On Friday, Karen and I had a bout of spontaneity. Our bout involved traveling to the great white north to visit Karen's cousin (Karlene) and her husband (Tommy) who live in Lowell. Now, there's a lot to love about Lowell, or so the city would have you believe. (I still disagree with the city's slogan.) Interestingly enough, this weekend was the 10th annual Winterfest in Lowell.
Winterfest sounded cool. After all, there is tradition that has been growing in popularity during Lowell's Winterfest: human dogsled racing. Unfortunately, Karen and I did not attend Winterfest. Sadly, I'll have to watch the human dogsled championship another time.
Instead, Karen, Karlene, Tommy and I went shopping. In particular, we went to Target. Too bad I suck at Target. The reason we went to Target was because the store was having a sale on breast pumps. And naturally... baby needs a brand new breast pump. (For anyone curious, I am supporter of breast feeding. Sure, I'm not as gung-ho as the breast feeding specialist you meet up with at the hospital when your baby is born, but I'm a supporter nonetheless.)
As odd as this sounds, the breast pump purchase was a major step for both Karen and I. After everything that happened with our son (Braden) who passed away a week after being born extremely premature, Karen and I have been somewhat hesitant in preparing for our next child. Well, I think I've been more reluctant that Karen. I just don't want to jinx things. I'll be a lot more relaxed when the baby is born... and healthy. Regardless, the breast pump purchase was the first major thing that we have purchase for our new unborn child.
Following Target, the four of us had dinner at Smokey Bones located in Nashua. The food was good. (I had the fish and chips. The fish was a little greasier than I would have liked, but it was good nonetheless.) Things have changed a lot since the last time I was there. Gone are the speakers situated at each table.
Among the more interesting topics of discussion were Karlene being high on marijuana. Karlene has never smoked marijuana to my knowledge. I may have offended her when I joked that it would be funny to see her smoking pot. The reason I said that is because Karlene is among one of the more by-the-book people I know. In some respects, she is a lot like Karen that way.
Anyway, following dinner we made a brief pit stop at Home Depot. (Karlene and Tommy were picking up new faucets for their kitchen and bathroom.) And from there, we headed back to their place for some video game action. In particular, I was curious about the Wii Fit Plus which Karlene and Tommy had purchased during the start of the new year.
Needless to say, I may have played a few games of Wii Fit Plus. Truth be told, it was fun. (It should probably come as no surprise that the Wii Fit Plus said I was overweight. Just look at me.) Nevertheless, I can see how non-gamers would enjoy the Wii. I would recommend it to my friend (Hot Amy) but I know she does not like to sweat. (Snicker.)
All in all, it was a fun time.
Showing posts with label wii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wii. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
I Suck At New Year's Eve
For the past ten years or so, Karen and I have been going to Lowell for New Year's Eve. After all, there is a lot to like about Lowell... or so the city will have you believe. Personally, I'm still not convinced about the city's slogan.
Unfortunately, I suck at New Year's Eve. In keeping with tradition, however, Karen and I visited the city of textile mills this year. For anyone curious, we did actually break tradition last year, as we attempted to deal with the loss our son (Braden). We went on a cruise just to get away from reality for a while. The cruise was great. Thank you again to everyone who had surprised us with a little present on the cruise.
Anyway, this year was a return back to tradition. Karen and I visited Karen's cousin (Karlene) and her husband (Tommy), who are Lowell-ites... or Lowellians? I'm not sure what the term is. Needless to say, it was a fun time. Karlene was gracious enough to make dinner for all of us. Karen and I had brought some Chinese food to make as well, but the food did not appear to cook well without a steamer. Oh well.
During dinner, we had some random topics of discussion. Karlene and Tommy were quite surprised that I told them that I did not want Squashy to have any electronic video games or game consoles until he/she was a teenager. The reason for their surprise was because they know that I am quite the video game aficionado.
And for anyone curious, "Squashy" is the current name that I have given to our unborn child. Every week, Karen and I visit a website that explains what to expect during a certain week of pregnancy. The website generally says the child is about the size of some type of vegetable. This week just happened to be a squash. Hence... "Squashy". Prior to Squashy was "Carrota", after a carrot.
The reason why I do not want my child to have any video games until they are a teenager is because I do not want my child to be dependent on video games. I have seen all too often children wanting to do nothing else but play video games, even when company is over, because they are bored or whatnot. It's only natural. Heck, when I get bored that's all I want to do too. I just want my child to have fun and interact with other people. That's just my opinion.
