When I was on teaching practice in the mid-1980s, I was baffled when a child asked how to spell "egg" and, after a while, "jog", words that I thought were well within his abilities. All was revealed when I read his diary entry: " I went to Tom's house and we played Sonic the Egg Jog."
Wendy, You have only been on Substack for six months? My goodness - I consider you my Substack guru and I know you have helped many others do well on this platform. Thank you.
I look forward to your posts. Filled with humour, positivity and joy, and I usually learn something too!
Thank you, AB. What a lovely comment. I’ve been here a lot longer as a reader, but yes, six months since I took the plunge myself. It’s flown! I love the range of writing here and the mutual encouragement.
Congrats on your ongoing Substack success, Wendy! I love your writing and am delighted to be an early adopter, like you with Tetris (I might be too late for video games but you never know, just waiting for the right one to come along).
You were an early adopter, and I’m really glad of your support, thank you, Ann! I have a Substack habit, but consider all that reading and writing very good for my brain!
I like playing video games and my students are often shocked that I play Apex (Plat/Diamond last season made Masters twice) or FC24 (I don't even want to reveal my UT) or RS6 (Fuse for the win) - I once met a student online and hard carried them. Embarrassing.
Happy happy six months! I'm always thrilled to read your pieces, even if sometimes, like today, I'm catching up. This is a wonderful one. I love the newspaper clippings. Didn't it seem back then like virtual reality would be a bigger thing by now? I suppose it's taken over video games, but I had the sense back then that it would be far more prevalent. I'm glad it's not.
My son is pretty addicted to FIFA. One of his teammate friends was saying to me the other day that he this one effective new ball handling skill he picked up is originally from playing video game soccer, so maybe it's not all wasted time!
Your Duolingo streak is beyond impressive. What language(s) are you learning? I'm feeling inspired to get back into it.
Really kind of you, Rob – so glad you're enjoying.
Yes, I think we did expect virtual reality to be even bigger than it is. The really immersive side of it remains quite claustrophobic I think. I tried a friend's Oculus Rift briefly a couple of years ago, and was just as ill-at-ease as I'd been in the "Virtuality" goggles 30+ years ago. And google glasses made people super-suspicious! We're used to security cameras, but who wants to be filmed by someone else's specs?!
My son found the old files of all his Minecraft games last week and was astonished by how many there were. But says he doesn't regret playing it for so many hours. Actually, what bugged me even more at the time were all the YouTube videos he watched of other people playing it! Watching other gamers game seems soooo mindless to me. But hey, he's turned into a very articulate, rounded, rather wonderful young man. Thank goodness!
And yes, as your son is finding, sometimes online games can fuel an interest in a real life skill.
I'm learning (or revising, depending on how far I've got!) Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Czech, Arabic and Latin! A lesson of each per day (20-30 minutes total). Some are covered more comprehensively than others. I started Spanish from scratch first, but have still not finished the course, as it's updated and extended so often.
That is incredible! I'm inspired and daunted, both!
My kids were obsessed with Minecraft, too. It did seem like the most creative of all the digital things they've done.
And I agree, the goggles and glasses and all of that feel so claustrophobic. Maybe one side benefit is that anyone wearing these things looks ridiculous, so that could be an important inhibiting factor.
I loved computer games as a kid, but didn't play them for decades once the ugly polygons of 3-D became a thing. I'm overly affected by garish ugliness, which is why I don't like Christmas decorations.
Anyway, they can be absolutely beautiful these days and do immersive. Although, much like music of the era, nothing beats the minimalism of the early 80's.
That’s interesting that you didn’t like the 3-D ugliness, Dean. I know what you mean. I remember liking the simple early 2-D games like Space Invaders! Ecco the Dolphin was rather beautiful, but had a sad and wistful vibe. And anything where characters drowned made me feel claustrophobic. I don’t like visceral violence, so there are lots of games I simply won’t stay in the room for if family or friends are playing them. Other games I know by ear from listening to their soundtracks from a couple of rooms away!
Terrific Wendy!!! This was a fun ride and you brought me back to the years when I too joined the kids–as a home schooling mom–in their video game pursuits and discovered how much I really, really loved virtual killing. A peace-loving, hippy at heart, wielding those virtual guns in the late hours of the night was a catharsis my body craved. Who would have thought? From 007 games to my all time favorite, killing zombies in Code Veronica, do you know that one?...I got to relive a childhood, I never had, but was nostalgic for. As a home schooling family, we had no bedtime, so my gun wielding side was out in the open for all to see. Yikes! Hugs from over here. xoxo
Thanks, Andrea. Glad it brought back fun memories! I don’t remember Code Veronica - looks like that was after I’d kicked the habit. But I’ve been a casual observer of games history, as there’s always been at least one member of the family who plays.
