I am a girl gamer, but I refuse to become the stereotype of being an overweight slob who sits on her couch swigging soda and stuffing greasy pizza down her pudgy pie hole. It is difficult to accept that one of my favorite activities that aids in developing my hand/eye coordination, spatial reasoning and problem solving skills, also contributes to my lack of exercise and weight gain. I over indulge while I am in my gaming world, becoming obsessed with collectables and achievements, so why have I not been using this same level of determination when it comes to the most important item on my real-life HUD -my health meter? This year I have decided to put my game face on, and strengthen my chances of unlocking the ultimate achievement; a body worth showing off!
How am I going to do that? Simple:
1. Setup User Interface 2. Analyze Level Progression 3. Unlock Meta-goals
Setup User Interface
 The first thing I did was to create an account on MyFitnessPal.com and download the app. MyFitnessPal allows me to track my diet and exercise using a vast library of user-collected data that records total calories consumed/burned. I can also add my complicated homemade meals/recipes to quickly add the calories up at a later time.
The second thing I did was create an account on FitBit.com and linked it to MyFitnessPal. FitBit will not only track my diet (MyFitnessPal has more options), but also my activity (I can manually add in my progress or link to a pedometer), weight, and even sleep (linked to a FitBit tracker)!  The third thing I did was buy a FitBit One tracker and a FitBit Aria digital scale; both send data to my FitBit account via wifi. At this point I am more combat droid than human. By tracking my stats on a daily basis, I can curb my bad habits and start making healthier choices!
Analyze Level Progression
I am usually perceived as a full on, right-brained artist, but as long as I can remember I have been quite the math nerd (I have the mathlete t-shirt to prove it), so I need to see the numbers and stats before I get on board with lifestyle changes. And that is what I want my weight loss to actually be; a lifestyle change.
By being aware of my intake and activity makes it easier for me to stay on track and I will be less likely to make excuses. My body is fairly resilient –the sexiest adjective to describe a woman- so I am not going to devastate my progress just because I eat one cheeseburger (how many cheeseburgers is considered a spree?) and I can always replay with a lower calorie intake the next day to make up for it. The charts and graphs are fun and colorful, and show me where I need to improve, although a Quest arrow would make my life so much easier. I like to strategize short-term challenges for myself such as only one piece of bread per day, only one soda per week, no pizza this month, and only four frag grenade accidents a year, to mix it up a little and see what it does to my progress. It can be really tempting for me to screw with the numbers, but I have to keep in mind that I am not a Sim, no matter how many times a sad mime shows up every time I throw a lame house party.
MyFitnessPal breaks down my calories, carbs, fat and protein intake with daily and monthly charts and pie graphs. FitBit breaks down my weight, BMI, fat percentage, activity (steps and stairs) and sleep (or stealth? NINJA!). There are even more apps that I can link with my FitBit account to get more accurate data, such as TactioHealth (Blood Pressure, Pulse, Cholesterol, and Glucose), MapMyRun (how many miles I run), SparkPeople (a social network where I can compare my data with friends and family), and MrZurkon (a robot who will taunt your nearby enemies before they are destroyed by lasers); ok, that last one is not a real app. Not yet, anyway.
Unlock Meta-goals!
 One of the major reasons that I am addicted to my PS3 is because of the trophies that I can unlock from putting in the time for each video game. I will buy, borrow, pick-pocket, or slay a dragon for a video game unless trophies are available. In fact, the only reason I still use my Wii is because the Zumba Core game has special extras that you can unlock after you complete a certain song or class. Most people are food motivated, and yes, the occasional taco, cheeseburger, or scotch mallow is a welcome comfort but it does not really help lower my calorie intake. Who can think of food when there are achievements to unlock? Even as a young Girl Scout, I was pretty cutthroat about earning badges; I ran out of space on the front of my vest. I will take that feeling of accomplishment over that feeling of guilt/regret any day.
 I love that my FitBit sends me an email/alert I get every time I complete a goal! I also get alerts on my phone when I am close to a goal, or I have not been active in awhile. It says something like, Only 1,456 steps left to reach your daily goal!; the messages are positive and so enthusiastic! Except for that one time when FitBit texted me for a booty call, but I just assumed FitBit was drunk.
