Birthday Drawing and a Gift From My Son
I don't submit to this group often, but this post is related to fatherhood (see below, under the first half of the post) so I think it might fit.
It's now eleven days past my birthday and I figure that's enough time to give for people to leave comments. As you may have seen, I promised to divide up 46 shares of HSBI to everyone who left a comment and answered a specific question, one HSBI for every year of my birthday in this post.
Unfortunately I didn't get 46 comments, but still got quite a few, so thank you everyone who left a kind one.
Of all the comments, five chose to enter the birthday giveaway by answering my question. So, @go-kyo @gtg @kriszrokk @stekene @xrayman, the 46 HSBI are yours! Hmm...but how to divide. Just to make it easy I think I'll hold one back and divide up 45, so that means 9 each!
Thanks guys!
So that is my gift to all of you. Now I thought I'd share a few photos of one of my gifts: the card I got from my oldest son. He loves to draw, so he drew me a birthday card. It's kind of unique in that there is no cake or mention of birthday, but instead he gave me some great images.
I don't know why he picked the Flash. I've never shown him any American comic books or superhero movies. But maybe he learned about Flash from one of his friends at school.
He knows one of my favorite games is Mega Man 2 and that my favorite stage is Woodman's stage. Actually I rarely play it. When the Famicon mini (the Japanese name for the NES) came out a few years ago I bought it as a way of introducing my kids to the games I grew up with. They loved the system and both still play it a lot. Anyway, through this system, they discovered I love Megaman 2 and Woodman's stage music.
And another from the Famicon mini. My all time favorite game is Zelda II. I was in the 4th grade I think. My parents promised to buy me an NES if I got straight A's on my report card from school. So confident was I that I'd earn it, I walked to the store and used my own money to buy Zelda II. It sat in my sock drawer for months until the report card came and I did indeed earn the system. Needless to say, I played the bejesus out of the game. When I bought the Famicon Mini, it was the first game I played. It's a common joke between me and my kids that I think the new Zelda games on their Switch are lousy and that Zelda II is the only good one.
And now... I feel the urge to go play some Zelda II. Unfortunately it's a working day. But maybe I'll just play some of the music in the background.
By the way, you may be familar with that one if you are of a certain age, but did you know the Japanese version is quite different? It had access to some extra sound channels that didn't come over to the American or European versions of the system. This is now the version I hear the most with the Famicon mini, so it's grown on me.
❦
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon. |
Ah Zelda 2. That was a great game. I probably didn't play it as much as the original, but it was still quite memorable. I remember some of those bosses being so tough! It looks like you got plenty of love for your birthday!
Thanks!
Yeah, it was tough but since it was the only game (besides Mario/Duck Hunt) I had at the time, I played it pretty much all the time and mastered it. My muscle memory can still carry me through it—something I can't say for many old games.
That is cool. I spent most of my time playing Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior III. I loved the grind!
Those were great ones too! I played Final Fantasy more, but the Dragon Warrior games stick out more in my memory when I look back. They had some fantastic music!
Yes they did! I never got to spend as much time playing II as I would have liked. I remember renting it from the video store and I had to return it before I could finish it.
Same. I never finished any of those RPGs until FF4 on the SNES. That was the first one I bought instead of just renting, so I had more time with it.
Great gifts. I love children’s drawings.
Thanks. Me too!
What a great publication my dear. Congratulations on your birthday even though it's been 11 days. Good to have you here in the community
Thank you!
What a nice touch from you with those drawings. Thank you for sharing them with us at Motherhood.
oOH WOW - he's quite the illustrator! Your heart must have thumped a happy beat to receive these - Dad the hero!
Absolutely. I keep all the drawing he gives me, but his cards are always extra special. It is the best gift he can give, which I always let him know.
My son used to rush into his room at the very last minute and draw something terrible yet hilarious. Nowhere near as talented as this, but I've kept them all as they seriously make me giggle. He still has a very quirky, dry sense of humour that cracks me up to this day.
oh my god, Link No Bouken!!! that's so old... #pretendIamnot
Sorry, I can't hear you over the awesomeness of the game!
Happy birthday 🎂
I played Atari and some original Nintendo when it first cmae out when I was a kid. Never been a big video game player. There was a time me and my oldest son played Splintercell together for a while, but that was about it.
The birthday cards from your son are spectacular. He is showing some serious talent and creativity at such an early stage. I used to fold paper frogs for my Dad's birthday as a child. That's the only thing I could do as drawing wasn't my thing. What I didn't know was that he kept all of them. A treasure trove just like the card collection from your son.
Thank you for your wonderful gift!❤️
That's great! I also couldn't draw so I did a lot of origami as a kid too.
Thanks for the comment!
Tyvm for the hsbi!
These are definitely some great games to show to your kids. Keep up the good work, superdad! ;D
Will do! 😃
Wow, 9HSBI! Thank you, I am so glad☺
Your son's painting is very nice. Is he the one who drew the Ultraman picture? I like the bright colors and the careful attention to detail in the clothing and costumes shows that he loves to draw.
You're welcome!
Yeah, this is the same one who drew the Ultraman picture. My youngest doesn't like drawing, he just likes shogi and Switch.
Thank you so much for your 9 HSBI, @dbooster !
I findo the cards and drawings from your oldest son are pure gold! You and me, know how much precious they will become, when in couple of years from now you would see them again... Just like the Zelda episode that you haver recall so vividly!
I didn't had a Nintendo System. When I was young, I had the luck of having a Commodore 64! Back then was so great... We didn't complain about the 5 minutes that took to load the K7 to upload only the first level... Ahaah
"Good old days" that you brought me today with your post!
I remember one particular game that I loved so much... Ghosts n' Goblins
Gonna drop one youtube link that I've found, that I had to check it just to remembering the cool sound fx of the game!
Ahhh I remember that! I had a C64 long ago as well and that was one of my favorite games. Amazing music!
There is nothing that makes us "instantly" travel in time like the 8bit music of these gems, right? 😅
You're son's drawings are really good, the first one is so sweet, did you shed a tear of joy when you saw it 😀
Thank you! Of course I did. It's really touching to see he worked so hard on it. I keep all his cards carefully.
That's great! It's fun having kids that age... I do miss those days! I still remember playing the first Zelda that came out on Nintendo back in the 80's, it was fun game!
It sounds like you had a pretty good birthday, the way it should be!
Those were great days indeed! We were playing with power, just like the commercials said.
muy bonito le quedo!
very nice to you!
Happy Birthday! Woooooow! かっこいい！That artwork is very cool! I love the hero-papa characters very much.
サイコー😃⤴️⤴️のプレゼント😊🙌😊🙌
!BEER
Now this is what we call a thoughtful present, congratulations you raised him well😃