Last night, my husband and I walked down the street to a different person's house than we usually walk down the street to go to. This couple is part of my husband's current work unit, or whatever you want to call it. We have never been to their house in a social setting. I have been multiple times to let their dog out to go to the bathroom. And my husband has been several times for various reasons. But, last night we went in a social way carrying a box of beer. Seriously, it was a box of beer.
We arrived and I stood like my usual awkward self for awhile before I went to subject myself to the cold evening of the dirt hole night. They had a fire going, but it did not do much to keep me warm. We sat out there for an unknown amount of time, eating and listening to pilot stories. A couple times, one of the other wives (known as P at times here) asked why they talk about pilot stuff when they are not there as they live it. Her husband (known as D here at times) said, "Because we can't talk about it like this there!"
After I lost feeling in my legs and my hands were blue (from my dark wash jeans, not from being cold but trying to keep them warm by rubbing them on my pants) we finally went inside with the offer to play Rockband.
I knew loosely what Rockband was. I knew it was a sort of video game that you played music or pretended you were in a Rockband. It was like Guitar Hero, only with drums and a singer. I knew this. I did not know how intense it was, or how much it took to be in this Rockband.
The first round of songs, we learned that D wasn't the best guitar player in the world and that J couldn't sing. (I am not sure if he was really trying to sing or he was doing it on purpose.) After another song of D failing out, Steele took the guitar and showed us all D really wasn't very good and he made it look easy. My husband took tips from Steele on how to play the contraption, which doesn't really work like a real guitar from what I could tell. D was amazed at the skill my husband managed to play the thing, and did not seem to understand that my husband just took tips from Steele for the first time he was to play the guitar.
I was avid I was not going to play anything in this game. I am an avid video game hater. I have been this way since I was 16 and my "boyfriend" and his best friend would spent precisous hours playing wrestling video games. I hated sitting there watching them play the stupid game when he could have been paying attention to me, who he did not see or speak to very often. (Bad relationship in the long run.) Thus, I hated video games. I felt they were stupid and pointless and I refused to play them. In college, I did not come across video games too often, and when I would I would refuse to play. I would state I was morally apposed to video games for myself, and people just accepted this. I had another "boyfriend" who was into video games (I even helped pay for an "air conditoned" video game controller...") He wanted to 1) finish the game he was playing before hanging out with me and would 2) say he would call me back after his game was done. He never called me back. He was the boyfriend who would say he had to go to the bathroom and would call me back and would never call me back. He spent two weeks in the bathroom once.
After I graduated from college, I knew my husband, who would play video games with his brothers. It seemed to be something he would do with the two brothers. If I called while he was playing, he would talk to me for a few minutes and then say, "Can I call you back?" He always called me back in maybe a half hour at most. I would sometimes go over to the house that contained the video games, but while I was there, they would almost never play. I would only hear stories of my husband to be playing video games.
Then A (our friend who lives down the street from us and has two dogs)returned from Indiana with his famed PS2 (he has claimed since he met us a year ago, he had this PS2, and even his wife did not believe it existed). They bought some games, and suddenly playing video games was something we did on a weekend night. The first time I was over there when this video gamming was going on, I thought I wouldn't play. I was never any good at video games to begin with, but they said, "You just push buttons."
So I did. I did okay. It was't anything like NBA Live96 I used to play with my brother at our uncle's house (my brother and I never had video games as kids. My brother did not get a video game unit until he was in high school and bought it himself). I was never any good at NBA Live mostly because I just like to run and shoot and make the guys look like they were dancing and flying.
Anyways, since the PS2 entered my life, I have played Mortal Combate and Dance, Dance Revolution a few times. Also, since the PS2 appeared, D seemed to have gotten a game unit and has Grand Theft Auto, which he and my husband play at times. I do not play because I think its more fun to watch than play (I used to do this to my brother when he'd play that game or one of his war games.)
Last night, when they all moved into play Rockband, I figured I'd just watch. Then, after P sang a song, she was like, "Ireland, you have to do it if I did. All you have to do is mumble along."
It was true during her song, I hardly heard her. She did not fail out at any point, so I was like fine. I'll give it a shot. I took the mic and after about five minutes of trying to find a song I knew well enough I wouldn't embarass myself, I began. I picked out No Doubt's "Sunday Morning." I went through the song, singing along thankful that Gwen's voice was louder than mine and it almsot felt like I was singing along with iTunes, only holding a mic and being watched by everyone. It seemed to be a big deal I was doing the singing, so there are pictures somewhere out there of it.
I finished and I was shaking. Just like after the time I sang my solo (forced mind you) for voice lessons. At that moment I vowed I'd never sing alone in front of people agian. I have now failed at this, as I did it last night. I am not sure anyone really heard me. I never heard me through the speakers. After I was done and everyone was like, "You did it Ireland, it wasn't that bad." D noticed, as the final scores popped up, I managed to get 100%.
Huh?
"I don't think I've ever seen that," K, the hostess, said, looking at me and praising me like she might praise one of her high school students. There was a chorus of contrags on getting 100% and my husband announced I had been in chior. I am not sure what this had to do with anything.
I did another song later, Linkin Park's "One Step Closer" which D could not believe I knew all the words to, but I did not see the score.
Once I got home, I realized I had managed to kick D's butt again at a game, as a few months ago, I kicked his butt at bowling, which seemed to wound him as I did not see him for weeks. I guess he did not see my 100% score as such, as he called wanting us to go to another guy's house for the Superbowl. However, we're going to A's house. We watched the Superbowl with A and his wife, R, last year and he launched himself off the couch when the Patriots lost. It was great.