And while I'm sounding like an old person, the four of us also had a discussion about phones. In particular, we had talked about the constant need for people to take out their cell phones to check for messages or play with apps or whatnot. It absolutely drives me nuts when people take out their phones while at a social gathering. In fact, I find it pretty rude. I'm guessing not a lot of people agree with my point of view because it is a common occurrence. To me, it's just common courtesy.
Anyway, new year's eve was a fun time. In addition to dinner, Tommy tried his hand at bar tending. Tommy had gotten Karlene a Disaronno gift set... because Karlene is apparently quite the boozer. Just kidding. The only thing I knew about Disaronno was that the company advertised on television not too long ago. The commercials, however, never said what kind of alcohol it was. (For anyone curious, Disaronno is a brand of amaretto.)
Needless to say, Tommy made a pretty delicious drink consisting of amaretto and grape juice. He even went the extra step and threaded grapes through a plastic straw. All in all, the drink was very good. I would definitely drink it again.
In addition to the drinks, we also played a game that Karlene and Tommy recently received: Disney Th!nk Fast on the Wii. The game is basically a game show hosted by Aladdin's Genie. Each round of the game consists of different activities or trivia. (For anyone curious, Karlene and Tommy are very big fans of the mouse.) In years past, we had played certain Disney themed games. So this year was no different.
And luckily, because I like to talk trash, the outcome of the game was similar as in years past. Much like my challenges with my friend (Hot Amy), I ended up winning the game each time we played. Perhaps Karlene and Tommy have the same genetic predisposition to losing as Hot Amy. Just kidding.
Anyway, the game was rather entertaining... and I don't say that because I laid down quite the beating. (I am a video game aficionado after all.) When the dust settled, we were able to enjoy the rest of the night and watch as the ball dropped in New York.
Unfortunately, I suck at New Year's Eve. In keeping with tradition, however, Karen and I visited the city of textile mills this year. For anyone curious, we did actually break tradition last year, as we attempted to deal with the loss our son (Braden). We went on a cruise just to get away from reality for a while. The cruise was great. Thank you again to everyone who had surprised us with a little present on the cruise.
Anyway, this year was a return back to tradition. Karen and I visited Karen's cousin (Karlene) and her husband (Tommy), who are Lowell-ites... or Lowellians? I'm not sure what the term is. Needless to say, it was a fun time. Karlene was gracious enough to make dinner for all of us. Karen and I had brought some Chinese food to make as well, but the food did not appear to cook well without a steamer. Oh well.
During dinner, we had some random topics of discussion. Karlene and Tommy were quite surprised that I told them that I did not want Squashy to have any electronic video games or game consoles until he/she was a teenager. The reason for their surprise was because they know that I am quite the video game aficionado.
And for anyone curious, "Squashy" is the current name that I have given to our unborn child. Every week, Karen and I visit a website that explains what to expect during a certain week of pregnancy. The website generally says the child is about the size of some type of vegetable. This week just happened to be a squash. Hence... "Squashy". Prior to Squashy was "Carrota", after a carrot.
The reason why I do not want my child to have any video games until they are a teenager is because I do not want my child to be dependent on video games. I have seen all too often children wanting to do nothing else but play video games, even when company is over, because they are bored or whatnot. It's only natural. Heck, when I get bored that's all I want to do too. I just want my child to have fun and interact with other people. That's just my opinion.
And while I'm sounding like an old person, the four of us also had a discussion about phones. In particular, we had talked about the constant need for people to take out their cell phones to check for messages or play with apps or whatnot. It absolutely drives me nuts when people take out their phones while at a social gathering. In fact, I find it pretty rude. I'm guessing not a lot of people agree with my point of view because it is a common occurrence. To me, it's just common courtesy.
Anyway, new year's eve was a fun time. In addition to dinner, Tommy tried his hand at bar tending. Tommy had gotten Karlene a Disaronno gift set... because Karlene is apparently quite the boozer. Just kidding. The only thing I knew about Disaronno was that the company advertised on television not too long ago. The commercials, however, never said what kind of alcohol it was. (For anyone curious, Disaronno is a brand of amaretto.)
Needless to say, Tommy made a pretty delicious drink consisting of amaretto and grape juice. He even went the extra step and threaded grapes through a plastic straw. All in all, the drink was very good. I would definitely drink it again.
In addition to the drinks, we also played a game that Karlene and Tommy recently received: Disney Th!nk Fast on the Wii. The game is basically a game show hosted by Aladdin's Genie. Each round of the game consists of different activities or trivia. (For anyone curious, Karlene and Tommy are very big fans of the mouse.) In years past, we had played certain Disney themed games. So this year was no different.
