Chain Reactions

So, as a return to blogging, having been spurred to action by L who mentioned that her post would somehow involve me and my roommate (?!), after a week off that I may or may not have been supposed to take, I am going to discuss the fact that I love things that are the results of other things. Or, more poetically, I like to watch chain reactions. So, since this blog post is the direct result of another act (no, seriously, why are we in that blog post?), a small list of things I love to watch happen.

1) Fire

When I was little, I used to love candles. And matches. And watching melt wax in candles. And lighting matches with already lit candles. And picking the melted and then hardened strips of wax off of candles and melting them again by sticking them into the flame...Ahem. Anyway, despite the rather alarming nature of this predilection, I didn't wind up a pyromaniac. But I like to think it started me down the road of being obsessed with watching "This Too Shall Pass."

2) Melodramas and Romance Novels

Although some (most?) might find it boring to set out a narrative journey when you know damn well how it's all going to end, I really really enjoy starting a romance novel sure that the ending will be happy. I also really like crappy soap operas and bad teen shows, (I've already mentioned Degrassi, right?) when the beginning hints or outright tells you what's going to happen - you know, when someone says, "Oh, no, I would really hate it if I had to be lab partners with Jay. He's such a bad boy," and then bam! She's lab partners with Jay and they're in love, or at least in a steamy broom closet of PG-13-rated groping.

3) NationStates

My friend just introduced me to this website thing called NationStates, where you start your own country. You name it, answer questions about your politics, and then there it is, your very own nation. After that, you get two "issues" a day that you have to make decisions about, choosing from 2-5 options, or dismissing the issue altogether. The day after you make your decision, you go back and see what impact the new law has had on your country. You might get reclassified from "Democratic Socialists" to "Left-Leaning College State," or you might discover that making it so that hospitals can pay for blood donations means that "the poor are often seen pale and dizzy after selling their blood to make ends meet." It's the ultimate control. (Oo-er. That sounded kind of weird and freaky, but I can't really think of how to rephrase it...)

4) Snot Splatter

I may be revealing my mental age to be about 6 years old, but the best game I could think of that I really enjoy that involves chain reactions is Snot Splatter, which you should really go play because I am too lazy to explain it. It involves popping bubbles of a gross green substance that I firmly pretend is not snot, and trying to get them all to pop in one go. It's really fun.

Damnit L, why would I be in your blog?