Complex Numbers

Zombie

I ventured Out Into The World for the first time in three months yesterday. Well, unless you count walks to medical offices; I don't because those aren't fun. No, this time, I walked over to the shopping center because I had to pick up a prescription (as a result of one of the trips to the doctor -- not a big deal, just routine), and then I noticed that the nearby taphouse was open for outdoor seating.

It was around 3pm, and the temperature was only around 70F (quite low for a Virginia afternoon in mid-June), so there was no wait. Thus, I was able to have my first (and second, and third) draft beer since mid-March.

It felt almost... normal.

Then I walked home and passed out. And that was definitely normal. Downside to losing weight? Lower tolerance. Upside to losing weight? Cheaper to get drunk.

Anyway, today is entry #5 for "Journalistic Intentions"  [18+]

8. Try not to become a man of Call of Duty prowess, but rather try to become a man of legitimate Zombie Apocalypse fighting skills.
Brandiwyn🎶

I'm not familiar with whatever the original of this twisted quote is. Probably doesn't matter.

Confession time: I've never played Call of Duty. I don't actually know much about it. I'm more of a Bethesda fan: Elder Scrolls, Fallout, that sort of thing. I've heard good things about CoD and its sequels, but just never got the urge to play it.

But I don't think that's the point.

All the joking around we all used to do about the inevitable zombie apocalypse seems rather naive what with everything going on right now. An actual pandemic? Cops out of control in the streets? Yeah, no thanks. The attraction of fantasizing about a zombie apocalypse was that the line between the good guys and the bad guys was really clear. Good guys: not zombies. Bad guys: brain-munching shamblers. You could project all of your hate, fear (they are not the same thing), and prejudice onto the hordes of moldy undead.

Liberal or conservative, warmonger or peacenik, we could all agree that zombies are bad and need to be eliminated. They are, however fictional, the Common Enemy, and (with a few exceptions in movies and whatnot) there's no nuance there. The survivors have to band together, cooperating against an all-encompassing threat.

Even when you have the whole space-alien-invasion trope, there's always, somewhere in the background, the idea that some people will side with the aliens. Not so with zombies. We're all in this together.

Well, recent events have thrown into sharp focus the realization that we're not all in this together, and probably never will be.

So, give me a video game. Preferably one where I can play as a good guy, or as a bad guy, or (my favorite) a bad guy who convinces everyone he's a good guy. Escape from reality? Sure. Have you seen reality?

Three very interesting and well-written answers to yesterday's mini-contest about Why We Are Huge. Though I do have to say I'm just a little bit disappointed that no one proposed "space aliens are fattening us up for the harvest."

So it's close, but this time the MB goes to SB Musing . Check yesterday's comments for the post; it's too long to comfortably copy/paste here. Thanks for reading and commenting!

I'll try this again sometime soon, though probably with some subject matter that's a little less... weighty.