Brain Games
“J.K. Simmons!” I yelled out in the ballroom to nobody in particular during the Academy Awards. Sure enough, the Best Supporting Actor was named, and the Whiplash actor took the stage to accept his award.
I was among 250 distinguished guests dressed in black tie to watch a pre-telecast of the Academy Awards, an annual fundraiser and one of my favorite fancy parties all year.
“The Grand Budapest Hotel!” I yelled as the drums rolled for Best Original Music Score.
Correct! “Birdman!” I yelled again when they were about to announce the winner for Best Cinematography.
Correct again.
Either my feebly developed psychic ability was on fire, or I am a lot smarter than I think I am. Each year, I make a point to have a movie marathon the weekend of the Oscars to watch all of the nominees for Best Picture. It’s the least I can do after a year of seeing nothing in the theaters whatsoever, save for the few screenings I can get to. With the exception of The Grand Budapest Hotel (which I watched twice on a long flight because I loved it so much), I hadn’t heard anything about any of the Best Picture nominees. But I figure if it’s up for the Academy Award, it’s worth watching. Most times that’s accurate.
I was blown away by many performances this year, including the young Eddie Redmayne, who portrayed Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. The second he appeared on screen, I was in love. I knew he would win for Best Actor. The same went for Julianne Moore for Best Actress in Still Alice. Both of these actors took on tremendously difficult roles painting a very real picture of disabilities that rocked me to my very core.
These two movies, along with the crossword puzzle-solving, code-cracking, war-ending group of mathematicians in The Imitation Game, reminded me of my grandma spending all of her free time exercising her brain. My earliest memories of her to my last days spent with her always had a crossword puzzle book and a bowl of grapes all plucked from the stems and placed in a bowl lined with a paper towel. I only am realizing now, so much later in life, how valuable that practice was.
With as much time as I spend trying to eat healthy and exercise my body, I already can tell the difference it makes when I neglect to exercise my brain. It takes a bit longer to recall the right words I want to say, and there are some instances when I draw a complete blank. I’ll never be able to muster the time it takes to get through crossword puzzle books — but there are tons of apps I can play on my phone!
There are two apps that I’m playing at the moment, challenging myself to play both every day with no breaks. They each take no longer than about five minutes, and with the exception of meditating, it could be the greatest thing I do for myself all day. Luminosity and Elevate are both free applications designed specifically for brain performance that are over as fast as they are started, which is why I play two. I know Rosetta Stone also has a free game, but two is fine for me right now — at least until I can muster more free time.
@SUPERCW
Christa Wittmier is “SUPERCW” on all social media. Find her on Snapchat, Soundcloud, Twitter, Vine and Instagram. By night, she is known as DJ SuperCW. By day, she is known as senior marketing director for Young’s Market Company of Hawaii. Her nightlife blog SuperCity runs every Wednesday on HonoluluPulse.com.
