Guitar Hero makes you vomit

No, seriously, it does.  More about that in a moment.

I have been accused of adopting the new year's resolution to stop blogging.  That's not quite true.  Or I've fallen off the bandwagon after only two weeks.  Either way, I feel a little more inclined to type something here.

Perhaps it was the new year peeping its head around the corner that startled me from my navel-gazing.  It has been hella busy around the Fraser household the past couple weeks.  There's always so much to do after Christmas.  You'd think that after the holiday fervor had run its course we'd be rewarded with a little down time to regroup, take stock of our status, and plan a little for what the next eleven and a half months will bring.  But no, that's nowhere near what happens.  Life's unfair like that.  We still have our string of Christmas cards hanging in the kitchen and are all bothered about what to do about it.  Like, for example, we have to compare all those names to the names on the list of Christmas cards we sent out this year and make sure that the lists align for next year so as not to hurt any feelings and all that.  And do we keep the cards that were hand-made, and the cards that weren't really cards but those adorable Christmas photos of an idyllically posed family in a pristine Christmas setting with the ubiquitous caption that reads something like, "Merry Christmas 2007 from the Smiths!"?  What do we do??

It's having thoughts like this that put a crimp in our efficiency during the weeks as they sneak past.  And when you have to do seven loads of laundry on the weekend, you need to insert some efficiency in there somewhere.  We wouldn't have had to do so many loads, but Tavish came down with SOMETHING last week that had him ejecting whatever used to be in his stomach.  Made me very happy that I put laminate in the boys' rooms rather than the cruddy carpet that used to be in there.  Easier to clean.  Poor kid had me and Amy up four or five times one night last week.  I seem to have a stronger stomach for that sort of thing than my wife does, so I got to clean up more of the linens, but it was rather unpleasant for all involved.  And it was again a couple nights later when the wee lad came back on stage for a rockin' encore.

In spite of all the fun we were having, I decided to take Sunday afternoon off and go hang out at a friend's house.  A group of us was supposed to get together for a rousing game of ball hockey on an outdoor tennis court where we play infrequently, but the commitment couldn't be roused in time from enough guys, so I still went out to the erstwhile organiser's house, citing social withdrawal as the driving force.  (Seriously, I don't get out much.)

After hearing about his honeymoon trip to Europe from October, we got down to the nitty gritty: Guitar Hero III.  I've played a couple times before on older versions of the game, but never with the sense of commitment or single-mindedness that was evident on Sunday.  We started a brand new band and went from the beginning of the game right to the end in just under four hours, on medium difficulty.  We didn't play the songs that got unlocked by finishing the game; our fret fingers were getting pretty sore at that point.

My buddy's wife cooked us up some healthy, deep-fried, battered and cheesy snacks, and I also had a few beers.  Combined with whatever it was may have afflicted my younger son, and then catalyzed by the beer and greasy food... well, I shan't go into the gory details, but I haven't purged like that since the horrible Oktoberfest fiasco of 2001.  (Which was sort of the first date I had with the woman who is now my wife, and whom I blame for that turning into the fiasco it was but, again, this is not the place for those details.)

Some chicken noodle soup and a good long sleep later, I was feeling about 70% when I woke up Monday morning.  I think I've only taken four or five sick days in the eight-plus years I've been with this company, so 70% wasn't quite enough to keep me home.

I just hope now that we've seen the end of our insides at home for the next long while.  We still have more laundry to do before we're caught up.

Comments

[Tasha]

You have my express permisson to recycle our Xmas card with pleasure. You must, however, memorize our newsletter word for word.

Just cuz.

Sorry you were sick. Stomach flus are awful for everyone.

[Émilie B]

This further confirms my theory that New Year wishes of health and joy are just the best conduit for sharing viruses and bacteria. "Best wishes of health... here take my stomach flu to start 2008 with!"

[Mark]

Dude, that blows.

Chunks, that is.

But seriously, sorry about all the puking at your house. Neither Shannon nor I can take much of that kind of thing, so we were blessed with the right child in that respect (only two pukes in 4.5 years, and one was strictly due to car sickness, and that includes spit-up). I'm not bragging or rubbing it in when I say that. It's just a mind-boggling statistic no matter whose kid it is. In fact, I'm not sure he's human.

You know, besides glancing as I walked by a demo in an electronics store, I never saw Guitar Hero in action until this past Christmas.

And it was Guitar Hero III. To me, it was neat to see today's teenagers enjoying those old songs. Some newer songs, too, but also classics like "Magic Carpet Ride."

What a great afternoon, except for your grand finale. I'm going to have to cook up an afternoon like that for myself one of these days. I guess my night of playing Halo (for the first time ever) with Sheik was pretty cool.

[marian]

Well, as excuses go, I guess this one will have to do. But ball hockey? Have you no ice?

[Terri]

*Car...GAME ON*

[Moksha Gren]

I had heard about Tavish fountain from Amy, but it's no less upseting to hear about again. Sick kids are tough to take. I'd much rather be sick than have Norah take the brunt of it...both for her sake and for mine. But, I'm glad things seem to be settling back down to normal.

I haven't played Guitar Hero III, although I spent many an hour on the first one. My circle of friends have been on a Rock Band kick of late. Basically Guitar Hero with drums, mic, and bass. Pure geek bliss, man.

Our Christmas cards are still in our kitchen for the exact same reason. We'll probably store away the pictures in a nice little file but launch the cards (even the hand made ones.) They've served their duty of spreading joy...hanging onto them past their time seems to defeat the purpose. In other words, feel free to say a fond farewell to our card.

Good to have you back in the blogs

[Simon]

Tasha, thanks, we'll probably recycle your card (what a load off!) and I'll do my best to recite your newsletter back to you next time we meet as proof of my dedication.

Émy, that does seem to have been the new year's trend around here. Goddamned stomach flu!

Mark, I hate that Ben has only puked twice in his life. Have I regaled you with how often each of our boys puked on us for the first NINE MONTHS of their lives, respectively?? Like, two or three dozen times PER DAY! I wish I could somehow share that with you in a more visceral way. But Guitar Hero rocks!

Marian, yes there is ice. But ball hockey on a deserted tennis court is just so much fun. And, quite frankly, I can't skate worth shit.

Terri, a more iconic Canadian phrase would be hard to conjure.

Moksha, yes, sick kids are way more upsetting that being sick. If there were some magical device that could transfer their sickness to me so I could suffer in their stead, I'd totally do that. I think we'll end up sharing the same Christmas card philosophy too. Good to be back in the blogs.

[Dave]

Sorry to hear you and Tav were sick Simon.

Sometimes, these things just happen... hopefully, not too often.

[fv]

1) I have only ever played ball hockey. I just never hung out with people who played ice hockey.

2) Does that mean you did not play "Through the Fire and Flames" (the unlocked song played thu the credits? That song is crizazy!