Wii Wii Wii All the Way Home

By Beth Terrell

On Thanksgiving day, my husband, Mike, and I had dinner with Susan, the niece of my mother's boyfriend. The meal was delicious, and the conversation warm. My brother played pool with our hostess's father, Roy and brother, Pat (a police officer whose brain I love to pick). Then they turned on the Wii.

I'd heard of the Wii before, the high-tech video game that uses your own movements to conduct virtual games. Mike, Susan, Pat, and Pat's mother, Robbie decided to play the bowling game. It was remarkable. Mike's throws had a noticeable left hook--just like his real-life bowling style. A good time was had by all. As a self-acknowledged klutz, I enjoyed watching from the sidelines.

Of course a few days later, Mike brought home a Wii of our own. One cool thing about it is that you can personalize your little virtual self (called a Mii), so Mike and I have each made facsimiles of ourselves. These guys are seriously cute. Since then, I've learned that my bowling skills leave a little to be desired, that I'm a terrible golfer but not too bad at table tennis, and quite possibly the worst pilot on the planet. My hat's off to Mark for being able to fly a real plane. I can't tell whether I'm above or even with a church steeple until I crash right into it. I'm terrible with a frisbee, but pretty darn good with a sword. I'm not sure what that says about me, but if the zombie apocalypse comes, I'll be a pro at decapitation--a valuable skill when dealing with the undead.

A few days ago, I made an interesting discovery. I'd been working on my NaNo novel and hit a snag. No matter what I did, I couldn't get past it. So I took a break, and Mike and I played with the Wii for awhile. He crushed me in bowling, I beat him at table tennis, and we took turns knocking each other off a cliff and into the water with our swords. When I sat back down at my computer, the words and ideas suddenly started to flow again. I don't know if it was the break, the physical activity (yes, you can work up a sweat with the Wii), or some magical quality of the little Miis (mini Miis?), but tonight, it happened again.

I'm wondering if maybe I should tell the Wii people. They could market their product as a cure for Writer's Block.

Does this mean we can write it off on our income taxes?