How I put too much pressure on myself - (Laura C.)

Laura is not one to offer unsolicited advice.  She is thoughtful and reserved.  However, she has, on more that one occasion, randomly reminded me that if I need to skip a day of blogging it would be fine.  Apparently, since the inception of this idea, she has been wary.  Perhaps she thinks that if I failed to follow my self-inflicted rules I would wither and wallow.   That little stinker, she really knows me. 

She knows I put a lot of pressure on myself.  She knows that I can be too hard on myself.  She was right to remind me.  But, Laura, I hope you think this has been a positive endeavor.  I do.  And I'll prove it. 

How?  A Pro/Con list, of course. 

Cons:

1. Daily blogging causes you to neglect your pedicure.  Toenail polish is one of my few guilty pleasures.  Year round, I love to keep my piggies pampered with paint.  I only indulge in a spa treatment a couple of times a year and keep them up on my own in between.  But, alas, my "Red Zin-ful" toes are leftover from the holidays.  The paint is chipped, dingy and sad.  I even bought a new color a few weeks ago that I have yet to use.  My feet might have to wait until February to drink in the beauty that is "Haute Chocolate."

2. I am a wittle bit sweepier than usual.  Granted, I have two young children, but they have been sleeping fine.  I, on the other hand, have been staying up later and dreaming in blog.  Some times I feel like I spent the entire night rolling ideas around instead of resting.  

3. Insecurity has set in, a bit.  I fear you all may be getting tired of me.  Is all this quantity harming my quality?   Are you considering breaking up with my blog?

Pros:

1. I am building amazing content on my site in just a few short weeks.  This has given me the confidence to promote my blog.  I feel like now, if I send some one here, they will have plenty to read and will really be able to get a feel for what I am all about.     

2. I have learned that I really could write every day if I wanted to.  I have the time.  I have the unique niche and voice.  I probably won't blog every day after the challenge is over, but I probably will blog much more often than before. 

3. Every night, after the girls are in bed, my husband makes a fire and I sit and write.  It has been a great way for us to unwind together.

4. Thinking about my blog, literally all day long, has sparked fresh ideas.  I feel like I will have plenty to write about for a long time.  I created a Facebook page for the blog (Please take a second to "Like" it) and I have even devised another challenge I will tell you about soon.

5. I have begun networking as a blogger.  In fact, tomorrow is my first guest post on another site.  I recently connected with a mommy blogger on Twitter who celebrates "Zombie Tuesdays."  Tomorrow, I am her guest writer (about video games, of course.)  Look for a link to her blog from mine.  

6. It has been fun conquering all of your clever blog topics and thinking about you as I write them.  Please send me more any time. 

So, to recap, I have gained a lot from this 30 Day Writing Challenge and I am only half of the way through it.  It seems that the only negative things coming out of this are shabby toes, insufficient sleep and lame insecurities.  What else is new?  Time for another beer.  Here's to 16 down and 14 to go! (posts.  not beers.)

Betcha think this blog is about you

So, I haven't been voyeuring much lately. 

I've been stressed out.  Our two year old is potty training, our baby is, well, only four months old and our dog was attacked by another dog and had minor surgery.  Some days I am trying to nurse a crying infant at the same time my two year old needs help in the bathroom at the same time my dog is dripping dog bite ooze onto the floor.  <sigh>

I was also out of town for a bit.  My husband played hours of games while I was gone and triumphantly beat Assassins Creed: Brotherhood.  I was not there to witness it.  I do feel, however, I was responsible for his victory.  A few days before I left I figured out a puzzle he could not.  There was much rejoicing.  I may or may not have air humped the TV.

My husband is currently playing Bastion, a downloadable for the 360.  Initially, I thought it would be a good watch.  It is not.  The action is all boring and role-playing like.  Basically, all you do is walk around and collect "shards."  I live in Baltimore City.  I can collect shards on my front side walk.

I do like the way the backgrounds are drawn even though there is always random stuff floating around like snow or leaves or dust or something.  The sultry voiced narrator is a neat way to reveal the story, but he takes the fun out of it for me.  He does what I like to do: dole out witty play by play. 

When asked to review Bastion in five words, my husband said, "Storytelling makes good game better."  Apparently he prefers the narrator's commentary over mine.  <sigh again>

Have you ever done that thing where you drink some milk, hold it in your mouth, add chocolate syrup and the "swishle" it around?  I haven't either, but I just whooshed my beer around in my mouth as I contemplated what to write next and it reminded me of that.  I think I saw someone do it on an episode of Full House once.  On Gilmore Girls, Lorelai adds ranch dressing directly to a salad mix, jostles it and then eats it right out of the bag with a fork.  That one I have tried.  It's genius.

Dude looks like a lady

A few posts back I stated that my husband often played video games as a girl.  No, he does not dress in drag and wield a controller.  Yes, he often chooses to play through a video game as a female character.  For awhile I was curious and a bit concerned.  What did it mean?  What did it say about him?  About us?

In short, more important questions have come to consume my mind (like, "how do I discipline my two year old?" and "should I paint my toenails purple or turquoise?") so it has been awhile since I bothered to reconsider this spousal quirk.  But, since it came up in an earlier entry, I thought it was high time I got the cold, hard facts on cross-gaming.  Here is the transcript of my interview with my husband (don't worry I plan to keep my day job):

In games where you have the choice, will you always choose to play as a female?
No, but I often will.  

Why? 
Basically, it comes down to what you want to look at for hours on end.  The female characters are hot.  And I get to dress her however I want.

Oh.  Do you want to dress me however you want?
I like when you wear skirts.


I am wearing a skirt right now.  Do you like it?
If you were a video game character I would play as you.

Because you like looking at my butt in a skirt?
Something like that.

Ok, ok, back to being serious. Would you consider yourself a male lesbian?
This was your serious question? 

I am trying to get at the hidden truth behind cross-gaming.
I am a man.  I like to look at women.  That's it.  Simple.

Yes, yes, men are simple.  
Is the game play any different as a chick?
No, unless it has something to do with being that specific character.  In Borderlands, for example, I played through the game as all four characters, only one of whom was a girl.  They all had different abilities which changed the experience. In Mass Effect, I played as a female character, but I could choose to hit on women to further the story cause hitting on guys, even as a girl is...

Uh huh.  I see.  Cool.  I'm gonna go get a beer.  Do you want a beer?
That's it?

Yeah, that's it.  You're not video game gay.  I get it.  I'm satisfied.