Wii Fit: Good For Your Marriage

Last weekend The Hubs and I invested in a Wii Fit.  We’ve been thinking about getting one for a while (even considering letting that be our Christmas gift to each other), but finally heard enough rave reviews to convince us that it’s worth the money. So we spent a few days hunting for one, finally striking gold at a local electronics store.

I have to tell you that my first experience with the Wii Fit was not a particularly positive one.  When you first create your WF Mii, you have to weigh in and have your BMI calculated.  I knew this would happen; I was prepared for it.  I did not, however, anticipate The Hubs feeling strongly that we should do this in front of each other so that we could hold each other accountable (also because he doesn’t think I have any reason to be shy).

My numbers weren’t that bad, but they were nowhere near as good as my obsessively-running-biking-exercising-husband who still has the metabolism of a middle-schooler.  And it was the first time I’d ever weighed myself in front of him. So despite the fact that my husband said all the right things, I couldn’t help but feel a little beat up by the experience.

So I started using the Wii Fit when The Hubs wasn’t home, and I actually started enjoying it and getting good at it.  The first day, my balance (which is one of the WF’s primary measurements) was horrible; I am really shocked by how much better it is only a week later.

But, here’s the best part: it’s like a little electronic Husband Trainer.

One day, The Hubs got on the Wii Fit and, while he was taking the Body Test, the Balance Board Trainer asked him how he thought Catherine (me, obviously) looked since I had been working out so consistently.  It offered him choices like “Thinner,” “More Toned,” and “About the Same.”  Hubs being the smart husband he is, chose “Thinner” (despite the fact that I wasn’t even at home) at which point the WF implored him, “You better tell her that!”

To which I can only say, thank you Wii Fit!  A girl can use any compliment she can get – electronic or otherwise.

:::

Sidenote: Do any of you have a Wii Fit?  Have you played the Snowboarding game?  How do you do it?  Because I am horrible at it.

I Am the Demographic

When advertisers, PR folks, and media executives in general sit around a conference table, make a conference call, or just chat around the water cooler about how best to make Product X appeal to Consumer Y, there is a pretty good chance that they’re talking about me.  I am Consumer Y.  Hi.  Nice to meet you.  Because here’s the thing: I am a sucker for advertising gimmicks.  This may also mean that I am a sucker.

Does it make it better that I know that I’m a sucker?

(Probably not.)

Example: HBO was awarded the rights to be the sole network to air today’s pre-inauguration celebration, We Are One.  Obviously, this perturbed many of the other major networks because, well, they want viewers, too.  So HBO agreed to offer any cable subscribers the opportunity to watch the concert on their network whether they’re subscribers or not.

While I would like to think that this was simply a generous gesture by HBO in honor of the ideology of the man being inaugurated.  But as much as I want to, I just can’t muster that much naivete.  It’s about money. (Duh.)

And HBO’s smart.  They always have been.  When I was a kid, HBO would offer subscription-free weekends when anyone could watch their channel for the weekend.  Of course, the goal of this was to convince people to pay the extra money for HBO’s personal brand of entertainment.  My family would watch HBO that whole weekend and lament that we didn’t subscribe when it was over.

Maybe HBO still does this.  I don’t know.  But that’s definitely what they did today.  Before and after the concert, HBO aired a commercial celebrating the wonderful programming they offered in 2008 and the even better entertainment ahead in 2009.

And now I want it.  I want to see Sex and the City: the Movie when it comes on HBO (even though I already saw it in theaters)!  I need to be able to watch Entourage! I can’t help but think of a way to rationalize the need for HBO (I am a very good rationalizer).  And I know that I am succumbing to the goals of the advertisers. I am happily and knowingly drinking the kool-aid.

Let’s just say that it’s a good thing that I’m married.  If not, I would almost definitely be the newest subscriber to HBO.  

But as it is, I’m not…yet.

