Wii loved D.C.

Our trip was fantastic! We drove through the night to get there, which wasn't actually that great, but it was ok I guess. Interesting, and difficult, but it saved us a lot of time which meant we could visit Matt and Laura longer. So we got there on Saturday and basically just went out to eat, which was fun until some stupid basketball game came on which everybody in the place was apparantly excited for, luckily we were pretty much done at that point because the continuous clapping was annoying. The next day we did a lot more touristy stuff-ate at a fancy restaurant for Restaurant week, which basically meant we had a really expensive lunch for really cheap. Good thing too, because some of the food was weird. Or gross, in the case of falafel and yogurt juice (2 separate dishes). Oh, and we went to church in Virginia which was pretty interesting, tiny though, but ok I guess. Anyway, we also went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw some cool things, most notably an exibit on Katherine Hepburn, the Stephen Colbert portrait (which was the only thing there that had a line waiting to see it), and the Hall of Presidents. It was really interesting to see all the presidents, especially the older ones, and to realize that they were actually real people with real personalities. It's hard to think about that sometimes when you read about history and the things that happened when certain people were president. I mean, some of them you're used to seeing, like George Washington or Abe Lincoln or JFK or the more recent ones. But most of them you don't really have any clue who they were, and seeing their pictures actually gives you some idea. At least I think so. In fact, you could almost tell by looking at them what kind of person they really were, or why they were elected, like war heroes or charming personalities or whatnot. Puts a new perspective on things, that's for sure.

The next day we all went to the Mall and saw the Washington Monument, and the White House (very impressive by the way, even though we couldn't go in), and then we went to the Museum of Natural History. That was really cool too-there are a gazillion stuffed animales (not toys, like actual animals that were dead or killed probably and then stuffed) and the Hope Diamond and some other really pretty gems, and we also went and saw Lions 3D. After all that we went and ate at Ben's Chili Bowl. Yum. We had a ton of good food on our trip. Like 5 Guys later on that week, and Matt made fajitas (his specialty). Eric and I also went and saw the rest of the monuments on the Mall on Wednesday and Thursday when Matt and Laura was at work, as well as the Holocaust museum, the Air and Space museum (including the exhibit Treasures of American History-more about that below), the Archives whatnot (like the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights), and the Spy museum, which was really fun. Interactive too, which made it really enjoyable.We also went to the Zoo with Matt, but unfortunately didn't get to see too much because the buildings all closed at 4:30, not 5 like we thought. We did get to see pandas though, and a hippo, and some other stuff. The only thing we didn't see that we were disappointed about was the sloth bear. Is it a bear, or is it a sloth? We'll never know.

The only other thing on our trip that we were disappointed about, and only slightly, was the Treasures of American History exhibit. It's about 150 really cool historical things, from George Washington's uniform and Abe Lincoln's hat to Prince's guitar and Dorothy's ruby slippers. And Kermit the Frog and R2-D2 and C-3P0. Unfortunately, Oprah was borrowing a couple of items, including Rocky Balboa's gloves and the RUBY SLIPPERS so she could show them on her show. Lame! We were seriously unhappy. Luckily for me, I've already seen the ruby slippers (and Kermit) when they were on tour a while back (I was in elementary school, and it was a field trip) but I wanted to see them again and Eric didn't get a chance to see them at all. So we were not happy about that. Stupid Oprah. That's right, I just called Oprah stupid. It's not like she's the pope or anything. Or hey, even the president. I could see the President borrowing treasures of American history before I can see Oprah doing it.

When we were not eating at cool restaurants or seeing cool monuments or visiting cool museums, we hung out at Matt and Laura's and played games and watched the rest of Firefly. Then once we were done with that, Matt bought Serenity so that whole storyline got wrapped up for us really well. Also, we played Wii bowling. A lot. It was really fun. In fact, at one point I played Wii bowling all by myself. That's right, I'm a loser. More like, they were playing a game I really didn't want to play so I amused myself for awhile with the Wii. Which led me to "discover" Wii tennis. I never though I would like any other game besides the bowling, but the tennis is awesome. So awesome, in fact, that on the night before Eric and I left we played for over an hour with Matt and Laura. Mostly until I was finally on a winning team. That's right-despite the fact that I played a ton of Wii bowling and some Wii tennis, I still suck at both of them. Although I did play enough bowling to make it to pro on their Wii. I even have my own character, so that's very exciting.

All in all, it was a really good trip. It was fun to see our nation's capital, and to visit Matt and Laura who we really don't get to see that much. We had a really good time visiting with them and we're really happy we went. Even though it was an insanely long drive. It was definitely worth it.

It's surrounded by guards... video monitors... and little families from Iowa... and little kids on their eighth grade field trips.

