What Calls Your Name?

After a night spent watching endless episodes of Beck, I can't help but think about those guilty pleasures and just what precisely makes them so fun. While I'm not sure what portion of my soul badly sung English lyrics and a patchwork dog exactly feeds into, I do know a few things about obsession.

Take Shangri-la. A show I discovered over at Crunchyroll recently that required an entire afternoon to devour. While this one had me worried on the silly / inane factor with the crossdressing mentor and adorable little girl set out to take over the world, I discovered a depth and interest here that carried me from that first episode and on into the rest with barely a pause to refresh the Pocky supplies.

But where does obsession go wrong and we find ourselves skating into the world of the Japanese definition of otaku? Was it the two day spree of Eureka 7 - all 50 episodes? Or is it really not until things take a more sinister note and the surfing goes from Crunchyroll into the darker denizens of the hentai infested websites and obesessions that will curl up in your brain and make a nest there?

Maybe I'm coming off overly thoughtful tonight but it's been a difficult week in RL (or what we call Real Life). I've seen my 12 year old son in screaming hysteria when he was banned from a certain computer game due to some homework assignments that he missed rather than give up a moment of gaming.

Now I'm no stranger to gaming addiction. Three years ago I fell headfirst into a MMORPG and didn't come out until several months had passed and my friends were ready to stage a full blown intervention. It's a scary world in here, and one all to easy to get lost in. So comes the time to be the responsible parent and pull the plug.

Uh, yeah, you first mom.

So for the next week I'm imposing a few limits. Not just on the kids, but on myself. Because you know something...there's enough lousy things going on in the world right now, that I don't need to get lost in here too.

After all, all this stuff will be here when we get back.

I told you mine...what tempts you online?