This and That

Cassie was berating me earlier for being such a slacker this week on the ol' blog, and since it's her birthday week, I'll oblige and do a post.  

If it's not interesting, blame her.  

1.  Man oh man!  It's a wild and crazy birthday month up in here.  Matt, Cassie, Obama, Grandma Carol, and Caitie (and a bunch of people I probably just offended by forgetting on this list) are all celebrating birthdays in the next few weeks, and I'm stoked, if only for the cake.  And the celebrating life and getting old and being handsome and general awesomesauce awesomeness.  Birthdays!  Woo-hoo!

2. I'm on a popsicle kick.  Also an ice cream kick, cheeseburger kick, apple kick, and kick kick.  But what's new?   At least it's not a crystal meth kick or a murderin' kick.

3.  Speaking of crystal meth and murderin', are you watching the new season of Breaking Bad?  Also, does it make you think that you'd rather just be poor than start cooking meth and doing meth?  (You know, sores on the face, impending doom, parties that destroy your house, etc.) Also, does Gus freak you out or what?

4.  Mitch just smacked me in the face with his waggin' tail.  Oh, that pup.  How can I leave him for four days?  I keep telling him that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that I'm already getting excited for our happy reunion.  Then he sasses me and tells me to get him another milk bone.  

5.  And, with all that interesting commentary on life and love, I'm off to San Diego for the BlogHer conference and the Knorr cooking contest (eek!).  I'm excited and anxious and a little bit overwhelmed.  Also, I won't have a computer with me (and I got rid of my smartphone after I almost got carpel tunnel because I was on it so much), so if you contact me through any of these newfangled internet mediums, you won't hear back from me until Monday.  Wish me luck!

Time to teach this turkey how to jive!

Remember that time that I boasted about how I would beat Matt at the new Punch Out for the Wii? I didn't realize what I was getting myself into with that claim. I forgot that my husband was once a video game-obsessed adolescent.

I forgot that during that time he spent hours upon hours playing this game, memorizing every secret and trick, perfecting his form and rhythm.

I must've been playing with Barbies or fighting with my friends or talking on the phone. My brother and I did spend many hours playing the original Mike Tyson's Punch Out, but I didn't sear every part of the game into my memory, and I'm not sure that I ever cared as much as Matt did. I think it's a gender thing. Plus, my memory's getting kind of crappy these days.

Matt kicked my ass. He owns me in this game, and I don't know that I'll ever have the coordination, drive, or tolerance to get to the point where I'll beat him. But I'm up for the challenge.

Here to provide a quick review of the game is Matt, boxing extraordinaire:

This game is way more fun than it should be. I think the reason is that it may be the perfect juxtaposition of technology and nostalgia. I honestly believe that if some time traveler had walked into my house and given me this game when I was 9 and playing the original Punch Out I would have passed out. It is a lot harder than the original Punch Out, both because of the changes they have made in the competition and because pushing a and b is simpler than punching with two hands while pressing like six different buttons. I would never actually recommend anyone buy this game because I think its appeal is probably limited to me and a handful of people like me. Anyone can have some amount of fun with it, but for me and those of my specific age and gender group, it actually evokes powerful memories that cause me to stay up way too late fake punching people on my TV.