can't sleep, clown'll eat me

It started when a friend of mine and I decided to draft a fantasy team and simulate a season in NHL 06 instead of writing a story for a short story contest.

Well, it probably started before that. But lets just say that this week it started when video games took precedence over literary creativity.

It ended at about 5 am last night. As I was waiting for a friend from class to message me with some of his answers for an assignment I had due today, I decided to simulate a NBA season by drafting an NBA team. After all, it was opening night in the NBA last night.

It hit me as I was leaving my 8:30 am class today. A class that I tried to sleep through most of, although I did hand said assignment in.

What is it? Is it that I have a greater tendency to talk out loud to myself when sleep deprived? Well, yes that is true. It seems that my inner monologue/dialogue tends to overflow the levees of social norms to a greater extent when the tides of sleep don't get a chance to settle. At one point a person stood up, looked around frantically and queried, or more accurately exclaimed "Who are you talking to!?" That person was in my head. He also made me laugh, and it seems upon reflection, at myself.

No, that's not it. What it is, is this: if television is a drug, it's probably marijuana. The gateway drug. If television is a Mary Jane, then Xbox (or video games) are hard drugs like cocaine or heroin. You can just keep going and going. Lets examine some of the common attributes between the hard drugs and video games. For this purpose, I will use Xbox and cocaine as the drugs of choice.

Xbox
Pupils dilate with light from television.
Can use for excessive hours without noticing the affects of fatigue.
Prone to talking to oneself, muttering and constantly talking, if to no one else than to the TV.
Alertness when you first start slowly fades until action picks up again.
After prolonged use, posture weakens, destroying the lower back.
After spending many days at home playing games, friends and family begin to get concerned and try to intervene. You shout back at them “leave me alone!” Which, of course, is exactly the opposite of what they do next. A few weeks later you find yourself in a remarkably soothing setting, sitting under a tree, talking to an attendant named Juan who is under strict orders to monitor you. You know why he’s there, but you still enjoy the human company. You find yourself smoking and wondering what happened those last few years. You don’t even know why you played vids so much, it’s not like you have any memories from the game playing. You’re home for one year before you decide you don’t even miss the vids and you get back your Xbox from your mother. Two weeks later you’re sitting under a tree talking to Juan again.

Cocaine
Pupils dilate.
Can use for excessive hours without noticing the affects of fatigue.
Prone to talking to oneself, muttering and constantly talking, if to no one else than to the TV or any inanimate object, real or perceived.
Alertness when you first start slowly fades until you line up again.
After prolonged use, posture weakens, destroying the lower back.
Rehab. Relapse. Repeat.

A very scientific study. I'm nothing if not thorough. A good man, and thorough. Consequences of combining hard drugs and video games is at least two days without sleep and three days before you realize you haven't had any food either. Not that I would know.

quiescent adj 1 : marked by inactivity or repose : tranquilly at rest 2 : causing no trouble or symptoms.