COGNITIVE-DISSONANCE DAY: Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook

If you're my friend on Facebook, which you most likely are if you know about this blog, you know that I have a problem, and that problem is Bejeweled Blitz. I am addicted to it. I love it, and I hate it, and I need to write about it.

Alright, so Bejeweled Blitz is this little game exclusive to Facebook in which you race the clock to clear as many sparkly colored gems as you can in 1 minute. Whilst doing this mindless task, a deep-voiced robot man tells you you are "Awesome! Excellent! Spectacular!" and you get to see how much better you are than your internet friends at smashing up little cartoon gems really fast via the handy-dandy scoreboard. That's it. That's the whole game. I have spent many valuable hours of my life, often when I should be advancing toward my degree, playing this game, and have come to the conclusion on various occasions that Bejeweled Blitz is the devil's work.

But, on the other hand...it's really fun! I don't know why it's so entertaining, but it really is! And there actually is some strategy involved: if I clear this line, what will I be able to clear next? Can I make a line of 5 and create an all-powerful hypercube? How can I clear that glowing blue gem that sends lightening out in every direction and looks really cool? I'm telling you, it takes brain power, not to mention hand-eye coordination. Also, I actually kind of think that breaking up horribly boring, soul-sucking work with a few games of BB here and there has kept me going on long days when I must...keep...writing... Without some brain breaks, I think I'd be much more likely to throw up my hands, slam the laptop closed, and go watch 'Say Yes to the Dress' reruns on TLC. So, really, BB has saved my work ethic...right? Right!?

Okay, all of this ambivalence is stressing me out, I need to go play some Bejeweled...

EA Sports Active...

So, as I mentioned a few posts back, we're borrowing hubby's friend's Wii Balance Board, Wii Fit, and the exercise game EA Sports Active. I've now tried the "game"three times now (I'm attempting to do the "30 Day fitness challenge"), and though I like it, I also hate it!! It's hard!!

Every time I've done a workout, on medium intensity, I've been drenched in sweat by the end of the 30 minutes. Very intense. The trick, I think, is that the "trainer" who's constantly talking you through the exercises on screen makes you hold a lot of things (like squats and lunges) much longer than I ever would, which I guess is why it's good (and bad)to have a trainer. Ugh. It's also alot of circuit training-type stuff, doing short bursts of different exercises and quickly moving on to the next one. The Wii remote and "nunchuk" can also sense when you're not doing an exercise the right way, so it really forces you to do it right, and thereby forces you to be in pain. Good times.

With all that bitching and moaning aside, I do think it's a really good way to motivate yourself to work a little harder, which I know I needed. I'd gotten into the habit of doing a Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds DVD on mute while I watched TV, and, though I did work up a sweat, sort of, it was cleary the lazy person's workout. With EA Sports Active, lazy people are not allowed!

So, give it a try if you're looking for something to kick your workouts up a notch. I definitely find myself pushing a little harder when the "trainer" can sense that I'm slowing down and makes snide comments about "getting rid of any distractions that are interfering with my form," (in other words, "move it lard-o") and a little anger always helps when you're trying to get your butt in gear! So for that, I think EA Sports Active is a pretty good bargain...it definitely beats paying for a gym membership and a real life trainer, and this way, no one has to see you sweat :)

(p.s. you don't actually need the balance board for this "game" after all...if you do have it, you can use for a few exercises, but for most of it, you don't even use it).

The Sims 3...

Okay, so I'm breaking the geek seal right at the start, and admitting that, yes, I play The Sims. I've played this ridiculously addictive and admittedly dorky game since the first version came out long ago. And I love it. So there.

So, why do I love the newest iteration, The Sims 3? Well, for one, I can actually play it on my laptop, which has less to do with the game and more to do with the fact that I finally have a decent laptop. Aside from that, they've gotten rid of those heinous, slooooooooooooow loading screens that used to make playing the Sims a great thing to do while trying to get boring reading for school done, as most of the time playing the game actually involved waiting for the game to load. But no more! Now the whole game loads at once, and then it's seamless game play. Good dorky times.