Great read, Wendy. I’ve never been much of a gamer but have such fond memories of playing Super Mario and Street Fighter etc., with my brother when we were kids.
Our boys are nearly at the games console phase so will be interesting (hard work?) to see how it goes. I still don’t know what Minecraft is but sure that will change soon!
Thanks, Andy. All things in moderation, I guess! In retrospect, I think it helps to have a parent who enjoys gaming to a degree, so it doesn’t become an us and them conflict (outside of the online arena!).
Congratulations on six months, Wendy. I really enjoy your posts. Today’s took me back to 1992 when I was 12 and loved Tetris and Sonic. Happy, simple days.
Ah yes the birth order! That’s so interesting your girls have assumed those roles. When I had the twins, I was in a multiple birth group on Facebook and someone posted saying they’d never told their twins who was born first. At the time I thought, who cares? A few minutes here or there surely makes no difference. But maybe it does. Mine know who was born first and by how many minutes (7). Curious to see how it will pan out as they get older! And as for video games, I remember playing Tetris religiously on my Game Boy! And sonic on a Sega Master system 2 🤣
I was keen to be open about the facts of life and remember relating the birth story to them quite early on, knowing it would be impossible to avoid mentioning birth order. But then I think it was compounded by so many people asking them (or me) about it.
Yes, Game Boys were a whole other lure. We had one, but I managed to avoid it!
Another brilliant piece of writing Wendy, this one didn't bring tears, but lots of reflections. You probably already know about the Tetris effect, I only heard of it about the time we were both starting on Substack via a radio doco. The effect is triggered after doing repetitive tasks throughout the day, which are reactivated as the mind starts to fall asleep. It's like the unconscious drifts back to the task it had been doing earlier. The researchers used the Tetris game to test their theory, hence the naming rights. A potential therapeutic use is being investigated with targeted dream incubation to shift rigid cognition within this malleable lulled state. I've never played Tetris, but I've certainly experience the effect, interesting hey? Congratulations on the growth of your Substack Wendy, I think you are great.
It's true that anyone can be drawn in, Wendy. I remember going through 3 Amstrad computers as a teen, playing a game which involved a frog (don't ask me to be more specific) - Not sure why the computers fell apart in such a short space of time 🤨 Now though, its all a bit too technical for me!
The Amstrad takes me back, Sharon! I think that was the first computer I ever saw. I can’t remember what the frog game would have been. My secondary school got its first computer when I was in sixth form, but I never got a turn on it.
Congratulations Wendy! Great piece as always. I can hear the Tetris music like it was yesterday. It was truly gripping. I also remember the buzz when the colour Gameboy came out. I think I’d kicked the habit by then tho. Great headlines in those articles too!!
Thanks, Faith. Yes, the Gameboy was another whole revolution! I’m wondering whether ours – well, I say ours; Ian’s – is still stashed away in the garage.
I’ve never played any video games! Is that weird? I was however addicted to an American soap opera for about 30 years and for some reason stopped watching it a couple of years ago. It’s The Bold And The Beautiful. Nobody was allowed to speak to me when it was on! I wouldn’t answer he phone, and when we were on holiday I taped it! In fact I think it’s still taping 😂 It was my guilty pleasure.
Congratulations Wendy on your 6 month success on Substack - your diaries must be such a treasure trove (I regret now that I never wrote a diary). What you write is so authentic, funny and sometimes sad.
Pac Man in a pub, on a console table in Betws-y-Coed, Wales, summer 1987, whilst doing my MSc Geophysics fieldwork was my one and only temporary game addiction. It was such a buzz.
Pac Man! Crikey, that takes me back! I remember playing that in pubs, circa 1980. Though even then, I didn’t like the feeling of the lads – the “experts” – looking over my shoulder!
When I was on teaching practice in the mid-1980s, I was baffled when a child asked how to spell "egg" and, after a while, "jog", words that I thought were well within his abilities. All was revealed when I read his diary entry: " I went to Tom's house and we played Sonic the Egg Jog."
Hahaha! Crying, Heather! That’s brilliant!
Wendy, You have only been on Substack for six months? My goodness - I consider you my Substack guru and I know you have helped many others do well on this platform. Thank you.
I look forward to your posts. Filled with humour, positivity and joy, and I usually learn something too!