I Might as Well Lie on a Couch While I Write This

I have probably mentioned before that, in some ways, getting a PhD in Literature has ruined my ability to enjoy literature by making it impossible for me to just sit back and read.  I have an automatic need to analyze, criticize, summarize any book that I pick up.  I can’t help it.  I am basically programmed that way.

Unfortunately, the illness has spread…to movies.

This semester I’m teaching a course on Contemporary Dystopian Literature. [I know, you're so jealous that you can't be in this edge-of-your-seat class that you don't think you can go on reading.  But please, take a big deep breath, and stick with me people].  So tomorrow, in our second class of the semester, I’m going to show some clips from potentially-dystopian films to discuss what makes a dystopia and what a dystopia does. [TMI?  You've stopped caring?  Sorry. I digress (see previous post)].

In preparation for this film viewing, I’ve spent the day browsing movies and narrowing down the clips.  I also took this chance to watch Wall-E, because I’ve wanted to see it since it came out and I use any opportunity to mix work with pleasure.

The movie was great (Seriously. Watch it.), but I could not simply enjoy it.  In fact, I had a hard time seeing how young children would enjoy this movie because it’s obviously a sniping social commentary, right?  What, you mean there’s also a sweet story about friendship between two robots?  Yeah, right – that was totally criticism about the way society is losing the ability to maintain lasting relationships because of our addiction to technology.

See, it’s an illness. But for now it seems to be manageable. While I may not be able to turn the analysis off, it doesn’t completely lose its entertainment value.  Heck, I teared up twice (twice!) in this animated comedy.[When Eve's trying to save Wall-E.  Tell me you didn't get a little weepy.]

I don’t know if this auto-analyze feature will diminish after I’m through with school.  It may require intensive entertainment-therapy.

Darn.

P.S.-Wall-E just this very second won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Motion Picture.  How timely is that?

Weekend Entertainment

Yesterday I went out with Bess again.  This time Dave and I drove to the St. Mark’s Trail, which was much more my speed: flat and away from cars. We went for about 12 miles, 3 miles further than the day before (with far fewer breaks in between). It seems that I actually have pretty good leg strength; it’s my arm and back muscles that are weak.  But they’ll get there.  And I am far less sore today from yesterday’s ride than I was after Thursday’s ride. So I’m already improving (even if only slightly). Today’s a break day and then hopefully I’ll hit the pavement again tomorrow.

Yesterday night I finished the fun-read book I allowed myself as an end-of-the-semester treat: Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This had been on my to-read list for months and I was even considering it for my dissertation, but now that I’m done with it, I’m not sure how I feel about it.  I love the premise of it, even just the feel of it (does that make sense, the feel of a book?  I think if you’re a book lover it does). But I’m not sure the logistics of it worked entirely.  Sometimes the writing techniques got in the way of the writing for me.  And yet I think that Foer’s presentation of a 9/11 story was the perfect way to tell the story, particularly in light of the Poetics of the Everyday class I just finished.  We may not know the whole truth at the end of Extremely Loud, but we feel the truth, or at least a connection to the characters.  Maybe for this subject, that’s better?

Today has been a lovely day of hanging out at home.  My friend Claire, her husband Ash, and their son Elliot came over to play Mario Kart Wii.  Okay, Elliot didn’t play (he’s only 8 months old) but he did give me a lot of luck and help me win on the hardest course.  All-in-all, the whole family kicked my and Dave’s butts most of the time, but it was fun times.  The perfect way to spend a cloudy afternoon.

Tomorrow Dave and I are going to continue my cleaning spree by organizing some closets.  And I’m off to Borders to decide which prelim book I’ll be starting with first.  Oh!  And I’ll be in Bowling Green (Kentucky, for those of you who don’t know) on Friday.  So if you’re there, we need to hang out.  Definitely. Why wouldn’t you want to hang out with someone with a life as exciting as mine?

