The Day I (Tetris)Battled a Fruit Ninja

A funny thing happened. (By "funny" I mean "hopelessly tragic") I got this odd urge to play Tetris. So like the go-getter that I am, I went on an excursion across the terrifying Interwebs. I googled it and found a free version, but it wasn't terribly good and boredom soon took me. 

Next, I wandered into the hostile jungle called Facebook Games. I found, "Tetris Battle" which was Tetris with a slight twist. All in all, I loved it. It was fast-paced and fun and I was fairly good. l beat most people who I played against. But I didn't just beat them. I stomped on their hopes and dreams as I marched past each one with my pet gerbil, Mockery, following behind.


Everything was going swimmingly. Steadily, I climbed up the ranks. I found myself waiting expectantly for my next chance to sneak a few rounds in. That's been my past few days.


It was glorious fun.


I had found a perfect outlet for my competitive desires. Like a fat kid who finds out that his long-lost uncle owns a bakery and he can eat pastries until he explodes, I was purely joyful. This outlet was even free from the clutches of a certain brother. This wasn't Minecraft or Call of Duty or Portal. Here was something I could be good at and not be shown up constantly.


*shakes head at self*


I overlooked one tiny detail. Meg. It turns out that Meg also likes Tetris. So she started playing it. In one round she had surpassed my record (the one that took hours of practice to attain) and get a higher ranking than me. Yup. There went my fun. With the speed of a ticked off hurricane, my sense of accomplishment was swept out of sight and lost to oblivion.


I'll admit, my heart broke.


I don't blame Meg. She just has this supernatural talent for playing "casual" games and making them seem to involve no effort at all. It's impressive, really. But for a guy who thought he had found his special talent, being shown up so handily is a crushing blow. I shouldn't have been surprised. This was the girl who doubled my record in Fruit Ninja after two attempts.


It was in my dejected musings that a thought occurred to me. There aren't many things I'm good at. Writing is one of them. And here I am, neglecting this, my one true passion. I mean, there aren't any trophies. No one's keeping score. Maybe that's one of the reasons I love writing so much. It isn't about being the best. It's purely about making the very best thing you can.


I'm gonna make this my outlet.


And bygoshbygolly, even if not a single soul reads this, it's gonna be incredible.