growing a city

like the romans from centuries past, we all have our own dreams of conquering; be it our fears, our aspirations and yes, other people.  these inner wants have time and again manifested in our dealings with day to day life.  maybe, this seed of a conquer is the driving force that feeds our own private obsessions.

nowadays, an innumerable collection of online games keep us busy.  the dream of conquering has manifested once more in seemingly harmless games of spreading our own domains to make it the widest and the most crowded if not the most prosperous among the gamers the world over.  i'm talking about word of mouth games that one usually finds in facebook. personally, for me it started with farmville and now the even more popular cityville.

honestly, i am hooked.  but not as hooked as some others who spend real hard earned money to purchase points so as to keep up with the rapidly changing applications that we view as destressors of our own mundane existence.  we hear people on the metro, the buses and anywhere else talking about hurrying home so as not to have their "crops" withered, gifts to open; oftentimes without even a regard to "real" issues.

i have nothing against these games, in fact i am equally addicted.  exchanging sleep so as to keep up with the next expansion.  but still, i view it as it is - a game.  hopefully for much longer. sometimes, we convince ourselves that what we engage ourselves to while away the time are the same ones that drive us even closer to the brink of what we know not.  let us just be careful that what we believe are the little things that de-stresses will not be the same thing that takes away what we hold dear.

until the next expansion and i'll appreciate a zoning permit!