And luckily, because I like to talk trash, the outcome of the game was similar as in years past. Much like my challenges with my friend (Hot Amy), I ended up winning the game each time we played. Perhaps Karlene and Tommy have the same genetic predisposition to losing as Hot Amy. Just kidding.
Anyway, the game was rather entertaining... and I don't say that because I laid down quite the beating. (I am a video game aficionado after all.) When the dust settled, we were able to enjoy the rest of the night and watch as the ball dropped in New York.
Monday, February 9, 2009
I Suck At Wii Music
saturday night, karen and i went to my favorite sister-in-law's (janine) for dinner. on thursday, i had made dinner for my friends (marc and kelley). the dinner for my friends was macaroni and cheese... alton brown style. as the recipe called for half a box of macaroni (or 1/2 lb), i still had the other half of the box sitting on our kitchen counter. plus, i still had the other half of the finely diced yellow onion sitting in the fridge. so, karen and i thought we could just make the recipe again for janine and her family (pj, pj, and kaleigh).
sadly, my culinary skills have grown now so that i can only make two things: mac 'n cheese... and apple crisp. needless to say, i hope janine and everyone enjoyed the mac 'n cheese meal. i need the meal to be extremely delicious so that i can challenge my friend (hot amy) to a bake off of macaroni and cheese... a challenge that she will inevitably lose due to her genetic disposition. just kidding.
speaking of which, hot amy was interested in getting together on saturday. as karen and i were already at janine's, janine invited everyone over to hang out. so shortly after dinner, my friends (jen, andrea, and hot amy) came over to janine's to hang out... and have fun.
(pictured below is jen... concentrating hard about something.)
anyway, it was an interesting night. for anyone curious, one of the topics of conversation: body hair. to everyone's surprise, the smooth away pad apparently does work. (and no, i did not try the smooth away pad.) i have been told that the pads work very well... although not as well as waxing. i cannot confirm or deny that claim as i was only able to feel the smoothness of a freshly waxed leg and not the smoothness of a freshly smooth awayed leg. although based on visuals, the smooth away pad does appear to work.
i also found out an interesting tidbit of information... whether true or not. apparently, when you are growing up (and if you are a female)... you are not supposed to shave from the waist down due to hair coarseness. i also learned that hair on your legs need to be at least a quarter of an inch long before waxing. yes, my life is now complete to know all this new information about body hair. (and for anyone curious, yes i do have hair on my legs.)
after being enlightened by all the information about body hair, the seven of us did what anyone would do on a saturday night: play wii music. too bad i suck at wii music. wii music is a game where you basically play the role of a conductor and... conduct a band. needless to say, it was an interesting time.
it turns out... janine and karen... even though they are sisters... are both equally terrible at conducting an orchestra at the same time. jen and pj were pretty good. unfortunately, jen and pj were not the best. the competitive andrea and hot amy were apparently the most compatible. (i guess there is some truth to them being bff's.)
i did not partake in the wii music fun... (hence, i suck at wii music, remember?) i actually enjoy watching others play more. (it also makes good video footage.) plus, i still have the elitist gamer mentality that the wii is not a gaming console... so it pains me to actually play the wii. okay, so maybe that could be a load of crap.
nonetheless, it was a fun night at janine and pj's. it was good to be silly for a night.
sadly, my culinary skills have grown now so that i can only make two things: mac 'n cheese... and apple crisp. needless to say, i hope janine and everyone enjoyed the mac 'n cheese meal. i need the meal to be extremely delicious so that i can challenge my friend (hot amy) to a bake off of macaroni and cheese... a challenge that she will inevitably lose due to her genetic disposition. just kidding.
speaking of which, hot amy was interested in getting together on saturday. as karen and i were already at janine's, janine invited everyone over to hang out. so shortly after dinner, my friends (jen, andrea, and hot amy) came over to janine's to hang out... and have fun.