This new version also goes to the next level as far as being able to create really life-like sims, with very interesting personalities. You can pick up to 5 traits for your sims to have, and the unique combinations result in them doing alot of wacky things of their own accord that make the game much more an experience in voyeurism this time around than ever before. Very entertaining. The sim I modeled after myself, for example, is a "mooch, light sleeper, friendly, flirty couch potato" and when left to her own devices, all she will do is watch TV. So true to life! But with a little prodding (i.e. telling her to stop watching TV) she's turned into an avid gardener! (Okay, so that's sooooo not realistic, as all I can seem to grow are weeds, but I do wish I had a green thumb, so...close enough. Hmm, and I should probably explain the "mooch" trait. I picked it b/c I really do enjoy getting stuff for free, I mean, who doesn't? So I thought that trait would represent that part of me...instead, it means that my sim likes to steal food from people's refrigerators. *sigh*)

Anyway, Sims 3 is also really cool because there's "The Exchange" on the sims website, where you can download characters and houses that other people have created and plop them into your game and let them carry on with their little sim lives and interact with your sims and lots of funny stuff happens! This is possible because of another new feature in this version of the game called "Story Progression" which means that while I'm playing as my simulated self, gardening away, other characters in the neighborhood are falling in love, having kids, breaking up, moving out, and sometimes even pining after my sim! I just so happen to get a lot of calls from the sim I modeled after the hubby and plopped into a bachelor pad in the neighborhood :o).

But I digress. The coolest thing I've found so far, and the thing that actually tipped the scales and forced me to buy the game (wink, wink) is an experiment a girl named Robin is doing about homelessness using the Sims game. How cool is that? She created two characters named Alice and Kev, plopped them in a dilapidated "park", took away all of their money, and pressed play, and has been watching how they survive in the game without a home. It sounds a little lame, but believe me when I tell you, it is fascinating. Admittedly, I'm very interested in how people behave and interact, which is why I think this game is so much fun to me in the first place, but I think the idea of using a game to "watch what happens" (Bravo, anyone?) to people in really shitty circumstances is awesome. Plus, you can download the characters Robin created and have them wandering around in your own game, which I of course did. Sometimes I invite Alice over for dinner, and she ends up falling asleep on a lawn chair in the backyard before I can invite her to stay the night and sleep in a bed. :( If you want to check out the experiment and the story of Alice and Kev, click here.

Well, there you have it. I'm a big dork. :o)

Wii Fit...

Hi people!
My next post was going to be about The Sims 3, but I just tried out the Wii Fit, and I must rave!

Okay, so I've been very curious about the Wii Fit
ever since it came out, but for the price, I knew there was no way we'd be getting one until we'd heard RAVE reviews, but it turns out we don't really know anyone with one who could tell us how awesome it is, so it remained on my Amazon.com wishlist (another ever growing page) and I moved on.

But then! At a random barbecue a few weeks ago, one of hubby's friends mentioned that they have Wii Fit AND EA Active (a new-ish fitness "game" designed to go with the balance board) which I've been very interested in since I saw the first commercials (disclaimer: I am extremely susceptible to commercials...it's a bit sad, really) but of course, there was no point in looking into buying EA Active w/o having the balance board, so...add it to the wishlist, move on with life.

Anyway, long story short, this friend of hubby's said that they never actually use their Wii Fit etc., so would we like to try it?? Um, yes please! The hand off happened today, and when I got home, all haggared and exhausted from the clinic, there it was, a brilliant white hunk of plastic in the middle of my living room floor...

Now, the one thing I had heard about Wii Fit was that it is merciless and shaming. It does this Body Fit Test when you first use it that weighs you (oh, joy) and calculates your BMI and tells you if you are "Underweight, Normal, Overweight, or Obese." Normally, this wouldn't scare me, as I'm clearly not obese, but! I'd heard horror stories about it calling people obese who aren't! And I have been a bit slack lately, indulging in all things cake-related, so I was nervous. It also calculates your "Wii Fit Age," telling you how old your body really is, you pathetic loser. So, as I stepped on that hunk of plastic, I was nervous, I won't lie.

But then...then. Guess what it said? It said that my Wii Fit Age was 23. 23!! Ha! I'm 27 (almost 28) suckahs! I literally whooped and hollered and it was the best part of my day. *whew* And then I had a glass of wine. 'night!