Rock on, White Lies

I am a middle-aged woman with an addiction problem...I am addicted to Rock Band.  I love to sing, although I am a very poor singer.  I'm great on getting the tempo just right and sing the words the way they're meant to be sung, but the finished product is really quite awful.  But it's fun, and I think that's supposed to be the main objective of the game.

I love the thought of playing Rock Band.  I love rushing to my sister's house just down the street from my own at 10:00 o'clock at night for a "quick hour", which turns into three.  I love to sing my little heart out, squirming around in my chair as if I'm dancing while I sing, and behaving like I'm a teenager.  I love my sister looking at me with her quizzical look asking, "HOW old are you?"  I love our Rock Band 2 and 3 song choices, I love our Beatles edition, and I love our AC/DC live tracks.  I love it all.

But what I really love most about playing is the precious time that it gives me with family and the fact that it is our special little treasure.  That's the real addiction in it.  We (I think Emily is responsible) have dubbed ourselves "The White Lies".  That's as good a rock band name as any.  Justin is awesome on guitar and vocals (I do loan him the microphone from time to time to sing a song or two).  Emily is an excellent drummer (and I let her sing a little too).  Tory can do it all; she is simply amazing on all of the instruments and since she happens to be a professional singer it's pretty wonderful of her that she does not once cringe while I'm sounding like a wounded cat.  Kathy is great on the laptop.  She uses her laptop while we usurp her living room for our nights of merriment, and eventually she caves.  If she happens to know the song, she'll belt it out without a mic and drown out the lead singer of The White Lies, which happens to be me, of course.  And we love it.  And we love that we can get her to take over guitar when Justin takes over the mic.  She says she's not competitive, but just hear her roar when she's had a great performance.  Her initial efforts to ignore us are futile for she suffers from the same addiction as I do.

Our schedule may have to vary a little once the wedding of the year takes place.  Next thing you know, Emily will bring a guy home to meet us, who, if he knows what's good for him, will like Rock Band.  Then, in a few more years, it may change again once we add some little tykes to the mix.  We'll just get some Fisher-Price add-ons.  Change may cause us to adjust a little, but this family thing we've got going on is too good and too strong not to survive.  Some people go to a lot of expense and trouble to find entertainment.  We find it on Friday evenings right there in the living room, just the five of us, and an occasional "guest star" only adds to the memories we get to share.

This kind of fun can't be purchased, and this kind of love can't be diluted by distance.  May we forever rock on, White Lies.

Copyright Priscilla Garamella 2011