Lee McKusick

Happy New Year to all! It is the start of a wonderful new year, 2008, and I can hardly wait to see what the next 366 days will bring us. (Yes, it is a leap year this year.)

I’m not a big fan of resolutions, as I don’t often follow through like most people. But in the interest of tradition and setting goals and whatnot, I’ll make a resolution for 2008: to build my internet presence. If I’m going to be a successful web designer/developer, I should probably be reasonably known around my workplace. Plus, I’ve taken an interest in social media, and I want to get more involved, as it’s certainly the way the Internet is heading. Plus, one never knows whom one might meet.

My New Years was pretty cool. My family spent the night at our friends’ house; we had a nice dinner, hung out for a while, watched the ball drop, toasted the new year. You gotta hand it to Dick Clark, though. The guy’s 78 years old, he had a stroke 3 years ago, and he’s still out there at midnight ringing in the new year. I guess Ryan Seacrest is taking over next year though. It’s like Bob Barker being replaced by Drew Carey. Oh well.

Anyway, our friends have a Wii, and this is the first opportunity I’ve gotten to play one. They’ve only got Wii Sports, but I have to say I want one. My mother agrees, also. If you don’t know my mother, this is relatively shocking. Granted, this is the woman who with me took a giant piece of cardboard paper and mapped out the entire map of the original NES Legend of Zelda. But this is also the same woman who can’t stand to play a game like Mario 64 because it’s “too 3D.” So the likelyhood of her getting excited about a video game system is reasonably slim.

Now I’m kicking myself, too. Let me set a scene for you: Wal-mart on Christmas Eve in the afternoon. Aisles bustling with the franticness of many a procrastinating shopper. (Let me also interject here that my family doesn’t give gifts for Christmas. The commercialism of the holidays is a spotlight for the worst in people [Example to follow], and what does it have to do with the celebration on the birth of Christ, anyway?) Me and Dad were there for some stuff, so grabbed what we needed and went to get in line in the electronics department. We’re right behind this woman who was on a cell phone, with a giant Guitar Hero III box in the cart, arguing with her husband about it, calling him a stupid idiot, blah, blah, blah. Finally she hung up, put GHIII back, and stormed off with her daughter (who was rolling her eyes). It was all rather amusing. (Of course, we just smiled and said “Merry Christmas.” And people wonder why we’re so stress-free during the holidays…). BUT, and the point of this whole tirade, is that they had just gotten a shipment of Wiis about 20 minutes before we got there, and had about 3 left.

Dad asked me if I wanted one. Now, knowing how scarce these things were, knowing what sort of potential resale value these things have, and knowing that this probably wasn’t gonna happen again anytime soon, I should have just kept my mouth shut and nodded. But noooo, I had to be the practical one. “Do I want one? Sure. Though there’s a difference between ‘Do I want one?’ and ‘Is it practical?’” I said. Yes, folks, I am an idiot. Because now my Mom is sending me on a mission to “find me a Wii.” Yeah, that’ll happen.

Anyway, I don’t want to kick off 2008 with a rant. SImply put, the Wii is awesome. It’s a wonderful social centerpiece. The 4-player bowling is a great way to spend time with your friends/family. And the boxing is a good way to beat the crap outta somebody without actually hurting them. I also like the idea of the daily training in Wii Sports. Nintendo has definitely done something right with their newest console. It appeals to everyone, even people who would never consider themselves gamers. Too bad they’re so hard to find.

Anybody wanna get me a Wii? Pretty please? =)

Happy New Year to all of you.

Lee

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