Yawn... Whatever

I might have hurt myself today. I like to work out with video games. I still love "Yourself!Fitness" for the old Xbox but there are a couple of Wii games I like too. I played them both today. I hope I can move tomorrow.

I really like "Gold's Gym Cardio Workout," a boxing training game. As far as I can tell your avatar never hits anybody (except a bear in a side game. Poor bear) Still, all that punching nothing is really fun and great for stress reduction. There's footwork too - you're sort of bouncing back and forth, stepping side to side, ducking, weaving and all that jazz. I find myself so engaged and distracted by trying to follow along that I don't notice until afterwards that I'm sweaty and winded. Fun! And, of course, sore the next day - in a good way.

The other is "NewU Fitness First Yoga and Pilates." I have yet to encounter any Pilates. I wonder if I have to get to a certain point in the yoga before Pilates is available? Maybe I have to change my "goals" settings? Whatevs. The yoga is pretty good though. Definitely challenging. I do the "quick class" most of the time. It seems to go on forever and I'm wiped when I'm done with it. Maybe if I did it more often it wouldn't be so difficult? I'll try to work on that.

So, I guess if you're thinking you might need to move yourself around those are two fun and productive ways to do it. 

And now, time to make my new favorite home-made supper: hot dog slices and kale. Yup, you want to take fitness and diet advice from me!

Wow, that post was almost NaBloPoMo quality.

Lump

I have been playing a lot of video games since December. I got an amazon.com gift certificate for Christmas which has helped.

My favorite game, though, I got before Christmas to entertain me on the flight to San Diego. I have played it every day but two since the day I bought it at Costco, December 15th. 2009. It's for Nintendo DS and is called "Style Savvy." Here's a review and here's the link to amazon where you can read lots of reviews.

Basically you operate a boutique and sell clothes of various fictional brands to customers. You make money to buy more inventory, set up window displays, participate in fashion contests, make friends and go out with customers, collaborate with some of the brands to make new designs, promote your store, change your own outfits, hair and makeup, and maybe even get a date with the elusive store owner, Dominic (it turns out he's very shy for a dreamy, rich guy!)

It's all the fun parts of retail jobs without the downsides. There are no rude people or shoplifters and you don't have to work bad hours.

I have found myself looking at people on the street and determining which fictional brand of clothes they're wearing. For example, my Aunt Joy, wears exclusively "Alvarado," the highest-end brand. Goths wear "Raven Candle," Punks wear "Mad Jack." I suppose Anthropologie clothes would be "Sonata" or "Epoque." Sometimes I look at real people and think about my e-inventory and whether I have an article of clothing they'd like.

I recently picked up a couple of other DS games to entertain me on the flight back from Florida, where we went to visit Pete's parents. They are "Cooking Mama" and "Gardening Mama." They're fun enough. "Style Savvy" immerses the player in a more complex world which I find more absorbing and rewarding.

I've also been playing a lot of Wii. "My Fitness Coach," which is similar to, but not as good as "Yourself!Fitness," "Wii Fit Plus," which is more fun than it is exercise, "Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3," at which I am not very good but it's still fun, and "EA Sports Active: More Workouts," which is good exercise but doesn't register my sit-ups properly, which is extremely frustrating.

I'm beginning to wonder if all of this video game playing is, in fact, making me stupider. I've been feeling pretty brain dead lately. I firmly believe that what comes out of you is a direct result of what goes into you. Mostly I've been eating too much party food, drinking too much booze and playing video games instead of reading books. I feel like a lump despite all my Wii playing.

I need to pull myself out of my lumpy rut but I'm not feeling strong or energized. None of the other things I usually like to do are appealing right now. What to do? Maybe I'll eat some nachos and think about it.

I Think I Drank Too Much Coffee This Morning

This is how this year's INaBloPoMo seems to be working for me: I do a post early in the morning to get it over-with. Later in the day I think up something that seems better and I post that too. I hope I'm not over-posting. Sorry if it gets annoying. Feel free to skim.

The morning post for today is about Regular Exercise.

I recently found myself a copy of Wii Fit Plus. I wanted to get Wii Fit last year but it was sold out everywhere. Good enough I guess - I feel like I lucked into the update.