I am having a blast staying informed and tracking what diets work for me. I have 6 months to lose 30 pounds, so cheers to pwning the competition, tracking my data like a statswhore, unlocking more badges, and finding Easter Egg-insights to my diet plan to go For The Win! (too much?) Feel free to add me as a friend or a competitor! MFP sn: jvanhorn64 FB sn: 24J6NN
-->  I’ve had fifty cents to my name on the Playstation Network since 2011, so yesterday morning I decided to do something about it. After a frustrating half hour on the PSN, trying to add funds to my digital wallet so I could download The Cave, I decided to give up. I had two reasons for giving up, actually –the first being that the PSN wouldn’t validate any of my cards (apparenty a lot of people have this problem), and the second being that The Cave is releasing later this week (I read an article about the North America release and assumed it was out). I did grab some downloads of Journey, Unfinished Swan, and Playstation All Stars Battle Royale on GameStop.com, since I had some leftover credit from a recent trade in.
So there I was, sitting on my couch in my pajamas, eating strawberry pop tart fresh out of the toaster, waiting for my downloads in the background to finish up, and mindlessly navigating around the Playstation Store to see if I could at least download a trailer for The Cave (to apparently pour salt in the wound that was fresh from discovering the game’s unavailability). That’s when I noticed that most of the avatar downloads were forty nine cents, so if I couldn’t add funds to my account, then I might as well drain what’s left of it!
Since I bought my PS3 back in 2010, I’ve had the same avatar (three monkeys from Ape Escape, with “PROMOTE SYNERGY” in the comment bubble), and even though I still think it’s adorable, I haven’t played that game in over a decade. It also doesn’t really work with my screen name, “jenhatescake”. 
I should probably explain my sn, jenhatescake, since I often seem to offend some strong-opinionated cake eaters. Nothing against cake, I’m just a much bigger fan of pie. I enjoy a slice of cake now and then, but only if the frosting is the real deal……cream cheese or chocolate butter cream, if you got it. There is nothing worse than cheap frosting, don’t you agree? If you’ve seen the scene from Death Becomes Her, where Goldie Hawn walks through her nasty kitchen with cats and trash everywhere, opens her cupboard filled with cans of frosting, opens a can and dips her pudgy paw in and smears the glob of frosting into her fat mouth –just, wow. I need to jump on my elliptical just thinking about it. Disgusting.
Anyway, back to my avatar. I spent a good 10 minutes searching through the pages and pages of Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Mega Man, Just Dance, etc avatars, and I couldn’t really find any that I liked. Is it too much to ask for a Mini Ninjas, Yoshi’s Island, or Epic Mickey 2 avatar? I ended up choosing the cake icon from Fat Princess. This blog topic seemed much more exciting in my head before I actually typed it out. But that’s the beauty of a blog……I can write about whatever I please. :)
 Sorry I've been a little absent these past few weeks! It's just me updating this site right now, and since money has been tight, I'm still in the middle of making hand-sewn,/knitted, and painted Christmas gifts for my family. And of course, the Holiday season is a big opportunity for me to break out the big contenders from my family recipe vault, which I spent a lot of time photographing and tweaking measurements for my upcoming kindle cookbook. I haven't spent a lot of time gaming, but I will at least get an article out soon, briefly going over my overall impressions of my time in 2012 playing Epic Mickey 2, Borderlands 2, Dishonored, New Super Mario Bros 2, Lollipop Chainsaw, and Zumba Fitness Core. Thanks for being so patient! -JJ
 I decided to make my own Halloween costume this year, and what better costume idea then an "Ex Dragonborn Adventurer from Skyrim"? I was a little late on the Skyrim bandwagon, but I was instantly hooked. Dividing my free time between gaming and sewing, I first made the dragon born helmet from the pattern I bought on Etsy. It was really easy to make, and I had a ton of scrap fabric and pillow stuffing leftover, so I branched out and made the stuffed dragon bone battle axe and the stuffed "arrow-in-knee" prop. Finally I decided to take it a step farther and try my hand at needle-pointing, added the Skyrim dragon detail to the axe, and constructed the intricate-designed Amulet of Mara. Other then a few friends who assumed I was "something game-related", no one at the Halloween party recognized me, but I did get some hype online. I was hoping to be a finalist for the "Low Budget Amazon.com Video Game Costume Contest", but no such luck. I had a blast anyway, and I can't wait to think of my costume for next year! 
