the evil video game

My daughter had only a passing interest with them, but my sons were hooked at first sight.  For the better part of the last decade, our family's dialog has been interspersed with 'turn off the games' or 'your games are in time out for the next week'.  We've tried TV/videogame-free days as well.  

I'm not sure video games are any worse than TV.  'Bubble gum for the brain', as my mom used to say.  Both are specifically crafted to lull you into a receptive, passive condition.  TV shows tantalize, while video games provide a false sense of accomplishment.  But our brains feel we are accomplishing something as time ticks by

I've been doing my best to provide my kids with positive uses for their time.  Something other than watching time tick by.  Many of the ideas are from Adafruit or other maker sites, while a few gems have even come from Slashdot.  I typically email the ideas to my kids, but I decided a blog might be a better place to collect the ideas.  

As far as the blog title, I've seen the notion referenced in a few places including The Creative Habit.  Its healthy to be quiet - even bored. The Bible has similar things to say - without quiet time, inspiration has a hard time finding us.