Games We Play

When computers were just taking off, the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC), created one game which, above all others from that era, gets looked back on with incredible fondness. It was called "Oregon Trail". It was based on the Oregon Trail, the route settlers took from Independence, Missouri, to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. You could join the westward migration from many different points but Missouri to Oregon was the most popular and, given the privations of that time, there was safety and security in numbers.

If you had a computer in the 1990's, you probably had Oregon Trail. The premise was to get your wagon and family to the valley. Along the way, you had to ford rivers, deal with cholera, measles, dysentery, food shortages. You would restock at towns and forts along the way. In real life, if you left too early, your wagon and oxen were bogged down by spring rains. If you left too late, you'd have to cross the Rocky Mountains in snow storms. The infamous Donner party headed along the trail but turned, as some did, to head southwest toward California.

I know we had Oregon Trail on our first computer. The graphics were pixels, square boxes which depicted everything. There was a mini-game where, if you had bullets, and you could run out of those, you could go hunting when you would stop. It was such a fun game and the insidious "learning" that came with it made the game even more special. I know the computer lab at Carole's grade and middle schools had Oregon Trail for kids to play who did not own computers. I spent hours playing it, trying different times of the year to leave, and how long can I go without hunting before someone starves.

Last year, Pressman Toy Company released a card game version of Oregon Trail. It is hilarious.

The graphics on the card are pixelated and are fairly close to what you remember from the game. The challenge is the same; stay alive and get your party from Independence to Oregon. Along the way, you encounter the same challenges as the computer game gave you. The difference here is that you are working together to get at least one member of the party to Oregon. You lose if everyone dies.

Everyone gets "Supply" cards. These are the various things, like food, clothing, medicine, you'd need to ameliorate the "Calamity" from those red cards. The trail is the green snaky line and look. There are rivers to ford. You do that with a roll of the dice. When someone has to draw a calamity, the group pitches in to, you hope, stave off death for another few rounds.

Ah yes, death. Some things, like measles or cholera, can be fought with supply cards; medicine and clean water. But there are something things you have no hope to survive.

I have died of dysentery. The other instant death is snake bite. My friend, Lance, almost didn't want to play a third game because the first two games, he died, early on, of snake bite. He lasted a fair amount of time in game 3 but died of dysentery. I followed two rounds later.

Some of the instructions are a bit hazy. The game lends itself to "house rules" and can be played by any age from 10 up. It's for 6 people and does not work very well with 3 or less. The best hands were with 5 and 6 people.

It's also not very expensive. Target was, for a time, the only retail outlet carrying it. When released, last September, there was a rush to get it and, for a month, you couldn't find it anywhere. By Christmas, it was in ample supply. I think Target is still the cheapest place for purchase. I gave it to Carole for her birthday and to April and Perry for Christmas. I don't have a copy. I should get one.

If your kids don't know about the Oregon Trail, this would be a good way to start the conversation. Ruts from the wagons are still to be seen in Kansas and Nebraska. We have no concept of what it took to move a family of 4 across a country people knew nothing about. It's a fun game and, just like the old computer game, educational. *Gasp

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Mom's Cake

I play Dungeons and Dragons with a couple of groups. One group meets online. The other actually plays the way the game started, with pencils and paper and dice and maps. For the latter group, we get together roughly every 2-3 weeks. Part of that involves food. We've had theme food night and last week, it was breakfast.

Originally, I was going to make a chocolate walnut bread, but chose to sink my time into sewing shirt number 2. But I still had to bring something. I wasn't interested in dashing to the store for anything. I wanted to bake. What could I make that was quick but symbolic of breakfast? I know. Mom's coffee cake.

It's ridiculously simple and I've probably blogged about this before. Mix dry ingredients together with vegetable oil.

Set aside a cup of this crumbly mixture and add egg and buttermilk to the rest.

Pour into a 9x13 greased and floured pan and sprinkle the saved crumb over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and inhale the fragrance of cinnamon and nutmeg and brown sugar.

Cut in pieces and serve warm, with ice cream or cooled for breakfast or as a snack. This cake freezes very well. I've made it, cut it into pieces and stuck the pieces in the freezer. Even defrosting them at 3-4 months out, they were still moist.