I haven't figured out how to get a good work out from it yet but it is really fun. Unfortunately it keeps telling me that I have physical retardation. I've always been uncoordinated but I never knew my balance was soooo bad. I manage not to fall down most days so I figured my balance was good enough. Not for Wii Fit Plus.

Most of the games are very balance-based. You have to keep your center of gravity within a certain zone to do well. It grades your yoga for God's sake! It's not enough to do the pose as well as you can without falling down. You have to be still as well to rack up the points. Points in yoga! How are you supposed to "accept yourself as you are" when they play the sad music at the end of a pose because you only got thirty points?

One thing I found out is that I'm a spazz. I didn't know. When things in a game start to go a little off I freak out and overcompensate. I always thought I was kind of laid back. Not when it comes to control of my body. Who knew? Probably everybody who knows me.

For a real workout I've been using "My Fitness Coach" which is the Wii version of "Yourself!Fitness." I love "Yourself!Fitness" as you can tell because I post about it all the time. The Wii version is not quite as good but it still delivers an excellent workout. I am good and sore most days and I keep going back for more because it works and it's not boring.

One helpful feature of getting regular exercise is that it inures you to discomfort. ("Inures." Like that? Crossword puzzle word) Exercising is a little uncomfortable while you're doing it but it needs to be done and you're busy doing it and you don't want to think about it too much so you keep going. Fine. No big deal.

This is good because later on, out in the non-exercise world, when you're in a situation where you are forced into discomfort you're used to it and you barely notice.

Did I go on enough? Sorry. It'll probably happen again.

Vacation Attempt

Pizza at Sam's in East Hampton, NY.

My right arm is weak from playing wii boxing. This wouldn't have happened if I'd been playing it correctly. But hey, I got some exercise. I guess. I still don't really understand how to play it. Surprisingly, I like the golf game. It's pretty.

Two Week Overview

I guess I kinda dropped the blogging ball, huh? Probably because I seem to be brainless these days. So here's some of what I've been doing in list form:

Developed a mania for anything Japanese
- cute beer bottle from last post
- Manga (Sugar Sugar Rune and xxxHolic mostly but I'm not even that picky. I even like the tripey romantic vampire ones)
- learned to make age dashi dofu (one of my favorite dishes) and onigiri
- got some "teach yourself Japanese" cds. I've listened to the first ten minutes about twenty times.
- tried some sparkling sake a couple of days ago. It's a little too sweet for me.

Knitting
- some cabled fingerless mitts that I'm making up as I go along
- a new sculptural plate project (more on that much later)

Waiting for my brain to return to work

Playing video games
- Izuna 2 (fun!)
- wii (just the games that come with the machine and the second controller)
- making mii's (the most fun thing to do with the wii so far. I should probably branch out)
- wishing they had a "My Japanese Coach" on DS - wait - I'll just look on Amazon... There's one coming out on September 23! Yay!

Bought these fa-reakin' awesome boots:

They're very Sugar Sugar Rune.

Became obsessed with nail decals (made in Japan!) and how to use them in my artwork

Made Cookies and Cream cupcakes:


Tried Miracle Berry Fruit Tablets made of the fruit that makes sour things taste sweet. They really do work. It works best with fruit though. Limes taste sweet and delicious but they still make your mouth go all squinchy. I guess your body knows something your brain missed. Vinegar tastes sweet and gross. Some things just shouldn't be sweet.

Pete and I went to see the Radiohead show back on August 13 at the Comcast center. It had been six years since I'd been to a giant show like that. Now I remember why. Radiohead were very good of course and the light show was really impressive, but by golly if you want to feel like a faceless nothing then go to one of those giant shows. I may be a faceless nothing but I don't like to feel like it. I think I'll stick to the smaller venues from now on.

The weather has been gorgeous so I can't complain about that. Fay's digestion has mostly settled down too so there's some progress in that area.

I had girls' night with my friend Michaela last night. She told me she thinks I should start a "Factory" like Andy Warhol because I have too many ideas for one person to execute by herself. I think that would be great. I'm not sure how I'd pay for it. I guess I'd have to work on my mystique too so I could attract acolytes who are willing to do as I say for cheap. And I'd probably have to move back to the city where there are people.

