Simpourri

Hey, hey, to one and all! Welcome back to Monkeesims! Only mere days before Thanksgiving, and my mouth is watering already in anticipation of…you guessed it…stuffing! Forget about the turkey - it makes you sleepy and quite frankly, doesn't taste nearly as good as stuffing does. I love the Thanksgiving holiday because my wife and her friend always cook a big meal the day before or so too, and they're awesome cooks…I'm surprised I don't weigh a thousand pounds by now (my best friend at work is an awesome cook also, and she frequently brings me food in).

Okay, now that I've got food on my mind first thing in the morning (and I haven't even had my coffee), it's time to change focus to simmery (I could say more about stuffing, believe it or not, but I'm not getting any, so why tease myself?) Before we sim today, though, I have a request - if you're one of the readers of this blog, could you please leave a comment of any sort on this post? I'm trying to figure out where I go to approve them, but there hasn't been any since the old posts here (it can say "I like monkeys" if you want - I'm not trying to force an actual comment from anyone).

Anyway, the name of the game today is randomness - usually we focus on a single sim family for the course of a post, but today, we're going to go all over town, so grab your running shoes! Our first stop today is the home of Aiden and Vyn Andrews, recent newlyweds (as of last post, even). Below, we see Vyn bent over the toilet (probably really glad it was captured on camera too), and it's not because she drank too much at the reception. No, you see, Vyn is preggers already, the result of her and Aiden's very first honeymoon "interaction". Man, those sims don't waste any time, do they?


Ah, the joys of motherhood...
Well, Aiden was pretty excited about the whole thing. Well, sure, why not? I mean, the hardest part of his job for the time being is basically done, and he's not the one talking to Ralph on the porcelain phone (I'm sure if there was a "hold hair" option, he'd be glad to assist Vyn, but alas, another oversight by those folks at EA). I've got to say, the whole thing was sort of unexpected for me. Sure, I knew they were going to try for a baby once, but come on…the first time? I had hopes for the couple to be free from obligations (like jobs) for a while so I could give them a chance to explore the sim world a bit, but that's pretty much out the window. Well, they seem happy with the whole situation, so that's the main thing…


Vyn: "You do realize I just threw up, right?"
Well, Aiden is the responsible sort, and he knew that, despite the current positive balance in his sim bank account, kids cost money, and it was time to start planning for the future. To his credit, he did glance at the paper and give the thumbs down to the slacker and political career tracks, and even the criminal track, which his old man Clarence started out on until there were kids in the house. No, Aiden was aspiring to do something greater, and so he headed off to the Freetime Lounge and kicked Heath King (the ever present NPC DJ) off the DJ booth and started raking in the mad cash $35 every few seconds. Oh, well - there may not be much room for advancement or anything, but it's a job…sort of…


Not just any fool can scratch a record…it takes a special kind of fool!
Well, good to see all is going well for the new Andrews clan. We'll leave them be now, as we pay a visit to our next lucky residents, the Hartmans (Rinoa and Leon, not the greenhouse full of Hartman plant sims). Rinoa has really been pushing herself to get ahead on the military track, and she's recently been promoted to flight officer (Rinoa in a plane? That's a scary idea). About this time, she realized she had the option to put an obstacle course in her back yard, so of course she did. Rinoa loves creating as many obstacles as possible in her life, so why not a course in her yard as well?


An attractive addition to any back yard décor...
Rinoa's self improvement plan really began after her second breakup with her boyfriend, Tommy Wolf (the first breakup was after she kissed Leon Hartman, the second when she kissed Leon Jackson…ugh…Leons). I admit I had a hand in getting them back together after the first breakup, because I didn't feel Rinoa was at fault since Leon actually initiated the kiss. After the second breakup, though, she was on her own. Well, she apparently didn't NEED my help, because after letting nature run its course for a few sim days, well…


Oh, Tommy, what a sucker you are...
On one level, you've got to respect the dude's commitment. On another level, well, he's kind of a shmuck. There are plenty of fish in the Monkeesim sea, and Rinoa is kind of a man-eating shark that Tommy keeps going back to. He IS a werewolf, and it's possible that affects his judgment in some way, but Clarence never seemed to have any problems when he had lycanthropy (besides becoming incredibly sloppy). I'd like to say that I'm holding out high hopes for the couple, and that I really believe it's meant to last this time, but there's not much past precedent to support that theory, now is there?


Leon: "That Rinoa is one hot babe…in a non-platonic way, of course!"
Ugh. Good luck there, folks. We wish you all the best, and we're glad we're not you. It could be worse, though…oh, yes, it's true. Let's wander on over to the Daniels home, where the family is enjoying a quiet evening. Well, we're a little late there. They WERE enjoying a quiet evening, until the ghosts in their back yard got bored sitting in the ground and decided to pay a visit. Ever since Vyn moved out, the spooks have seemed more restless than usual. Here, we see Felmer McNugget using his ghostly powers to deny Regina access to the computer.