This was a staple of family meals when I was growing up. I don't know if mom remembers where she found the recipe but she's been making this for at least 55 years, maybe longer. It's pretty much foolproof and would be a great cake to get kids cooking. I took what was left to the office and then finished off what was left after everyone at work had a piece.

Here's the recipe:

Salad Oil Coffee Cake

3 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2)  Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan.
3)  Mix flour, sugars and spices together.
4)  Add oil to dry ingredients, stirring until blended and mixture is lumpy.
5)  Reserve 1 cup of the flour/sugar mixture. Set aside.
6)  Add egg, buttermilk, soda and salt to the remaining mixture. Beat until well blended and creamy.
7)  Sprinkle reserved mixture over the top of the batter.
8)  Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
9)  Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before cutting and serving. May be frozen for later servings.

Enjoy.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Gaming

Can't go to Carole's without playing games.

It started with the creation of a "Corn Hole". I looked at Larry. "A what?" I asked. "A Corn Hole," he replied, as if telling me again would make me understand it better. Out to the garage we went.

Once I saw these, I knew what they were for. We would call the whole thing a "Bean Bag Toss" set up. The object of the game is to toss a bag full of beans or, in this area of the country, dried corn kernels, into the hole from a distance. You get 3 points for getting the bag through the hole, 2 points for getting the bag on the top quarter, near the hole, and 1 point for getting the bag on the bottom of the ramp.

Larry had seen these at a store but they wanted an exorbitant amount of money for them. So he and his dad built their own.

The rectangle has two feet at the top which fold out to give the piece its slant.

This one was a little wobbly on the driveway, but once in the back yard, it was fine. My job was to paint chalkboard paint onto the top so topical items can be drawn or written on the face. It was warm on Friday morning when I did this.

Larry didn't want the sides or the interior of the hole to be be painted so there was blue painter's tape to edge those areas. I could not get the blue tape to stick to the sides. It worked for a bit with the interior of the hole, but I gave up on the one and just did my best to not have it drip. This was the first coat. It took a bit of mixing to get the paint to come out evenly.

Ultimately, it took three coats to get an even surface. I brought sidewalk chalk along but that was too hard for the surface and I had to paint over the markings. You need to use chalkboard chalk on this paint. The can recommends a drying time of 24-hours so I painted this on Friday as we were going to use them at the 3rd Annual Spectacular Death Guild Meet-up, held on Saturday. By Saturday, they were ready to go.

In this blurry photo of Larry and Luke, we had a great time playing "Corn Hole".

It was hot and humid so we wound up not using these as much as I think we would have had the humidity not been so oppressive. The chalk markings erased very easily. When the bean bags would land on the ramp, they would erase the chalk.

Late Saturday night, we played Cards Against Humanity.

On Monday evening, we blocked off the whole evening and played three games. First up was Star Trek Catan.

It took me a little bit to remember how to play Settlers of Catan, but once I remembered, this plays exactly like Settlers. Your pieces are the Enterprise space ship and Federation space stations. Carole won this.

Next up, we played Ascension.

I'm not one to enjoy card games where you have strategies utilizing various cards. Magic: The Gathering and Blizzard's Hearthstone card game are like that. Ascension is similar but it's easier for people like me to figure out. It was fun. It might be something I'd enjoy doing on a regular basis. Larry and I played Pirate Munchkin on Sunday afternoon. I do like that game, mainly because the cards are hilarious. I believe Larry won this round of Ascension.

Carole said there is an Ascension app for smart phones. She spends a lot of time playing the game on her phone. I looked at my smart phone and shook my head. I use my phone to make and receive calls, occasionally check the weather and find mapping routes, and as an alarm clock when one is not available. Play games on it? I don't think so.

We ended the night with my favorite game, Trivial Pursuit.

This was the newest version, the one Larry gave Carole for Christmas. Mom joined us and we played the fast way where you got a pie piece when you answered a question correctly. I won. I'd been stumped by the green Science and Nature category so they thought that was a good one to give me at the end. My question? "What kind of dog was Lassie?" I thought, at first, Larry, who was giving me questions, was joking. I was really expecting something along the lines of "Name one of the nobel gasses." I'd have had to actually think about that. It was kind of disappointing to win on what, to me, was a hugely easy question. Oh well, it was still fun.

