Video games have always been a big part of my life. The original Mario Bros on the old school NES is, to this day, one of my most favorite games. I'm not a competitive person, and I don't care if other people beat me at games, but I'm always competing with myself and trying to get better scores, faster times, etc. When I was little, I used to time myself to see how fast I could beat the game. 6 min and 52 seconds is my record (using warp levels of course). Anyway, I know every kid in the world used to try and jump over that damn flag pole at the end of each level. "What could possibly be over the pole and beyond that little castle?!" was the thought on everyone's mind the second Mario was sliding down the pole.
One day a little device came out called Game Genie--some of you may remember this--and it had a whole book of cheats for all sorts of games. One cheat for Mario Bros was super high jumping powers. FINALLY!!! MARIO COULD JUMP OVER THE POLE!!! My hands shook with anticipation as I held the controller after entering the code, rushing to reach the end of the level. After years of playing and wondering I would finally discover what awaited me beyond that menacing pole with the triangle flag. Soon I reached the end of the level and jumped waaaaaaay over the pole, held down the B button and just started running. And running. And running...until the time ran out and Mario died. THERE'S NOTHING BEYOND THE POLE! It was so disheartening, but it has become a valuable metaphor in my life. Some things are just better left unknown, left to the imagination. Not everything is as awesome as you want it to be, or expect that it would be. Thank you, Mario, for teaching me that lesson.
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Danielle works in the film and fashion industries as a professional hair and make-up designer. She and Josh first officially met at a Jared Gold fashion show where Danielle was primping up the models that Josh was filming for a reality-show. You can contact her directly at danielle@acaydia.com.