(pictured below is jen... concentrating hard about something.)
anyway, it was an interesting night. for anyone curious, one of the topics of conversation: body hair. to everyone's surprise, the smooth away pad apparently does work. (and no, i did not try the smooth away pad.) i have been told that the pads work very well... although not as well as waxing. i cannot confirm or deny that claim as i was only able to feel the smoothness of a freshly waxed leg and not the smoothness of a freshly smooth awayed leg. although based on visuals, the smooth away pad does appear to work.
i also found out an interesting tidbit of information... whether true or not. apparently, when you are growing up (and if you are a female)... you are not supposed to shave from the waist down due to hair coarseness. i also learned that hair on your legs need to be at least a quarter of an inch long before waxing. yes, my life is now complete to know all this new information about body hair. (and for anyone curious, yes i do have hair on my legs.)
after being enlightened by all the information about body hair, the seven of us did what anyone would do on a saturday night: play wii music. too bad i suck at wii music. wii music is a game where you basically play the role of a conductor and... conduct a band. needless to say, it was an interesting time.
it turns out... janine and karen... even though they are sisters... are both equally terrible at conducting an orchestra at the same time. jen and pj were pretty good. unfortunately, jen and pj were not the best. the competitive andrea and hot amy were apparently the most compatible. (i guess there is some truth to them being bff's.)
i did not partake in the wii music fun... (hence, i suck at wii music, remember?) i actually enjoy watching others play more. (it also makes good video footage.) plus, i still have the elitist gamer mentality that the wii is not a gaming console... so it pains me to actually play the wii. okay, so maybe that could be a load of crap.
nonetheless, it was a fun night at janine and pj's. it was good to be silly for a night.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I Suck At Wii Bowling
saturday night was my big showdown with my friend (hot amy). for anyone curious, hot amy and i have been having competitive wagers against one another. it all started with the tennis challenge in which i defeated her in the sport she played in high school... tennis. (i had never played competitive tennis... unless you consider that one time i played with my ex-girlfriend who i lovingly call "the scourge of evil".)
anyway, this time the challenge was wii bowling. hot amy received the wii for christmas. naturally, she challenged me to wii bowling as it was a game that she was very good at. of course, i don't own a wii. i still have the gamer mentality that the wii is not really a gaming console, and has thus refused to get one. nonetheless, i agreed to the challenge. the wager: homemade pizza.
in all honesty, i figured this would be the challenge that i would finally lose to hot amy. after all, i don't own the wii and i am terrible at real bowling. so things were looking pretty good in 2009 for hot amy. even my friend (jen) thought that this would be the challenge that i would lose because jen has seen hot amy play wii bowling and knows how good she is at it. jen, by the way, apparently knows "the secret" to wii bowling.
well, karen and i invited a bunch of our friends (jen, kerry, carlos, and hot amy), my favorite sister-in-law (janine), my favorite brother-in-law (pj) and my nephew (pj) over to witness the inevitable triumph of hot amy.
(the video below is of hot amy wii bowling while karen and jen watch.)
unfortunately for hot amy, things didn't go quite according to plan. whether it was the sensei-student training that i had with hot amy's father earlier or the home field advantage of having the bowling challenge at our place... the stars were simply aligned in my favor on saturday night. hot amy probably had her worst bowling string while i had a fairly decent one. in the end, i was victorious.
it simply was not a good night for hot amy. she subsequently lost the other games against me as well that night. carlos, on the other hand, whupped my butt in boxing. (i still think it would be cool to have a wii boxing tournament... but that's just me. boxing on wii, by the way... very tiring and difficult.)
anyway, looking back... i almost feel guilty for defeating hot amy... again. i'm sure i'll get over the guilt though, because i'm sure the homemade pizza will taste really good. better luck next time, hot amy!
anyway, this time the challenge was wii bowling. hot amy received the wii for christmas. naturally, she challenged me to wii bowling as it was a game that she was very good at. of course, i don't own a wii. i still have the gamer mentality that the wii is not really a gaming console, and has thus refused to get one. nonetheless, i agreed to the challenge. the wager: homemade pizza.
in all honesty, i figured this would be the challenge that i would finally lose to hot amy. after all, i don't own the wii and i am terrible at real bowling. so things were looking pretty good in 2009 for hot amy. even my friend (jen) thought that this would be the challenge that i would lose because jen has seen hot amy play wii bowling and knows how good she is at it. jen, by the way, apparently knows "the secret" to wii bowling.
well, karen and i invited a bunch of our friends (jen, kerry, carlos, and hot amy), my favorite sister-in-law (janine), my favorite brother-in-law (pj) and my nephew (pj) over to witness the inevitable triumph of hot amy.