A New Member of the Family

Today Dave and I welcomed the newest member of the Altmaier family. This, everybody, is Bess:

This baby is my new bike! I haven’t had a bike since my 10-speed, so Bess is a big deal for me. I’ve wanted a bike ever since Dave got his, but we never had the money we were willing to spend on it. But then Dave told me a couple of weeks ago that, as a reward to me for finishing classes, he wanted us to buy a bike for me. Well I couldn’t have been more pleased, and so the shopping began.

Though we looked at a lot different bikes, the experience was much like shopping for a wedding dress. We researched bikes on the internet; then we went to a few stores and just browsed a week or two ago. Then today, after narrowing down our choices, we decided to “try on” some bikes. Just like my wedding dress, as soon as I hopped on this beautiful Cannondale WSD Six13 I knew that she was the one for me. So we left the store, test drove another bike at a different store, drove half of the way home discussing our options, and then turned around and went back and bought her.

To celebrate, Dave and I went for our first bike ride together. And let me tell you, nothing is more flattering than cycling gear:

(Notice I’m showing you the pre-ride picture, from the chest up, without the helmets.  And still it’s not so good.) I have to tell you, I had a blast riding, but I am definitely VERY out of shape.  Dave, bless him, was practically coasting the whole time while I huffed and I puffed behind him. But I was brave and ventured onto busy roads way before Dave was willing to when he started riding; that’s something right?

And while I don’t know that I’ll ever be the competitive cyclist/triathlete I know Dave secretly hopes I’ll become, I really love cycling. We’re going to hit a longer but much flatter course tomorrow.  Maybe my bum won’t hurt so badly after that one;)

A few more pictures of my girl Bess:

She’s perfect right? A little feminine but not “girly.” But don’t let the design full you.  She’s hardcore.  And so am I.

Time to ice my bum.

Spring Racing

First of all, let me apologize for the intrusion of the previous post.  He has been thoroughly reprimanded and won’t do that again.  But, yes, Katie’s right; Florida has definitely not diminished Dave’s sense of humor.

As for me (what really matters on this blog), I’ve had a bit of a day. I finally submitted my students’ grades today and, while I won’t go into the long drawn-out saga of while it took me so long (today was the last day to submit), if you want to hear a story about why college students are frustrating, I’ll be glad to share. But needless to say, submitting grades was a little bittersweet for me.

So what did I decide to do to cheer myself up? How else? I cleaned the house. Not just a regular cleaning; I began a major overhaul of the house. As today is the first day of the second year we’ve lived in this apartment, it’s probably about time. Today I  organized, dusted, vacuumed, cleaned the range, burner grates, and oven, and, most importantly, made a huge list of things to do tomorrow (and probably the next day). I just didn’t want to start my summer by being unproductive because I have a lot to do this summer. So even though I refuse to do any school work for a couple of days, at least I’m getting things done.

And lest you worry, today was not all productivity. After hearing a positive review from my friend Claire, Dave and I purchased Mario Kart Wii. Now, you must understand that Super Mario Kart was my favorite game growing  up.  While I love Super Mario and Zelda games, once you complete them they lose a little bit of their appeal. But Super Mario Kart you could play over and over again. And not to toot my own horn, but I am good, really good, at Super Mario Kart. So when I heard they were coming out with a Wii version, I knew we would eventually have it. Today, 2 days after the game was released, I couldn’t wait anymore.

And the game did not disappoint. Mind you, Dave and I only played for maybe an hour, but it was a blast.  Cool new courses, a revamped battle mode (which I highly recommend), tricks, and vehicle choices vamp up an old classic. Plus you can play against your friends online (and if you live far away from most of your close friends like me, that’s a nice feature). One comment, though: I agree with Claire, the steering wheel that the game comes with is more of a hindrance than a help. Just use the nun-chuck and don’t spend ten bucks on an extra wheel. Other than that, though, the game is an awesome opportunity for me to relive my childhood and show my husband who the real video game champ is in this (currently very clean) house all-in-one.