It all started before 2011 came to an end. I was basking in some much needed downtime after dinner. As I read through the front-page headlines at Huffington Post, cheers, giggles and snorts from the other room penetrated my thoughts. Once again, Riff and his dad were captivated with the silly, obnoxious Angry Bird scenes playing out on my husband’s Droid.
Disgusted with reading — for the 364th day — about gridlock in D.C., GOP primary speculations, and tabloid fodder, I succumbed to the temptation to check out Angry Bird. It was just a harmless flirtation with a pop culture segment that I define as a plague on human productivity and time management.
I told myself one peek would not plunge me into an abyss of addiction. Looking was not cheating on my responsibilities as parent, wife, writer or friend.
But then, a quick look turned into a wink and a smile. Before I knew what happened … a link developed. Those comedic angry birds must have known about my preference for a good sense of humor and pretty feathers.
I took the flirtation a step further and clicked on the “play” link. Again, I told myself, one game wasn’t a step toward a demise of my professional ambitions or attentive parenting skills. It was just one game.
Let it be said. The decision to “play” is not one that would make my list of Top 10 Brilliant Moves. One click lead to a second, third, fourth, tenth and a … I quit keeping track.
Perhaps it was the feeling of instant gratification. Pigs exploded all over the screen. Each dead pig earned me 5,000 points. Plus, there were bonus points for destroying walls, taking out boxes of TNT, and pulverizing watermelon. Good, life-saving deeds were rewarded generously as well. I earned 10,000 points for each bird saved from sudden death as a suicide-bomber.
Whatever these angry birds have that my husband, children, family, friends and writing do not is beyond my comprehension. But, a wink and smile has now turned into a toxic love affair. My daily desire to free my pretty-feathered friends from a world of snarky pigs is constantly nudging at my resolve to make dinner each night, share my desktop with my children, write blog posts, and pay attention to my husband.
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Kate Parish 
I tried, but did not get addicted to Angry Birds. However, my downfall over Christmas break came from Gardens of Time on Facebook. I keep telling myself, “Enough!”. My mouse keeps clicking on it anyway. 😦
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@ Linda – I used to be addicted to Word Scramble on Facebook. I would tell myself I played the game to strengthen my vocab skills. But, they took the game off making me drop that addiction cold turkey. Good thing my Kindle has Every Word, which is similar.
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Well, I confess. I also play Words With Friends on FB, which is Scrabble, and I tell myself it’s “sort of:” writing because it’s using words. 😀
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@ Linda – I play the word games on FB and Kindle to wake up my head on days when coffee just isn’t doing the trick. Scrabble is on of my favorites.
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I too flirted with Angry Birds but appalling hand-eye co-ordination made it a bit stressful so my husband gently requested I banned myself from playing before my small child picked up some interesting phrases (small ears have big mouths!) I think it’s because to begin with its a few minutes per level and doing just one more level won’t take that much time.. Until you realise two hours have passed. 🙂 Small achievable goals are the way to go. Clearly these games tap into that. 🙂
P.S. Those pigs deserve it!!! They snigger at me all the time.
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@ Leonie – I can’t imagine being a part of the teams creating these games. I agree. Those pigs do snicker. I see their big smile each time I “fail” a level.
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Hi again! Just wanted to see if I could pull you away from the Angry Birds. 🙂
I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award cos you make me smile and get my mojo going (and, yes, cos you blow up them pigs too).
Find the rules over at my blog http://leonielucas.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/versatile-blogger-award/
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@ Leonie – Thank you for honoring my blog with an award — the Versatile Blogger Award. It means so much coming from an accomplished writer such as yourself and from a fellow pig fighter. Also, I’ll definitely be peeking at the other 14 blogs listed.
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