Doing some geeking

Before you judge me - I've always said that The Sims 2 is what you make of it, if you have the imagination and know the cheats the game can become very funny.

These last few days my interest for The Sims 2 has re-awakened and I've started playing again. I'm working on that same old family again. Remember?

I'm gonna be geeking from this point on. Just a warning.

So, originally I created one girl and one guy. My story (I always start with a story) was that Sayumi met Bradley as a teenager. Bradley was an adult. Sayumi's parents did not approve of her relationship with Bradley and when they found out she was pregnant, they shunned her. She ran away with Bradley. They got married and built a great big house from scratch. Shortly thereafter Sayumi gave birth to twin girls. This was easy to fix. I made two adults and then cheated some with the aspiration points so that Bradley would have access to the Life Elixir. Using the boolprop-cheat I changed Bradley's age to one day before getting old and then got him to drinking the Life Elixir until he was only halfway through his adult stage. This made for him being much older than Sayumi. Using the boolprop-cheat again I made Sayumi pregnant with Bradley and then sped up her pregnancy, making for her to have been pregnant in her teens :)

And now the story starts. 

Sayumi and Bradley had seven children in total: Erina, Reina, Ai, Samuel, Momoko, Risako, and Jonathan, and then they became teenagers I got to have a lot of fun. I made Erina and Jonathan gay, Reina snuck out every night with her friends and almost always came back home in a police car, Ai feels misunderstood and runs away from home, and Samuel stops going to school in protest. Momoko gets pregnant (but miscarries) and Risako only love men twice her own age. They all grew up and moved out and started their own families (which meant I got to have fun and build houses). Most of them were having regular lives, however Risako married an old guy and started a family with him, and Ai and Samuel, who lived together, lived lives of passion and indulgence. Ai had Pleasure ambition and Samuel had Romance ambition. They both lived like tomorrow didn't matter and each had multiple lovers - Samuel being the worst since his lifetime want was to have 20 simultaneous lovers xD However Ai accidentally (not kidding, I didn't press Try for Baby) got pregnant, and started to slow things down. She later turned herself into a vampire. Samuel decided to get married in his old days.

Ai's story is actually kind of funny.

She got pregnant and her daughter kept nagging her about her father (not kidding she thought and talked about family all the time), and when Ginevra was grown up and had her own family Ai gave in and called her father. They met for the first time since Ginevra was concieved and they literally couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Once again they woohoo'd (didn't press Try for Baby) and Ai got pregnant again. Seriously wtf?! So I decided to marry them anyway and I made Brandon old just so it wouldn't be weird that he was younger than his daughter...

The houses I've built:

From left to right: The very first house, Erina & Reina's house, Ai & Samuel's house, Momoko & Risako's house, Adam & Bellatrix' house, apartment complex

Most of the strange families are in the third generation. Erina's and Willow's son Fenrir built a robot, which he fell in love with. Then he got abducted by aliens and gave birth to an alien baby at the same time he and the robot got married and adopted a child. Reina's and Erik's daughter Bellatrix' husband Clarence spent too much time in the garden and turned into a PlantSim. Risako's and Joe's son Charlie met a good witch and made himself a warlock. Jonathan's and Todd's daughter Evelyn made friends with the Leader of the Pack, got nibbled, and turned into a werewolf. Her husband was fascinated and on his request she made him into a werewolf too.

So I have a vampire, a robot, an alien, a plantsim, a good warlock, and two werewolves. All I need now is a zombie and an evil witch and I'll have it all. I've already chosen Roxie to be the evil witch when she grows up. The she'll have green skin (like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz), and she'll use her magic powers to resurrect her uncle Samuel and make him a zombie :)

This is the current family tree:

It's getting a little crowded in the fourth generation, but that's alright. They're no longer considered related by the game, so I'm gonna start connecting the branches again. Marissa will marry Maddox, Andromeda will marry Aidan, Roxie will marry Jimmy, and Joshua and Anthony will get to bring in "new blood" :P

And the fact that Imelda even exists is another accident. Jenna brought a guy home from work, she liked him and went on a date with him, which ended in her getting pregnant. They have sucky contraception methods obviously :P

I'm in control, I've got a bulletproof soul, and I'm full of self-esteem. I invented myself with no one's help, like a prototype supreme. I sit on my private throne and run my lifestyle all alone. Me, myself and I agree, we don't need nobody else. I never learned to bow, bend or crawl to any known authority. I really wanna build my statue tall. That's all. I'm just trying to be God. I only wanna be God. I just wanna be God. Why can't I be God? I got no time to take advice. I want to gamble with my eternity with a loaded dice. I don't need a preacher in my face when I'm the omnipresent ruler of the human race. Ain't gonna spend my life being no one's fool. I was born to rock and I was born to rule. But if I'm wrong on judgement day I'm royally screwed with hell to pay. I never learned to bow, bend or crawl to any known authority. I really wanna build my statue tall. That's all. I'm just trying to be God. I only wanna be God. I just wanna be God. Why can't I be God?

