To be honest, I have no idea how this I first became inspired with it, but sometime around the age of seven or eight I fell in love (love) with the idea of cheerleading.  My love ran so deep that I even checked out books about it from the library at school and, when I was nine, I saved up my allowance and bought some toy pom poms from KayBee Toys at the mall in Hilo.  I would spend hours playing around in my room doing the step-touch step-touch “Ready? Okay!” thing.  At one point I declared with absolute authority that my life goal was to become a professional cheerleader.

I’m sure my Mother was thrilled.

Then, when I turned ten I discovered reruns of the Monkees’ show on Nickelodeon and decided that my true calling was…wait for it…to be a professional tambourine player and yes, I saved up my allowance to purchase a kid sized tambourine from KayBee Toys.

I think it was at this point that my Mom gave up hope of my ever choosing anything resembling a “normal” career when I eventually grew up.

So, yeah, the love for cheerleading went the way of most childhood obsessions (I also wanted to be on Kids Incorporated and may or may not have once declared New Kids on the Block “better than the Beatles”…though to be fair, I was still a couple of months away from really discovering the Beatles) and then, in the seventh grade I went to a football game at the high school.  And there were cheerleaders there.  Real high school cheerleaders! With the cute skirts and sweaters! Shouting and cheering!  And I decided that I would be one of those cheerleaders.

I might have done it too if the school hadn’t cut cheerleading my sophomore year.  And, you know, if I hadn’t been the school freakazoid…not that being the school freakazoid kept me from joining the hastily assembled Dance Team my Senior Year.

So…yeah.  I have a soft spot for cheerleading (the kind of soft spot that sent me to watch Bring it On in theaters).  It’s one of those things that I have always wanted to do (it? is right up there with Play Annie on Broadway on my list of dreams that I am officially too old to accomplish).

And yes, it is kind of embarrassing, thanks for asking!

So…do I even have to tell you how hard I started drooling when I was sent a link to information about the We Cheer and All Star Cheer Squad games for the Wii?  Dudes!  I could pretend to be a cheerleader! In the safety of my living room! With the blinds drawn! And away from the prying eyes of all of the people who would, undoubtedly, laugh their asses off at me.

Look.  You may have your “always wanted to be the next non-batshit crazy-Van Gogh” or “always wanted to be a real life James Bond.”  or “I could have totally invented the world’s awesomest computer system if Steve Jobs and Bill Gates hadn’t gotten in the way” or “I can write just as well as Shakespeare.”  I? Have my “I always wanted to put on the tiny skirt and go jump around like an idiot in front of everybody I knew while I cheered on boys who were playing a sport I totally do not understand.”

So.  We rented Wii’s We Cheer last night.  Because the characters look cuter (Will says they look like Bratz dolls but whatever) than the characters on All Star Cheer Squad.  And I pushed it into the Wii this morning (wow, that sounds way to dirty).  And?

We Cheer for Wii is EFFING HARD.  (Huh.  Also horrendously dirty.) Oh. My. Effing. Gawd. It’s like Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution but…HARD.  Really horribly oh my god it hurts and why can’t I do this?!? hard.

But that didn’t stop me for playing it for approximately two and a half hours today (until my arms begged me to quit because wow. Ouch)!  By the way, two and a half hours is how long it took for me to pass ONE level.  Of all of the songs I tried and all of the times I tried them, I got ONE pass.  I iz not good at this game.

Which is exactly why I will play it more tomorrow.  And every day until it has to go back (Sunday) and I rent the All Star Cheer Squad so I can compare the two.  Because dammit, I will own one of these games because I WILL be a homebound only when nobody is watching because I am pathetically uncoordinated cheerleader.

Ready? Oh-Kay!