Candy Crush Soda Saga OR Lumosity: A Quiz To Determine Which One Is For You

May 12, 2015August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 20 Comments

:: THE QUIZ ::

Q1: Do you like to eat chocolate? Y or N

Q2: Do you resent being asked, every stinking day, how many hours you slept last night? Y or N

Q3: Do you enjoy searching for cute bears hidden underneath things? Y or N

Q4: Are you indifferent to the migratory patterns of flocks of black birds on a screen? Y or N

• • •

Q5: Are you always up for a colorful, cheerful game with lots of groovy fish that make things blow up? Y or N

Q6: Do you think that doing arithmetic problems, that fall randomly down your screen, are the real reason you have begun to have nightmares about 5th grade again? Y or N

Q7: Do you think that when you lose a game seeing the message “You’ll get it next time!” is encouraging? Y or N

Q8: Do you think that when you encounter the opportunity to make words starting with two random letters, it’s best to make a long multi-syllabled word and that it’s poor manners to scold someone for not making a short three-letter word? Y or N

• • •

Q9: Do you like to eat honey? Y or N

Q10: Do you think that any game, for which you cannot find an unauthorized website of cheats + hacks, is of dubious value because you’re not learning how to advance in the game? Y or N

Q11: Do you think that you did your time as a waitress in college and need not relive that experience by serving pretend food + beverages to cartoon people, with specific names, at a nondescript virtual beach cafe? Y or N

Q12: Do you think that you can keep your brain healthy and sharp by playing a free game; rather than challenging your cognitive abilities by playing games that have a monthly fee? Y or N

:: SCORING ::

The more you answered YES, the more you will like CANDY CRUSH SODA SAGA.

You can learn more about the game here.

• • •

Conversely, the more you answered NO, the more you will like LUMOSITY.

You can learn more about brain training here.

Two Impressions About SNL Turning 40

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015 / Ally Bean / 24 Comments

I stayed up to watch most of the SNL 40th anniversary special last night. I doubt that I know anyone who didn’t watch at least part of it, even if we don’t watch the show on a regular basis anymore.

I roll with those who laugh.

My first impression after watching the show was that while the skits on Saturday Night Live have had their ups and downs over the years, the players who performed the skits have been consistently amazing, if for no other reason than that they showed up.

It’s easy to forget how difficult it is to be involved in a live performance and make it work to the best of your ability. There’s a lesson there: just because you aren’t a brilliant success in one place, doesn’t mean that you’re a failure.

Just look at what some of these players went on to do.

And my second impression is that SNL used to have some funny, universally recognized catchphrases [“Jane, you ignorant slut.” – “Well, isn’t that special?”] but that’s no longer the case, is it? If it is, I never hear or read them.

I miss those snarky SNL characters, with their enduring catchphrases and spot on observations, who made me laugh at the foibles of human nature while bringing skits to life. Those hilarious characters, who permeated our real world, were nothing if not memorable.

Like the ones from long ago who we saw last night.

In Which I Become A Cliché & Make Myself Laugh

February 12, 2015January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 25 Comments

I ate dessert first last night.

I wasn’t certain if I was hungry so I had a snack of yogurt and homemade granola, which I sometimes have for my dessert.

After I ate it I was sure that I was hungry so I made myself a lovely dinner of chicken and mashed potatoes and broccoli and cranberry sauce.

Zen-Den was traveling for business so it was just me dining at the kitchen counter.

• • •

It wasn’t until I started cleaning up the kitchen that I realized that I’d eaten my meal in reverse order.

I started laughing at myself.

I mean, no one thinks that they’ll be the real life embodiment of a pop culture cliché gleaned allegedly from a woman born in 1892, yet I managed to do it.

By accident, of course.

Sometimes You Have To Give It Up For Winter’s Beauty

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015 / Ally Bean / 14 Comments

Living in the midwest it’s easy to forget that not all winter days are gloomy. The gray becomes ubiquitous.

So seeing sunshine and blue skies and shimmery snow out my window yesterday made me smile all day. I could even ignore the 14ºF temperature outside.

While it’s true that I enjoy summer’s showy colors, a February landscape dressed in neutrals is appealing, too. It makes me feel grounded.

I believe that sometimes you’ve got to remember to stop and enjoy what is, especially when you live somewhere where a pretty winter day is a rarity. Yesterday, grateful am I.