We arrived and I stood like my usual awkward self for awhile before I went to subject myself to the cold evening of the dirt hole night. They had a fire going, but it did not do much to keep me warm. We sat out there for an unknown amount of time, eating and listening to pilot stories. A couple times, one of the other wives (known as P at times here) asked why they talk about pilot stuff when they are not there as they live it. Her husband (known as D here at times) said, "Because we can't talk about it like this there!"
After I lost feeling in my legs and my hands were blue (from my dark wash jeans, not from being cold but trying to keep them warm by rubbing them on my pants) we finally went inside with the offer to play Rockband.
I knew loosely what Rockband was. I knew it was a sort of video game that you played music or pretended you were in a Rockband. It was like Guitar Hero, only with drums and a singer. I knew this. I did not know how intense it was, or how much it took to be in this Rockband.
The first round of songs, we learned that D wasn't the best guitar player in the world and that J couldn't sing. (I am not sure if he was really trying to sing or he was doing it on purpose.) After another song of D failing out, Steele took the guitar and showed us all D really wasn't very good and he made it look easy. My husband took tips from Steele on how to play the contraption, which doesn't really work like a real guitar from what I could tell. D was amazed at the skill my husband managed to play the thing, and did not seem to understand that my husband just took tips from Steele for the first time he was to play the guitar.
I was avid I was not going to play anything in this game. I am an avid video game hater. I have been this way since I was 16 and my "boyfriend" and his best friend would spent precisous hours playing wrestling video games. I hated sitting there watching them play the stupid game when he could have been paying attention to me, who he did not see or speak to very often. (Bad relationship in the long run.) Thus, I hated video games. I felt they were stupid and pointless and I refused to play them. In college, I did not come across video games too often, and when I would I would refuse to play. I would state I was morally apposed to video games for myself, and people just accepted this. I had another "boyfriend" who was into video games (I even helped pay for an "air conditoned" video game controller...") He wanted to 1) finish the game he was playing before hanging out with me and would 2) say he would call me back after his game was done. He never called me back. He was the boyfriend who would say he had to go to the bathroom and would call me back and would never call me back. He spent two weeks in the bathroom once.
After I graduated from college, I knew my husband, who would play video games with his brothers. It seemed to be something he would do with the two brothers. If I called while he was playing, he would talk to me for a few minutes and then say, "Can I call you back?" He always called me back in maybe a half hour at most. I would sometimes go over to the house that contained the video games, but while I was there, they would almost never play. I would only hear stories of my husband to be playing video games.
Then A (our friend who lives down the street from us and has two dogs)returned from Indiana with his famed PS2 (he has claimed since he met us a year ago, he had this PS2, and even his wife did not believe it existed). They bought some games, and suddenly playing video games was something we did on a weekend night. The first time I was over there when this video gamming was going on, I thought I wouldn't play. I was never any good at video games to begin with, but they said, "You just push buttons."
So I did. I did okay. It was't anything like NBA Live96 I used to play with my brother at our uncle's house (my brother and I never had video games as kids. My brother did not get a video game unit until he was in high school and bought it himself). I was never any good at NBA Live mostly because I just like to run and shoot and make the guys look like they were dancing and flying.
Anyways, since the PS2 entered my life, I have played Mortal Combate and Dance, Dance Revolution a few times. Also, since the PS2 appeared, D seemed to have gotten a game unit and has Grand Theft Auto, which he and my husband play at times. I do not play because I think its more fun to watch than play (I used to do this to my brother when he'd play that game or one of his war games.)
Last night, when they all moved into play Rockband, I figured I'd just watch. Then, after P sang a song, she was like, "Ireland, you have to do it if I did. All you have to do is mumble along."
It was true during her song, I hardly heard her. She did not fail out at any point, so I was like fine. I'll give it a shot. I took the mic and after about five minutes of trying to find a song I knew well enough I wouldn't embarass myself, I began. I picked out No Doubt's "Sunday Morning." I went through the song, singing along thankful that Gwen's voice was louder than mine and it almsot felt like I was singing along with iTunes, only holding a mic and being watched by everyone. It seemed to be a big deal I was doing the singing, so there are pictures somewhere out there of it.
I finished and I was shaking. Just like after the time I sang my solo (forced mind you) for voice lessons. At that moment I vowed I'd never sing alone in front of people agian. I have now failed at this, as I did it last night. I am not sure anyone really heard me. I never heard me through the speakers. After I was done and everyone was like, "You did it Ireland, it wasn't that bad." D noticed, as the final scores popped up, I managed to get 100%.
Huh?
"I don't think I've ever seen that," K, the hostess, said, looking at me and praising me like she might praise one of her high school students. There was a chorus of contrags on getting 100% and my husband announced I had been in chior. I am not sure what this had to do with anything.
I did another song later, Linkin Park's "One Step Closer" which D could not believe I knew all the words to, but I did not see the score.
Once I got home, I realized I had managed to kick D's butt again at a game, as a few months ago, I kicked his butt at bowling, which seemed to wound him as I did not see him for weeks. I guess he did not see my 100% score as such, as he called wanting us to go to another guy's house for the Superbowl. However, we're going to A's house. We watched the Superbowl with A and his wife, R, last year and he launched himself off the couch when the Patriots lost. It was great.
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