 I just stepped out of the theater 20 minutes ago after seeing Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph", and I’ve never been so impressed. My love of retro arcade games, paired with some of my favorite voice actors (Reilly, Lynch, and Tudyk), shown through the eyes of Disney is like drinking a huge nostalgic milkshake and I scrambled to suck it up the straw fast enough!
The movie is about a retro game bad guy named “Wreck-It Ralph” who is tired of being out-shined by his honey-cheeked counterpart, “Fix-It Felix Jr”. Ralph refuses to accept his calling as the bad guy, so he leaves his game to seek validation elsewhere, but by doing so he threatens the longevity of his character and his game.
 Briefly stopping in recognizable old school games like “PacMan” and “Rootbeer Tapper”, the story takes you into “Hero’s Duty” –your basic science fiction, futuristic FPS* game- and then mainly resides in “Sugar Rush” –a go-cart racing game with a colorful ode to the sweet-tooth. Game Central Station is the main power hub that the games are plugged into, and where the many game characters come to socialize after hours (when the arcade closes for the night). The only complaint I have about the environments is that camera pans are NOT slow enough –too many “who’s who” of gaming were walking around, and I can’t wait to get the dvd so I can pause and name them all! Perhaps it’s a clever incentive to buy the blu ray or go see it again in theaters……very, very clever, M. Mouse.
  The characters are just as loveable as any other Disney character can be; even the tough as nails ones have their moments (I wanted to hug that zombie). I won’t go into too much detail, so you can experience each new character for yourselves. Ralph and Felix Jr are obviously mirroring Donkey Kong and Mario, and who doesn’t remember having a blast playing with them from 8bit to present day? Oh right, the young kids –who of course are attracted to this bright-colored movie with fun characters (and guns), but unfortunately most of the jokes go over their heads, so there are a few annoying “potty jokes” to keep them entertained. One of the elementary schools in Pasadena had a day off today, so the Arclight was packed –I expected to hear more laughter, but not a peep (except for a crying, distraught youngster after one of the more emotional parts of the movie). Maybe they were hypnotized? It was one of the most breathtaking examples of eye candy that I have ever seen, including the actual candy and candy references throughout most of the movie. And with candy prices going down so close after Halloween, those parents should probably avoid taking their kids to grocery stores for a while.
 Speaking of 8bit, I should at least tip my hat (which coincidently has a Space Invader on it) to the opening and ending credits. I love seeing stuff “8 bit-ified”, especially Steamboat Willie in the Walt Disney logo! The end credits are just as much fun –jumping around different games, with nods to Sonic the Hedgehog, Castlevania, Joust, Mario, Donkey Kong, and Q’bert! I also really enjoyed the animated short, “Paper Man” –beautifully animated and heartwarmingly romantic.
If I had to choose one thing that I didn’t like about the film, it would be the animation for the nicelanders (the residents of the building that Ralph wrecks in his game), which is really wonky at times. I know that it’s a style choice to remind the audience that they are in an 8 bit game, but the fact that they are slowed down so often makes it look like stop motion animation, and it ruined my focus several times. It probably wouldn’t have bothered me if they were not sharing the screen with Ralph and Felix Jr, who moved much more smoothly –the contrast is a little nauseating.
