It all starts today!

Those that know are in tears of joy. (I subscribed to Audible for 5+ years just to download this show). Those that don’t should subscribe via iTunes and experience the finest piece of American culture that exists modern day. It’s a great day. thisamericanlife.org

Now I know some of you think I’m joking, especially since I’ve been such a huge LOST fan, but here it is in a nutshell. I find that I enjoy watching My Name is Earl far more than any other show on TV. It is fun and lighthearted and just requires me to laugh, often and loudly.

LOST, Heroes, BattleStar Galactica have become a bit much. They are requiring too much from me as a viewer. I just don’t want LOST to take up space in my brain while I’m not watching it. LOST has become a dribble of 1 small answer paired with 10 questions I didn’t want to add to the LOST pile of unanswered shiz. It’s just annoying. I find myself getting pissed while watching it. This is not a problem with My Name is Earl. I smile, laugh, tell my unconvinced wife how great this show is and have grand old time.

In the age of satirical humor ala the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, etc. that pokes fun at the dark times we are living in, it’s nice to just enjoy a true comedy without all the mixing of laughs and tears. It’s just laughs, nothing wrong with that. If only my wife felt the same. Oh well.

So what are your feel good, happy place shows? And you can’t say American Idol or I’ll delete your comment.

I’ve played video games for most of my life but for the last year or two I’ve found that I don’t really enjoy them. I fired up my PS2 last night to finish one of the many games I’m stuck in (Resident Evil 4, Ratchet & Clank:Up Your Arsenal, Metal Gear Solid 3:Snake Eater) I chose Ratchet and Clank, which I last played 13 months ago, and found that I was stuck at the final boss fight. After 2+ hours of trying and having to redo some very hard stuff just to get to the super hard stuff and using the walkthroughs online I decided to end it. I put all three games for sale on Amazon. I feel a sense of relief that those unfinished games won’t be in the house much longer and that they are off of my mental “to-do” list. (this is a big part of GTD actually, that things like unread magazines laying around occupy mental “to-do” space just like things that are much more important.) So I feel good about my revelation, but still haven’t worked out why I don’t like video games anymore.

There are some exceptions. I really enjoy Zuma on my iPod. It is super low commitment and low frustration level, unlike Lumines which is too hyper and can leave you frustrated if things don’t work out. I really do enjoy Lego Star Wars 2:The Original Trilogy on the PSP. Not sure all the reasons why, but it being Star Wars helps. Playing through the original trilogy is awesome, and it’s freaking LEGOs, which I loved as well. I remember the pure joy of building ships and homes for my Star Wars figures out of LEGOs as a child. This game has capitatized on that and it works. I seldomn get stuck in it or get frustrated, maybe because it’s a kids game.

I like low frustration games.

Burnout 3 is also enjoyable for this reason, I’m just crashing cars. I recently played Dead Rising at Dan’s on his 360 and that was a blast, I’m just killing zombies.

I’m wondering how to find games that fufill my new criteria, or maybe it’s time to let it go. Not sure. It is possible that I am a Wii candiate. Everyone says it could bring the “fun” back to playing video games. (Guitar Hero is fun like this with a group of people, except you can’t sleep later with Iron Man running through your head.) I have 2 friends who are getting a Wii. I’m optimistic, but don’t feel the need to buy one…yet.