out new wallpaper and new objects for my Sims families. I have the CD in before I even change out of my work clothes.
Being the relentless self-analyst that I am, I have started worrying a little about this obsession. I remember what I was like when I first got online in 1995. I was insatiable. I couldn't stay away from the MOOs and IRC. I don't think I recovered from that for the better part of two years. It was a little scary how intensely I needed to be doing that at the time but I got it into perspective eventually. After all, I was living in Nashville and failing miserably to fit in. Finding people with intelligence and similar interests via the Internet was a lifesaver. It's different now, though. I have real life interests and obligations, I'm not dying for lack of social interaction. This is the opposite, actually. It's a refuge from long days of dealing with the public.
Why, though, am I so addicted to this game? Okay, sure, I'm all over the interior decor aspect of it. I love finding cool patterns for the walls and floors and designing exquisite little alcoves or bedrooms for my families. But I also like naming and dressing the Sims, and then manipulating them into making friends. They outwit me half the time. The last set of families I made consist entirely of Geminis and even they don't get along the way I thought they would despite having exactly the same set of interests and character styles.
I finally twigged to the answer last week. It's about control. I can control something in my life. Not my job, not my career, not the weather, not the death of my animals, not my weight (okay, I'm getting better at that), and certainly not other people's behavior. But the Sims I control absolutely. It's all. About. Control.
Let's have a big round of "duh!" from everybody. You might have told me, you know. I really didn't catch on for the longest time.
Maybe this will burn itself out. It's not exactly a career-enhancing skill, it doesn't encourage artistic license (I haven't a clue how to make any of the wallpaper, floors, clothes, or objects because the software for that is PC-based, pthththtpt!), I waste an awful lot of time that could be spent in more useful pursuits, but none of those things are what I expect from the Sims. It's my leisure activity. I'm just amusing myself. No subtlety involved. All I want is to get lost in a little world where everything changes according to my whim and no one ever resents it no matter how often I redo their house. Pure bliss.
So it's addictive right now. I actually hope I burn out on it this summer. I cannot play it in the fall when I start school again. I'm determined to continue my straight A streak and finish up in grand style. Did I mention I'm graduating this year? Of course I did. I have to. I don't care if I don't socialize from August 16th to December 16th, I don't care if I have to go up to Wuthering Heights Community College four nights a week, I don't care that I have a freaking Mission Project and way too many papers to write plus my first piano lessons in twenty two years, I am getting the heck out of school this year. Nothing short of an untimely earthquake destroying the school (hey, it sits directly on top of the San Andreas fault, it's not that farfetched) will keep me from fulfilling my goal in 2002. If that means asking John to hide the CDs until Christmas I'll do it.
For now, though, I'm totally psyched that I got Steve Amaya Sim and Rick McGinnis Sim to give a party that was so cool it was crashed not only by the annoying pink-haired punk chick but also by Drew Carey! I had no idea it was possible. He pulled up to the party house, causing everyone to rush excitedly up front and exclaim excitedly about...his limo. See for yourself:
Check out those red shoes on Drew Carey. The punk chick party crasher is on the far left. Steve is wearing a blue bowling shirt in the center, there, and to the lower right Rick has changed into a white tuxedo, eschewing his usual tweed three-piece suit. In case you're interested, the other people in this photo are Mo Pie, Pam Wells, Michael Rawdon, Jen Larsen, me, Moshe Feder, and Denise Rehse. Feel free to figure out which one is you, guys. Anyway, Rick and Steve had the coolest party any Sim has ever given while I've been playing.
I love this game, I really do. And those control issues? I only think I run the Sims' lives, but there are all kinds of surprises built in. That's ultimately why it's so addicting.
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