This is even worse than I thought...

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know the issues I've had after I got my Rock Band 2 set for my Wii. I knew it would be coming as soon as I got that game. What it would have led to, I did not expect. I couldn't have prepared for it. I was doomed to fall so far, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I wish it would have been something simple, like getting addicted to Heroin Hero. This is way worse. Here's how it all went down...

On July 9th, I posted this after I got my first full clear (100% Flawless performance) playing drums in RB2. Yes, it was on Easy difficulty. "So what? Big deal." At the time, I was pretty impressed with myself. Pleased with my performance. Thinking I would be moving onto bigger and better things (read: higher difficulties). Over the next month, I did it at least 10 more times (that I can prove with photographic evidence, some additional ones were done during multi-song sets, so I could not confirm it like you can at the end of set).

In early August, I was starting to get concerns that my drum set was falling apart. My red drum pad was starting to bubble, becoming unglued from the apparatus. Concerned it might affect my performance and cheat me out of further full clears, I did a bit of research to find out how I could fix it, but considering it would require disassembly, thereby voiding my warranty, I decided against it.

About this same time, I was starting to move up to Medium difficulty. I was using the Drum Trainer, in addition to playing songs, to get used to the increased hand and foot coordination required to play at that level. The first song I played at Medium was "Today" by The Smashing Pumpkins. At the time, it was my favorite song of the moment (FSotM). I did pretty well. I scored 97% for a tier-2 drum song. I was happy.

A day later, my drum pedal broke. Suck. "Well, since my pedal is broken, I might as well get the whole thing repaired/replaced." I called EA. Although I never bought my Rock Band gear, the support rep. I spoke to on the phone was kind enough to speak to his supervisor and create a couple of RMA's to resolve my issues (Lots of love to you, Alan, if you're out there reading this). One for the pedal, one for the pads. A week to get two empty boxes to send them in, another to get replacements back from EA. "I can live without my drum set for two weeks. I can sing or play guitar while I wait."

I could not play guitar (and I doubt I ever will with any proficiency). I could sing. Singing in Rock Band, in your living room, by yourself, is BORING!! Tried it for a day or two and stopped. Even after I redeemed some instant wins for downloadable content (additional songs) from Pepsi/Yahoo!/Rock Band's promotion. "Great. Well, it's only a couple of weeks, I can wait. I'll find other things to do."

Wrong again. A few days later, I lifted my self-imposed ban on Tuesday night hockey due to my back problems. But a week later, they came back. To help ensure I would be in good enough shape to play in the upcoming winter and the Novice Hockey League in Fargo, I would stop playing for the summer. I got in some rounds of golf, but golfing by yourself isn't very fulfilling (for me, golf has always been a social engagement first, and a fun game second). I tried calling friends to hang with, but I was having issues with that too. Greg and his wife just had a kid. Jason and his wife were expecting twins. Paul didn't have any energy to do anything after working at his own fencing business at the end of day. Casey is busy with his dental practice, his new gas station, and hanging out at his lake place. Jeff moved to Iowa in May. And I'm not really friends with anyone at work (sorry if you work with me, but I can't get on beyond the customer-support tech relationship with you). I worked on my website a bit, but since I was doing menial, tedious tasks, and not development, I got bored very quickly. Worked on my PC's a bit, compiling complete lists of all my hardware. I completed that project.

With each day that passed, spending time at work, prepping for our IT audit (and then actually going through it), I was growing more and more anxious to have my drums back. I wanted that to be my release at the end of the day.

After two weeks and no drum pads, I called EA, looking for an update. The second support rep. told me to wait another week, then call again if I hadn't received them. Running additional salt into the wound, I got a new pedal a week after I opened RMA's with Electronic Arts. A drum pedal with no pads; real useful...

I started hunting for more outlets for my drumlessness. Music-related stuff. Ordered some more CD's, some containing my favorite RB2 songs. Also redeemed some My Coke Reward points for Rhapsody credit, which became even more songs to listen too. After I got all that music, I researched more songs and albums to purchase. Rebuilt my shopping lists.

Then, it happened. This past weekend (8/28-8/30), I just could not take it anymore. I needed a stronger RB2 fix. I searched for full drum clears in RB2 on YouTube. I found one that I just got hooked on, and it spiraled out of control from there...

"New Kid in School" by The Donnas.

The same song I had "performed" for my first drum clear in RB2. I spent the rest of that weekend entranced by those four sirens. Singer Brett Anderson. Drummer Torry Castellano. Bassist Maya Ford. Guitarist Allison Robertson.

Before we continue, let's get one thing straight. This is NOT (and I repeat, NOT) just because they are attractive young women (despite what you may believe to be evidence to the contrary). It goes WAY beyond that.

Ever since that weekend, I can't stop listening to clips of their last four albums. I can't stop watching their music videos. I can't stop checking out their website, or their Facebook pages, or their YouTube channel. Google search after Google search for articles, interviews, fan sites, photos, both as a group and individually. Downloading videos from their "official" media site (look, that site may be violating IP laws, but if you're linking to it from your official MySpace page, you've given it your blessing and I can download as many videos as I want from it without repercussions). I can't sleep. I can't eat. I can't stop thinking about them. I need to see them. I need to meet them. I want them to be my friends, and I want to be their friend too.

After that weekend, I still had no drum pads, so I called EA for the third time. They created a new RMA to send me pads, which I should have next week. It didn't fix my problem NOW. Although we just finished our IT audit on the 28th, before my weekend of descent into Donnaholism, I'm still struggling to get caught up at work, and each night this past week, the girls have been my comfort system after a stressful day. Spend an hour on the 'net with them, and I'm OK. Good enough to help me wind down for the evening, smile, and forget about work. Spend a few more obsessing over them, and I'm fucked...

What am I gonna do? I've tried to rationalize this. I've been down this road before. A little more than 5 years ago, Weezer released Video Capture Device, a DVD of their music videos and other rare footage of the band in the 90's and early 00's, and they became my favorite band FOR LIFE. But something about this feels a little different... And I can't put my finger on it... I don't know if it's because I'm older. Or if it's because Weezer are guys and The Donnas are girls. Or if it's much worse (I won't go into details because it scares me, and it would likely scare you too)...

I've spoke to a few friends about it. It's helped a little bit. To the point that we were making jokes about it last night at dinner. I'll have my drum pads back in a couple days, so I can continue drumming in RB2. Maybe after I get back into my old habits, this most recent obsession of mine will pass. I hope it can, because I don't know what to do next if it doesn't...

Damn you, Pandora...