those darn games!

Okay, I admit it. I’m an addict. I can’t get enough of my “fix” every day. I use it as a procrastination tool instead of writing, I use it when I’m talking on the phone just to keep my hands busy, I use it as a sleep aid at night to make me drowsy.

What is my addiction? Those silly, little, web-based arcade games. You know them. Bejeweled, Peggle, Jewel Quest, Dynomite. And when I get bored with those, there are always the Spider Solitaire, Free Cell and plain-old Solitaire to play. I’ll sit down at the computer, ostensibly to check my email, and decide to play “just one game” to relax with. An hour later my rear end is asleep and my mouse fingers are freezing and I’m still playing.

So there you have it. My guilty little secret. Those darn games suck me in every time. Granted, because they take so little brain power, the rest of my mind is busy turning over new story lines or working out a bit of dialogue between my hero and heroine. The story file is almost always open just underneath the game window. I’ll write for a while, play for a while (and think), then write for a while.

Of course, my husband always walks in when I’m on the “play for a while” moment…he thinks I don’t write at all. That I just play games every time I tell him I need to get some writing done. How does one explain that one is actually writing even though it just LOOKS like I’m playing Dynomite for the twenty-seventh time this hour?

That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it. How about you? Have a favorite game/time-waster? I’m always on the lookout for new ones…