That’s unfortunately what I got. I started my new job this week, which of course I can’t talk about on here So far so good is about all I can say. Basically hoping by next week I’ll have found my grove between working and finishing up my own school work.

Soon I hope to have some more cheerful and entertaining blog posts up. My PS3 hard drive crashed, I lost everything, so I have to re-download all my singstar songs. Once I get them back and can sing again, I should be happier.

Oh on a positive note, we got FIOS today. No more Comcast! Not only is the picture amazing, the internet speed is fantastic!

Oh yes, it’s about that time, to break for the rhythm and the rhyme . . . It’s time for me to post a “Singstar” video! In this installment I sing “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness. Not only was I totally trashed singing it, I was trashed editing it (which I did a good job considering my condition!). As I add it I’m still buzzed! Enjoy me making an ass out of myself!

I just got my copy of Animal Crossing: City Folk WITH Wii Speak today. I lucked out, not only did I have a 10 dollar gift card, but Best Buy messed up so I got another 10 bucks off, and this purchase put me over a threshold to get another 10 dollar gift card. Woot! Anyway, here are my details. It looks like you only have to register the friend code the game gives you and the town name, but I’m including my console friend code too.

Wii Friend Code (Console Code) : 5820 7419 9273 4529
Animal Crossing Code: 4081 8992 1913
Animal Crossing Town Name : SpringDF

Feel free to leave yours in the comments. Never fear, we BOTH have to register for it to work, so some strange person won’t be able to use what you leave to invade your town or mine

On Sunday the long awaited “Animal Crossing: City Folk” arrives for Wii. This is the third installment of the series, the first two which I own. If you own a Wii, you’ll probably want this game. Not only will you want it, but if you have Wii friends playing it then you’ll want the speaker accessory that comes out the same day so you can talk to them while you’re both playing the game online with each other.

For those new to “Animal Crossing,” well it’s hard to describe. The game essentially has no point, and that is the point. It’s a very cutesy version of “The Sims” in a way, but your person will never be miserable and sit there crying cause you suck at the game. You will find yourself mindlessly sucked into this game that really has no plot, point or ending. You are a little humanoid figured plopped down in this town populated by animals. You live in a small shack, which you pay off and build bigger and add floors to over time. You buy, trade and discover new furniture, carpet and wall paper to decorate your house. You dig up fossils, catch fish and bugs; all which get put in your town museum. You can design new outfits to wear, plant flowers and trees and make the town beautiful and the people happy. The more you do, the more you open up, the more things happen. Certain days of the month are theme days, which involve any number of things really.

The Gamecube version was pretty much a standalone single player game, though multiple people could inhabit the same town (up to 4 players). The DS version introduced traveling to other people’s towns either over the web or with two DS’ near each other. The Wii version introduces web play with friends traveling to other friends towns, as well as a central city hub where you can buy new stuff for the game and interact with real people playing all over the world. The speakerphone accessory works just as that, and allows you to talk back and forth without any headset.

Now one of the niftiest parts of this game is the inclusion of holidays! Oh yes, in Animal Crossing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day there are special events. Likewise with many other holiday’s throughout the year, such as Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentines Day. Also in each season there are different things to do. For example during the winter you can make snowman and earn yourself special snow-furniture for the house. During December you can get Christmas themed furniture and trees from “Jingle.” The fun lasts all year!

So do your self a favor, if you have a Wii, pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed! I plan to, and I will see you online. Hit me up to exchange codes when it arrives.

Images from EBgames.com

So I’ve been “tweeting” about this lately, but haven’t done a blog in awhile. For years now I’ve wanted to get into better shape, and have finally been pretty dedicated to doing it. Now I just have to keep it up!

After the cruise in January I think I finally tipped the scale at 182/3 pounds. When I went over 180 is when I finally said enough, as I was adding on 5-10 pounds each year for a few years. Yes I realize to many this is not heavy, but at 5’6″, thin framed and weighing 135 up until I was about 26 (when I quit being a vegetarian), it was a lot to me.

