Chapter 3
"Do you want to eat first or shall I?" I asked after pulling a plate out of the microwave.
"You go ahead. I'm watching this exposé on local cults that sound like normal churches."
"You're playing Nintendo."
"That's what picture-in-picture is for!"
Dinner with a new baby in the house is a little different than dinner without a baby in this house, but not in the way that I expected. I expected that as soon as we had a baby, we'd magically begin to share healthy, delicious meals around the kitchen table. Uh-uh. We used to share alternately healthy or delicious meals in front of the TV or around a game board. Now we have alternately healthy or delicious meals one-at-a-time (in front of the TV). One of us holds and plays with the baby while the other one eats. Presumably this will improve once she can sit up in a high chair and participate in meal time. I still don't know how I'm going to develop a taste for broiled chicken breasts, though.
For dinner we had leftover lasagna with garlic bread and brownies. I love the friends, family, and people from our church who brought over food and blankets after Maggie was born. There must be some sort of instruction book that I've never seen that says, "When friends have children, take them baby blankets and lasagna." Maggie has an entire wardrobe full of perfectly wonderful baby blankets, many of which I'm afraid to use because I don't want them to get dirty. And 3 months later, we're still eating leftover lasagna. Don't get me wrong; I love lasagna. But it's a little silly when you've got three frozen lasagnas stacked up in the freezer. We'd been spacing them out with frozen pizzas and the occasional Hamburger Helper. To be honest, since the baby we'd been a bit behind on both healthy and delicious.
Despite some seriously impressive nursing and cuddling, Maggie didn't show any sign of wanting to go to sleep after dinner. So I strapped her into her car seat, leaving Jonathon to work on customizing Kirkwood maps for tomorrow's contestants, and set off to place the rest of the clues. As the presumably safe but incredibly frustrating nonetheless law required, Maggie sat in the backseat, facing backwards, alternately screaming and being silent. OK, the law didn't require the screaming. As was my habit, I talked aloud to her the entire time.
"Oh, look! An opossum on the road." (Of course, even if she knew what an opossum was, she couldn't see it from where she was. No wonder she screamed.) "Sure is quiet out tonight. Guess no one's having a Sunday night party. Let's see what's on the radio. Satellite radio in the car – a geek delight. I'd mildly argued against subscribing to satellite radio until the Discovery Channel launched their new satellite radio station. Then I gave up my argument as a lost cause. Besides, what else are we supposed to listen to when NPR devolves into playing bad jazz? I can only stand the Volkswagen Driving Music CD so many times in a row, and Maggie's still a bit young for all the "toddler music" we got for Christmas last year after telling everyone that we were (finally) expecting a new addition.
I switched over to Discovery Channel Radio just in time to catch the tail end of a report on how a video or computer game is designed, marking the eve of easily the most anticipated game release of the year.
"While most games are developed by in-house development teams or third-party development teams as you describe, Derril, aren't some games designed by independent developers?"
"Cathy, yeah, that's especially true of simpler games, like video poker and that sort of thing. Your Halos and Grand Theft Autos and Half-Lifes are just too complex to be designed by one person. And besides, it's way too much of an investment by the publisher to allow an independent developer that much control over the product. You've got to think about the marketing considerations, licensing agreements, focus group results – it's a very complex business."
"Then how do you explain a game like Spirit Scheme?"
"I just knew you were going to ask me that question! Spirit Scheme is a real anomaly, Cathy. I think that the mystery surrounding the game's designer is a big part of what makes it so popular."
"Really? I've never played it, but my kids love it because of the design – no denying that the graphics are gorgeous – and the complex problems to solve. Sometimes I think they're doing their homework but I find out that they're using pencil and paper to work out how to complete a tricky level."
"Yeah, yeah, no doubt. It's a great game. Well-designed, gorgeous, creative, it's top-notch. It just seems impossible that one person could have designed the entire thing. It must have taken "Divinity" years to do that. Of course, sequels are much easier to design since you've already got most of the graphics in place."
"Now that you mention the sequel, Derril, let's talk about that in our last couple of minutes. What can we expect with Spirit Scheme 2?"
"Well, Cathy, expectations are high for this one, and GoGeekGames has invested heavily in the packaging and marketing campaign, so they must be pretty sure that the sequel will be better than most and will live up to its reputation. I saw a couple of screen stills at E3 this year and I was really impressed. It looks like the designer has introduced a new style of decision-making tree that I'm sure your kids are going to love, Cathy."
"Derril Lyndon, this year's coordinator if the Electronic Entertainment Expo, thanks so much for joining us tonight."
I switched off the radio – it was getting hard to hear over Maggie's screetches anyway – and launched into an apparently un-soothing rendition of "Hush Little Baby" to little effect.
