I totally blame Kevin and Sarah.

But now that the blaming is over, we're having a blast. You can read the sumarized version of how we came to own a Wii this weekend. The slightly expanded version is that we played around with Sarah and Kevin's on Saturday night and by Sunday afternoon we were playing around with our own.

The gaming console is tiny and takes up almost no room. It's shockingly simple to set up and even more easy to use. There are no complicated manuals and walkthroughs to play the Wii Sports game that come with the system (yes, you heard that right Playstation and XBox fans - FREE GAME). There is the simple wireless remote ("wiimote") that is super cool and minimalist. And there is the idea that anyone can use this gaming system from the very young to the very old and have a good time doing it.

Frinklin and I are having much fun beating the crap out of each other at various games and sports. We picked up a few other games including the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Wii Play. Wii Play may go back to the store as a trade in, but Zelda has proven to be pretty cool.

In addition to the games, Wii also includes a news channel with the latest in national and international headlines, global weather, and photos. It's like a web browser within in your gaming console. I've found myself using the Wii in the morning instead of the computer to read the latest news and check the weather.

If you're thinking about getting a Wii I highly recommend it. I'm hoping the next positive thing to come from this will be weight loss. I was on my feet for a good three hours today playing tennis, bowling, and boxing and I'm exhausted!

Posted by: Ensie at 07:39 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Joining up with several other bloggers on Wednesday at the brand new Tacoma eatery The Red Hot turned into an excellent evening of great food and good company. Frinklin was, of course, in attendance. Kevin and Sarah were both there. Mr. In-Tacoma himself. And a representative of This Shirt Is Pants. Frequent commenter (start a blog already!) Erik was there, as was Sparkrobot (buy his house!).

Special message to Angela and Steve - get a website...everyone's doing it.

There was definitely a festive feeling in the air upon our arrival at six, and the place was already busy. The bartender recommended the Woodchuck Pear Cider which went down well on such a warm day (not recommended if you're looking for something strong - it's more like a soft drink). I started a tab and ordered a couple of appetizers for the table.

Consensus on the apps is that they were OK - not recommended for large groups, but we hardly paid anything for them, so no great loss. Everyone ordered something different. Michael ordered the Tideflats which has absolutely everything on it. He wins the award for bravery 'cause I know my stomach would have put up a serious fight over that thing.

I had the Chicago dog minus the onions, peppers, and tomato. I KNOW OK! I KNOW. What kind of Chicago dog is that? But I wanted the poppyseed bun. Essentially I had a dog with mustard and relish and it was delish! Whatever neon green relish is used - it's the best I've ever tasted. Absolutely amazing.

Kevin's dog had cream cheese on it which sounds weird, but tasty. I'm branching out in that direction next time. Frinklin said the sour kraut was great, as was the slaw.

After three dogs, the cider, water, a root bear, and the two appetizers our grand total was $20.25. Practically nothing!

This could become a regular thing. Thanks Chris!

Posted by: Ensie at 02:57 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Because Kevin eats, sleeps, and breathes computers, he blogged about this event hours after it actually happened, however, I'm just now getting to it a few days later. I had some important, uh, weekending to catch up on in the meantime.

Last Thursday evening, myself, Frinklin, Jen,and Kevin traveled to the KOMO televison studios to attend a blogger meetup for the Seattle area. After scaring the bejesus out of everyone in the car a couple of times and taking a few wrong turns we managed to arrive safe and sound.

There were a good 75 bloggers present and the mingling was excellent. I met several new folks who I may never have run across in the blogosphere otherwise, and I hope to share a cup of coffee with in real life in the future. We also ran into Derek, and had a lovely time chatting it up Tacoma-style.

I know you're going to be jealous of this - but we go to take our picture in the Northwest Afternoon studio, and then we go to play a bit at the KOMO Anchor Desk and the green screen for weather. Somewhere there are shots of Jen and I doing the green screen weather thing. I even made it into the shot on the Seattle PI Big Blog (along with 20 other people, but still!). Since I'm anonymous, you'll just have to take my word for it. Although if you look at all of Kevin's pix, you'll eventually work it out. Although you'd have to be a really obsessed fan (or really pissed off supervisor of mine) to care that much.

After the meetup, the Tacoma bloggers sans Derek had a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory downtown. We had a great time getting to know one another and I'm looking forward to spending time with them again!

Posted by: Ensie at 03:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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