13 Oct

At university, Jamie studied Poetry. But more than studying, he tried to live the poet's lifestyle--or what he believed was the lifestyle--of a poet. He admired the American transendentalists, their fervent rejection of modern society and their choice to return to all things natural. Jamie stopped shaving, grew his hair, and resigned to letting go. During the late 90s, as the World Wide Web balooned in size and pertinence, Jamie stayed behind tracking the bear.

Years later, after leaving Ireland where he worked as a writer, he found himself interviewing for a job teaching Web Design in New Zealand. In this position, Jamie rediscovered an addiction he'd forgotten he had: the video game. As a boy he and his brother would spend days on end playing an 8-bit Nintendo. The would walk together to rent a game from the Title Wave Video on Edgemoor, a 15 minute stroll from their house. This was during the time when renting a game was only for 24 hours. The competition to get the most playing time was fierce, especially for one-player games. John's strategy was to wake up early and play before Jamie was out of bed. This was daring, considering the TV was in the bedroom they shared. Jamie remembers many mornings waking up to the TV's glow, John cross-legged in front of it, his brown eyes bulging into the screen. Getting older, he convinced himself he had simply grown out of it.

"I have better things to do than waste my time playing video games," he told a friend once. What he meant, though, was he would not touch one for fear he would love it.

During his last year teaching, his fear was justified. One of his students, after a discussion of a student's research project on the whether video games are addictive, offered him a 10-day free trial of World of Warcraft. It was the gaming equivalent of crack cocaine taster. "This one's a freebie--but you'll be back for more." And he was.

Jamie's phone buzzed with the arrival of a text message. It was from John, "What r u doin 2nite? Wanna play?" Although Jamie was going out with friends, a self affirmation that he still had some semblance of a social life, all he wanted to do was escape and be a hero.