I was stopped at a red light when suddenly a large dog ran out into the intersection. I slammed my right hand out to turn on my flashers and looked around to see if there was anyone else about. A group of young people in hoodies were running up the block, calling for the dog. I stayed put, doors locked, as suddenly a white van tore up to the intersection from my left. Just when I thought that the van was going to smash into the dog, it screeched to a halt. Someone inside the van threw open the side door and grabbed the dog. The van screeched off again, and I noticed that there were plastic garbage bags taped over the side of the van and the license plate. The group in the hoodies stopped just short of the intersection and looked right at me. The light turned green and I took off, very glad that I was driving the clues around tonight rather than walking.
As I drove off, I heard one of the guys scream, "Shit! What are we going to do?"
I placed the clues as quickly as I could, at the farmer's market, city hall, and train station. All the stops were within walking distance of each other, but I jumped into and out of the car as fast as I could at each stop, always keeping the doors locked and checking for suspicious white vans, large dogs, or roving bands of hoodies. All very unusual in this town. If there was time in the morning, I'd re-place some of the clues in better spots, like maybe in the city hall's tall bell tower that overlooked the whole downtown area, but there was no way I was climbing up there tonight.
As I drove home, I noticed that the light in the back of the Fantasy Shoppe was still on. I hoped that this was a good sign for the game launch. I was glad to be going home to a place with a locked garage, and I was glad tonight that I did not live alone. I didn’t think I'd be getting much sleep, regardless.
I called one of my friends for company as I drove.
"Hey, Lisa! Are you still coming tomorrow?"
"Are you kidding, Clara? Dave's been excited about this for weeks. He wouldn't let me miss it for anything, especially not the extra hour of sleep I wanted to get. Why'd you have to start this thing so early in the morning?"
"Sorry, sorry. We wanted to be done in time to BBQ at our place before it gets dark. So hunt fast. Hey, Dave plays Magic at the Fantasy Shoppe all the time. Did you hear about the Spirit Scheme thing?"
"Do not talk to me about that! I am so pissed off at those damned religious freaks. They think they know all the answers but they're just running around the world pissing everybody else off with their ignorance and their stupidity. And they're always trying to make the rest of us do what they want us to do. Separation of church and state, people!"
"Wow, you are really pissed! What's up?"
"Those assholes have been picketing the Shoppe for weeks and they've been telling their people to boycott the store. There are over 4000 members at that church! It's really hurting business and this is a small local shop; they can't afford it. Plus, they put one of their stupid leaflets on my car yesterday. It rained and the thing is now stuck underneath one of the wipers. Jerks."
By this time I was parked in the garage and feeling much calmer so I signed off and went inside to put the (finally sleeping!) Maggie to bed.
"You go ahead. I'm watching this exposé on local cults that sound like normal churches."
"You're playing Nintendo."
"That's what picture-in-picture is for!"
Dinner with a new baby in the house is a little different than dinner without a baby in this house, but not in the way that I expected. I expected that as soon as we had a baby, we'd magically begin to share healthy, delicious meals around the kitchen table. Uh-uh. We used to share alternately healthy or delicious meals in front of the TV or around a game board. Now we have alternately healthy or delicious meals one-at-a-time (in front of the TV). One of us holds and plays with the baby while the other one eats. Presumably this will improve once she can sit up in a high chair and participate in meal time. I still don't know how I'm going to develop a taste for broiled chicken breasts, though.
For dinner we had leftover lasagna with garlic bread and brownies. I love the friends, family, and people from our church who brought over food and blankets after Maggie was born. There must be some sort of instruction book that I've never seen that says, "When friends have children, take them baby blankets and lasagna." Maggie has an entire wardrobe full of perfectly wonderful baby blankets, many of which I'm afraid to use because I don't want them to get dirty. And 3 months later, we're still eating leftover lasagna. Don't get me wrong; I love lasagna. But it's a little silly when you've got three frozen lasagnas stacked up in the freezer. We'd been spacing them out with frozen pizzas and the occasional Hamburger Helper. To be honest, since the baby we'd been a bit behind on both healthy and delicious.
Despite some seriously impressive nursing and cuddling, Maggie didn't show any sign of wanting to go to sleep after dinner. So I strapped her into her car seat, leaving Jonathon to work on customizing Kirkwood maps for tomorrow's contestants, and set off to place the rest of the clues. As the presumably safe but incredibly frustrating nonetheless law required, Maggie sat in the backseat, facing backwards, alternately screaming and being silent. OK, the law didn't require the screaming. As was my habit, I talked aloud to her the entire time.
"Oh, look! An opossum on the road." (Of course, even if she knew what an opossum was, she couldn't see it from where she was. No wonder she screamed.) "Sure is quiet out tonight. Guess no one's having a Sunday night party. Let's see what's on the radio. Satellite radio in the car – a geek delight. I'd mildly argued against subscribing to satellite radio until the Discovery Channel launched their new satellite radio station. Then I gave up my argument as a lost cause. Besides, what else are we supposed to listen to when NPR devolves into playing bad jazz? I can only stand the Volkswagen Driving Music CD so many times in a row, and Maggie's still a bit young for all the "toddler music" we got for Christmas last year after telling everyone that we were (finally) expecting a new addition.
