Because The Q suggested it, no, threw down the gauntlet and challenged it, I'm here to blog. We'll see if I have anything to say these days.
When I typed that title, what came to my mind was "The Church of What's Happening Now." I remember my born-again parents using that phrase with scorn about churches that were all about being tuned into the culture of the day. (Note, being born again was kinda the culture of the day. Remember "I FOUND IT"?)
I Googled the phrase and found that Flip Wilson coined the term on his show in the early 70's, which I faintly remember. It's also the name of a now-defunct podcast that I had never heard of, a talk show hosted by Joey Coco Diaz. At this point, there are so many podcasts on my list that I probably won't be going back to that. Just a note that there is so very much media content out there that I never even hear of. I've been old since before I was born, and I've never been very interested in keeping up with the zeitgeist.
But:
My granddaughters have their own cell phones (they are secondhand ones for game play). The four-year-old has been begging me to play Roblox with her. You. All! I don't like video games, I've never played them outside of arcades, and I don't want to learn to play this game. I've been trying it and I'm so damn awkward at it. All I do is fall down and run into the wall. Last time, I was finally so annoyed, I told her, "NO, I love you very much, and that is something I won't be doing with you." And then I started listening to Sanjay Gupta's great new book, Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age. And wouldn't you just know it, I'm going to have to learn to play the darn game. One of the main things the book says, from all the latest brain research, is to challenge yourself and learn new things. But the most surprising thing it says is that we must continue and increase our connections and our relationships. So Lumosity might be fine, but sitting in your easy chair playing games on it is not the best thing for your brain. Getting engaged and involved with a wiggling young lady who's laughing her ass off because Gramma keeps falling down, while trying to play a damned computer game, that would be better.
So check in here for updates on my attempts to exercise my mind. My body, more on that later. :)
ps: please note that I revel in being the most well-rounded Gramma I can figure out how to be. So we also definitely play pick-up sticks, Go Fish, we do crafts, I have a set of jacks to introduce, and there are lots of other no-tech options. We read books every time I see them. I'm not giving up without a fight. :)
