For the Love of the Band

I love Rock Band.  I'm pretty sure I'm not part of the 'normal' demographics Harmonix is thinking of when they made the game, but here I am...an avid fan of the game.

We started with the original Rock Band, in fact I can remember the day we bought it.  Nathan's niece was staying over for a few days and the kids thought it would be fun to pitch their money together and buy it.  They were a bit short on cash and since I wasn't at all opposed to the idea of getting the game I sent a few texts to Nathan and next thing you know....we've got Rock Band!

One of the things I like best about the game is that Nathan and I can play with just the two of us, we can play with the kids, or we can invite a house full of people over and still have a great time.  Even though I love the game, it's not a game I like to play by myself.  For me, Rock Band was *made* to be shared.

Over the years, we've gotten to the point where we'd worn out our instruments.  Originally we had bought the game for the Wii, but we've had a few problems with our Wii.  The biggest problem was during Christmaspalooza (a multi-day Christmas event we hold with my sister and her husband).  During the Christmas celebration we attempted the Endless Song Set List 2 several times.  Each time we were deep into the set of 84 (Yes, you read that right, 84!) songs the Wii would freeze.  We were relentless....but it didn't matter.  We were beat by the Wii every time we tried to complete the set.  Now we're not insane, so eventually we quit trying to accomplish the impossible.  But there it was, in the back of my mind, that damn Endless Song Set List 2....just waiting to be out done.

Fast forward to last Spring and rumors of Rock Band 3 being released for the Holidays.  I could not wait!  Due to the whole Wii freeze thing, we ditched the idea of investing more money into Rock Band for the Wii.  I saved my spare change and we bought a PS3, plus the Rock Band 2 bundle so we could get brand new instruments.  Best-decision-ever!  Our band was back in business.

Rockband 3 comes out at midnight on Tuesday.  I have our copy reserved and I'm totally psyched to pick it up.  Still in the back of my head is that lingering question: "Can we beat the Endless Song Set List 2?"  Of course we didn't actually have that Set List unlocked on the PS3 yet, but I still thought about it.

On Friday night Kelsey, Nathan, and I were playing Rockband.  I was lost in my head imagining a 'Rock Band room' in my dream house.  It would be complete with a stage, huge tv, kick butt sound system, and an awesome light show! And guess what?  We unlocked the Endless Song Set List 2.  I took a picture of the tv with my phone and texted it to my sister.

 (I love how it says, "Best of luck with that.")

Right away she called me and we made a date to tackle it Saturday night.  Time wasn't exactly on our side, but we really wanted to beat the game before Rock Band 3 came out.  With snacks made, caffeine in hand, and kids ready to switch out with us, by 9:00 Saturday night we started the first of 84 songs.

The first twenty songs went pretty good and by the time we got half way there we started to slow down a bit.  The older kids went to bed at about 2:00 and we got to the last three songs at about 4:40 in the morning.  We were losing steam fast, but we only had three more songs to go.  We can do it!

The third to the last song in the set is called Visions by Abnormality.  We were feeling pretty confident.  We'd already beat Master Exploder and knew we could beat Pain Killer, how hard could this one be?  Apparently it was unbelievably hard.  By 5:30 we still hadn't beaten it.  Kelsey had even gotten up and out of bed to try to help us out.  It was no use, we were done.  We decided on a couple hours of sleep and maybe we'd try again in the 'morning'?  We paused the PS3 and went to bed, full of caffeine and feeling completely defeated.  Hours later it was decided that my sister and her hubby would go home.  They had things to do and so did we.  There was just no way we could beat the game.  The PS3 was left on pause all day.  I didn't have the heart to turn it off.

We spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, playing RISK, and being bummed out about our game.  Maybe we'd try it again, but I knew we probably wouldn't.  Just before dinner Matt decided he'd at least take a look at the song.  He wasn't willing to take our word for it that the song was unbeatable.  He grabbed a guitar and started plucking away.  He made it through 8% of the song.  Kelsey started getting excited and they asked Nathan if he'd give it one more shot.  He said sure.  We ended up with me on the bass, Nathan rocking the guitar, Kelsey banging on the drums, and Matt kicking out the vocals.  We beat the song.  The last two songs were a piece of cake and I'm actually proud to say we BEAT THE ENDLESS SONG SET LIST 2!

(And yes, I know that this blog probably puts me in the 'crazy' category...but I'm also a lot of fun and I'm okay with a little crazy and a lot of fun.  Oh, and do you have your copy of Rock Band 3 reserved yet?

