E3, The Sims, and Me
The year is 2006. We could go back even further, but we will start here. A very distraught Leslie is in Kokomo Indiana. This is where people go to get pregnant and die. That is all they do there (and meth). But I am there. After living it up In Lafayette for a time, running out of money and with no healthcare, I have tucked tail and returned home. I have two shitty jobs and an even shittier outlook on life, thanks to living back at home with someone I do not mesh with at all.
I am working on myself. Truly. I have re-enrolled in school and am going to get my associates in computer information technology. I am working with a therapist and was surprisingly diagnosed with something that has plagued me my whole life. I got medication for it and it made it easier to return to school.
Life is still hard though. I am in a town I do not want to be in. Small town, small mentality. It sucked the soul out of me. All of my friends wanted to party and drink and I was slowly growing out of that phase in my life. I wanted more. I wanted stores that don’t close early on Sunday evening. I wanted a nightlife that included culture and local music. I wanted the demands to attend church to stop. I. WANTED. MORE.
I ended up spending more and more time by myself. Friday’s were for Chinese takeout and a rental from blockbuster. I’d also get popcorn and a candy if I was feeling extra. I’d work on homework and look for a better job. I’d also play The Sims.
My mother didn’t understand my fascination with The Sims. “Go outside!” she would say. “You can do all of the things you are doing on this game in the real world!” Could I though? Could I really? Is there a way to Ctrl+Alt+C in my life and type in MOTHERLODE and be the recipient of $50,000? If that is the case could someone give me this secret, because mama still got student loans to pay.
Could I then use that cheat code multiple times in order to get the house I want, work whatever career I find interesting, because it doesn’t matter how much I make, I have plenty of money? Could I randomly find a man, eat a bunch of fruit and give birth to twin girls like I wanted?
The Sims was my escape. An escape I so desperately needed in such a trying emotional stage in my life. I would build generations of families and pass down the wealth. Create elaborate houses for them to live in with every whim cared for.
Meanwhile, I was floundering emotionally. For the first time in my life school was going great, I’d found a job that while the pay was still horrible, the pay was better than anything I’d earned. My personal life was in shambles. But two years was all I needed.
I played The Sims. Constantly. I didn’t have much else to do, so this is what I did. I retreated into this world. It may have been a little unhealthy, but it kept me sane. For every verbally abusive instance I endured, The Sims was there. I invented lives, better lives than I ever thought I would get to live. I was happy. My characters were happier than I ever thought I would be.
Two years came and went. I met someone. I graduated, I left a shitty life and even shittier job behind. I moved on to more schooling and a bigger city. Life was great. My Sims playing slacked off a bit. I still grabbed the other itineration of The Sims, because I love the game. It’s no longer an escape for me however. It is just a pure joyous pleasure to play.
It’s 2019. I am in a wonderful job. I have a house of my own. A family that I care very deeply about, and I still play The Sims. This time, I let a Geeky Baby join me on the designing. She is fascinated by the babies. “The baby is crying! Help it!” I don’t really use cheats anymore. I like them to work their way up. The latest family started in a house half built I got on the exchange. She kept doing freelance work until she could afford things for it. She met a guy, got married, had a baby, had twins, and is living her best life with them. They have money, they have things, everyone is pretty much happy.
This is my Sims Story.
EA is not at E3 this year. They had their own thing called EA Play. It was here where they announced a new expansion of The Sims 4, it is called Island Living. It looks like fun. There are mermaids and dolphins involved which is always a plus for me. The island (Sulani) changes based on how you care for it. Knowing me it will be a desolate island with one beautiful but foreboding house in the background. They also teased a magic expansion pack this fall as well as some goodies for Pride, starting June 18th. I can’t wait.
I will probably pick it up and play the expansions with Geeky Baby where she demands I paint everything black. We will fuss back and forth about it, but I will eventually create a house that she can make all of her own. EA, thank you so much for creating a game that provides so much merriment to me. It also provided a light through the darkness of my life at a certain time.
