For the last few weeks I have been really itching to interact with another world.

I spend a fair amount of my time imagining myself in a number of ‘out-there’ situations. These daydreams are often fueled by a mix of history, science-fiction, my imagination and the desire to explore . While lately the responsibilities of an adult job and relationship have dampened my auto-exploratory-self-created-worlds-of-fun, I recently finished Delaney’s The Einstein Intersection, which I loved, and which also really brought my imagination back on board. Since then I have had the itch.

Shortly after finishing the Delaney, I had dinner with my friend Alex, and we discussed my desire to get in deep and really interact with and love another world. Our conversation turned to video games. Growing up I played a game here and a game there, and have at times been really moved by my experiences. Alex and I agreed that a video game might be the answer to my yearning.

[As a tangent, and having also recently finished Henry Jenkins Convergence Culture, let me say that I look forward to a time when it is socially acceptable to say, “I can’t wait to sit down with a good game,” the way they might now about a book or a movie.]

Since my talk with Alex, I have been kicking around the idea of finding some of the old titles that I enjoyed and maybe getting back into their franchise. I have also looked at more contemporary games. At every turn I have just not been excited by the possibilities. Until…

I have been aware of Spore for at least a year now, maybe too, and dating back to whenever that I was I liked the idea, and thought it’d be fun. But for whatever reason I didn’t take it seriously. Until I watched that TED|Talk. I am utterly convinced that Spore will be the next game that I get into, and I will enjoy it.In the meantime I have like twenty-thousand books to keep me occupied.