I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons online with a group of friends since May. I just added a table top Dungeons and Dragons event which may play as much as twice a month, but right now, we're looking at just once a month. Years ago, bi-monthly gaming dates with friends was a part of my life. Games are a way to connect and have fun. It's slowly coming back into my life and I couldn't be happier.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

So Far Away

Yesterday was "Tabletop Game Day". You can be forgiven for not knowing about this. I didn't until a number of Facebook friends announced it. I'm not sure who decided it would be April 11th, either. It's a day designed to highlight the games we play on our dining room table. This is the stash in my closet.

I have more on top of the wardrobe. I've mentioned how my mother loved to play games when we were growing up. "Life", "Sorry", "Monopoly", "Candyland", "Chutes and Ladders", "Scrabble" and I think even "Clue" were games I grew up on. It was natural that, as Carole grew into game playing age, we'd get games and spread that love to her.

As she grew, what was a small market, exploded. I think "Trivial Pursuit" is what started it. Companies saw there was money to be made from designing interesting, intriguing and engaging games played not on a computer, but on your kitchen table, where the cat can interrupt play just by hopping up onto the board, and snacks and soda are the evening meal. Games are released with astounding frequency and, if you type "games" into Kickstarter or indiegogo or any crowd-funding site, the list of who has a game idea they want to make is very long. Some stuff isn't worth your time, but some games are very intriguing.

When mom and I went to Carole and Larry's wedding, once we unloaded the car and got settled, we grabbed some chili and sat down to play games. First up was "Scattergories".

If you've never played it, it's a word association game based on a dice roll. You have to think of a word or name that goes with the category on the left. All these words have to begin with the same letter. Both the card and the letter chosen are based on rolls of dice. Some letters were easy to find words, like "R". But some, like "O", were hard. You get points based on uniqueness of your word. If someone else has the same thing, you don't get a point. Carole's really good at this.

Then, we played the newest version of Trivial Pursuit.

I have to say that when it's general knowledge Trivial Pursuit, I'm pretty good at that, even when the game taps from culture, such as rap, about which I have very little knowledge. But when Larry gets out his "Star Wars" Trivial Pursuit, I'm sunk. It really is about your interests.

What I really wished, yesterday, was that I had a group of people with whom to play these games. I love to play World of Warcraft, but it's a solitary pursuit, even with the emphasis on groups. I sit at home, alone, and log on with others who are at their homes, alone, playing. As much as we work together to accomplish goals, we aren't trying to figure out if Jon has Colonel Mustard or if that card killed Mr. Body. Does that laugh mean he doesn't have Colonel Mustard but has the wrench? When I could stop and see April and Perry on my travels east, it was as important to time the travel to be there for their game night. I played so many games I never would have experienced by doing that.

Game nights are as much about camaraderie as they are about knowing the star of "Flashdance". And don't forget, tabletop gaming extends to marathon sessions of "Go Fish" with a bunch of giggling great nieces and nephews as it is about "Settlers of Cataan" with wine, cheese and crackers and friends.

That's what I miss.

Beverage:  English Breakfast Tea

Deb

On Vacation-The Games We Played

I've danced around the issue, but, for this post, it's time to acknowledge that my daughter's first marriage didn't work out. There are many reasons why but it just didn't work out. She's got a new beau, Larry, and mom is quite happy with this one. There's a lot more in common and a lot more mutual respect. One of the big things they have in common is playing games.

The ex was okay with game playing so long as it was the games he wanted to play. Larry doesn't care. It's about the experience of playing games with friends and family. Winning or losing is immaterial. Playing games, from card games to board games to role-playing games to online games, has long been a part of our family life. From the earliest times when Carole learned to play Candyland to now when she's off playing online games that are quite complicated, gaming is something she does. That Larry shares her interest in games is a huge plus.