My Top 10 Favorite Cartoons Growing Up
- She-Ra Princess of Power
http://www.comicvine.com/she-ra/4005-46389/forums/casting-call-she-ra-princess-of-power-535876/
This is probably what started my fascination with powerful female figures. My most vivid childhood memory is from getting a slew of toys from this show. She-Ra was awesome. She may have been timid when she was Princess Adora, but there was none of that when she changed into She-Ra. The twin sister of He-Man had her hands full trying to reclaim Etheria along with her fellow rebels from Hordak and the Horde. If they ever decided to do a Grayskull movie, can we please have our home girl in it? That would be fantastic. Honestly, if they need a story, they need to look no further than the recent comic book series for He-Man at DC. There is your movie story. Make her the villain and let her grow, just like in the comics. It was epic storytelling. Honestly if Hordak is supposed to be as evil and scary, scarier that Skeletor even, as he was portrayed in the cartoon how in the world did Princess Adora remain so sweet after she was kidnapped as a baby and raised by Hordak. The person she becomes in the comics is much more believable. If you love She-Ra definitely check out that story arc. I just hope they bring her back eventually to become She-Ra in that comic series.
2. Jem and the Holograms
http://www.lowtimespodcast.com/i-choose-fiction-jem-and-the-holograms/
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love 80’s music. Terrible or not I consume all of it, and the music takes me to my happy place. Is it really hard to believe that a show that lives and breathes 80’s music and ran by an awesome chick band would be something I would hold dear? Nope, not really. Jerrica Benton and her friends and sister start a rock bend to fund the needs of a group of orphans. What they ended up having was a hit. With the help of a special computer named Synergy Jerrica was able to create a hologram over herself turning her into Jem. The band not only performs, but constantly foils the devious plans cooked up by rival band, the Misfits, and Eric Raymond. I own the whole series now, and it is always a fun show to revisit with friends and criticize it from an adult perspective. From the girl that wanted to change her name to Kimber this is definitely at the top of my list. I am ecstatic that they announced officially that they are doing a movie. They have opened up a lot of the production facets to the fans, and this girl is going to get in line if they open up the writing. I’m so excited!
3. Sailor Moon
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/sailor-moon-is-the-best/images/32244147/title/sailor-moon-photo
I can’t remember how many times I got into trouble for watching this show. It came on early in the morning at 6:30 am, and instead of getting up earlier to actually make myself presentable for school, I would waste the time away and watch this only to be yelled at for procrastinating. It’s what I did and barely made it to the bus on time. It is the story of Usagi, Serena for the American version, a clumsy, ditzy young fourteen year-old girl that is the complete opposite of every hero ever created. She gets powers and finds out she is the reincarnation of an ancient moon princess. Her friends, and former guardians from once upon a time, help her battle the forces of evil that come and threaten the planet earth. They don’t ever get far with Sailor Moon standing in their way. She may be clumsy and ditzy, but what she has is a heart full of love. That is what ultimately makes her the most powerful guardian in the entire galaxy. This was awesome for me and I was super bummed when my local station just quick showing it midway through season two. I was probably in late high school when they started showing in on the Cartoon Network. Alas, I had no cable. It wouldn’t be until college that I got to finish the series, not only that, but I was introduced to the Japanese version. That my friends is a whole new ballgame. I can’t even watch the American version anymore. It drives me crazy. They announced recently that the creator is bringing it back. Many fans of all ages including myself is eager for this to come out. I can only hope it will still be awesome.
4. X-Men
http://collider.com/dvd/reviews/article.asp/aid/11873/tcid/3
This was bonding time for my brother and I. We watched several stuff that the other liked over the years, but this was the probably one of the few shows we were on the same page for. A group of mutants, humans given special abilities due to a specific gene, ran by the compassionate figure of Charles Xavier, Professor X, were constantly in a battle to make peace between mutants and the humans they scared or were hated by. This was never any easy task, but persistence and morality drove them all to constantly choose the right thing to do. That is pretty awesome considering a seven year difference. This was probably the first most serious cartoon I ever started to watch. There was ton of conflict and ton of characterization. I loved the kick ass ladies as well. It has a lot do with why I am a comic fan.
