Posts Tagged ‘Bloggening’
By Belynda, August 30th, 2011 in Other | No Comments
Tags: Bloggening, lazy, minecraft, obsession
Since leaving school, I’ve done very little. I had grand illusions of cooking dinner every night, keeping up on all my housework, and having plenty of time to go out to see friends, see movies, and do everything else that I put off while I was finishing my degree. The reality? I haven’t done much at all. About the only thing I spent a significant amount of time doing? Knitting and Minecraft . The fabulous Brandon Schory points out that knitting actually is a productive enterprise - after all, I’ve created scarves, shawls, sweaters for my coffee cups, and I’m now working on a sweater for my actual body! (Stay tuned)
The same cannot be said for Minecraft.
Minecraft is the adult, online version of Legos. I joined a friend’s server, which hosts a rather impressive world of eight bit blocks. My friend Connor has managed to design a practically-to-scale replica of Notre Dame Cathedral. Our buddy Tikki created a perfect sphere using something like 3,000 blocks. Somebody else re-created the lighthouse.
I personally have a tiny house in the cathedral Square. It’s pretty adorable. Also, I have a dog.
Also? I have a problem.
My Minecraft house is far more well-kept and organized than my real house. Everything in blockland is in its place, neatly tucked away in chests that have compartments for everything. There is no pet fur on the furniture. There is no furniture! Need to sit on the couch in the virtual world, when you’re digging into an 8-bit underground caverns, killing zombies, and being assaulted by creepers (for the uninitiated, Creepers SUCK. They blow up your shit. And they laugh while doing it).
Minecraft is sort of the intellectual equivalent of bubble wrap. However, it has captivated my attention for months now. After I ran out of steam playing Warcraft, I decided I needed something else (other than cleaning my house, of course… let’s not be ridiculous) to capture my attention…
And my obsession with Minecraft was born.
I have no doubt that this infatuation with tiny blocks will eventually wear out, as did my Warcraft addiction; however, until then, I’m just going to let myself be a lump. Obsessions have a purpose in our lives. Sometimes you just need a mindless activity to give your brain a break from more mindful pursuits (like sweaters).
The downside? I can’t really rag on people who play Second Life anymore, since at least their avatars don’t have square heads. I can only recognize a similar need to completely escape, while building something totally useless and totally delightful.
By Belynda, August 9th, 2011 in Other | No Comments
Tags: Bloggening, M. Night Shamalan sucks, movies, The Happening
1. The Bloggening is a blog project. ”The Happening” is a soul-sucking travesty.
2. There are 3 iterations of The Bloggening. There is only one installment of “The Happening.” Thank Christ for small favors.
3. There is no travelling gun in the Bloggening.
4. If there ever IS a travelling gun, it will be loaded only with the ridicule of our fellow bloggers.
5. After watching ”The Happening,” you likely had the overwhelming urge (like the characters) to kill yourself. Bloggers will make every reasonable attempt to avoid that response to blog posts.
6. There’s only a slight probability that, when experiencing blog writer’s block, a participant will entreat themselves to “Be scientific, douchebag!”
7. After reading material produced as a result of The Bloggening, you won’t want your money back.
7a.Tough shit if you DO want your money back, because you never paid anything to begin with. Cheap-ass savage.
8. M. Night will not make a cameo appearance in the Bloggening. Maybe if he stops putting out unrelentingly shite movies, we’ll reconsider.
9. In The Bloggening, there are no pissed off trees. Only pissed off bloggers. Far more entertaining, no?
10. The first rule of the Bloggening is: ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE BLOGGENING. The first rule of ”The Happening” is: Never admit you’ve seen it while in polite company.
10a. Before you get all “But you just!” “You just admitted!” “You said don’t!” I need to remind you, DSR is *not* polite company. Jesus, use your brain, people.
By Belynda, December 23rd, 2009 in Other | No Comments
Tags: Bloggening, Donna Reed, little victories, NYR Challenge
So… yesterday I did a trial run of this little housework resolution of mine, to see how much I could actually get done in an hour. Would there be a visible dent in my crud factor? Would that geiger counter we bought stop shrieking in horror every time we pointed it at the fridge? Most importantly, would the cats notice any change in household quality?
I decided to do a trial run. I did as much as I could in an hour, without breaking my ass, but while trying to successfully multitask. I started by bagging up some laundry (three loads to be exact) and taking it down to throw in.
Ten minutes* to do this. Okay. That’s a dent.
I scooped the kitty boxes, and fed them. Five minutes, if you count the minute shooshing them out of my way to get to the food dishes in the midst of their gastronomical excitement. I emptied the trash, kitchen and bathroom, and ran it downstairs to the bins. Ten minutes more. Minor successes abound! I decided while killing time waiting to flip the clothes, I’d empty the dishwasher.
Thirty minutes later, dishes are put away, sink is emptied and cleaned down, countertops are wiped down, a few stray objects are put away, and the glass cooktop (a housewife’s arch-rival if ever there was one) is scrubbed and looking less like the black blob that ate Tasha Yar in Star Trek: TNG.
I flipped the clothes into the dryer, went to get dinner with Eddie, and then folded and trundled the clothes back upstairs. This took another 30 minutes total. I also took a few minutes to wrestle errant ribbon away from both cats, and spent a few minutes hunting for other ribbons they hadn’t yet eaten. I booked five minutes for this. Say what you will about this.
I set out to spend sixty minutes cleaning my house, and ended up with half-again the progress. Better yet, it actually LOOKED like I had done something! I had a clean kitchen! Clean enough that Eddie made sure it stayed that way when he baked cookies tonight.
If this is what my most recent New Year’s Resolution challenge will yield? Bring on the excellence. Sorry Former President Zipperhead… you’re going to have to find your fifty quid somewhere else.
* It is important to note that I only count time spent doing laundry when I am ACTUALLY HANDLING the laundry. Gathering, sorting, throwing in, flipping into the dryer, folding, putting away… None of this “throw it in the wash and dry and call it an hour and a half” bullshit. That’s Peg Bundy math.
