Jinked

This morning I spent a couple hours fine-tuning edits for “Will,” which included completely axing 2,000 or so words. I like to be concise; I like leaving things up to the reader. Not everything, but a lot of things. Next comes all the smoothing, tying the loose ends and making sure it works the way it should. “Will” is a machine. It needs to work. I’m going to do something with it, or at the very least try.

This afternoon I went to visit my friend Shaun. I hadn’t seen him since spring when we were last role playing. I was long overdue for a visit. We went to CiCis’ Pizza, talked about the future, jobs and friendships and his level 10 necromancer. We went back home to bullshit before he went to work the other half of his split shift and played a little SoulCalibur.

I hadn’t played a video game in a very long time. Actually, I think the last time I sat down to play a game was in April, which is fine. As much as I love video games, I will be the first to admit I have long since fallen out of the loop when it comes to all the new stuff. I still don’t own any of the next-gen systems. It’s not a high priority in my life right now, nor should it be.

Nevertheless when Shaun put in SoulCalibur IV, said, “We’re going to watch the intro because it’s pretty badass,” and a very beautiful opening sequence began to play, I felt a twinge of nostalgia.

My friend Rahsaan and I have many times discussed video games and whether or not they can and should be considered art. I’m in the camp of “no” right now for a variety of reasons that would require a whole other blog post, yet I was still moved watching this eye-candy opener. I could taste my childhood. I got that giddy, awe-inspiring feeling inside me watching the screen. My finger tingled. My heartbeat picked up just a bit. I got a strange sensation moving over the nape of my neck. I remember watching my father play The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the very first time and feeling the same way.

And then I remember playing Chrono Trigger and Xenogears and Star Ocean III and Vagrant Story. I remember the twist in my stomach and a little voice inside me whispering, “This is going to be great. We’re going on an adventure and it’s going to be great. Who knows what will happen or who we will meet or where we will end up at the very, very end?”

The places you go. The people you see. The things you take back with you from behind the screen.

I miss those feelings, that experience of newness and adventure in a series of discs. They were a big part of my life, in my growing up, shaping me into me and inspiring me a million ways to Sunday. Playing a pointless fighter, button mashing and laughing and spending time with Shaun for one afternoon, inspired me. Greatly.

I never know where that road to adventure will go, nor will I realize with what it is paved. Quite frankly, I see that as an adventure in itself.