My Life in Multi-Colored Gem Stone Pieces

I've been playing an inordinate amount of Bejeweled on my phone these days, and I blame PopCap Games. In a stroke of brilliance, PopCap has captured the addictive quality of social networking with the equally addictive quality of stupid, simple games played on hand-held devices: in Bejeweled Blitz, you have one minute to score as many points possible, and your scores will be compared to those of any other facebook friends that play, too.

And whether I like it or not, I find myself philosophizing about life as I work to climb the high-score ranks. Here's what I've learned.

1. No matter how hard you try to strategize, you really can't fight the board. Sometimes, your best score comes from relaxing and just getting the points as the opportunity presents itself. Or waiting until the next game so you can start fresh.

2. You can use the "boosts," but your skills will suffer and the "boosts" will eventually become a crutch you can't win without. Better to just stick to the basics and practice, practice, practice.

3. The minute you finally beat that one person you've spent hours trying to outpace in the ranks, the new tournament will start and you'll be back in the "NO SCORE" zone with everyone else. And no one remembers the scores from last week. Be more than you're Bejeweled score.

4. It is equally satisfying to play one game as it is to play ten. You get more sleep if you just play one.

5. Don't play while walking. This one doesn't really translate into thinking about life, but it is true nonetheless. I almost had a really, really unfortunate incident with a concrete beam the other day.

If you are a fellow Bejeweled jedi, I know you can identify. If you aren't, you should really consider trying out Blitz. Just don't let it keep you from enjoying real life.