Cocooning

During the last few months I have taken a lot of time for myself.  I've sealed myself away from friends and even a little bit from my sister.  I stopped hosting parties, started spending a little less time on Facebook, sent out very few texts, and quit making 'extra' playdates for my kids.  I coined the word cocooning from a friend of mine who seemed to be going through a similar experience.  I wrapped myself in layers of my own thoughts, protecting myself from anyone who might hurt me in my fragile state.  I had decided that I was growing, doing some inner soul searching. 

At first, this type of reasoning with myself made sense.  I felt is was okay to step back from my social side and focus on just me, which is true for awhile.  But there came a time when it was no longer a save cocoon.  It became a place to hid from everyone.  It started to smell, taste, and look a lot like depression.  Sure, dinner got made and the dishes got done.  Okay, the dishes only really got done because someone else did them (thank you children).  But wait, laundry got washed.  Again, not by me (thank you Nathan).  I put on my happy face when required or maybe I really didn't.  Yep, I was deep in shit.  I was tired and cranky.  I slept in and quit playing games with my kids.  I wasn't interested in anything.  Well I did spend hours on my computer trying for a high score in Bejeweled Blitz so I guess I was interested in 'something'.  I canceled outings and groaned about anything I had to do.  Then Nathan reached deep into my dark, little, sad world and grabbed me.

He said, "How do you want to celebrate our anniversary this weekend?"

I said, "I dunno.  How about if we just hang out at home and cook a nice dinner?"

He said, "How about if we invite people over for a Rockband party?"

I said, "grrroooaaaannnn. I don't want to do that."

He said, "Maybe you should just think about it for awhile."

So I went to bed thinking about having a Rockband party.  And all the work involved in hosting a freaking party.  And that my house hasn't had a proper cleaning for about two months.  And that I wasn't sure I was ready to have fun yet.  And that my house is too small for large gatherings.  And that I don't know how to invite some people over without hurting other people's feelings.  And I fell asleep knowing that this Rockband party was something I had to do. 

Friday was spent with me still not really being a big help around the house, but Social Guy stepped in and kick arse on the house cleaning and Nathan did the appropriate hosting-a-lot-of-people-in-a-small-space tasks we normally do (again, thank you children and Nathan).  People started showing up and I knew Nathan had been right.  This is what I needed.  I needed the sound of laughter, good food, and social awkwardness to help crack the thick walls of this damn cocoon.  It felt good.  I felt free.  I felt awesome!

I'm out now.  I don't know how long it will last, but I know that I will enjoy every minute of it and I will be hosting a lot more parties.

Yes, As a Matter of Fact I *Do* Love Rockband

For those of you who know me well, this is not a surprising thing to hear.  The surprise is that the other night Nathan and I figured out that not only do I 'air Rockband' (as in air guitar) but I also Rockband in my sleep.

Nathan: "You sure were cute last night."

Me: "huh?"

Nathan: "When you fell asleep, you were still snuggling with me [awhhh....how sweet] and you started twitching.  Then it was mostly just your fingers that were twitching.  In a weird sort of tapping way."

[From here the pattern of the conversation changed.  You see, Nathan's been working a lot of hours lately and he's also been sick for almost a week.  His brain is pretty fried and he's totally exhausted.]

Nathan continued: "I 'thought' you might be playing Rockband in your sleep.  Your head moved so I said, 'Are you sleeping?'  Then she said, 'uh!  what?!?!'  So I asked her what she was doing?"  [Did he just refer to me in third party?]

Nathan: "She tried denying it."  [Yep, he's totally talking about me in third party.  I start to giggle.]"What?"

Me: "You keep referring to me as *she*."

Nathan: "Huh, weird.  So anyways, she then starts mumbling about some song.  I ask her - crap...I did it again. I said *she*."

Me: [unable to control giggling] "yep"

Nathan: "Okay, YOU started mumbling about the song you were playing.  YOU said something like 'Night Lies' and then she said, 'I don't even LIKE that song!' and she rolled over and fell back asleep.  Why-do-I-keep-saying-*she*?!?!?"

Me: "I dunno, but you know I'm gonna blog about this, right?"

Nathan: "Yeah, I know.  Can you mention the fact that I've been working a lot and I've been sick and I'm really tired?"

Me: "Sure" [still giggling]

And now we know just exactly how much she loves Rockband!  I mean me!  I LOVE ROCKBAND!!!