Saturday 13 September 2003

Pic of the day: My new Sim, Leo Kunstner. He works at home. I guess I could like to do that too, but I'm not sure if I would get much done...

Enjoyable Saturday

My digestion has slowly recovered over the week, thank God. It was pretty scary at the outset there. Now it seems almost normal, may that last for a long time.

I dared take the one hour walk to the shop and back. Or was that an hour and a half? Quite a while at least. This went without any mishaps. And I need to use this body if I intend to keep it for a while yet. The warranty has well and truly expired, and without maintenance it is bound to go downhill with no brakes.

I've eaten mainly bread with jam for the last weeks, except for some milk products (low-fat milk and yogurt). You know you're doing pretty well when the margarine on the bread smells so good, you want to put on some more. (In all fairness, "Vita Hjertego'" is a pretty good margarine, developed to be healthy for your heart. Of course, there are so many other factors involved, it is really hard to prove one way or another. But it's not animal fat, that's for sure.)

So today I took a break from the "diet" and bought a box of feta (white goat-cheese) with garlic and olives, in olive oil. I did not drink the olive oil, tempting as it might be after weeks of low-fat food. I did however empty the rest of the small box in a single meal, with white bread. It was very, very tasty. Hunger is the best cook, they say, but I say good food and a boring diet helps too.

***

I decided to play Master of Magic for a few minutes to take a screenshot. I regained full awareness a couple hours later. I'm still playing the game of white magic with Stream of Life on all cities. It is unusual in another way too: I've filled a large continent with my civilization and mapped about half of Myrror, and only seen one unit from any of the 4 AI competitors. That was Jafar, and he remains relaxed a day later, and has not visited again. I think I have never before seen the competition huddling together out of sight like that. I can only assume that in my absence, they have gone for each other's throats. Quite enjoyable. I am more of a builder type anyway. Oh, I already said that? It's just as true today as it was yesterday. ^_^

***

I've studied Sims2 more closely. In so far as you can study a game that is not supposed to be released for 141 days ... The game promises to be far more detailed than its predecessor. The Sims will now have a range of facial expressions. Women will be pregnant (or so it is said, there was no film footage of that), but kissing and butt massage will no longer be enough to summon babies; a bed or hot tub will be required. People will change body shape over time, depending on whether they are lazy or sporty. Anyway, they will age eventually (although there is supposed to be a code to stop aging). Farting will be frowned upon. Flabby people will have a harder time getting a date. Babies will throw up. Toddlers who see their parents fight will fight with their teddy bear and have a harder time later in life. Amusement will no longer be enough to satisfy your soul, you will also need some more refined culture. There will be separate social (loneliness) levels for friends and family. Teens and pensioners will have limited career opportunities. The expansion topics from Sims1 will not be included: There is no sign of pets or even robots, there may be a community area but this is not yet developed, and you can not follow your Sims to work. There is still only room for 8 family members, not much when you also want to have grandparents around.

Inspired by all this, I spent much of the evening playing The Sims. I made a single, very social Sim and let him try to get friends and find love. From Hot Date onward, Sims have a much harder time of this, but on the bright side there are many more social interactions than when I first played the game. Luckily for my Sim, he totally clicked with one of the residents in the co-ed dorm I'd created earlier in the same neighborhood. Of course, the transition from friendship to love wasn't easy even so, and took the rest of the night ... It could just be because I'm a bit incompetent in that area, I guess. I wish best friends could just move in with each other instead of having to fall in love first. But the game has its rules. (And if you're not sure whether I'm still talking about The Sims, take comfort in the fact that neither am I.)

All in all, then, a pleasant day with a nice balance of fun and thinking. I even found time to look at the leaves on the trees and the glitter in my lava lamp. I am content.