Medium Game 70489

I've been playing a ton of Sudoku lately. I have a game on my google homepage, one on my cellphone, and my weekly puzzles from In Touch magazine.

Sudoku is to 2008 as Snood is to 2002. Whenever I need a break from work, I play a game. Usually my workday involves me taking a break from non-work by doing some work, but I've had a lot going on recently and the Sudoku break is a welcome friend.

But the Sudoku is spilling out from my office and into my life. I play on my phone on the subway ride home, and I play on my couch with actual paper and pencil while watching TV. I can’t get enough.

When I play at work, I quickly minimize my window when someone stops by. I'm hiding my habit.

I think I may have a problem.

One of the many reasons I heart Sudoku is because I feel smarter playing Sudoku than I ever felt beating Tetris. Maybe because it involves numbers. Maybe because it requires no hand-eye coordination. Maybe because it hails from Japan.

I find that the best Sudoku mood music is Radiohead. Radiohead (in my opinion) is all mood music, but I often find it too moody for most of my moods. If anyone is following this train of thought then God bless you.

Anyhow, here I sit, listening to Radiohead, puzzling over Sudoku challenge #435612, and wondering if there is some kind of support group out there for people like me.

I am reading a mildly disturbing book by one of my favorite authors who specializes in writing mildly disturbing things. And I feel like a character from one of his pages. A woman who is obsessed with a Japanese puzzle game. A woman possessed by 1s and 9s. A woman who can’t stop with the Sudoku.

I think this novel is ripe with potential. You’re welcome Mr. Palahniuk.