dianaschnuth

I’m still regularly checking in with Body Tests using the Wii Fit Channel, although I don’t actually “play” Wii Fit every day. It’s been helping me notice and start to correct posture flaws and habits that I hadn’t noticed before — for example, I tend to put more weight on my heels than on the balls of my feet. My center of balance also tends toward the left, presumably as a result of (or at least related to) a long-ago drum corps injury.

The balance tests that Wii Fit uses in the Body Test can be… well, they can be learned, shall we say. There are certain tests that start out challenging, but your reaction time can be increased once you learn the pattern (lean to the right to anticipate the first stage, then tweak your balance slightly until you clear the stage, then lean to the left to anticipate the next stage, and so on). There are other, more random tests that I haven’t yet found the pattern for, though. The combination of predictable and unpredictable tests makes my Wii Fit Age volatile sometimes; if I get two predictable tests together, my Wii Fit Age can be as much as 12 years younger than my actual age. If I get two challenging tests, it can be several years older. Usually, with a reasonable mix of tests, I end up either at or just below my actual age.

I have noticed that my tricky left knee (again, from that old drum corps injury) has been acting up lately, and I’m guessing it might be from either playing Wii balance games or from tweaking my balance during the day. I’m thinking that it’s a combination of both, as my knee doesn’t take well to being put in different weight-bearing positions than it’s used to. This will likely improve as I strengthen my leg muscles (and lose some weight, too).

If I wasn’t already an anal-retentive bastard about recording my weight on a regular basis, the Wii Fit weight chart would be a new and swell thing. As it is, the Wii Fit chart is but one more weight charting tool in my arsenal, added to my multiple Excel graphs (tracking over the past five years) and the widget on my iGoogle page. Even so, it is nice to stand in front of my giant HDTV and see a slowly-declining weight plotted before me.

In other fun news, Wii Fit asked me yesterday how Aaron’s doing. Not rhetorically, either — it had me answer whether I thought he was losing weight, gaining, or staying the same. Aaron did create a profile in Wii Fit, so it knows that he exists, even if he hasn’t actually “played” Wii Fit. That makes me wonder what kinds of questions and comments it would throw out there if Aaron were actually using the game regularly…

When I do play actual mini-games in Wii Fit, I tend to stick with the balance games, and sometimes aerobic games like Hula Hoop. I’ll do the occasional yoga pose, but I rarely delve into the strength training (although I probably should, judging from my performance on the push-up / side plank exercise).

Overall, I’d still give the game a B. It’s not the awesome breakthrough hit that I thought it might be, but I’m not disappointed that I bought it.

And, finally, here’s the difference a set of balance sensor extenders can make.

Before adding the extenders:

And after, with my correct weight (and Mii proportions):

Sigh.

After discussing our respective Wii Fit experiences with an old college buddy (specifically, an RCC employee, for those RCC alumni playing at home), I decided that the Wii Balance Board can’t be that flawed. So, I installed the Balance Sensor Extenders that I had assumed would be unnecessary for as short of carpet as we have.

Voila! My weight registered today as… well, as my correct weight, shall we say, and my BMI was the 29-and-change I had expected it to be. Unfortunately, it means that my Mii got way fatter, since Wii Fit extrapolates from your BMI and adjusts the corpulence of your Mii accordingly.

So, I take back my assertion that the Balance Board is not a good scale, and instead replace that assertion with the completely valid concept of RTFM.

I tried a couple of new exercises in Wii Fit today, while I was waiting for my dinner to get done: one new yoga pose (sun salutation — again, simplified in a big way), one strength (torso twist), and a few balance games (soccer ball headers, ski slalom, and ski jump). Apparently, I just skipped the balance games last night entirely, in favor of the aerobics. The balance games are by far the most fun for me at this point, as far as actual gameplay is concerned, and I did myself and my readership a disservice by deeming the game meh-worthy before playing said balance games.

I will, therefore, give Wii Fit a tentative rating of a B. I may change my mind after I play it a while longer.

I’m not usually one to be immediately sucked in by any sort of endorsement, be it from a friend or a celebrity or a celebrity blogger. Somehow, though, after Dooce posted about All The Better To Kiss You With organic lip balm last month (with a much better photo than my own, as always), I found myself on the BABYBEARSHOP website, ordering myself a three-pack of organic lip balm.

Apparently, the Force is strong with Dooce, because I was just one of many who bumrushed the BABYBEARSHOP all at once, so much so that they felt the need to apologize for the (very minor) delay in shipping my order.

I was tickled when I finally received my lip balm — probably a little *too* tickled, honestly. But they were all wrapped together in this ornate blue butterfly tissue paper, which was all folded and tucked in around the tiny tins like a cross between origami and a note I’d have passed in Junior High. As silly as it sounds, I enjoyed the process of unfolding the tissue paper and revealing the product inside. The packaging for the lip balms themselves is also very ornate and antique-inspired. I love it.

As for the actual product, it also does not disappoint. The three flavors available are Chai Mandarin, Lavender Vanilla, and Pepperminty. My current favorite is the Chai Mandarin. For the first few days I had the lip balm, I was applying it every hour or so. At my desk. In the office. My lips were just drinking it in. It was awesome. And I’m not sure I believe it myself, but it really seems like my lips are softer and not so prone to chapping in this nasty cold weather as they were a couple of weeks ago.

Plus, man, this stuff smells great. It’s giving me ideas for soy candles.

[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].

This was quite possibly the most fun I’ve ever had at a concert.

Not only are the Lips an incredible band from a musical and lyrical standpoint, but they put on a great show. The audience participation bits actually don’t seem cheesy or silly. —Well, I guess they do seem a little silly, but no one really seems to mind. Who cares, when you’re beaming a laser pointer (provided by the Lips) off of a giant mirror, or participating in a “scream-along,” or bouncing a giant balloon through the crowd up to the very top of the upper balcony?

You MUST check out the rest of my Flaming Lips photos. They tell some of the story. As for the rest of the story… you really just had to be there.

Best concert EVAR.

ETA: Here’s the first couple minutes of the show, recorded by Yours Truly:

I’m not quite ready to write a giant spoileriffic review yet. Suffice to say, without mentioning any real plot points, that this book was packed with adventure in places, ungodly slow in others, and most of the loose ends were wrapped up to my satisfaction. I chuckled, I got all misty, I generally got as involved in this book as any other HP book. The epilogue left me wanting, just a little, but still gave me that little morsel of So Now What?

I need some more time to let it sink in (and to let all my friends — including my spouse — finish reading). Overall, I feel that this was more than a sufficient ending to the series. It does feel a little saddening, though — no more Harry Potter books to look forward to.

Later, perhaps, I’ll give things some more thought and write more in-depth. For now, though, I’ll just let everyone finish first.