I have long been jealous of my friends, April and Perry, who had a long running Monday Night Game Night where they got together with a bunch of friends and played anything and everything. There are a lot of studies which talk about how games keep your brain learning and learning staves off dementia. My ability to understand what April and Perry and friends were playing was limited. I sometimes felt as if the synapses in my brain just gave up. But their game nights were also more about being with friends, which, of itself, helps keep a myriad of health problems away. If I had a boat load of friends nearby, I'd try to have game nights once a month.

So, I was excited to play games with Larry and Carole while I was on vacation. We got out our sodas and cookies and had a ball. The first game we played was Star Wars Trivial Pursuit.

Holy Millennium Falcon, Batman. Talk about trivial. That Larry knew what color "x's" robe was when he was on x planet in the 3rd movie was impressive. He probably knows more than I've forgotten about the movies. Needless to say, he creamed Carole and I.

After that, we played World of Warcraft Trivial Pursuit. Um...yeah. I redeemed myself, going from last place to first place. Carole quipped, "Well, let's see if we even get a turn" as she pulled up the first card to read to me. I don't know everything about WOW, just as Larry doesn't know everything contained in the Star Wars trivia. It's fun to run into a question you don't know, one that makes you sit back and say, "Really? I didn't know that."

Later in the week, we played Settlers of Catan.

I've played this before with April and Perry. It's a fun game and requires just enough strategy to not make me dislike it. I really don't like strategy games so you'll never find me playing something like Risk. Settlers requires thinking about where to build roads and towns, but there's the luck of the dice roll too, which you can't control. Carole is really good at this game and soundly beat Larry and I.

The last game we played was Boggle.

Larry has a degree in computer science. Words are not his strong suit. Carole had, at one point, considered a double major in English and Anthropology, but opted just for Anthropology, so she can spell. Larry doesn't mind playing Boggle with her even though she can beat him by 100 points. He was looking forward to watching the two of us go head to head.

I'm afraid I cannot keep up with my daughter. I have slowed down in word recognition. She sees words very easily and, while I can see some words she can't, she's much better at it than I. She won both games we played although the first game was closer than the second game.

They also go to a local Irish pub on Wednesday nights for a trivia contest. I had really good fish and chips and some incredible chocolate mousse. Oh my, was it good. We were in 3rd place after the first round, first place after the second round, 2nd place after the bonus round, 4th place after the 4th round and then the bottom fell out. There was a "name that tune" final round. I had no clue what any of the music was so I just ate my chocolate mousse. It was current music and "classic rock", two areas that I have a very limited knowledge of. The guy running the trivia contest did have "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart, which caused me to laugh out loud because this came after 4 songs I hadn't a clue about. The others in attendance knew a few more than me, but we sank to 9th place overall. Still, I could see doing that on a monthly basis if I lived closer. My team would just have to understand I don't know rock music. Jazz on the other hand...

We went to lunch at Larry's parents' house on Monday and they also like to play games. We played one of the longest Uno games I think I've played in years. We also played Rat-a-tat Cat. This is a very fun card game from Gamewright Games. It's suitable for all ages. It was a lot of fun to play with Larry's parents, to see where he got his love of gaming from.

I miss this. I have a large number of games in my closet that I'd love to play if I could get a group of people together. Mille Bourne, Scrabble, Disney Trivial Pursuit or Humble anyone?

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Seen

I saw this on Monday leaving work.

So close to tic tac toe in the sky.

Beverage:  Hot cocoa

Deb

Noshing News

When I'm playing World of Warcraft, that's when I want to nosh. I don't do it when I sit in front of the TV. My hands are usually otherwise occupied. I'm cross-stitching, crocheting or petting a cat. Something about sitting down at the front of my computer with a beverage brings out the nosh monster. For one's health, however, this is not the best thing. That's why I tend not to have a lot of noshing foods in the house. I will eat them, all of them, in a couple sittings. Not good.

I sent a friend some candy goodies for her birthday. She should be receiving the parcel today. I filled a rather silly container with her favorite and some other silly things, but I overestimated just how big the container was. The Runts I bought wouldn't fit.

They have turned up next to the computer. Added to them were the rest of the Reese's Pieces that didn't fit in the container. The nice thing about Runts is that I can't eat a lot of them in a sitting. The Reese's Pieces look a lot like the Runts so I'm not eating them by the handfuls. This is a satisfying mix to nosh on while playing the game.