5. Muppet Babies
http://voltronranger.com/muppet-babies-rocked-our-imaginations/
I was a huge Muppets fan when I was a kid, and when this show started, it was epic times. It was all our favorite Muppet characters as babies making each day go by with their vivid imaginations. I doubt this show will ever be released in the US on any kind of format due to all of the special movie and television scenes borrowed by the show, the above picture being an example. That is what made this show so fun. It is unfortunate, but sorting out the rights in our world after everything being bought, sold, and merged is probably a massive nightmare. My parents took me to a live performance of this when I was a kid, and I was still pretty little. I remember walking with them down a hallway and the actors were coming out dressed up in their giant Muppet Babies costumes. I broke from my parents and sprinted towards Miss Piggy. I latched on to her leg in the biggest hug, because I believed at the time that this was Miss Piggy. Bless the actor’s heart, they were really good to me and played along. It is a memory I shall never forget.
6. Talespin
http://www.digital-polyphony.com/28talespin.htm
Who cares that Disney recycled the characters from the Jungle Book, this was good television. Disney had an exceptional run with cartoons in the 90’s, but if I had to choose from one of the earlier greats it would be this. Baloo is a cargo plane pilot with a courier company that is just hanging in there based in the 1930’s. It was fantastic television and again one of those rare moments where my brother and I clicked. My father was an airplane mechanic and in the Air Force Reserves, so anything that had a plane usually caught both my brother and I’s attention.
7. Batman The Animated Series
http://nerdreactor.com/2013/04/07/5-picks-for-best-batman-the-animated-series-episodes/
It is was a dark, gothic, and probably a little more violent than I was used to, but it was an fantastic Batman series. It was the typical Batman story that we saw in the movies and comics. It laughed in the face of the old campy television show. This show was so powerful that it actually altered the comic universe. Characters and storylines were carried over and kept as canon. Who doesn’t love the crazy, psychopathic hench girl of Joker, Harley Quinn. She came from this cartoon. Just this past week’s episode of Arrow had a quick cameo by the lunatic. The cartoon is a must watch for any Batman fan. It is where I first got most of my knowledge of the Gotham world.
8. Gargoyles
http://lezgetreal.com/2014/02/saturday-toons-disneys-gargoyles/
Man was this a good show from Disney. It is one that I would love to watch again as an adult because a lot of the content was pretty mature and deep. I personally loved all of the Arthurian and Shakespearian ties in the show. My knowledge was pretty limited at that time, so watching it now, could really show some things. It is what made the story line so rich. These Gargoyles that have spent eternity as stone due to a spell were once again awakened in modern day New York and only had the darkness to be alive, because the sun would revert them back to their stony personas. This is one of the cartoons that I would love to see as a movie. It has been rumored, but nothing set in stone. I know, it was a cheap pun. I think our modern computer graphic technology would bring this to life in a way that would blow our minds.
9. Animaniacs
This is one of those shows that had a whole new meaning as I got older. It had the fart jokes for the kids, and we loved it, but it was one of those few shows that decided to entertain the parents as well. It is one of the best from the cartoon gold that Steven Speilberg presented in the 90’s. It is the story of the wild and crazy Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and their sister, Dot. No one knows what or who they are exactly, but they are the menace that live in the Warner Brother studios water tower. They are the mainly focused characters, but the show is broken up into several shorts with lovable returning characters like the Goodfeathers, Rita and Runt, Slappy the Squirrel, Pinky and the Brain, and Mindy and Buttons. I still call my own mother “Lady” to this day because of Mindy and Buttons. They just don’t make cartoons like this anymore.
10. Histaria!
http://lezgetreal.com/2013/04/saturday-cartoons-hysteria/
It was before it’s time and didn’t get a lot of viewership. I was so in high school when it came out, but this show taught me a lot of history. Most of the history was satire which made it hilarious. My brother also watched this show with me even though he was in college along with my mother. If you knew some history, this show was comedy. Are family especially loved the Viking stories. I still know all of the names of the Tudor family because of this show.
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