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During the peak of my athleticism, another high level athlete friend and I got very interested in Chess boxing, but he was a FAR better chess player than I and

During the peak of my athleticism, another high level athlete friend and I got very interested in Chess boxing, but he was a FAR better chess player than I and I was a far better martial artist than he. We ended up settling on playing Scrabble-apples (non-referral link: https://www.amazon.com/Parker-Brothers-4979-Scrabble-Apple/dp/B001FYJBM8 https://www.amazon.com/Parker-Brothers-4979-Scrabble-Apple/d...), sort of a "each player builds their own scrabble crossword in front of them" game. Whenever you run out of tiles in your hand, you say "Peel!" and everyone draws an additional tile from the bag. We put the bag at the bottom of a snow covered, forested hill. 2+ hours of snowy hill sprints combined with trying to make words out of scrabble tiles later... I fully appreciate how difficult it is to transition back and forth between brain and body heavy activities.

dlbucci 8y ago
Scrabble-apples sounds like a clone of Bananagrams, even down to yelling "peel!" I wonder which came first...
- captn3m0 8y ago
  Bananagrams (2006) is before Scrabble Apple (2009). Scrabble Apples is Hasbro so likely a re-licensed reskin (BGG doesn't list it as such though) BGG also says that Bananagrams is a re-implementation of Pick Two! (1993).[0] [0]: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4975/pick-two https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4975/pick-two
- zacharycohn 8y ago
  Ugh I think I meant bananagrams?
_sdegutis 8y ago
There were days when I had time to exercise for 2-3 hours straight, and I figured I would save time by trying to write some code or invent some app in my head while doing jumping jacks and other workouts. After a few hundred of them, I couldn't concentrate on anything but the counting and making sure my form was okay, and after a while even that took a lot of effort to focus on.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  That's the exact reason that I enjoy going to the gym and exercising, especially intervals and other high intensity exercise without long breaks. It's a great way to shut off from work and other things in life for a while. At least for a while, none of that matters, because you're more concerned about your immediate situation. It's the same reason that I enjoy hiking and hunting. No point in worrying about your bills or relationships or work when you're 12 hours walk from the road, and 4 hours drive back home. It's a much healthier form of escapism than drugs or alcohol.
  - mettamage 8y ago
    You have given me new motivation and a plan of attack on kicking off my gaming and media compulsion. Thanks!
  - Bartweiss 8y ago
    There was a great moment recently in Alice Isn't Dead. I wanted to chop it down, but I can't do it justice that way: There’s this saying, right, wherever you go there you are. And it’s true, there’s no destination far enough that your own faults won’t follow. But what I think the saying misses is that other cliché: it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. Because while it’s you who leaves a place, and you who arrives in a place, right? It isn’t necessarily you in between. The you who sits on the road is a different you, one with far less responsibilities. One whose choices have been narrowed down to which exit to stop at, what music to listen to for the next 100 miles. It’s freeing, being taken out of yourself and replaced by this road version. And yes, it’s tiring when you arrive and your worn out, stressed self has to step back into her place, but those moments in between? Those are worth it. Those road hours are the one bit of freedom we get, and the reason we feel like that is because they take away most of our freedom. Sometimes the less options we have, the more free we feel. I used to be pretty skeptical about the various "constant connectivity is making us miserable!" stories, because my relationship with the various boogeymen listed didn't match the descriptions. I don't compulsively check email, refresh instagram for new likes, or generally let apps send push notifications at all. These days, I think those stories have real merit, except they're too narrow in their view of the problem. For me, the itch isn't "I should check Facebook", it's the simple knowledge that at any time I could pay bills, order a gift, read a textbook, or otherwise get things done. It used to be that if you were at work or the bank, that's what you were doing; now you can cash a check from the office or finish work from the line at the bank. Even while you're being productive, there's no narrowing of scope to relax your thoughts. There are lots of tricks to help that, but nothing has ever beaten hiking and climbing for simply forcing me into the present.

dlbucci 8y ago

Scrabble-apples sounds like a clone of Bananagrams, even down to yelling "peel!" I wonder which came first...

captn3m0 8y ago
Bananagrams (2006) is before Scrabble Apple (2009). Scrabble Apples is Hasbro so likely a re-licensed reskin (BGG doesn't list it as such though) BGG also says that Bananagrams is a re-implementation of Pick Two! (1993).[0] [0]: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4975/pick-two https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4975/pick-two
zacharycohn 8y ago
Ugh I think I meant bananagrams?

_sdegutis 8y ago

There were days when I had time to exercise for 2-3 hours straight, and I figured I would save time by trying to write some code or invent some app in my head while doing jumping jacks and other workouts. After a few hundred of them, I couldn't concentrate on anything but the counting and making sure my form was okay, and after a while even that took a lot of effort to focus on.

toomanybeersies 8y ago
That's the exact reason that I enjoy going to the gym and exercising, especially intervals and other high intensity exercise without long breaks. It's a great way to shut off from work and other things in life for a while. At least for a while, none of that matters, because you're more concerned about your immediate situation. It's the same reason that I enjoy hiking and hunting. No point in worrying about your bills or relationships or work when you're 12 hours walk from the road, and 4 hours drive back home. It's a much healthier form of escapism than drugs or alcohol.
- mettamage 8y ago
  You have given me new motivation and a plan of attack on kicking off my gaming and media compulsion. Thanks!
- Bartweiss 8y ago
  There was a great moment recently in Alice Isn't Dead. I wanted to chop it down, but I can't do it justice that way: There’s this saying, right, wherever you go there you are. And it’s true, there’s no destination far enough that your own faults won’t follow. But what I think the saying misses is that other cliché: it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. Because while it’s you who leaves a place, and you who arrives in a place, right? It isn’t necessarily you in between. The you who sits on the road is a different you, one with far less responsibilities. One whose choices have been narrowed down to which exit to stop at, what music to listen to for the next 100 miles. It’s freeing, being taken out of yourself and replaced by this road version. And yes, it’s tiring when you arrive and your worn out, stressed self has to step back into her place, but those moments in between? Those are worth it. Those road hours are the one bit of freedom we get, and the reason we feel like that is because they take away most of our freedom. Sometimes the less options we have, the more free we feel. I used to be pretty skeptical about the various "constant connectivity is making us miserable!" stories, because my relationship with the various boogeymen listed didn't match the descriptions. I don't compulsively check email, refresh instagram for new likes, or generally let apps send push notifications at all. These days, I think those stories have real merit, except they're too narrow in their view of the problem. For me, the itch isn't "I should check Facebook", it's the simple knowledge that at any time I could pay bills, order a gift, read a textbook, or otherwise get things done. It used to be that if you were at work or the bank, that's what you were doing; now you can cash a check from the office or finish work from the line at the bank. Even while you're being productive, there's no narrowing of scope to relax your thoughts. There are lots of tricks to help that, but nothing has ever beaten hiking and climbing for simply forcing me into the present.