All in all, I loved this movie, and I plan to see it again soon! Go see it! And now that I think about it, I also really want a milkshake. :)
FPS*: “first person shooter”
I never saw myself as a comic book geek -at least, not the hard core cliche with thick coke bottle glasses, droopy socks and a case of the sniffles (for some reason that's the image that comes to mind). I read the occasional comic strip in the Sunday paper and watched cartoons, but that was the extent of it. But as an artist, I learned that art is everywhere, and shutting myself off to any part of it is ridiculous. Reputation be damned. I'm still not sure if my sniffles came before or after I started reading comic books.  After dating an actual "comic book geek" (a heartbeat away from sleeping in Iron Man pajamas.....and yes, he does have a stuffed Iron Man on his bed), I was introduced to Bill Willingham's "Fables" -which took my love of Disney princesses and fairytale nostalgia and married it with my passion for mystery and modern day soap operas. I'd call it the "least comic-y of the comic books", the same way I'd classify Cowboy Bebop as the "least anime-like of the anime" or Tombstone as the "least Western-y of Westerns". A perfect "starter" comic for those nervous yet curious future geeks. The artwork is absolutely breath-taking and the stories are fun and creative! Fables does a wonderful job creating a working community of our favorite characters. I'm so excited to pick up my copy of the latest Fables spinoff, Fairest, that was released this month! I'm swinging by House of Secrets in Burbank tomorrow!  "Comic Book Geek" seems to go hand in hand with my "Gamer Girl" persona, even though I'd like to think that I'm particularly more well groomed than the messy-haired, cheeto-stained hoodie-wearing stoner cliche that often is associated with girls who play video games. So when I heard that someone was turning "Fables" into a video game series, I was thrilled!  But then I discovered that Telltale was the company that picked it up. Ugh. Why do bad things always happen to the things I like? #FirstWorldProblems To the people at Telltale; you have a HUGE responsibility to get this right, and if you pull it off, then I'll promote the hell out of your company, but so far you haven't really impressed me. Good luck. -J
 As most of you know, the release date for "L.A. Noire" was last Tuesday, so I decided to dust off my HD camcorder, call a friend over, and make a little short film about it! So far the game isn't impressing me that much, but I'm excited to keep working on my short film "The Big Noire", written by Dustin Hall, created by (also starring in) the both of us, and edited by me.  Detective Cooper and Dollface McGee are on the search for a missing girl, err, game "L.A. Noire", and will stop at nothing to bring her home safely. I'm hoping to finish post production on this short by next week, so keep checking back!
I’d like to pretend that I’m going to weigh my options, consider the price and compare the iPad 2 with other tablets, but I’m already planning on getting one. I’m an Apple whore, what can I say? I already bought my skin for it. I want it because it’s Apple, and I only need one cable to charge my iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Oh I’ve tried like hell to fight this urge –I’ve been dragged into many iDebates with my family about why the iPad is obsolete, and all I need is my MacBookPro and iPhone 3, and blah blah iBlah. My firm stance really frustrated the hell out of my parents, but I was determined to be the black iSheep, so when everyone in the family got an iPad for Christmas; I opted for an HD camcorder. They eventually wore me down, and I finally agreed to get one when I heard about the iPad 2, mostly because I am usually the last one in the family to get the new release –even my sister had a PS3 before me, and she isn’t even a gamer. So here I am, blindly jumping on the Apple bandwagon once again and now my parents can brag that we are a complete “Apple family” –the new American dream? The family that iPads’ together, stays together, right?  A lot of people are excited about the quality of gaming on the iPad 2 –but if you’ve read my article about hand held gaming, then you are aware of my previous opinion about gaming outside of an immersive environment, sans mobile strategy games. However I always like to keep an open mind, and I think the iPad 2 can be a nifty little gaming tool. I’m seeing the console and handheld gaming line starting to blur, so the iPad2 just may convince me once and for all to become a more portable gamer. I saw a comment in a chat room discussion about the iPad 2 that pushed my geek button –how long before we’re able to use PS3 or XBOX360 controllers with the iPad as the gaming system? Where’s the bridge to the console gaming? Well we don’t have to ponder too much longer, thanks to the new HDMI cable that connects your iPad 2 to your HDTV! I’m really curious to see how using the iPad as a controller will work –it doesn’t seem like it would be very stable, but check out this video of Infinity Blade and you decide:
 Real Racing 2 HD looks fun –using your iPad 2 as the steering wheel, as well as Dead Rising HD! I havn’t seen anything announced about a multi player option with iPads on the HDTV yet, but I’m sure that’ll be coming up soon, since party console games are all the rage. A few others that caught my eye were AirCoaster XL, N.O.V.A., Dead Space, Fruit Ninja, and Rock Band Reloaded (but I’m not really expecting to be impressed by the Rock Band Game –using finger drums? Lol).