Some Stuff

The weather in Brookline has been vile. Humid and disgusting. I was going to say "putrid" but then I remembered the hellish heat wave we had maybe six years ago when it was something like 102 degrees and 95% humidity and there were power failures. We had houseguests at the time and all four of us spent the days and nights in the one bedroom where the window air-conditioner is. Now that was putrid.

I was thinking yesterday about how summer was where I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, literally steps from the Washington D.C. border. Talk about disgusting weather! Much worse than anywhere in New England. We had central A.C. though so that kept my complaints down.

I will give yesterday afternoon some slack. Pete's band, the Weisstronauts, played an outdoor party at Harvard Law School. The party was held in the shade of a Gropius building and there was a pleasant breeze. It was a rare summer afternoon that I actually enjoyed. Their music goes well with a relaxed outdoor party. This summer has been so deeply sucky that it was a lovely change to actually sit back and enjoy for a bit.

Now for Fay. Sometimes she feels fine, sometimes not so much. She still has a bit of bloody diarrhea but she's eating her cat food with gusto and she's off all her meds except for a little bit of prednisone, another week of antibiotics and her monthly injections. The vet thinks that will resolve the issue though it might take a couple more weeks.

I'm liking the reduced medication schedule. Now I don't have to worry about getting home by 9 or 10 every night (unless it's to make sure she hasn't been sitting in a pile for hours)

In my last post I mentioned having new ideas. Well mainly I have an idea for a video game. It's a really big idea so it could end up being several ideas for several video games. It's a big enough idea that I'm going to need help with it. Fortunately I have a development team in mind.

When the thought first came to me it was a brain storm. It really was a torrent of ideas complete with battering winds. Gusts of thoughts from every direction. It was so strong and sudden that I thought it might be a delusion and that maybe I was having my first manic episode or something.

I wrote an e-mail about it to some people I thought might be interested in helping. I could only hope it made sense. I keep re-reading it to make sure that it still doesn't sound insane. I'm very relieved to say I still think it could work. It will need a lot of work though. Lots of figuring out, editing and planning. It could be really really fun to work on though.

It has been such a gift to have something exciting to think about during all the crap that's been going down lately.

One fun thing about it is that now I have an excuse to try video games. Well, video games besides Yourself!fitness, Big Brain Academy, Harry Potter and My Spanish Coach.

This week I started playing "Izuna 2" on my Nintendo DS light. In "Izuna 2" you get to be a cute, badass Ninja chick and fight with monsters and stuff. It's so much more fun than I expected. Plus it counts as research! However I've played it so much that I cut myself off yesterday. No Izuna 2 all day. I may have to apply that rule to today too.

In fact, I have a lot to do today so I'd better stop blogging and get going.

I'm still in the chair

I just read about the online game, Eve, on the New York Times site. It sounds cool. I don't know how to play games like that.

Wait a minute - I don't have time to play games like that!

Virtuality V. Flesh

Lucky all of you. You know, you three people who read my blog! I joined NaBloPoMo which requires me to post every day for the month of November.

I will try not to run off at the fingertips just writing whatever damn thing comes into my head. I can't make promises though.

I shot myself in the foot today, posting at 3 AM. I thought, "get it over with early. That'll be one down." Now I want to post again and I feel like I should save it for tomorrow. But I won't.

For today I discovered Facebook. Thank you Kirsten and Ben. Neither of whom, I believe, are two of the three.

Wow, talk about a time sink! I thought MySpace was bad. Facebook is way more fun in my opinion. Ben and I were shooting sushi at each other all day, sadly, all of it virtual. Then he and Debbie (also not one of you three) and I gave each other fish for our aquariums. They gave me more fish than I gave them so I'll have to go back and be more generous. I'm just learning how things work here.

The ways to waste time and be juvenile appear to be endless. You can buy people virtual drinks, throw sheep at them, take sexy back from them, trip them, use the force with them. There are innumerable useless and fun toys here. I read about some kind of interactive Scrabble game you can play with other people. There have got to be more games like that.

