A BrickBreaker's lament

As I mentioned in a recent post, my old phone died not too long ago, so I picked up a Blackberry Curve. So far, I've been pretty pleased with it. It's not too different from my previous phone, so it hasn't taken me too long to get familiar with the phone. So, besides the occasional inadvertent sending of what could be construed as a threatening picture to a local energy conglomerate, the only other thing worth mentioning about the Curve is BrickBreaker.

BrickBreaker, if you're unfamiliar with Blackberrys, is a simple game that comes included with the phone's software. It's a pretty standard break-the-bricks-using-a-ball-that-you-hit-with-a-paddle game; except for the fact that it is akin to crack in its addictiveness. I first played it when I found it on my phone while I was exploring all of the features--nothing special, I thought. Then I tried it again, then again, and soon I was playing at many a random moment. It hasn't interrupted my normal/business life (although apocryphal stories online say that it has for some people)--It's not like I'm ignoring Addie to break some bricks--but I can't help but wonder: What am I gaining from this?

I can't figure out why I play this stupid game, but it's just so easy to get pulled in when you have a moment. What's even more galling about BrickBreaker, is that I'm terrible at it. I've yet to break the ten-thousand point mark, which I originally thought was okay...until I saw the high scores online. My best effort, I surmise, would put me someplace between a person who's been dared to sit on his hands and play with his tongue and a would-be psychic who is trying to play solely with her mind. I'm that bad. I just hope that BrickBreaker isn't some Last Starfighter-esque test to determine who is worthy to fight the alien hordes that are plotting for galactic domination using cleverly placed bricks that can only be destroyed by paddle-jockeys who have nothing to lose. If that's the case, we are definitely in trouble.

Then why--I ask again--do I keep playing? Maybe BrickBreaker, and all of the other cell phone time-wasting games are the real plot by the aforementioned brick afficionado aliens. Maybe said aliens are trying to lull us into submission through the use of mindless mobile games. Well, it's time for revolt. Give up your BrickBreaker, your Solitaire, your Tetris, your Pac-Man! Join the resistance, lest our society be dismantled brick by brick (so to speak).

The beach!

Well this past weekend, Anna and I packed up the car and headed for Gulf Shores and the beach to visit Anna's father. And when I say packed up the car, I mean the Beverly Hillbillies would have thought that we went a little overboard on the packing. Somehow we managed to get two suitcases, the pack-n-play, Addie's toy bag, a full beach bag, both laptops with all the cables, a full-sized wagon, the jogging stroller, a large cooler, Miles the diabetic cat and her litterbox, and--somehow--our child. Anna pretty much hit the nail on the head when she said that had we not had a carseat permanently in place, Addie would have had to ride on top like Granny.

Despite the fact that we could have filled an over-size U-haul with all of our stuff, we made it to Gulf Shores early Friday afternoon. Anna, who is normally quite laid back about our travels out of town, was quite geared up for the beach. We basically got inside her father's condo, changed our clothes (I'm abbreviating here--have you ever tried to get an infant ready for the beach? It only takes like three or four hours.), and made our way outside. Well, then the fun begins. We loaded up Addie's brand new Radio Flyer wagon with more beach stuff then you could possibly imagine (including Addie herself)...no harm there, as it rolled pretty easily. But then we reached the sand--oh the sand, bane of my existence!--and the wagon went from easily rollable and not that bulky to I-have-to-drag-it-over-the-sand-like-it's-a-wheeless-dune-buggy heavy. After what felt like hours, we finally got Addie down to the beach.

And boy, did Addie love the beach. She hated the surf and the waves, but she loved the sand. The second we sat down, she took off--crawling all over the place--and she didn't stop for hours. She pretty much didn't slow down at all the whole first day. By the time we got back to the condo, she had bright red patches on her knees from all the crawling, and as far as Anna and I can tell, Addie ate her weight in sand. So it was a good weekend for us. I think it was equal parts relaxing and stressful as Addie would go from extremely happy and sand-eating to incredibly agitated and weepy (but still sand-eating). But I guess those are the breaks of the beach--sand is a fickle foodstuff.