(the video below is of hot amy wii bowling while karen and jen watch.)
unfortunately for hot amy, things didn't go quite according to plan. whether it was the sensei-student training that i had with hot amy's father earlier or the home field advantage of having the bowling challenge at our place... the stars were simply aligned in my favor on saturday night. hot amy probably had her worst bowling string while i had a fairly decent one. in the end, i was victorious.
it simply was not a good night for hot amy. she subsequently lost the other games against me as well that night. carlos, on the other hand, whupped my butt in boxing. (i still think it would be cool to have a wii boxing tournament... but that's just me. boxing on wii, by the way... very tiring and difficult.)
anyway, looking back... i almost feel guilty for defeating hot amy... again. i'm sure i'll get over the guilt though, because i'm sure the homemade pizza will taste really good. better luck next time, hot amy!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
I Suck At Playing With The Wii
today, the ymca's "mad dash" began. part of the requirements for the "mad dash" is a photo shoot of the participants wearing skimpy clothes, which are to be used as the "before" shot. at the end of the "mad dash", there will be another photo shoot for the "after" shot, and the comparisons will be one of the criteria for judging the winner of the dash.
needless to say, my friend (jen) and my sister-in-law (janine) had their pictures taken today. to kick start the dash, janine and pj went to dinner at the haunted restaurant known as the scarlet oak in hingham. (located at the intersection of queen anne's corner, the scarlet oak was formerly known as the witten house, syro's, and black fin.) according to the lore, a young girl can sometimes be seen late at night coloring in the corner. as well, there is a story of where this same girl got into the flour and walked on the ceiling. apparently her footprints are still there.
thus, that left karen and i to babysit our niece and nephew. as the kids were asleep, we started to play with the nintento wii that janine and pj have. i suck at playing with the wii. (for the record, i'm more of the hardcore gaming type.)
anyway, rather than play the games on the wii, karen and i decided to create some mii characters. according to my friend wikipedia, a "mii" is:
"A Mii (pronounced /ˈmiː/) is a digital avatar created by Nintendo for the Wii's Mii Channel. After creating them, they can be used as participating characters in certain Mii-oriented games, as first shown in Wii Sports and Wii Play. Miis are customizable and allow the user to capture a likeness or caricature, or capture the personality of themselves and others.
Up to 300 Miis may be created on any Wii console. The Wii Remote itself can hold up to 10 Miis on its internal memory, which can later be transferred to another Wii console. In addition, Miis can also be exchanged via the WiiConnect24 service, whereby allowing a player's Miis to "Mingle" will enable such Miis to appear on other people's Wii consoles (appearing in a "Mii Parade", where up to 10,000 may feature). Miis transferred to another console cannot be edited from that particular console."
needless to say, this can get to be quite entertaining trying to find miis to create. (pictured below is the mii created by karen using the information from the site, famousmii.com. the mii is supposed to be owen wilson.)
our original intent was to create a spiderman for our niece and nephew. we, however, got distracted with the other possibilities. hopefully soon, we can return to create the spiderman mii.
needless to say, my friend (jen) and my sister-in-law (janine) had their pictures taken today. to kick start the dash, janine and pj went to dinner at the haunted restaurant known as the scarlet oak in hingham. (located at the intersection of queen anne's corner, the scarlet oak was formerly known as the witten house, syro's, and black fin.) according to the lore, a young girl can sometimes be seen late at night coloring in the corner. as well, there is a story of where this same girl got into the flour and walked on the ceiling. apparently her footprints are still there.
thus, that left karen and i to babysit our niece and nephew. as the kids were asleep, we started to play with the nintento wii that janine and pj have. i suck at playing with the wii. (for the record, i'm more of the hardcore gaming type.)
anyway, rather than play the games on the wii, karen and i decided to create some mii characters. according to my friend wikipedia, a "mii" is:
"A Mii (pronounced /ˈmiː/) is a digital avatar created by Nintendo for the Wii's Mii Channel. After creating them, they can be used as participating characters in certain Mii-oriented games, as first shown in Wii Sports and Wii Play. Miis are customizable and allow the user to capture a likeness or caricature, or capture the personality of themselves and others.
Up to 300 Miis may be created on any Wii console. The Wii Remote itself can hold up to 10 Miis on its internal memory, which can later be transferred to another Wii console. In addition, Miis can also be exchanged via the WiiConnect24 service, whereby allowing a player's Miis to "Mingle" will enable such Miis to appear on other people's Wii consoles (appearing in a "Mii Parade", where up to 10,000 may feature). Miis transferred to another console cannot be edited from that particular console."
needless to say, this can get to be quite entertaining trying to find miis to create. (pictured below is the mii created by karen using the information from the site, famousmii.com. the mii is supposed to be owen wilson.)
our original intent was to create a spiderman for our niece and nephew. we, however, got distracted with the other possibilities. hopefully soon, we can return to create the spiderman mii.
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