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sunshine jen: My Spider Solitaire Addiction
I’m addicted to Spider Solitaire. Yes, that Spider Solitaire. That game that comes with Microsoft Windows. I can play the difficult level for hours.
Spider Solitaire is simple game. All you have to do is line the cards up by suit with King on top and ace on the bottom. If you achieve that, the line of cards flies down into the done pile. On the medium level, two suits are in play. On the difficult level, all four suits are in play. As you shift the cards, suits don’t matter, so you can put a seven of hearts onto an eight of clubs. However, since you want the suits to line up, there might be reasons for not putting that seven of hearts onto that eight of clubs.
You win the game when you’ve cleared all the suits. A computerized horn blows and tiny animated fireworks go off and YOU WIN flashes on the screen. I’ve won many spider solitaire games, and that YOU WIN still makes me happy.
There are benefits to Spider Solitaire. It has helped my writing process. Yes, I have a writing process which also involves sitting with my face in my hands, drawing little flowers on an empty yellow legal pad page, watching new movie previews on youtube, and getting up to make yet another cup of tea.
When I play Spider Solitaire, my brain focuses on the order of cards---suits and numbers, so any complex word or literary problem goes elsewhere in the brain---I don’t know where. Usually after a hand or two of Spider Solitaire, a solution comes to me, and the writing continues for another day. Woohoo!
Sometimes, I play Spider Solitaire much longer than a couple of hands. I play and play and then I feel bad for wasting my time on something so silly. I mean, I could be watching TV. I could be making crafts.
I now have a few rules about my Spider Solitaire playing since I can’t quit cold turkey. I can only play three games. If I win the first game (which happens), I’m done for the day and can’t play it anymore. By giving myself limits, I find I can keep the spiders at bay.
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