Of course this is a social network and the whole point is to make friends or perhaps to be "friends" with people you already know. There are all sorts of unpleasant ways to stumble across people from your past on Facebook. They make a lot of awkward suggestions like "You might want to be friends with these people from your high school: Sally 'Class Bully' Smith, Irving 'Wouldn't Deign to Talk to You' Wilmore, Noreen 'You Were Mean to Her and Now You Regret It' Simpson' "etc.

I have a lot to learn about this and much exploring to do. When I'm not cleaning up after Fay. Or doing something that actually has meaning.

Now NaBloPoMo turns out to be a social network too. I joined two in one day. Will this be as life-enhancing as making flesh and blood friends in person? I don't know. I know it's very nice to be in regular contact with old friends you don't see very often because they live on different continents from you. But as you can see from my last few posts I'm kind of on a flesh kick right now. And as my Facebook Picture Personality quiz accurately distinguished, I'm a bit of a loner. I'm feeling a lack of solid people in my life these days and I'm not sure what to do about it. I am pretty sure that sitting in my kitchen and staring at my computer for hours is not a good solution though.

Am I Writing About Baseball?

I have to say that going to a World Series game was very exciting. Don't kill me but I'm not a huge baseball fan - no, I don't think the ticket was wasted on me. An experience is an experience.

I'm happy to report that the National Anthem was not sung by Carly Simon or Steven Tyler or by any of the New Kids on the Block. They had John Williams write and conduct his own arrangement and it was played by the Boston Pops.

The most viscerally exciting part for me came next: the flyover by the Vermont Air National Guard. Four F-16s. LOUD, core-shaking, exhilarating, frightening. It gave me the kind of deep, dark thrill that I've been relishing so lately. You know, enjoyment of something it's wrong to enjoy? How could I think that flying a war plane is SUCH A COOL JOB!!!???? It was so cool.

Then whoever was left of the '67 Sox came out with Carl Yazstremski to throw out the first pitch. Good to see Yaz.

The game itself was easy to watch for a Boston fan. Everyone knows the Sox won 13 to 1. The first few plays were mayhem for the fans. By the fourth inning it seemed like everyone was taking it like an ordinary baseball game. By the sixth inning I felt sorry for the Rockies. Pete and I left early in the eighth inning to avoid getting stuck in a sea of jubilant yahoos. It takes a lot for a Red Sox fan to feel confident enough that they're not going to lose that it's okay to leave the game early. I took a moment at my favorite spot in the ballpark, right where you first come out into the stands, and said goodbye to my World Series experience.

Yeah, it kind of rained but it was a beautiful night. If you have a large pile of extra money and a chance at some tickets, you might want to try going to a World Series game.

Go Sox!

Pete and I are going to game one of the World Series tonight. I hope it's not a rain-out!

Nintendo DS Lite Continued

I've gone through at least three pairs of Weasly twins (so unfair to them - they're competent) but I finally figured out how to duel. That's at least three humiliating whippings at the hands of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle (probably four) but now I know how to kick their asses! I'm going to have to get trounced many, many more times by Hufflepuff to even begin to get the hang of Quiddich. I don't mind losing to Hufflepuff that much though.

Too Much Fun

I got myself a Nintendo DS Lite at Target yesterday. I also got the game "Big Brain Academy." It's too much fun!!!!! It was a bit of a spree in fact: I got as many "build your brainpower" games as they had. Using my newly sharpened math skills, that adds up to three: Big Brain Academy, Brain Age and Brain Age 2 . And I had to get the "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" game too. So far I can't stop playing B.B.A. long enough to try anything else.

To be honest I'm intimidated to try the Harry Potter one. It's too much like a real game that actual kids play who are good at that kind of thing. I'm afraid I won't get it and I'll just die all the time. My DS Lite is recharging at the moment but once it's back in black I'll screw up my courage and try H.P. According to "Dr. Lobe" I have the brain of an architect so I should be able to handle a game for kids. I hope.

My brother got the system for my dad for his birthday this year. He gave dad "Brain Age." I tried dad's Brain Age and so far I like Big Brain Academy better. The illustrations are hilarious. Sometimes they grin at you or do a dance and it wrecks your concentration. Sometime's they're just so genius that all I want to do is look at them - but that would wreck my score!