#19. Coolest thing I did as a Harmonix representative: the RBN authoring group RockGamer invited me to help run a booth at the 2011 Take Action Tour. I had a horrible cold and was so out of it that I forgot how to assemble a RB drum set (let alone hit a pitch... sigh).

#20. Coolest thing I saw as a Harmonix representative: at the Take Action Tour, Texas in July came out and semi-anonymously played their own song in Rock Band. The drummer had never played RB before and he got a 96% on Expert by just playing the song correctly.

#21. After listening through every RBN song, I used to buy about half of them so I could play through them and make educated recommendations for the new releases blog. My boyfriend was extremely patient with playing stuff he'd never heard of.

Relatedly, I learned to sight sing Rock Band, useful primarily after as a party trick. "Singer's choice? Oh no, remember, I work for Harmonix. I can sing them ALL."

#22. I participated in a short-form LARP at one point, about four hours of improv theater/game, that used Rock Band to simulate actually being in a rock band. The in-game band was named Hellsting, and we used music from RBN band Free Spirit.

The GM gave me a character who was a groupie, which annoyed me more than I was ever willing to admit, since everyone actually cast in the band was a friend of mine. (But I'm admitting it now. I wanted to be in the band!)

#23. There was a strong enough overlap between hardcore RB players and bronies that I spent a month hitting the My Little Pony wiki daily to see whether various submitted fan songs violated Hasbro's copyright. Our legal department got pretty sick of MLP/RBN questions, too.

#24. I was opposed to the release of John Cage's 4'33" on Rock Band. Apart from the refund requests it would have produced, it wasn't possible to chart a song without any notes, and any notes would make it inaccurate.

#25. I also didn't want to approve the release of Halftime by Freen in Green, which is many things, but not exactly a *song* (it's more like a post-song blooper sequence). @TheOverNord overruled me on that one. Our official definition of "song" was very generous.

#26. RBN T-shirts I owned: Jukebox the Ghost, Steam Powered Giraffe, and Freen in Green. No swag, all purchased myself. I also had a corner cut out of my budget for buying RB DLC (RBN and otherwise), so in retrospect, it was an expensive hobby as well as a job.

#27. I discovered @JukeboxtheGhost via the Rock Band Network, and today, they're possibly my favorite band. They do an amazing live show, too, so see them if they come through your area! (Photos are me and Ben, then me and Tommy, July 2015.)

#28. The hazard of listening to RBN music (apart from learning that I like metal) was getting songs stuck in my head that no one could identify. I tweeted in desperation one time and @fairwoodstudios identified the song stuck in my head as 28 Days, by Mafia Track Suit.

#29. Before Dance Central was publicly announced, HMX needed to hire QA who could seriously dance. @inurashii was perfect (a club dancer and a DDR champion) - but she didn't believe me, and I couldn't tell her why. And then when she got hired, we couldn't tell anyone ELSE why.

She assumed it was something related to drums, and I didn't disabuse her, since that was what it took to get her in the door for her interview. Later, we claimed to non-HMXers that she was working on an upcoming RB game called "Drum Your Face Off 3000".

#30. Post-Harmonix, I joined Amazon as a software engineer. There are two other Harmonix alumni (@cute_fuzzy_evil and @sheilamakegames) on my team. Sheila and I didn't overlap at Harmonix, but I heard of her before we ever met because she's referenced in a RB4 shirt description.

#31. At PAX East, I got up on stage (sans Rock Band!) and sang harmonies with @weffjebster of Single White Infidel on "Inheritance". I had the lyrics on my phone and accidentally scrolled away from them, and then I panicked and came in early. Still, it was a great time!

#32. There was a good citizen system on the RBN forums where you got better user icons (starting from amoeba, ending at rock god) by playtesting and otherwise participating in the community. We didn't get the automation in place, so we did it by hand. Seriously unsustainable.

#33. Writing the credits was apparently a morass of politics and documentation, which led to delays and inaccuracies. I am not credited on Rock Band: Green Day. I am credited on Rock Band: Metal Track Pack 2. Both are wrong.

#34. When RB Green Day released, I was living with someone who adored Green Day above all other bands. She had me invite the entire Green Day team to her release party, and we made giant ridiculous posters to decorate the party. I kept one in my office for years after.

#35. I spent a couple years as a submissions producer for RB and DC DLC,. Many of the submission processes were arcane and time-consuming, and we repeated them weekly. One of my big accomplishments was an Excel sheet that would turn input into 5 necessary forms.

It also spat out song and album descriptions in 11 languages, thanks to the magic of concatenation.

#36. Someone (you know who you are!) took great pleasure in challenging me over and over to play the full 2112 by Rush in Rock Band Blitz (and reliably beating me). The song is 20:33 long. I was only going to retry so many times.

#37. When people came in for playtests, we really needed them to keep quiet about what they played, so we used to have playtesters watch a seven-minute video that implied we employed cannibal lawyers who would find you if you violated your NDA. It featured the Wilhelm Scream.

#38. I love story modes and I got really excited about the Rockumentary in the RB4 Rock Band Rivals expansion. I've played it three times now: with my own band (band: The Trojan War), with @echoboots (Better Than Swords), and with @BennKeezy (Faceful of Dog Feet).

For all that, I didn't recognize one of the actors as someone I'd sat next to for years. Apparently my brain can't cope with the wig.

#39. I learned enough bass from RB3's Real Guitar that I wanted to try learning real bass. I took lessons for about six months from another Harmonixer before giving up. My arms and wrists aren't built for it.

#40. I learned the RBN charting rules by heart, but I never released any songs. I did however get permission from the band Stranger Ways to release their song "La Llorona", and I worked out drums and vocals before dropping the project.

#41. For about six months, I kept my folk harp at Harmonix, and I would hide in an unused office and play for about 15 minutes a day as stress relief. A few people asked if I was charting my own music for RBN, but it was always too improvisational. And I was always too shy.

#42. The RBN authors were almost all male, and I was a highly visible woman from the game studio, which often spells disaster. Not this time: the RBN authors were professional, respectful, friendly, and generally a joy to work with. My favorite gamer community to date.

#43. We had company bowling trips that always started with picking a team name and making T-shirts by printing iron-ons. The cofounder, Eran, was busy and asked us to please make his shirt. There was an error and someone ironed the wrong side of the iron-on.

Not only did he wear the shirt, but he cheerfully let everyone think that he was the ironer at fault. Which I really appreciated, because... well... yes. Moving right along....

#44. At one point, Harmonix rearranged the buildings so that web QA was in 675 Mass Ave and web devs were in 625 Mass Ave. I spent a lot of time running back and forth across Prospect whenever devs couldn't get bugs to reproduce. (And no, we weren't on laptops.)