Thank you, AB. What a lovely comment. I’ve been here a lot longer as a reader, but yes, six months since I took the plunge myself. It’s flown! I love the range of writing here and the mutual encouragement.
Congrats on your ongoing Substack success, Wendy! I love your writing and am delighted to be an early adopter, like you with Tetris (I might be too late for video games but you never know, just waiting for the right one to come along).
You were an early adopter, and I’m really glad of your support, thank you, Ann! I have a Substack habit, but consider all that reading and writing very good for my brain!
I like playing video games and my students are often shocked that I play Apex (Plat/Diamond last season made Masters twice) or FC24 (I don't even want to reveal my UT) or RS6 (Fuse for the win) - I once met a student online and hard carried them. Embarrassing.
Ha yes, I imagine you don't really want to "meet" your students while gaming!
My son teaches EFL students and he goes up in their estimation when they realise he gets their games references (an international language!).
Bless those EFL teachers - we have many at our school. I have to teach in two languages and it ain't easy either...
Happy happy six months! I'm always thrilled to read your pieces, even if sometimes, like today, I'm catching up. This is a wonderful one. I love the newspaper clippings. Didn't it seem back then like virtual reality would be a bigger thing by now? I suppose it's taken over video games, but I had the sense back then that it would be far more prevalent. I'm glad it's not.
My son is pretty addicted to FIFA. One of his teammate friends was saying to me the other day that he this one effective new ball handling skill he picked up is originally from playing video game soccer, so maybe it's not all wasted time!
Your Duolingo streak is beyond impressive. What language(s) are you learning? I'm feeling inspired to get back into it.
Really kind of you, Rob – so glad you're enjoying.
Yes, I think we did expect virtual reality to be even bigger than it is. The really immersive side of it remains quite claustrophobic I think. I tried a friend's Oculus Rift briefly a couple of years ago, and was just as ill-at-ease as I'd been in the "Virtuality" goggles 30+ years ago. And google glasses made people super-suspicious! We're used to security cameras, but who wants to be filmed by someone else's specs?!
My son found the old files of all his Minecraft games last week and was astonished by how many there were. But says he doesn't regret playing it for so many hours. Actually, what bugged me even more at the time were all the YouTube videos he watched of other people playing it! Watching other gamers game seems soooo mindless to me. But hey, he's turned into a very articulate, rounded, rather wonderful young man. Thank goodness!
And yes, as your son is finding, sometimes online games can fuel an interest in a real life skill.
I'm learning (or revising, depending on how far I've got!) Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Czech, Arabic and Latin! A lesson of each per day (20-30 minutes total). Some are covered more comprehensively than others. I started Spanish from scratch first, but have still not finished the course, as it's updated and extended so often.
That is incredible! I'm inspired and daunted, both!
My kids were obsessed with Minecraft, too. It did seem like the most creative of all the digital things they've done.
And I agree, the goggles and glasses and all of that feel so claustrophobic. Maybe one side benefit is that anyone wearing these things looks ridiculous, so that could be an important inhibiting factor.
I loved computer games as a kid, but didn't play them for decades once the ugly polygons of 3-D became a thing. I'm overly affected by garish ugliness, which is why I don't like Christmas decorations.
Anyway, they can be absolutely beautiful these days and do immersive. Although, much like music of the era, nothing beats the minimalism of the early 80's.
That’s interesting that you didn’t like the 3-D ugliness, Dean. I know what you mean. I remember liking the simple early 2-D games like Space Invaders! Ecco the Dolphin was rather beautiful, but had a sad and wistful vibe. And anything where characters drowned made me feel claustrophobic. I don’t like visceral violence, so there are lots of games I simply won’t stay in the room for if family or friends are playing them. Other games I know by ear from listening to their soundtracks from a couple of rooms away!
Terrific Wendy!!! This was a fun ride and you brought me back to the years when I too joined the kids–as a home schooling mom–in their video game pursuits and discovered how much I really, really loved virtual killing. A peace-loving, hippy at heart, wielding those virtual guns in the late hours of the night was a catharsis my body craved. Who would have thought? From 007 games to my all time favorite, killing zombies in Code Veronica, do you know that one?...I got to relive a childhood, I never had, but was nostalgic for. As a home schooling family, we had no bedtime, so my gun wielding side was out in the open for all to see. Yikes! Hugs from over here. xoxo
Thanks, Andrea. Glad it brought back fun memories! I don’t remember Code Veronica - looks like that was after I’d kicked the habit. But I’ve been a casual observer of games history, as there’s always been at least one member of the family who plays.