So I started using MyFoodDiary.com again around April of this year, which I had success with 3-some years back. Using it to chart what I ate (holding myself accountable) and exercising, I actually got to 145 by November of that year. Of course I also went home for 3 weeks that year, ate poorly, and by time the annual cruise came around I had packed all the weight I lost back on. Since then I also added more on (I think I was around 170 that year).

After using MyFoodDiary.com for a bit, I switched over to CalorieKing.com, mainly because they had a program I could buy for my PC and use without having to go online. I liked that a lot, plus the larger range of foods in their search engine.

I also as many of you know got the Wii Fit back in May. I was using it pretty regularly, but stopped. I haven’t stepped on the thing in months, and I know I put my birthday in September as my first goal date. I missed it and haven’t even checked in. I’m skeered of it! It’s going to yell at me for not being around for so long, I just know it. I have been saying for a month I’m going to pull it back out. I think I will tonight and put in a new goal date, our cruise in January.

One of the reasons I stopped using Wii Fit so much is because I started running at the beginning of the summer. I was introduced to the whole “Couch to 5K” podcast running program, which gets you into running through interval training. I got up to week 6 or 7, which had you running fairly long stretches and then got bored with it. I had a few more weeks to go, but at that point felt I was running distances enough to just use my own best judgement (and music!) and went from there. I’m now up to 4 miles at about 40 minutes on the treadmill at the gym. Outside though it’s a bit less, due to weather conditions, hills and hard pavement which gives more of a shock to my legs. Still, I’ve never been able to run like this, not even in high school. I hated running the mile for PE, I could never even do that.

So after many months, I’m currently weighing in at 153 pounds as of this morning. I’ve lost almost 30 pounds since the beginning of the year. Woot! I have to get to 145, which pretty much every program/weight tracker has told me is my ideal healthy weight. That’s my goal to get to and stay at by January for the cruise.

I know I have a “fatty” photo of me taken earlier this year. I’ll take a few other photos soon to put up as a comparison. I actually need new clothes! All summer my shorts had been too big and falling off my ass. Now that we are getting cool enough for jeans, the same thing is happening. I bought 2 new pairs of jeans in April for a Vegas vacation. They are so big on me now that it’s not funny. I need to get at least one pair of skinny jeans soon

Grrr, yesterday was a day of contemplation on many fronts for me. Mixed with good news, surprises and news I wasn’t exactly overjoyed to get.

First the bad news. The class I was to TA for this fall got cancelled due to under-enrollment. I had a bad feeling something was up, I hadn’t heard a peep about the class and it was to begin in 2 weeks. I’m not sure exactly how I feel. Part of me is a bit relieved, I have more time to work on the dissertation and get it done this fall. The other part of me knows having that paycheck coming in would have been nice too, especially in this economy! I also turned down teaching my own class, mainly for the reason I didn’t go there in the first place, too much work when I’m trying to finish the dissertation. I know I’d get distracted preparing lectures, and that’s the last thing I need right now. The other two teaching opportunities are still out there, giving thought to them still.

Thank heavens for my obsession with “Singstar” on PS3, which is about to get renewed. After what seems like 4 weeks of no updates, a huge one comes this Friday. We are talking Britney, Jesus Jones, Twisted Sister, Men At Work and more. Oh yes, bring on the songs, I will need to cut loose like “Footloose.”

Speaking of singing, “Mamma Mia” is about to get re-released on Labor Day weekend with full lyrics in a “Sing-A-Long” version. Oh yes, you know you want to get out there and enjoy some Abba all over again. I so plan on going.

Finally, Marget Cho is bringing her “Beautiful” tour to Philly finally. I saw this earlier in the summer with my mom. The BF jumped for joy when the commercial came on and said I had to get tickets. Well I did, 5th row even, but because of the date he doesn’t know if he can go because of work. Grrrrr! I have a few back-ups in mind who would probably take the extra ticket.

