Have you ever been sitting at a restaurant and decided to be a real observer? Watched the people closest to you, eavesdropped on their conversation?

I have. And I do, on occasion, as a writing exercise. (I don’t think it’s illegal, especially when I do not interact with them, know them, or any of that). I certainly do not use any of their conversation or information in a derogatory manner. (be forewarned, authors do eavesdrop!)

Today, I’m visiting my favorite eating/coffee drinking/thinking place. It’s pretty crowded as usual thanks to a hungry after-church crowd. To me, a forty-hour-a-week worker bee, Sunday is my thinking-planning- writing day, and thankfully, I have something to write about.

When I mentioned using real people as inspiration, my son gave me a better idea.
He told me to start playing video games. Oh my. Oh my, with double exclamation points. Last night, he picked out two for me to play (both applicable to what I need in my writing life).

Fallout New Vegas, a post-apocalyptic romp through the “Mojave Wilderness” totally and utterly won my heart. Sigh. I started playing about 8 o’clock Saturday night. And I didn’t pull my covers over my head until 3:15 AM this morning. The experience has left me itching to get right back to it. I hear tell (um…starting to sound like a Goodsprings inhabitant) this is what makes gamers so addicted. It’s the thrill of the human against the elements, or the giant scorpions. Whatever. Of all the critters I encountered in battle those things gave me a visceral reaction. My ears actually hurt from trying to keep my senses on high alert against the creatures of this environment (and there were many). Ok, maybe my ears hurting is from this crazy rain that appeared out of nowhere (for real, not in the game) but I digress.

I know that Fallout New Vegas is an RPG (role playing game)-and I think I read somewhere it is and MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) but that will be something for me to strive for. At the moment I am still getting used to the blood-spatters that appear when a critter is doing my character damage.

My son also picked out Mass Effect 2 for me to try because I wanted something space-related. This game takes place within the Milky Way galaxy during the 22nd century, where humanity is threatened by an insectoid species known as the Collectors.

I wanted space adventure. He gave me Mass Effect 2
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I haven’t started that one yet, but seriously, after Fallout New Vegas, I can’t wait.

Happy Fallout New Vegas/RPG game playing Sunday, y’all.