Archive for 2009
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix and the Spree
If there is one game for the Nintendo DS that is digital crack (for me at least), it is Puzzle Quest (also available for the PSP, Windows and as a download from Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network). It’s basically a light RPG with a Bejeweled/match 3 battle system, but it is damn addicting. Every now and then I get the itch and have to play through it again. I think I’ve gone through it 6 or 7 times now, maxing my character out at level 50 each time.
I’ve been excited ever since the “sequel” was announced. (Sequel is in quotes because it was initially under development independent from the Puzzle Quest title, and because the puzzle mechanic is more complicated than the original match-3 system.) Puzzle Quest: Galactrix looks to be just as addictive but with a lot more strategy, as the pieces are hexagons and can move in six directions instead of four. Additionally, it takes place in space and the lack of gravity affects the game board, so pieces don’t just fall down, they fall from the direction you made your move in. Definitely a lot more to think about this time around.
A demo was made available last week, and it seems to live up to my hype. I had minor issues on both my desktop and my laptop (which is one of the reasons I’m getting it for the DS), but it prompted me to pre-order it, so I guess that sums it up.
To top it off, I went on a bit of a spree (mostly with my SanDisk rebate card) at GoGamer.com. I got Final Fantasy 4 and 5 for the Game Boy Advance, and Final Fantasy Tactics A2 for the DS. I decided a while back that I wanted to play all the Final Fantasy games in order. Square/Enix had started releasing GBA (then DS) ports of the games, so I started there. I finished FF3 up last year, then played through Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (which I had started a few times but never quite finished).
Then I found out that Toys’R’Us had a great deal on Guitar Hero: World Tour ($50 off [$139 for the full bundle] with free shipping), which I’ve put off getting since we’re still having tons of fun with Rock Band/2, so I went ahead and got that too. Which reminds me, I need to go pre-order Guitar Hero: Metallica from GameStop so I get the free second bass pedal. (=
And, yes, I’m aware that I will have a plethora of plastic video game instruments. And I don’t care.
Then, to ease my pain, I got the latest Buckethead release, Slaughterhouse on the Prarie.
February is going to rule.
When Two Miles Is More Than Two Miles
So, I used to walk a lot. In 2007 I walked all of the darn time. At first, because I was rehabing from my back surgery and then because I figured out to con Adam into another Disney trip, I better have a good scheme, and thus, decided to walk the 1/2 marathon there in January. In the few months leading up to the race, I was walking a good 20-25 miles a week.
So, it being a beautiful day out in the greater Seattle area, and the fact that the boys refused to nap for more than 45 minutes, which was slowly driving me insane, I thought to take them on a walk along with me.
I bundled them up in their carseats, and headed down to the trailhead.
I thought that two miles would be a good goal, considering it was getting close to their afternoon feeding,
and I felt like I could make it back in plenty of time. What I failed to calculate was the fact that I wasn’t just
walking. Oh no, I was walking and pushing roughly 80 pounds of stoller, carseat and baby. It is no wonder it
took me FAR longer than it should have to cover that distance and why my wrists were quite unhappy last
night.
Regardless of the time involved, the walk was awesome, and the boys slept through most of it. I call that a win.
Mexican Cheerios
We apparently bought a box of Mexican Cheerios at the grocery store, because it proclaims that we could win breakfest with famous(?) telenovela star Juan Soler!
The URL says it all: http://www.desayunaconjuansoler.com/
(For full effect, you should be listening to Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo while reading this post, replacing “radio” with “Cheerios,” obviously. And, no, I don’t care that “I’m on a Mexican Cheerios” doesn’t make sense.)
It Must Suck Being a Baby
Poor Will. He’s got a stuffy nose. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the constant use of the heater–which also explains why I get shocked every time I need to adjust a fuzzy blanket. It never occurred to me how uncomfortable a simple stuffy nose would be if you had no control over any part of your body. He can breathe if he’s on his side, with his head slightly elevated. See if you can picture what that looks like, and then guess if there’s any way to accomplish that without me holding him. Yeah, no.
Oh, I tried, bleary eyed, in the dark at 4:30 this morning. Rolled up a blanket and propped him up. The quiet lasted all of 3 minutes, just enough time to crawl back into bed. That’s a particular talent of these two: they seem to have a sixth sense for exactly how long it takes to get comfortable.
I’m pretty sure that’s what the definition of motherhood is: “never getting comfortable.”
Finally I gave up. The poor thing was tired–he wanted to be asleep, he just couldn’t breathe, so out to the couch we went, and now sit. I type this with a grunty little rhino on my lap, more or less peacefully asleep. Andy remains quiet in the crib, although he’ll be awake soon enough.
And I will be making a run to get a humidifier so maybe we can avoid the pre-dawn wake-up call tomorrow!
You Drove Us to It, or Wherein We Justify Starting a Blog
Well, you knew it had to happen sooner or later. Yes, the world needed another blog, and we came to the rescue.
Our primary excuse is that we (Adam and Bekki Lyon) wanted a way to keep everyone updated on the progress of our twins, William and Andrew. But let’s be serious… I just like to hear read myself talk.
So what can you expect from this new journalistic masterpiece? The aforementioned twin updates, recent photos taken by Adam (and Bekki!), plus a fair amount of long-winded rambling about other random things. You might even learn something! (I wouldn’t count on it.) We’ll even reference the people in our lives, so you better read to make sure we’re not badmouthing you.
Add us to your RSS reader (I like Google Reader) or refresh like a madman on a daily basis, and we will do our best make an effort to entertain you.