TSTO Anonymous… The Birth of an Addict

Well hello there Addicterinos, Tapaholics and TSTO Junkies,

I find it hilarious that none of these terms seem offensive to me.  What a cool thing it is that being “addicted” to a mobile app is something we treasure here on this site.  In a world full of some really uncool and bumerrific stuff, there are so many worse things than really, really, really liking a silly, little game based on The Simpsons.

With Christmas over and all the holiday tapa-tapa-tapping continuing, I thought it was probably a good idea to hold another meeting of TSTO Anon.   Before I get started with a ramble I just hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday and got a bunch of cool stuff and maybe even some donuts for the game.  By best gift other than hanging with my fellow Addicts aka family was a giant Star Wars blanket.

For this meeting, I thought I’d give you a little break from all the holiday stuff and introduce you to one of the newest Addicts in my life…

My Mom

Just writing those two words is so strange to me but yes, the woman who gave birth to me is actually ONE OF US (and probably reading this at some point).

A lot of you may have noticed a TSTO book written by our friends CrankyOldGuy and Ryan.  While this post is not meant for promotion, the book actually is the beginning of this journey into the Birth of an Addict.

I’d known about the book for a while before it was announced and I’m sure I mentioned it to my Mom a time or two.  Living with her while I try and get back on my feet after leaving the military has been an experience in itself.  After over 14 years of self-sufficiency, suddenly finding yourself crashing on a couch at your Mom’s place can be very strange.

Added to this weirdness, I of course was blessed to have this blog to occupy a good amount of my time.  My Mom often gave me that “did you just fart?” look as I did my normal addict routine involving TSTO and most likely blabbed on and on about hits, posts, prizes, goo, updates, etc.  I can remember quite a few of my family members suffering through my antics during the Halloween Update.

Then something changed.  My Mom came home from work one day to let me know she had found “that TSTO book” I had mentioned and had purchased it for me.  I’m sure she didn’t expect me to become a hermit and read it in one solid 5 hour sitting, but it is what it is.  What surprised me was that the next morning she was reading it too on the Kindle I’d finally returned to her AND she was laughing.

Reaching out to them, I wondered if they’d want to know her opinion on the book and they both said yes.  My Mom came through and you may have actually seen her typed words in the advertisement for the book.  EVEN MOMS LIKE IT.  Yup, my Mom.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Even Moms Like It December 3, 2013

By JL

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Admittedly, I bought this book for my son who is obsessed with both the SImpsons and that silly little game he avoids me with but I actually really enjoyed the writing style of these authors. They are hilarious. Why I chose to read it? Well, it was my money and hey, I love my kid. I could totally see someone uninitiated with either the show or the game completely falling in love with both through this book. A really great read. Trust me… as someone who monitored my little boy’s viewing of that show (he now towers over me with kids of his own), this is a major revelation that I might actually like these obnoxious little yellow characters. For the record, still not playing the game but I understand more now why the rest of my crazy family does. Money well spent.

She’s so well spoken.  Maybe I got my talent from her?

What followed was so strange.  Suddenly my Mom was reading my blog and coming home to talk about it.  For obvious reasons, my Mom has always been one of my biggest fans but it was odd discussing The Simpsons with her.  She seemed to finally get the show and stated over and over she could understand why someone would like the game after reading the book.  It was now OK for the TV to be mine at 8pm on Sundays.  She laughed at the jokes.  It was no time before she noticed her review in the book ad and suddenly felt like a TSTO rock star.  Is it any surprise what happened next?

Ok… I think I have mentioned that my sister, daughter and I all play the game but the woman who once censored me from watching The Simpsons in the late 80s and actually wrote a review of a TSTO book saying she wasn’t going to play the game STARTED PLAYING!

It’s been a little over 3 weeks since this happened and what I’ve witnessed makes me shake my head and laugh and cringe.  I won’t even go into details about the texts and calls and conversations I’ve had with the newest member of our club who realizes she gave birth to her own personal library of TSTO knowledge.

Homer woo hoos from her device and her attention is often riveted to the town on her Kindle.  My sister told me she plays at stop lights.  If my phone is in the game, she’s suddenly interested.  “I know what music that is.  Why don’t you leave me presents?  Look, I put my next 4 tasks on a sticky on the back of my phone so I know who to keep free.  How long is it going to take me to get to Level 15 so I can continue with my holiday tasks?  Where should I be on the gift card calendar?  Etc., etc., etc.

Seriously EA… you’ve created a monster!

I also blame Ryan, Cranky and her uterus lol.

Is this what I was like when I started?  Is this how people look at me?  Surreal doesn’t even begin to describe this process.  There definitely is laughter involved as I notice my kiddo and her compete with who is the farthest in the game.  Christmas Day included quite a bit of tapping and discussion while we waited for the new Dr. Who episode.  (Well, while they waited, I was just at the mercy of a room full of women who controlled the television like everything else in life.)  The joy we all shared exchanging iTunes gift cards for donuts was great even if my daughter did quickly waste 200 on holiday wheel spins and endured some taunting for part of the day.  We all are the proud owners of the Grumple and other premium items and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the entire Grumple poem to the family on Christmas Eve.  It was even better that they all got my enthusiasm for it.

Still reading?  Well… I guess my point is that it has been a very interesting chapter of my life to watch my Mama become hooked on the game and it happened real fast.  Like scary fast.  EA really are geniuses.  If they can get my mom to start caring about this game, they can capture anyone.  Maybe it’s my fault for being so invested in it all and her buying me a book because she lurves me, but maybe it’s as simple as finding the app and hitting the screen with your skyfinger of choice?

How did you start playing this amazing addictive game?  When did you find out there were fellow addicts like you blogging and commenting about it?  Do you share the experience with any family or friends you had before the game came out?  Just curious.

If anyone would be interested, I’m sure I could convince my madre to lay out her side of the whole story.  For now she remains the Wookiee’s Mama and is probably tapping right know while she should be working.  I’m sure I’ll find out how close she is to building Moe’s Tavern when she gets home.

Well, not really a self-help kind of meeting but I just felt like sharing this hilariousness with y’all.  I hope you find it as funny as me.  My Mom may still say cringe-worthy things like Burp and Blow and the Eggnog Place or ask if her Raccoon will loose its sweater come January but it’s cool to me that she shares something I love in common with me… for now.

Let’s end another ramble (that I trussed up as a meeting) with the TSTO Anon Serenity Prayer.

EA, grant me the serenity to accept the updates I cannot change, the courage to recommend the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Please share whatever you’d like in the comments or provide any suggestions you might have for future get-togethers.  Y’all stay classy!  Wookiee out!