I switched over to Discovery Channel Radio just in time to catch the tail end of a report on how a video or computer game is designed, marking the eve of easily the most anticipated game release of the year.
"While most games are developed by in-house development teams or third-party development teams as you describe, Derril, aren't some games designed by independent developers?"
"Cathy, yeah, that's especially true of simpler games, like video poker and that sort of thing. Your Halos and Grand Theft Autos and Half-Lifes are just too complex to be designed by one person. And besides, it's way too much of an investment by the publisher to allow an independent developer that much control over the product. You've got to think about the marketing considerations, licensing agreements, focus group results – it's a very complex business."
"Then how do you explain a game like Spirit Scheme?"
"I just knew you were going to ask me that question! Spirit Scheme is a real anomaly, Cathy. I think that the mystery surrounding the game's designer is a big part of what makes it so popular."
"Really? I've never played it, but my kids love it because of the design – no denying that the graphics are gorgeous – and the complex problems to solve. Sometimes I think they're doing their homework but I find out that they're using pencil and paper to work out how to complete a tricky level."
"Yeah, yeah, no doubt. It's a great game. Well-designed, gorgeous, creative, it's top-notch. It just seems impossible that one person could have designed the entire thing. It must have taken "Divinity" years to do that. Of course, sequels are much easier to design since you've already got most of the graphics in place."
"Now that you mention the sequel, Derril, let's talk about that in our last couple of minutes. What can we expect with Spirit Scheme 2?"
"Well, Cathy, expectations are high for this one, and GoGeekGames has invested heavily in the packaging and marketing campaign, so they must be pretty sure that the sequel will be better than most and will live up to its reputation. I saw a couple of screen stills at E3 this year and I was really impressed. It looks like the designer has introduced a new style of decision-making tree that I'm sure your kids are going to love, Cathy."
"Derril Lyndon, this year's coordinator if the Electronic Entertainment Expo, thanks so much for joining us tonight."
I switched off the radio – it was getting hard to hear over Maggie's screetches anyway – and launched into an apparently un-soothing rendition of "Hush Little Baby" to little effect.
I was stopped at a red light when suddenly a large dog ran out into the intersection. I slammed my right hand out to turn on my flashers and looked around to see if there was anyone else about. A group of young people in hoodies were running up the block, calling for the dog. I stayed put, doors locked, as suddenly a white van tore up to the intersection from my left. Just when I thought that the van was going to smash into the dog, it screeched to a halt. Someone inside the van threw open the side door and grabbed the dog. The van screeched off again, and I noticed that there were plastic garbage bags taped over the side of the van and the license plate. The group in the hoodies stopped just short of the intersection and looked right at me. The light turned green and I took off, very glad that I was driving the clues around tonight rather than walking.
As I drove off, I heard one of the guys scream, "Shit! What are we going to do?"
I placed the clues as quickly as I could, at the farmer's market, city hall, and train station. All the stops were within walking distance of each other, but I jumped into and out of the car as fast as I could at each stop, always keeping the doors locked and checking for suspicious white vans, large dogs, or roving bands of hoodies. All very unusual in this town. If there was time in the morning, I'd re-place some of the clues in better spots, like maybe in the city hall's tall bell tower that overlooked the whole downtown area, but there was no way I was climbing up there tonight.
As I drove home, I noticed that the light in the back of the Fantasy Shoppe was still on. I hoped that this was a good sign for the game launch. I was glad to be going home to a place with a locked garage, and I was glad tonight that I did not live alone. I didn’t think I'd be getting much sleep, regardless.
I called one of my friends for company as I drove.
"Hey, Lisa! Are you still coming tomorrow?"
"Are you kidding, Clara? Dave's been excited about this for weeks. He wouldn't let me miss it for anything, especially not the extra hour of sleep I wanted to get. Why'd you have to start this thing so early in the morning?"
"Sorry, sorry. We wanted to be done in time to BBQ at our place before it gets dark. So hunt fast. Hey, Dave plays Magic at the Fantasy Shoppe all the time. Did you hear about the Spirit Scheme thing?"
"Do not talk to me about that! I am so pissed off at those damned religious freaks. They think they know all the answers but they're just running around the world pissing everybody else off with their ignorance and their stupidity. And they're always trying to make the rest of us do what they want us to do. Separation of church and state, people!"
"Wow, you are really pissed! What's up?"
"Those assholes have been picketing the Shoppe for weeks and they've been telling their people to boycott the store. There are over 4000 members at that church! It's really hurting business and this is a small local shop; they can't afford it. Plus, they put one of their stupid leaflets on my car yesterday. It rained and the thing is now stuck underneath one of the wipers. Jerks."
By this time I was parked in the garage and feeling much calmer so I signed off and went inside to put the (finally sleeping!) Maggie to bed.
© 2004 by Sarahlynn at 2:01 AM
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