You Know You Have Issues When...

So I came home with the intentions of relaxing in front of the couch and watching a movie. I warmed myself up to it by watching some TV. But then, after 1.5 hours of TV I couldn't decide what movie to watch. And by that time I wasn't sure I wanted to sit through a movie for 2 or 3 hours. So I sat and debated with myself, and tried to decide what to watch. And in the end I watched another 1.5 hours of television while deliberating with myself.

Astrology Sucks!

The following was my horoscope on the telus homepage today. No word of a lie.


Health : You should get a membership at a gym. It is for your health. Your sedentary lifestyle offers no benefits. You need to be more active.


Hey horoscope: you suck. Stop being right.

And for the record, I am not getting a gym membership. There are other ways to get active and healthy without spending money on a gym.

I've Been Cleansed. (I Think)

My video games cleanse has come to an end. It's time to write about it a little bit and reflect on how I did.

I managed to say away from games at home for the most part. There was one night right at the end there when some friends came over and we played a few for entertainment. But with 3 people I figured it was social, and it was also the 30th, so I figured that close to the end of the month it was okay.

I didn't manage to kick the habit completely, and I don't think I ever could. I've been playing games so long that they're basically part of my being. I don't think I could ever give them up entirely. But I've proved to myself that I can take a break, and that I'm not tied down by them. Like anything else, it's mind over matter. I can play them, or I can not. The choice is always up to me.

I went out a bit more and spent more time with some friends. And I made a few more long distance phone calls than I normally would. It was nice being able to get in touch with a few friends. I think I'll do it more often.

I didn't get anything productive done though. In the entire month I think I spent a whopping 4 hours working on portfolio stuff. Even without games, most days I still wasn't in the mood to do anything that would require thinking. At the end of the day I ultimately just want to turn my brain off and recharge.

And while I was able to avoid games at home, I found that I usually just filled that same time watching television, which is far less interesting than a game. I could have avoided that too, except that a friend lent me the final season of Battlestar Galactica on DVD. 2 episodes a night for 2 weeks really ate through my month.

So what have I learned? Well, not much really. I guess on some levels I feel better about myself. But in terms of being productive there's still work to be done. Maybe that will by my next goal.

A Conversation Snippet

M: "You're awfully cute. I'm surprised you haven't been cougar-mauled yet."

A: "Well thank you. I'm flattered that you think I should be mauled by cougars."

VG Cleanse - I cheated a little bit

So I guess I've cheated a little. It all started at work on friday. I had a task that involved a few scattered minutes of uptime between longer periods of downtime. To make the task more bearable, I started playing a game on facebook that's nothing more than a simple time-waster. Which wasn't a problem, since I stated in my own rules that games at work are allowed.

But then I found myself playing that same facebook game yesterday for two sittings of 30 minutes each. And again today for another 30 minutes. And while it may not be a PC game or a console game, it's still basically gaming. The point at which I decided I'm "wasting time" was the point at which I decided I had to stop.

Even still, I've made it three weeks without much extra-curicular gaming. And I intend to finish out the month as planned. I'll just have to keep off the silly facebook game while I'm at home.

Only one more week to go!

VG Cleanse - Week Three

I'm past the two week hump. In the past two weeks I've only played video games three times: Rock Band twice at a friend's house, and a single round of Dawn of War 2 at lunch today.

It's day 15, and I'm starting to get twitchy. I'm proud of myself for going this long without games, but I have an itch that I really want to scratch. I wonder if this is what it's like for people to quit smoking?

I'm also not getting nearly as much done in my newfound free time as I thought I would. So for the next two weeks I'm going to try and make a more concentrated effort. At the very least, I'm going to start phoning people and sending e-mails. I said I'd try and keep in better touch with people, but so far I'm still falling short in that department.

VG Cleanse - Week 2

Well, I'm on to week 2. I've done really well so far. Even Sunday wasn't so bad. Granted, I was dead tired Sunday and so I mostly just fell asleep on the couch.

Rule 3 of my "cleanse" came into effect this evening. I went to a friend's place and we played some Rock Band for an hour or so. We do this on Mondays. We play Rock Band, they feed me, and we watch House. Man, am I rusty. I could barely stumble my way through the chords on March of the Pigs. Yikes. Haven't played it in ages; I'll have to practice up.

So this experiment is going well. It's funny though, how I haven't actually discovered much more "quality time" in my schedule. I guess I've gone out a bit more in the evenings on weekdays to visit with people. But the nights I've been home have mainly been spent working on a portfolio piece. It's not games, so I guess it's more productive. But ultimately, it's still 3 hours staring at a screen and ignoring the world around me. So while I feel like I'm getting some work done, I still feel pretty disconnected from society. But the weekends seem to be making up for that.

Went to an awesome housewarming party at some friends' place Saturday night. They turned it into a mini-rave in their kitchen - complete with 4 or 5 alternating DJs and a laser-light show. I guess that's what happens when all the people you know (which is to say, all the people that they know) DJ or hang out at the same bar on the same night of every week.

I can definitely feel the pull of games lately though, too. Even though I'm not playing them in my spare time, I'm still surrounded by them every day. On Transit, in the media, on the internet, at lunch-hour... the industry doesn't rest, even if I am. Like anything, there's always temptation. But I guess it's all mind over matter.

Rock Band Network went online last week. There are songs on there by KMFDM. KM-[F]reakin'-DM!! I'm sticking to the plan. I'm not going to download them yet. But I've made a note to myself to do so as soon as April rolls around. I've also passed up a few good sale-deals on games that I would have otherwise jumped on as impulse buys. Hooray for saving money.

In the meantime, I need to think up some entertainment for my friends and I for next Monday. The rules are clear: no gaming at home. They'll probably come over for dinner and House - it's my turn - but outside of that we'll have to play cards or a board game or watch a movie or something.

I also need to think up something simple to cook that will feed three. I've got my usual go-to recipe: stir-fry. But one friend is allergic to many of the vegetables that would be staples in said stir-fry, so that limits me.