So I breezed through my Wonder Woman books again and can’t believe I glossed over one of the most perfect images! It’s a classic “Bullets and Bracelets” image. I’m really digging this one and am even thinking some sky blue airbrush like streaks behind her to act as sky and then an invisible jet over to the side. Yeah, this tattoo is getting bigger (and more expensive) by the moment! I am going to go talk to someone this or next weekend and have them draw up some sketches and go from there.

My weight loss has once again stalled at the 159/160 mark. This stinks as I have a month till my birthday and wanted to lose at least another 10 pounds by then. My running has stalled as well. I’m on week 5 of the C25K program. This week has 3 different programs to be run, with the goal to be a 20 minute non-stop run by the 3rd program. I poop out every time, I am not there yet. So I’m bouncing between the three 5 minute runs and two 8 minute runs (with walking intervals in-between). I’m still hoping all this running is adding on muscle, which is why my weight isn’t changing (I keep telling myself this, but am not sure I really believe it).

The house, unfortunately, needs to be cleaned this weekend. I can’t not do it again, as I ignored it last weekend. It’s over due, as is a bath for the smelly dogs. I picked up some new shampoo for them today.

Finally, for everyone with a PS3 out there, be sure to log onto the PSN Store and download the HOME theme that was added last night. It’s free and it’s your application to get in on the next Beta release of HOME. They are going to send out the invites at the end of the month, based on a variety of criteria (so they say). Activity on the Playstation Network is said to be one. Given the amount of money I’ve thrown at downloading ‘Singstar’ songs and playing them, I so better get a fricken invite! If your unfamiliar with HOME, there is a video from E3 in the store you can download and watch.

Recently when I went to see a movie (I think “Prince Caspian”) a trailer for the following movie showed. I have since found out it’s based on a children’s book (which obviously I haven’t read), but until they got towards the end of the trailer . . . I had gasped . . . I was dumbfounded . . . did someone actually make a movie of one of my all time favorite games? The story wasn’t quiet the same as I remembered, but it was underground, and the scenery was picture perfect . . .

Watch the trailer, see if you see it too. Only those old enough to have played the game will probably see what I wishfully saw . . .

Read on to see what I saw (so I don’t spoil your perception of what I was hoping for) . . . .

(more…)

Today I completed, or should have completed, week 4 of the C25K program. The problem is I pooped out on the run. I normally do my runs in the evening when the sun has gone down and when I’ve been up all day and eaten food. Because of plans to see “The Dark Knight” and then have movie night with Emily, I decided to run this morning. Mistake! I’m not a morning person, the sun was shining and all I had was some yogurt. I pooped out at the very end, and feel like I have to get three complete runs in for week 4 to “graduate.” I guess I’ll be doing another!

I’m still avoiding the Wii Fit, mainly cause I keep hitting plateaus. It tells me I am not moving at a fast enough pace to reach my goal in time, blah blah blah. So then when I do finally use it, it tells me I haven’t shown up in umpteen some days, blah blah blah. I keep saying I will show it some love, since I don’t seem to be getting my butt to the gym lately, but I don’t. I just usually don’t want to do anything on the days I don’t run, cause I’m sore.

The abstract for my conference paper is almost complete. I need to fiddle around with wording a bit more, but the meat is there. I probably should have asked how long it should be, as I could probably include a bit more detail. Oh well. It’s going to my advisor and if he thinks I should add more I will. I’ll share it when it’s done for the curious. I also have to remember to register and book a room for myself. I’m somewhat dreading this conference, as in the past I always knew fellow students would be going to hang out with. I don’t think they’ll be there this time around honestly.

I was going to include a bit about the delightful pet surprise I woke up to this morning, but won’t. I’m eating lunch right now and don’t want to think about it more than I have to.

I had bizarre dreams last night that I dyed my hair a brilliant glittery red color. Yes somehow I dyed my hair and it came out glittery. My hair also was longer, down to my chin and styled like that of a woman’s cut. What the hell? Come to think of it, it looked an awful lot like Renny on “Big Brother 10.” I have to stop watching that before I go to bed!

