Solitaire Anyone?

There was report last week stating 63% of Americans play video games. Since we don't have a video game through our television, I assumed smugly, they weren't talking about me. Oops, that figure includes people who play solitaire.

If there's a twelve step program, I'm here to state I'm a solitaire addict. I'm making that declaration in the hope I can get on the solitaire abstinence wagon. It starts out innocently enough. I start my computer in the morning, and as I’m still taking my first sip of coffee, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I play a game of solitaire to wake up. I then read my email, and start about the day’s business.

The problem occurs later in the morning. I’ll sit down to start writing. And there it is, a bad case of writer’s block. The empty screen stares back at me. My mind goes blank. What do I write? Where do I start?

And then, before I even realize it’s happened, I’ve dragged down the menu, clicked on Solitaire and there I am, wasting my time. I will often play until I’ve won. Thank God, I win a lot. The problem is, my mind goes numb and it hasn’t helped my writer’s block at all.

Today, we’re working on changing things. I know the writer’s block looms around every period. Today, I have a plan. Instead of playing a game of solitaire to unblock, I’m going to paint. It may still be a drain on my writing time, but I’m hoping the shift to a creative outlet will help get the right side of my brain juices flowing. At the very least, I’ll have a painting to show for my effort.

Just curious if I’m the only junky in the bloggershere or if there are other closet gamers?