"Die Religion ist das Opium des Volkes, aber die Wii is auch gut." - Karl Marx

A mysterious little gadget has taken up residence in our living room.  It is an inanimate and benign presence, at least conceptually, for it consists of nothing more than some wiring and maybe a microchip or something encased in plastic.  On a more intangible level, it's a soul-sucking, time-killing vortex of nothingness.....a black festering chasm of ambition-decimating apathy, disguised as a harmless, leisure-related consumer product.

Yes, we finally got a Wii.  (So the Wii is hardly a hot new commodity at this point.  According to the diffusion of innovations theory as applies to product acceptance within the marketing biz, our household falls firmly into the category of, "laggards.")

And the arrival of this Wii is just darn terrific, because there weren't already enough other distractions to trip up a struggling writer who really ought to be finishing a screenplay or novel or article.

During my more lucid moments, when not locked in the addictive throes of slack-jawed gaming infatuation, I fully recognize that no good can come from spending hours shooting at virtual tin cans, or drag-racing virtual cars, or loitering around a virtual pool table.  It doesn't even count as life experience.  It's simply a fat, honkin' pile of hours lost forever - hours that might have otherwise been productive ones. 

It's fun, though.