In the night

The reason I sometimes have sleep problems is that my brain can't stop spinning. Sometimes it's all about stuff I have to remember to do the next day, but usually it keeps making up stories. The source for all my writings is sleep-deprivation. I'm more inspired in night time than in day time. It's not even unusual for me to take inspiration for stories from dreams I've had.

Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination

Silently the senses abandon their defences

Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor

Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender

Turn your face away from the garish light of day

Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light

And listen to the music of the night

Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams

Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before

Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar

And you'll live as you've never lived before

Softly, deftly, music shall surround you

Hear it, feel it, closing in around you

Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind

In this darkness, which you know you cannot fight

The darkness of the music of the night

Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world

Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before

Let your soul take you where you long to be

Only then can you belong to me

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication

Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation

Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in

To the power of the music that I write

The power of the music of the night

You alone can make my song take flight

Help me make the music of the night

- Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1986

Yes, I love lyrics. These just speak to me.

Confession: I'm a concert junkie

Toni just saw The 69 Eyes live in Stockholm and I'm starting to feel withdrawal symptoms. It's been too long since I've been to a concert. Way too long. I miss them so bad. I'm a concert junkie. In an attempt to cure this let's take a trip back in time.

I've been to concerts pretty much every year since I was about 10 years old. The annual local summer festival brought interesting bands even for a little girl. At Sommar Rock I saw some bands that I really liked and some bands that just happened to be on the stage at the same time I was hanging out there. Those I remember that I've gone there to see are Antique, Mendez, Bubbles, Style, The Ark (three times), Crashdiet, E-Type, Europe, Hammerfall, Joddla med Siv, Magnus Uggla, Markoolio, The Poodles, Perikles, Takida, Thin Lizzy, and Erik Grönwall. I also distinctily remember the time when Tomas Ledin played there and I got invited to the party afterwards but declined (I didn't feel like going to a party of a middle aged women's idol). Until last year I used to work there with my dad. Official website. Blog post. Blog post.

Then there's also the annual festival in Malmö, which isn't has cosy as the one of my hometown, since it's all over the city. And most of the years I haven't really gone there to see the bands. But I remember seeing Jay Smith and The Sounds there. And The Ark (fourth time). I usually just go there for the market, the food and the festival events, and forget all about the music :P Official website. Blog post. Blog post.

My first real concert was Lordi. Autumn 2006. I was 15 years old and they had just won ESC. I went with Kajsa. Mum wouldn't let us stand in the crowd so we had to get seats. Spent the entire concert sitting on the edge of my seat, waving my arms and singing/screaming my throat and lungs out. This is when I fell in love with concerts for real. Sabaton was the support and I hated their sound.

Second concert was Nightwish. Winter 2007. Went with then-boyfriend Henrik. It was Nightwish with Anette promoting Dark Passion Play. I really liked Anette at this concert. She was very friendly and interacted a lot with the audience. Indica was support and since then I never really could get them out of my head. It was just too bad that all their music was in Finnish until a couple of years ago when they released their first English album.

Third was Stephen Lynch. Spring 2008. Went with Kajsa. He was hilarious. At first it was sold-out, but by chance Kajsa managed to get a hold of two tickets next to each other really close to the stage. Happy!!!

 2009 was a big year for me. Edguy, Lordi and Metaltown. Back then Edguy was the best concert I'd ever been to, which was surprising for me cause I've never been that big a fan of them. But I remember I almost cried when they played King of Fools during the encore. All of those I went to with then-boyfriend Sebastian. For Lordi I also brought Zoy.

In 2010 all I saw was Disturbed in December. I went with Love and he's been their fanboy ever since. But despite it being a joint concert with Papa Roach and Disturbed being the last act (hence it took forever for them to get out on stage) the concert was epic. Blog post.

2011 was a big year. Stephen Lynch, Alice Cooper, Edguy and Within Temptation. To date I've never been as excited about a concert as I was for Cooper. I love him. Gimme more! I was so sad when I wasn't able to see him again in Gothenburg last year. But when it comes to concert feeling Edguy from 2011 still takes the price. Blog post. Blog post. Blog post. Blog post.

2012 wasn't that special in comparison to 2011. At least not concert-wise. Magnus Betnér (twice), Nightwish and Metaltown. Metaltown was easily that year's favourite. Blog post. Blog post. Blog post.

Mostly concerts are about feeling. Being able to scream-sing the songs you love back at the bands you love. Jumping up and down, waving your arms around in the air and headbanging, makes for an aching body but a greater feeling than any exercising could ever give me. The feeling when a song gives you goosebumps or bring you to the verge of tears. The feeling when all the lights go out and the arena is lit up by lighters and mobiles being waved back and forth in the air to a slow, beautiful song. The feeling of buying that perfect T-shirt as proof and memory of having been there. The feeling of buying a large soda and a random hamburger at the closest McDonald's open at night and eat the hamburger while walking back home. The feeling of going to sleep with the songs still ringing in your ears. The feeling of not wanting to wake up the next day cause it'll be soooo terribly long 'til the next time you'll get to feel that way.