Great read, Wendy. I’ve never been much of a gamer but have such fond memories of playing Super Mario and Street Fighter etc., with my brother when we were kids.
Our boys are nearly at the games console phase so will be interesting (hard work?) to see how it goes. I still don’t know what Minecraft is but sure that will change soon!
Thanks, Andy. All things in moderation, I guess! In retrospect, I think it helps to have a parent who enjoys gaming to a degree, so it doesn’t become an us and them conflict (outside of the online arena!).
Congratulations on six months, Wendy. I really enjoy your posts. Today’s took me back to 1992 when I was 12 and loved Tetris and Sonic. Happy, simple days.
Thank you, Liz! Do you still play any video games?
No - only when I was young. Fond memories of Sonic and, before that, Spectrum games.
Ah yes the birth order! That’s so interesting your girls have assumed those roles. When I had the twins, I was in a multiple birth group on Facebook and someone posted saying they’d never told their twins who was born first. At the time I thought, who cares? A few minutes here or there surely makes no difference. But maybe it does. Mine know who was born first and by how many minutes (7). Curious to see how it will pan out as they get older! And as for video games, I remember playing Tetris religiously on my Game Boy! And sonic on a Sega Master system 2 🤣
I was keen to be open about the facts of life and remember relating the birth story to them quite early on, knowing it would be impossible to avoid mentioning birth order. But then I think it was compounded by so many people asking them (or me) about it.
Yes, Game Boys were a whole other lure. We had one, but I managed to avoid it!
Another brilliant piece of writing Wendy, this one didn't bring tears, but lots of reflections. You probably already know about the Tetris effect, I only heard of it about the time we were both starting on Substack via a radio doco. The effect is triggered after doing repetitive tasks throughout the day, which are reactivated as the mind starts to fall asleep. It's like the unconscious drifts back to the task it had been doing earlier. The researchers used the Tetris game to test their theory, hence the naming rights. A potential therapeutic use is being investigated with targeted dream incubation to shift rigid cognition within this malleable lulled state. I've never played Tetris, but I've certainly experience the effect, interesting hey? Congratulations on the growth of your Substack Wendy, I think you are great.
Thanks so much, Lisa. I didn’t know this detail about the potential therapeutic dream angle of the Tetris Effect. That’s really interesting.
It's true that anyone can be drawn in, Wendy. I remember going through 3 Amstrad computers as a teen, playing a game which involved a frog (don't ask me to be more specific) - Not sure why the computers fell apart in such a short space of time 🤨 Now though, its all a bit too technical for me!
The Amstrad takes me back, Sharon! I think that was the first computer I ever saw. I can’t remember what the frog game would have been. My secondary school got its first computer when I was in sixth form, but I never got a turn on it.
Congratulations Wendy! Great piece as always. I can hear the Tetris music like it was yesterday. It was truly gripping. I also remember the buzz when the colour Gameboy came out. I think I’d kicked the habit by then tho. Great headlines in those articles too!!
Thanks, Faith. Yes, the Gameboy was another whole revolution! I’m wondering whether ours – well, I say ours; Ian’s – is still stashed away in the garage.
I’ve never played any video games! Is that weird? I was however addicted to an American soap opera for about 30 years and for some reason stopped watching it a couple of years ago. It’s The Bold And The Beautiful. Nobody was allowed to speak to me when it was on! I wouldn’t answer he phone, and when we were on holiday I taped it! In fact I think it’s still taping 😂 It was my guilty pleasure.
I find that rather awesome that you’ve never played video games, Francesca! What about board games? Do any of those appeal?
A 30-year soap addiction is good going! I’d never heard of The Bold and The Beautiful. Well done on cracking the habit!
Congratulations Wendy on your 6 month success on Substack - your diaries must be such a treasure trove (I regret now that I never wrote a diary). What you write is so authentic, funny and sometimes sad.
Pac Man in a pub, on a console table in Betws-y-Coed, Wales, summer 1987, whilst doing my MSc Geophysics fieldwork was my one and only temporary game addiction. It was such a buzz.
Thank you, Caroline, for your lovely comment.
Pac Man! Crikey, that takes me back! I remember playing that in pubs, circa 1980. Though even then, I didn’t like the feeling of the lads – the “experts” – looking over my shoulder!
Haha. Relatable! I played MTG as a young woman and sometimes went to competitions. Only female surrounded by pimply youths, it was weird.
Go Anna! A friend of ours developed the online version of MTG!
Wow!