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Wii Fit!

I’m so impressed with the Wii Fit. I just got it yesterday, used so I can take it back if I hate it (that’s right, I’m using someone else’s sweaty balance board!), but prospects for totally LOVING it are looking good. Even after only one workout last night, this morning I already felt way more flexible/less stiff and my lower back felt about ten times better than it normally does. (That is, normally it’s weak and easily pained.) I even feel like my posture is ever so slightly better, which is pretty much miraculous for me.

The Wii Fit has correctly deduced that I lean to the left a lot and that consequently the left side is stronger than the right. It grades you on balance, and it’s a real eye opener on how unevenly I treat the different sides of my body. Its main goals are to teach you proper balance and posture while strengthening your core and toning your muscles, and, for some of us (*coughcough*me*coughcough*), helping you work towards a good number on the BMI scale.

It’s got four different categories, yoga, balance games, aerobics, and strength training. I’m enjoying all of them, especially yoga, which I honestly thought I would hate. It turns out it’s fun and not useless. And as you put more time into exercising, you unlock more games and exercises to do. And it praises you for exercising two days in a row. ;) Another reason I’m loving it is that it’s indoors and doesn’t take up a lot of space, and there’s no jumping like in DDR. Not that I don’t love DDR, but sometimes it’s just not practical to be stomping up and down for half an hour. Also, Wii Fit has more variety and isn’t just dancing, though it does have a nice rhythm action game in the aerobics section.

So, so far the verdict is that the Wii Fit is an awesome exercise tool that, less than 24 hours into owning it, is already making a big difference in my life.

Back from Bumbershoot!

I have successfully returned from a weekend spent with our friends Jon and Matthew in Seattle.  It was good times.  I got to meet their Dachsund for the first time–I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turns out Adeline’s a sweetie and I totally loved her.  Even with her big plastic head cone to protect her ear stitches.  (Some giant woman stepped on her ear and tore a hole through it and didn’t care–talk about hit and run.)

Anyway, we had Bumbershoot tickets for Saturday and didn’t make it without a series of mishaps.  First, I set the alarm for 7:30 so we could make the 2 hour drive down from B-town to S-town in a timely manner.  But I sort of forgot that our alarm has 2 settings, and I left it on the weekdays only setting.  So it didn’t go off on Saturday, the day I needed to get up.  Oops.  The stupid part is I was lying there for a while going, “It *feels* later than 7:30 and I don’t think I’m going to fall back asleep, but if it’s not 7:30 yet–and I know it’s not, because the alarm hasn’t gone off–then I still need more sleep!”  Eventually I got suspicious and looked at the alarm and it was–*gasp*–9:49.  Crapzors!

We made a mad dash for Seattle and got a little lost coming over the West Seattle Bridge.  But we finally found our friends’ apartment just in time for them to call and say they’d just left for the festival.  -__-  But we managed to catch up to them.

Bumbershoot was fun.  It was kind of hot and muggy out, but it could have been worse.  (I remember one Labor Day weekend waiting in line at Kumoricon for hours in some serious heat.  They had to pass out water bottles to the crowd so no one keeled over.)  We saw Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.  They were fun to watch, and they talked about being from Seattle and writing their first songs at the nearby high school.  Which was cool for me because I was writing novels in high school, and even if they didn’t turn out to be publishable quality, I’m still a big supporter of teens who want to do art/writing/music/theater.

At some point we waited in line for half an hour to see a band we’d never heard of called Akimbo.  (I think.  I might have it wrong.)  It was at the Sky Church at the EMP–as soon as we walked in, I was like, “WHOA, this is just like the place in the opening of my book!”  There were even disco balls.  But as the crowd thickened and we were herded to the front to make room for more and more people, and the band started up a couple test notes, I at least started to realize that this was kind of a small venue and that it was going to be LOUD.  Maybe too loud for me…  Then the band introduced themselves, everybody cheered, and they launched into some serious metal and the whole crowd started headbanging, except for me and Chloe and Matthew, who got this “OMG, I’m in the WRONG place!” look on our faces and found our way to the exit.  O__o

Bumbershoot is aptly named, because even though the sun came out for a while during the day, by early evening it was raining and we had to use our bumbershoots.  (We don’t do umbrellas in B-ham because of the wind, but luckily our Seattle friends had 2.)

Pretty Sure

I’m pretty sure my neighbor is a vampire.  Not the drug dealing, overly “helpful” neighbor who says he has spy cameras pointed at our house, but the other one.    The one that’s always awake and never sleeps.  I know because I’m awake to see him being awake and suspect him of vampirism.  He sits at the same window–which is also always open–all the time, so I can see that he’s up.  Yeah, he might obviously be on the computer while he’s sitting there, but who stays up all hours, never sleeping, glued to their computer?  Uh, yeah, well…  He also drives a pretty nice car, and if there’s anything I learned from Twilight, it’s that vampires drive nice cars.

P.S. Today while I was walking I saw a lady hurl a child’s sandal across the street into someone else’s yard.  And all of Bellingham smelled like ocean, except our street, which smells like fall.  We got fall earlier on our street than all the other streets.  Our leaves are already changed over–our trees are very punctual here.

EDIT: I spoke too soon.  The ocean smell has crept its way up our street too.

New site is up!

Okay, not *new* new, but a new version.  It’s much easier for me to update it now and change things around–which means frequent updates, YAY!  It now features Google Friend Connect for easy following, a convenient contacts page with all the places you can find me on the internet, a list of upcoming events, and cool random quotes from The Rise of Renegade X featured on every page!  W00t!  (For those of you reading this on LJ, you can find the site here: http://chelseamcampbell.com)

I’ve also made a fan page for The Rise of Renegade X on Facebook!  There you can easily stay up to date on book news, fun stuff, contests, and freebies!  Come be a fan!

To celebrate, I’ll be hosting an awesome contest later this month with three book prizes that will teach you how to become a pirate, a ninja, or… the Batman.  (I know, I know, it’s supposed to be pirates, ninjas, and zombies, but I’m all about Batman right now.)  Trust me, these books are all both useful and hilarious.  Only the highest quality pirates, ninjas, and Batman training guides for MY contest!  ;)