Just a few little things:

Volunteered at my mom's lock-in last Friday, went pretty well. The kids were very well behaved, if not very high-school-ish. Still, they all seemed to get along pretty well and there were no major problems. Had a lot of fun at gameworks bowling (mostly by myself) and playing some horse racing game. Did terrible at bowling-my high score was 97 I think. I'm going to blame it on the fact that I was wearing street shoes and it was 3:00 in the morning. Later, actually. Not that I'm a fantastic bowler, but a good game for me is over 100 at least. So I guess 97 isn't too bad. Mom and Dad are good bowlers. Better than me anyway. I need practice. Eric and I would like to join a bowling league but we're both awful so we'd have to be with people who didn't care. Which probably would be hard to find.

Watching a lot of movies/tv shows lately, some through Netflix and some not. It seems like sometimes that's the only thing Eric and I can find to do together. We're boring, and poor, and combine those two aspects and you get two people who watch a lot of tv. I'm almost done with Buffy-I'll get the last 2 discs of the final season on Wednesday, and will probably watch all of them while Eric is at work. We've also been watching Firefly (courtesty of Matt) and I've started Friends (courtesy of Lindsey). It's nice to have something to watch while we wait for Netflix to come, seeing as we don't have regular tv. I also finished watching Heroes online last week. Decent ending, sad in some ways and annoying in others. Meaning, I hate Sylar. Big time. But he's a really good, creepy bad guy. I almost feel bad for him-the actor anyway. I always thought it would be tough to play a bad guy because then people think you're a creepy guy.

Also been working a lot. Not as fun as watching tv. However, I'm only working 3 days this week because I need a break before Eric and I take our trip (a break before our break), mostly to get some sleep and pack and what not before we drive out to D.C. to visit Matt and Laura! I'm very excited for our trip, so is Eric, but we have a small problem, as in we have no clue how to get there. And we don't have a map. So, probably Thursday, the only free day for both of us before we leave for our trip on Friday, we're going to buy a US roadmap or whatever and plan out our trip! Which brings up another problem-where do you get a roadmap? Can you get it at Target or WalMart? Better figure that one out. We're leaving Friday night and driving straight through the night to get there Saturday evening. Hopefully we won't be too tired. We're going to buy some snacks along with that roadmap and hopefully something caffeinated. Matt and Laura both have Monday off from work (some kind of national holiday?) which means they'll have another full day to entertain us! Otherwise while they're at work we're just going to do stuff on our own. Like a couple of museums they've already seen and don't want to again (i.e., the Holocaust museum). I'm really excited to get to see a bunch of famous and cool museums (and in the case of the Holocaust museum depressing) that I have heard about but never even been close to before. I've never even been to the east coast, so I'm super excited. And Eric's barely been anywhere, so of course he's excited too. Plus we get to hang out with Matt and Laura, who we barely ever get to see. Basically, next week is going to be great!

Well, I'll tell you something, this is no longer a vacation . . . it's a quest! It's a quest for fun! I'm gonna have fun, and you're gonna have fun! We're all gonna have so much fu**ing fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our Goddamn smiles!

WOW

World of Warcraft is an example of one of the many computer or video games that dominates people's lives, turning them into a new kind of couch potato, unwilling to interact in the real world. Sure, it's a "social game" meaning the WOW-player can interact virtually, and if you have a headset, actually talk to people too. But I ask you, is that really social interaction? For starters, most of the "conversation" is about the game itself. While players occasionally chat about their lives, the social aspect of the game is severly overrated. What it really means is that they are playing a game with other people who have no lives. Real social. Secondly, is virtual interaction real interaction? Or is it just a fantasy world where the players don't have to deal with anybody that they don't want to? If you want my opinion, and since you're reading my blog I'll assume that you do, that isn't real social interaction. It's a way of convincing people around you that you should be allowed to play because it's not always a solo activity. On top of the "social interaction" of WOW, when players actually do leave their desk and interact in the real world, if there is anyone else around that plays World of Warcraft, they will be drawn to that person and there they will remain for the majority of the evening, chatting about the game, until one or both of their wives tears them apart. And I say wives because the vast majority of WOW players are men. Or boys. Members of the male sex anyway. Surprisingly, it seems as though more than a few are married, which I don't get.

Now, while this blog may appear harsh to those of you who are lucky enough not to live with someone who plays WOW, I assure you that this is a realistic situation. Admittedtly, it is not always the case that this is the situation, but it occurs frequently enough to occasionally drive a wife up the wall. It could be just a pet peeve that is matched by something else in other people's marriages. This is likely the case. Still, I have noticed a trend in the marriages that I have seen where one of the spouses plays WOW that the other spouse is often irritated by the game.* Coincidence? I think not.

*This is from a rough data collection of a total of 2 marriages and should not be considered the final word on the subject.

I'm sorry, the position of annoying talking animal has already been filled.