Alice Lee's Journal

Simple Joys Have a Simple Voice
Last night we had key lime pie for dinner (one of the perqs of being a grown up) and then my husband got his Atari set up. It was about 1 am and we had a lot more to do but we took a short break. We played Pong first. Had to. Then Yar's Revenge and Space Invaders and Hangman and a bunch of other stuff and CENTIPEDE. Whoo!

It was funny how much I remembered. I never had an Atari, but my friend Jennifer did. (She had all the toys. Later in life I realized this had to do with her family being really screwed up but at the time it was unmitigated goodness. For me, at least.) Pong sounds just like I remembered. I knew there had to be a two-player version of Space Invaders because as soon as it came on the screen I knew there was a missing ship, and the exact shade of orange, and that it is easy to forget which one you control after you swap sides on the screen. In 50 years when we are all in nursing homes drooling on ourselves, all they will have to do is play the sound for when the aliens are moving really fast and just about to land. All the geeks will perk right up. You can hear it in your head right now, right?

The joy sticks are designed to create RSIs in under ten minutes. In some ways this is good because it means I will not spend research time playing centipede. I will not spend research time playing centipede. I will not spend research time playing centipede.

Anyway: the Atari is now disassembled again. The house is full of sawdust. Progress tastes gritty.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: "Jane Says," Jane's Addiction