Doom de Doom Doom

You know I am far too delicate a flower to do any such thing, but Mr. Stapler still plays the video game "Doom" every once in a while.

The game places the player, who is armed with high-powered weapons, in a building with horrible-looking monsters who are bent on killing you. The monsters can move around and yell and make noises. It is pretty basic as far as plots go - someone must die, so try to keep it from being you.

The game has been around since 1993 and there are many player-designed variations called Doom WADs. In Mr. Stapler's favorite WAD, one of the things the Terrifying Monsters yell at the player in an attempt to frighten them is "They're all going to laugh at you!"

What a perfect line. Terrifying, indeed. "They're all going to laugh at you!" How much scarier does it get?

How much human effort is expended every single day because of the fear of getting laughed at? Industries rise and fall on the idea. Empires have been won and lost because people were afraid of getting laughed at.

Now whenever we need to, Mr. S and I screech "They're all going to laugh at you" in the monster's voice. It takes the edge off.

That's my Deep Thought^TM to ponder for the day. How much of your life is spent doing things to keep people from laughing at you and how much of it is because what you do geniunely pleases you? Please don't stress. Just think.

If I wasn't afraid of people laughing at me, I would sing louder and more often. I would eat with my fingers. I would drive a purple car. And wear all purple clothes. Unless I wanted to wear pink. Or a feather boa. And a tiara. I would buy and wear those damn Crocs. In a tigerskin pattern.

And I would skip everywhere. Skipping is fun and a perfectly fine form of locomotion (though with my bladder control issues, I would probably have to wear Depends to get away with it). But a 45-year-old woman skipping? They're all going to laugh at me.

What is on YOUR list?


Linkateria today: short, but makes fun of Paris Hilton. What more do you want?