It is time for a haircut. I’m dreading going in as I know I’ll get a lecture on the bleach job and how bad it is to do that and how if I want that done I should come to them so they can charge me 100 dollars to do it. Yeah, I think the 100 dollars is the key, it’s probably just as bad for my hair if they do it! I have contemplated just dying it back to brown first, but I really want to see what it looks like after it’s cut. It should have that cool “highlight” look to it.

Anyway, I’m off to “The Dark Knight.” My thoughts on it in the next post. I’m sure I’ll love it, I am constantly hearing how amazing it is.

I wish I had something fun to discuss, but I really don’t. Therefore I will ramble about many things.

I need to find the time to get to work on my video blogs. I not only want to do the one on the farm, but the dogs too. I’m slowly about start caving and doing some meems I keep seeing around the blogosphere!

Lately I’ve been the pool chaperon. On Tuesday’s I take the kids to the pool while they have their lessons. Normally I just read my school work and take notes. Today I took my laptop for the first time and actually got a lot done surprisingly. I however wasn’t pulled into the pool to play. I take them other times when they beg to go, but usually those times I end up in the pool and don’t get work done. One thing I’ve noticed is the cliques at the pool, especially with the women. They all seem to huddle in little groups and only talk to only those in their groups. Apparently these groups are based on where in the community they live, or in one case the teacher moms. These are women mostly older than me (or at least they look older than me), and I can’t help but wonder if we are all still stuck in high school. By we of course I mean THEM. A few people have come up to me to say hi, but that’s about it. I don’t know, I do always have my nose in a book or something, so I guess I give off the “don’t bother me” vibe. I’m also usually the only adult in the pool playing with the kids (many of the mom’s come in their outfits), so maybe they think I’m weird (or a pervert, which I’m sure some do).

I am breaking down and going to talk to my doctor about allergy shots. He shops at the farm, so next time he’s in I will corner him. Specifically I want to know if they give them in the office and the costs. Otherwise I’m forced to deal with sticking a needle in myself at home, which I don’t think I’ll be able to handle. Fortunately an actual nurse works at the farm on weekends so I can probably get her to do it. My allergies are getting worse each summer I’m on this farm, and this week I broke out in a rash on the backs of my legs. That has happens since I was probably 10 or 11!

Currently the E3 is going on in LA, I think. This is the big videogame convention where all the companies reveal their new big games for the coming year in hopes of wooing people to buy their consoles. So far two things have my attention.

The first is “Animal Crossing: City Folk,” which was announced for the Wii. I have both the original GameCube version and the DS version. This game is hard to describe, because technically it’s a game about nothing with no real overall goals, which of course makes it incredibly addicting. You are this humanoid creature that buys a house in a town populated by animals, who move in and out of town as time goes on. Sometimes they’ll tell you they want to move and you can try and convince them to stay. Other times they just sell their house and leave. You do things like plant trees, collect bugs and fish, dig for treasures and fossils and so forth. You make money, enlarge your house, buy clothes and furniture. It’s like a cute and very simplified version of “The Sims.” The DS version introduced online play where you could travel to other people’s towns. In the Wii version there will be a town and a big city to travel to and shop. There will also be an online component where you can meet people, trade and sell stuff and so forth. The exciting part is they’ve added a microphone (which works more like a speakerphone) so you can chat in real time. The biggest improvement is you won’t be limited to mingling with just people on your friend list, you’ll be able to meet people from all over the world. I can’t wait.

The second game so far that’s interested me is “Lips” for the Xbox360. This is basically Microsoft’s answer to my current obsession “Singstar.” They’ve upped the ante. You now have a wireless mic to bust out dance moves with while you sing and can earn extra points for your moves (how it detects and will rate has yet to be determined). Like “Singstar” there is an online shop (Dustin may have to finally upgrade his Xbox360 to that bigger hard drive), but the big innovation is the ability to port your own songs in from CD’s or your iPod. This rocks for the songs you want to play but they don’t offer. However you’ll have to type in the lyrics, and obviously the video will be missing. I also don’t know if it will have the ability to record video of you singing and an online community like “Singstar,” which makes that game (I *heart* Divaliscious’ hair).

Okay Idon’t have anything else to say