Pook

• Pojo Home Page
  
• Message Board
  
• Contact Staff
  

Pook's Place
Fading Away the Lines of Reality
3.08.05 - By Pook

            A long time ago, in a posting far, far away…oh wait a second, I’m infringing on copyrighted material.  Let me rephrase that.  Nearly a year ago, before I became a columnist, I posted a Top Ten list.  The list was much like my columns – related to Yu-Gi-Oh! and funny.  It was the Top Ten Signs You Duel Too Much.  I know, been done to death.  But my list was about how I would see elements of both the game and the anime in everyday life, i.e. I thought the sign for “Harper’s Ferry” in Connecticut said “Harpie’s Feather”.  Sick, I know.  So here we are, a year later.  Have I gotten any better?  Don’t count on it. 

            I am now deeper into this game than I have ever been before, and the signs that I play too much are even more evident than before.  Case in point – I was driving in my car and I was stopped behind a GMC Envoy.  Without even having to think for a second, I immediately saw, in my mind, GMC Envoy of the Beginning.  I kid you not.  I need serious help.  Then, today at work, I had the responsibility of handing out these charity donation cards – cardboard stock, about 1.5x as wide and 2x as long as a Yu-Gi-Oh card.  How did I place each card in each inbox?  As if I were Yugi placing a card onto the field.  For nearly 300 inboxes.  I didn’t even realize it for most of the task.  Later in the day, I found myself shuffling a deck of cards that were lying around the office.  Just sitting there, shuffling.  Cool side note, someone knew how to do that styling horizontal shuffle that Yami Yugi tends to do, and I’m getting better at it. 

            Now I know I’ve been a bit rough on myself for slipping into these…well, delusions, but is it really so bad?  We’ve all got our dorkish tendencies that we sometimes have to hinder, but what’s so bad about cutting loose?  Oh yeah, that’s right…society.  Luckily for us duelists, we have our outlets – card shops, tournament, etc.  These locations are our havens, where we can tell other duelists about our Freudian slips.  “Harper’s Ferry, Harpie’s Feather, easy mistake.”  “Wow!  You can shuffle like Yugi!”  The cries of our sanctuaries.  In these places, we find comfort, where we can truly be ourselves.  But, naturally, these tendencies will slip out into the real world. 

            Personally, I sometimes like blurring the lines between the real world and the gaming world.  It helps me get through my daily routines.  I’ll slip into my own little world while at work, helping me pass the time.  The secret is to not let it get too far.  Several weeks ago, I was talking down the street, wondering what it would be like if someone just came up to me and challenged me to a duel, a la Battle City.  Sure, I didn’t have my cards on me, and the people I passed didn’t so much as look at me twice, but I still think about that.  Sometimes, I see symbols from the game or the anime in things around me.  But it’s fine.  I can maintain my sanity…for now…

            But seriously, I’m not losing it.  We all daydream; I just happen to focus on more specific stuff, like I’m sure most of you do too.  Is this obsessive?  Nah.  I’m just a fan, like the rest of you.  It’s fun to incorporate these little things into your day.  No one else may get it, but you can easily entertain yourself.  Ooh, deep article this week.  Makes you think, right?  Well, just remember this – when I wrote the Top Ten list, I didn’t really like my job, and I used to want to Raigeki the people around me, you know, destroying them, and not myself, a la Dark Hole.  But I’m perfectly not crazy…hehehe…happy dueling.