Animal Crossing

Oh... Animal Crossing: Wild World.....

My (mostly female) friends and I love to play this game on the Nintendo DS.

Now, I enjoy it, although I do find it as pointless as The Sims and other games of its kind.

But for about an hour the other night we all played for about an hour, sitting on the floor, DS to DS connecting and playing in each other’s towns.

In Animal Crossing, the best of all the capitalism simulations, you buy houses, collect furniture, make friends with woodland creatures, and watch the small business in your town turn into wal*mart proportions. While running around shaking my friends’ fruit trees and seeing what new clothes they had at the clothes store, I am reminded of my childhood.

I am reminded of playing house with my friends. Dressing up in aprons, talking about our imaginary animal friends, generally doing similar things that this little virtual world has laid out for us.

And I smile because my actions haven’t changed, only the medium I am doing them thru. I smile because maybe I’m not as grown up as I thought. Maybe I can live in that world where I can play with my friends a little longer. Thru Animal Crossing, going to dinner, or just sitting and talking into all hours of the night.

I used to play with my Dad too, but that 's not really something that so much supports my thesis, as much as it tells how addictive the little game could be.

Well, I’m off to shake trees. Nookingtons’ is closing soon.

New Beginnings or How I stopped worrying and learned to love the bus

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It is close to the new semester.
The only problem with going on a trip with your friends right before sememster starts is that seeing your friends was the only thing driving you to go back to class... and if you've already seen your friends, well. Then it is just class.

Things I've learned (part one)
A 8+ hour bus ride is generally fruitless
where we find that the lowest form of communication is not, in fact, blogging, but pictochat on the Nintendo DS.
Because how many times can you draw fecal matter, genitalia, or animals in party hats and be amused?
It turns out to be much longer than antipated.

Sleep is a good alterative, if one wishes.
Much to the probable chagrin of my seat-mate, Amanda, I did.
And who knows what kind of snoring, muttering and drooling I subjected the poor girl to.

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