Regina: "That's it! If you don't quit bugging me, I really will sell your tombstone!"
Jack, being the dashing, chivalrous sort, was quick to console Regina. He'd better be, since, as primary owner of the property, it's his fault there are so many ghosts to begin with. Granted, only one was intentional, but his careless treatment of visitors just can't be excused. Jack's idea of how to make Regina feel better was to make out with her. I think that's more for him, than it was for her, but who am I to judge…


Regina: "Okay, I feel better…now get your nose out of my ear!"
I know that I could just do the family a favor and have them sell the tombstones, but in life (even sim life), we must deal with the consequences of our actions. If my sims screw up or die or just have a really crappy day, that's the breaks. It's just no fun if they have me floating overhead ready to intervene and do a "rewind" if things go South. Okay, maybe it's fun for them, but not for me. So anyway, the Daniels family has to keep their ghosts. It could be worse - they could BE the ghosts...


Sure is dead around here…har har...
Well, Regina made a keen observation, and that was that the ghosts spent most of their time haunting the main house and it's many gadgets, but spent very little time in the clubhouse out back. Heck, since the last house guest, Homie, moved out, nobody has really spent any time out there. It's a shame too, because I know it still gets factored into the monthly bills. At any rate, Regina decided to use the clubhouse computer since the ghost of Felmer didn't seem to have a problem with that. Man, letting ghosts tell you what to do and then giving in to it…you just can't do that with ghosts.


Regina: "The heck with that spook infested freak house…it's me in the clubhouse from now on!"
It's good to see that Regina has worked out her issues with the resident spirits. I think we've thoroughly exhausted anything interesting the Daniels house might have to offer on this particular evening. What a great time for us to drop in on one of the newer families in the neighborhood, the Kents. Below, we see two of four, Bruce and Alex Kent. You remember Alex - he crashed the wedding of Aiden and Vyn. Great first impression there.


Alex: "Wow, Bruce! You're a regular Liberace!"
The Kent house is one of those really friendly houses with an open door policy - literally. I don't know if it was a flaw in design or some strange glitch, but after the first time someone opened the door, it never closed. Here, we see two more of the Kents - Tom and Jason. Jason apparently isn't as cool with the open door as the rest of the family.


Jason: "But if we leave the door open, won't the ghosts get in?"
Doesn't he realize that all of the ghosts live at the Daniels house? He might, if he ever left the Kent house, but he doesn't seem to be a big social butterfly, unlike Alex and Tom, who are out constantly. Maybe if even one of the family members had a job, that would give them an excuse to leave more often, but that's just crazy talk. There is one thing that separates Jason from being like all the rest of my created sims, and I don't know how it came about. When I had him scope the room while some female visitors were present, he insisted that Bruce and Tom were HOT. I scoped things out with Tom and Alex, but they just seemed to like the chicks. No word on which was Bruce is leaning. Strange.


Jason: "Everyone is so…sparkly!"
Did I mention that none of the Kents are related? Yeah, they are just four random room mates who all happen to have the last name of Kent. Weird? Not really…remember the original Wilson family and their total of six unrelated people with the last name Wilson. Talk about sewing confusion. Speaking of Wilsons, what's going on at the Wilson trailer? Well, a first glance reveals that not all of the families can always have something exciting going on. Not unless you count Kitty lounging on the couch while Marty throws sticks to Gizmo exciting. I certainly don't.


Kitty: "Ugh…Conan O'Brien AGAIN?"
Moments before Kitty slipped into a boredom coma, she was saved by the phone ringing. Well, the first time, it was just Jimmy Jones calling to see if Marty was available, and she just said no (I guess playing with the pug is more important). Before she even sat down again, the phone rang again, and despite the temptation to ignore it, she answered. Well, it wasn’t Jimmy calling back to tell Kitty she was a lying witch…no, this call was much more unexpected…


Kitty: "Wow…this is so…unexpected!"
The caller was Kitty and Marty's daughter, Katrina. You may remember Katrina from the original Monkeesims posts, or you may not. If you don't, let me fill you in - she's Kitty and Marty's daughter. And obviously, the call wasn't as unexpected for me, since Kitty's clearly seen Katrina more recently than we have, otherwise she'd never have called. I'm so very sneaky…and you thought I'd forgotten Marty and Kitty had a daughter. Kitty also has a brother who lives in town, Antonio, but he's a big loser and hasn't merited a post to date. At any rate, Kitty and Katrina chatted outside for a bit and Kitty filled her in on the happenings around town while Marty hung out in the tub the whole time. What a nurturing father that Marty is.


Kitty: "My advice…stay away from anyone named Leon!"
Yes, there are many yet to be revealed facets to the Monkeesim neighborhood, but no more to be revealed today. We'll take a more focused approach to our posts next time as we focus on just one household again. I'm not going to say which household, though…that's part of the fun. After that, we'll drop in on Marty as he shakes things up in the neighborhood (don't worry, not in a bad way). In till then, this is Bob Barker saying stay cool, and get your pets spayed and neutered!