In 1999, my parents gave me the "Ages of Myst" pack for my birthday.  At first, I thought "Meh, looks weird to me."  But I got hooked fast.  The pack came with two hint guides, one for Myst and one for Riven.  The computer was downstairs, but I kept the hint guides upstairs in order to minimize cheating.  Although that strategy failed, I am proud to say that while I was playing these games I got lots of exercise stairclimbing.    

As time went by, I played the other games, including Uru:Complete Chronicles.  When I heard that Uru was going to be made live, I was tempted to sign on right away.  However, I was in my first year of grad school, so I chose to do the "grown-up" thing and wait.  However that May I was getting stressed and overworked and felt the need for an outlet.  So I signed on, thinking "Oh I'll just do the puzzles now and then and that's it."  I managed to stay resolved until Episode Week.  Nothing like a plot line to hook you and keep you.

One evening, I was hanging around the cavern, when I came across some people talking about the karaoke party.  As they were waiting for the party to begin, they joked around by getting on their microphones and singing little ditties such as "Mary had a little lamb."  On a whim, I threw myself into the humor of the situation by getting on my mike and singing "Dancing Queen" by Abba.  I thought that people would groan at me for choosing to sing an Euro-disco tune.  Instead, I apparently drew a crowd.  The rest was kind of a mad blur, but I ended up promising someone I would record a karaoke for the next week.  

Over the next few days, I began to regret my decision.  But a promise was a promise.  The song for my debut?  "Oops I did it again" seemed appropriate.  Slowly, the butterflies in my stomach settled.  (When you're a music teacher for a living, you tend to be awfully hard on yourself in regards to this medium.)   Now I enjoy my "other life" in Uru.  It's been nice to know that on Saturday nights I have a place to retreat to in order to escape the pressures and tribulations on the surface.  However, I can't help but wonder....if my parents had known what was going to happen, would they still have bought me that game pack?