My Only Gaming Addiction

I have a new addiction, Civilization IV. I finally have the computer running well enough to play it, so only ages after its release I bought it. In a mad dash to get my much coveted game, I bused, I ran, I bused home, and immediately installed. I was quite enthusiastic. Now I'm building kick arse civilizations that totally rock. Ok, I think my civilizations may not rock compared to seasoned game addicts, but it's better than all the other civilizations in the game so I'm happy.

It's an odd addiction, since I'm of the gaming sucks crusty balls mentality. I do not understand Playstation, or XBox, or computer games in general. However I do understand, and possess deep and abiding love for the Civilization games. I get all giddy playing them, and find myself able to focus for hours at a time. That in itself is an extreme personal anomaly, as I usually have trouble focusing for more than five minutes unless I'm doped up to the eyeballs on Benzos. Civilization IV is better than clonazepam!
Well, right up until I start considering the nature of my civilization. You know the whole world dominance, and I'm the superpower determined to hang onto my power by any means necessary, thing. Then I feel all guilty, and kind of American-slash-gnerally Western. Creating Hegemony where possible, and kicking arse when I want some more resources. And god help them if they piss me off! I like my tools of modern warfare, and I will wait until I'm more advanced than every other puny civilization and then bomb them into almost oblivion.

Yes people, I am capable of feeling all guilty and morally corrupt while playing a game. Like back when I used to play CivIII and I would demolish a civilization, but always leave that civilization one city because I couldn't quite bring myself to totally destroy the poor buggers.

I definitely have issues.
I blame it on my pinko inclinations. If I was a nice shade of classical liberal I probably wouldn't go all guilt trippy over kicking the arses of simulated civilizations. In fact I may even want to trample and maim a few real ones, you know, because they suck and won't do as I say.

Yes, I do have Hobbies. Kinda.

Ever since I got myself a digicam for Christmas 2004 I've been on an half-hearted photography kick. That is, I ocassionally get it into my head that I must take photos. I totally blame it on the rubber duckies. One day I had my much loved rubber duckies sitting in the bathroom sink while I cleaned the windowsill they usually called home, and all of a sudden the camera came out. At the time I was quite happy with my duckie pictures and yet another, when I can be bothered, hobby was born.

Digital cameras are like gold for people like me.
To be honest I started liking the idea of photography about seven years ago when it was a compulsory module for an art course I was doing. Only then it was film cameras, money, and darkroom access that was the thing. Not cheap. No good for a pauper. So it just didn't really happen.

But along came my now tragically inadequate Kodak CX7330. And I've been haphazardly taking photos ever since. Not often, with no clue about technique, just for fun. And I have the flickr account to prove it.

I'm not good. I'm not dedicated. But why not?

And thanks to a comment from Span I've decided to be totally shameless and post some of my latest attempts at being all conceptually amateur here.



This is the one that generated a fair bit of attention, and currently resides on my blog to add a little colour to my rather dull template.



This is my favourite even though other people don't seem to like it much.

And the next three, just well ARE. They're all taken in the past few days (including the two above), cross processed in photoshop, and now clogging up the internet with more wannabe photography.
They all also feature me. I put that bloody Kodak CX7330 on a stool, used the delayed shot thingamabob, and that's that.

I had no idea what I was doing, and I fear it may show to others more knowledgeable, but I kinda like them, so there.







Now all I have to do is get myself a good camera, because I'm operating under the wildly misguided presumption that I will take better pictures if I have a camera that rocks.