Alzheimer's Prevention Exercises
I have come up with a new excuse for my excessive goofing off....I am going to label it as "Alzheimer's Prevention". You may be aware extensive studies have shown that people who exercise their brains regularly have a lower incidence of Alzheimer's. These exercises include crossword puzzles, computer games and reading. So I have devised a new program to ensure my mental capabilities for many years to come.
I start my day by sitting at the computer for two hours, playing Pogo. Pogo is my favorite gaming site and it has every kind of game you could ever want to play. Right now, I am hooked on jigsaw detective, where you solve 80 piece puzzles in order to solve a bigger riddle. I mean come on, this is mental exercise equivalent to three hours of tae bo!! I would much rather kick mental ass than physical!! Plus, it increases hand eye coordination and develops patience, something I am sorely lacking!
After I can no longer use my hands, I move on to the newspaper. First, I read the celebrity bits, followed by the society pages and then the comics. If I have time, I read the headlines, but I usually have to work that in during the course of the day. After I hit the highlights, it's time for the crossword!
The great thing about the Birmingham News is that there are two crossword puzzles: one in the comics section and one in the classified section. I switch back and forth between them until I am done. I also do the jumble, but that only takes me, like 30 seconds, so I don't really count that as mental exercise. I am ok at crosswords. It depends on which one it is. The ones with the three part quotations are brutal. You usually have to fill in quite a bit before you can work out the quote. You can imagine how taxing it is on my brain.
By this time, my brain is reeling from it's mental workout, so I usually turn on the Weather Channel to see where the latest hurricane/tsunami/tornado is heading. I might fold some clothes if my hands aren't too worn out from typing; it depends on what games I have played on Pogo for the day.
After my break, it's back to Pogo for the card games. I love Canasta and Spades is pretty good, if you get a decent partner. I usually try to put in at least another hour, because the more I stimulate the brain, the better. I am actually building brain cell density, which will protect me against the losses aging can inflict. It's similar to the effect weight training has on bone mass: the more you train, the greater the mass. Needless to say, my brain is completely massive at this point.
If it's Friday, I usually have to work in time for a People magazine session. People comes to my house on Fridays and it is the highlight of my day. How stimulating it is to discover what Brangelina is up to (those cheeky monkeys!) or to see what Paris Hilton wears to do the grocery shopping. Heady stuff, the kind of issues that swell your brain to astronomical proportions. I highly recommend it!
So the next time you call me and I tell you I'm on the computer, you will know I am just following my APE program...Alzheimer's Prevention Exercises!
