New Year, Old Stuff

• Mr. Banality is a bad ass. Proof: the MRI results just came back today, and he has a torn ACL. TORN. Not sprained or stretched or partially torn, but TORN. (Also, it's the ACL, not the LCL, which was the doctor's original diagnosis, but that's another issue.) He should be whining and making me wait on him rather than running errands and swimming. So, to those of you who have heard me say that he's doing fine and it's probably not a torn ligament? Yeah, I take all that back.

• I played Guitar Hero the other night. Previously, I had only watched someone playing it several aisles over in a Best Buy, and I had been reluctant to walk over and gawk at the person, but now that I think about it, if you're going to play a video game in public, you should be prepared for an audience, so I should have gawked away. Anyway, there are a couple things I learned about Guitar Hero:

1. I totally understand why people like it. When you "play" something correctly (which did not happen too often for me because I kind of suck at Guitar Hero), it does seem like you're playing a musical instrument, and who doesn't want to play a musical instrument? (Answer: NO ONE. EVERYONE WANTS TO PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.)
2. I also totally understand why people who play this game are not inspired to try to play a real guitar because I'm sure playing a real guitar is a whole lot harder and takes a lot more practice before fancy music comes out. It's similar to the deal with my keyboard. It has an "auto-chord" feature that allows me to play chords with one, two, or three fingers, and that feature has not inspired me to try to play the actual chords. (I realize that actual chords are sometimes played with three fingers, but not minor seventh chords, which is what three fingers gets you with the Yamaha PSRE 413 61-key digital keyboard.)

• Here's a tip: if you have a problematic tail light, do not drive home from a party hosted by the lovely CAD and her charming spouse because this combination of factors substantially increases the likelihood that you will be pulled over. Very early on New Year's Day was the second time this has happened to people in the Banality household. I was surprisingly calm about the whole thing. Must have been the champagne I chugged shortly before we left. HA.
• I must end now so I can update my super secret blog about Ben's sweaters. JK, Ben! (For others: not kidding--check for a new post soon.)