Busted!

I love my Nintendo DS for Brain Age training, I have both the original Brain Age and Brain Age 2 to vary my brain training regimen and keep my pre-frontal cortex active. A friend introduced my to the Virus Buster game (it's included on Brain Age 2 but I had not discovered it) it's not a training discipline, but a game to supposedly promote relaxation. She warned me that it was a time waster... I would like to declare publicly that she was, indeed, correct about that! I could play this game for hours on end in an attempt to better my score each round, it's completely addictive. The only place I even allow myself to play now is while I am embroidering by machine as I sit and keep a watchful eye over the proceedings. (I am ever-wary of any "glitches" that might occur after the machine ate my grandson's Christmas outfit last December!) Up until now I have found the act of sitting-by rather boring, but not anymore; there are some serious viruses to bust between thread changes! I have four more high school graduation quilts to add church logos to before they are layered for tying by the Quilt Ministry. The way I see it: each of these logos has a forty-eight minute stitch-out time, I should be able to show some impressive Virus Busting score improvement by the time they are completed! Oh yeah, and for the record, this game is anything but relaxing! What else can I find around here to embroider?

Life is Good!

Whatcha Gonna Do?

It's fall, the calendar says so. But it's also as hot as summer, at least it still is here in our neck of the woods. So, whatcha gonna do? We're splitting the difference and eating Apple Pie ICE CREAM!

Hey, it's all about compromise...

Oh, yes; this is definitely a recommendation!
(Get it while it lasts, it's a limited edition flavor!)

Updates on a few earlier posts:

Brain Age: I've lowered mine and that's a good thing! Although optimum brain age is in the twenties mine is now ten years younger than my actual chronological age. (That's eight years off my initial profile age... still FAR from the twenties, but heading in the right direction!) I attribute this to a rigid daily training regimen. That's both good and bad! The good: I am much faster in basic math calculations and memory games. The bad: "Rewards" for training daily, and improving scores, are more and harder games!

Cat 'Training': Hannes has taken to sleeping up on top of the back of the sofa!?! I'm at a loss on this one, is he learning from her? Does he want to be like her? Is he planning an aerial attack?

Risk-Taking: I'm out on a limb, wish me luck; it's a long way down!

From Studio SP (Strawberry Patch):
The block of the month sessions at my LQS have concluded. A new series of twelve classes will begin in November. I am playing fast and furious 'catch-up' now to complete the old blocks so that I can have a clear conscience in the new classes! I did this years in both the traditional and bright colorways, one to keep and one for my daughter... in that order. Here are two of the blocks, hopefully I can set both tops on retreat next month. These were done using Marti Michell's Perfect Patchwork template method and they all fit together perfectly; they had to, some of the blocks had over fifty pieces, no room for any error!

Life IS Good!

Training The Brain

I'm in training, or at least my brain is! My daughter and son-in-law gave me this game for my birthday with a small hand held Nintendo DS on which to play it. This was not something I had wished for; to be honest, I only learned about it after I opened it... but I can assure you that I will use it every day. In order to keep your brain age young and your gray matter active there are a series of exercises to perform daily, there's a calendar which records your commitment and gives you a stamp each day, and there's a graph to chart your progress. So far, so good. (2 days in!)

I remember years ago I had a quilt student (she was an attorney) telling me how happy she was to be taking a quilting course because it was one activity where she wasn't required to use her brain! Can you imagine? Suffice it to say she wasn't the teacher's 'pet' after that comment!

Well, certainly quilters DO use their brains and this training game activates parts of my brain that have been a little, well, maybe... sluggish? The exercises put to work the pre-frontal cortex. Gee, I didn't even know that's where I needed extra help until I started trying to zip through math problems against a clock and remember sequences of numbers. I'm feeling sharper already.

Yes, I'm in training, brain-training. Now, as for the running shoes and athletic socks I also received yesterday... I may need to break those in a little more gradually! One thing at a time.

Life is Good!