 Obviously the games are in the early stages of development, so there isn’t a lot to pick from yet, but I’m excited to watch the progress! Some gaming companies (such as Ogmento) are currently working on involving the front and back camera features on the iPad 2 into their Augmented Reality (AR) games. I have no idea how future games for the consoles will treat the new tablet avenue, but I’m hoping that “American McGee’s Alice; Madness Returns” is released on the iPad 2, or at least have a spinoff! I actually really like the idea of using my PS3 controller with my iPad 2 as the screen, so hopefully that option will be explored as well. My biggest beef with handheld games is that I couldn’t enjoy the longer role-playing/first person shooter games outside of my “gaming area”, and I felt that handhelds should stick with the simple games like Tetris, Snake, Word Warp, Sudoku, and even Angry Birds. It’s like someone heard me and said, “you’re right, Jen –here’s a tablet that lets you do BOTH!” Thank you, imaginary iPad 2 iGenie inside my head, and you’re welcome, Earth! All of these games look like fun, but let’s be honest –sometimes we buy something we don’t need, NOT because we desperately want the item in question, but simply because it’s new and we want to hold it over our friends’ heads in a taunting manner and scream “WINNNING!” I’ll let you know when I’m there.
Hand held gaming systems in general are such a disappointment. I don’t get it…..I really don’t; WHY is portable gaming so damn popular? I’m not talking about killing time playing “snake” on your cell phone. Hey all of you Game Boy and PSP gamers –why the obsession? Wanna-Be, dumbed-down versions of console games on a tiny screen? Um, WHY? I’m confused about the attraction to sad, half-assed versions of the real games; aka the “big boy pants” console games. In recent years the quality has shown vast improvement in the power and graphics quality, but I’m still not impressed. I’m referring to FPS or role-playing games; not simpletons like Sudoku, Tetris or even Angry Birds. Why would Resistance or Uncharted be so enticing on such a small screen that can be easily smudged with fingerprints? Yet surveys show a 50/50 popularity split between portable and non-portable consoles. I’m the only one confused by those numbers? Let’s just say that I’m a firm believer that SIZE MATTERS! Poor audio AND screen reflectivity? I always seem to run into screen glare/reflectivity issues and really sad audio quality with my handhelds and my phone (unless I want to completely shut myself off from the world and wear my huge noise cancelling headphones). It’s very frustrating for me to game in an environment that I can’t control. I've only used my Game Boy Advance SP if I'm at the airport, but I tire of it easily because I’m too distracted by my surroundings. Constant interruptions, lack of immersion and just another excuse to be anti-social. Why are we so drawn to “checking out” with video games while we’re away from home? I go home if I want to escape from reality and wind down with a good game, but when I venture outside of my “cave”, I try to be as aware of my surroundings as possible and make real connections. My video games should be played on my big HD flat screen with surround sound while sitting on my comfy couch with at least 6 hours allotted so I don't get constantly interrupted. I understand the practicality of killing time if you’re stuck somewhere for a few hours or even waiting in line at Starbucks for a few minutes, but I’m not going to take it as seriously. Seduction FAIL thus far! Come on Nintendo and Sony –seduce me! Take me out to dinner, impress me with your huge…..um, car. Make me NEED to have you right here, right now! Handhelds pretty much just cater to frequent fliers, kids, and college students stuck on campus. Why do I need one? I assume that these companies are constantly exploring new ideas to entice a larger audience, but they haven’t been very convincing. The hype generated from the announcements for even more complex console games being released for our handhelds will continue to confuse me. In fact, I DARE Sony and Nintendo to make a believer out of me at E3 this year. Will 2011 be the year that I actually buy my first handheld console since 2004?
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The first thing I did was to create an account on MyFitnessPal.com and download the app. MyFitnessPal allows me to track my diet and exercise using a vast library of user-collected data that records total calories consumed/burned. I can also add my complicated homemade meals/recipes to quickly add the calories up at a later time. 
One of the major reasons that I am addicted to my PS3 is because of the trophies that I can unlock from putting in the time for each video game. I will buy, borrow, pick-pocket, or slay a dragon for a video game unless trophies are available. In fact, the only reason I still use my Wii is because the Zumba Core game has special extras that you can unlock after you complete a certain song or class. Most people are food motivated, and yes, the occasional taco, cheeseburger, or scotch mallow is a welcome comfort but it does not really help lower my calorie intake. Who can think of food when there are achievements to unlock? Even as a young Girl Scout, I was pretty cutthroat about earning badges; I ran out of space on the front of my vest. I will take that feeling of accomplishment over that feeling of guilt/regret any day. 
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