I saw these on the ThinkGeek.com web site, some time ago.

I can get lost in those pages for hours. This probably doesn't look like anything spectacular but here these are out of the foil liners.

If you know gaming, you will recognize these shapes as being the dice commonly used in Dungeons and Dragons or other tabletop pen and paper fantasy games. I got Carole a set and, well, had to have one for myself, naturally. They are made out of dark chocolate, 60% dark Ghirardelli Chocolate, no less. This is the ultimate in noshing.

The problem is that, as much of a chocoholic as I am, 60% dark chocolate, while good for me, is rich and I don't sit down and consume that wantonly. I've eaten the 4 sided die and it took me a couple sittings to do it. It's good, oh it's good, but these really aren't the "pop in your mouth" kind of dark chocolate one consumes when one is playing a game.

I discovered something else I would nosh a whole bag of, which also isn't a good thing.

Oh my gosh are these good. They are expensive; notice the package contains only 8 rolls. But fresh from the oven with a teaspoon of butter, they are heavenly. I can't keep these in the house. I'd make the whole package and that's all I'd eat some weekend. If you have more restraint than I, they get a huge thumbs up. I need to try them hot from the oven with jam, although that's not something I can eat in front of the computer. I did eat the last 3 rolls in the package while playing the game. I'm also willing to bet that they will be in scarce supply on Wednesday night next week.

Yesterday, noshers of the world rejoiced, just a little. There was a report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which stated that people eating a handful of nuts daily had a 20% reduction in heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. That's a significant reduction. It didn't matter the kind of nuts, either. One handful, once a day, was enough to lower risk. Nuts are almost the perfect noshing food, but they are high in calories so must be consumed in a small amount. A "handful" translates into an ounce or 1/4 cup. If you actually measure 1/4 cup of peanuts, it looks like a lot and if you eat them one at a time, you can make them last a long time.

My friends know me quite well. Several of them sent me a link to the news reports of the study along with the comment, "The nuts you eat should be plain, not contained in the middle of M&M's."

Dang. There's always a catch, isn't there?

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

I'm Lost

You loyal readers know I play an online game called World of Warcraft. It is the gold standard for online multi-player games. On Tuesday, they released another version of the game. It's called an "expansion" because it gives players another continent to experience.

It's called "Mists of Pandaria". When it was announced, two years ago, we long-time player thought it was something of a grand joke. Blizzard, the developers of WOW, are known for pulling practical jokes on April 1st. Several years ago, one of the jokes was to turn everyone into pandas for a day. It was pretty funny. Some players seized on that and asked for pandas to be a playable race, and asked, and asked. The rest of us, well, pandas, yeah right. But here we are, pandas as a playable race. I have not created a panda yet. I'll let you know how that goes when I get there.

Right now, I'm immersed in the play that is an expansion with a new continent. The last expansion, which was all about the world that we knew being partially destroyed by a dragon, was mildly interesting but did not have lasting staying power. I love this game. I will play it until they physically shut it down, but I have to admit to not finding the dragon expansion that much fun at the end. I'm half-way through leveling my main character and I can see where I have so much to do and see in this new expansion.

One thing that has struck me about this is the graphics, the visuals of the game. Look at this image.

I was worried about a new expansion and my ancient Mac. Would it be as spectacular as if I had a brand new machine. Isn't that stunning? I love the colors of the blossoms on the trees. Below is, right now, my favorite spot in this game. It's a game, but, when I discovered this place, I knew it would be a place I'll return to when the game or people in it get me stressed beyond what they should. 

It's just obvious they put a lot of time into the look and feel of this game. 

One of the things they have tapped into in this expansion is the concept of taking your time to just be. It's kind of ironic that a game you play to lose yourself has panda people telling you to "slow down". Zen concepts feature a lot in this expansion. Yes, we are tasked with killing the bad guys but we are strongly encouraged to take our time and look around. There is so much to see. 

In cleaning my home office last week, I stumbled across these two books. 

The book on the left details the original game. The book on the right details the first expansion of the game. There was a wonder in the game at first and then with the first expansion. Places to go, things to see. You could lose yourself in the content. This past dragon-based expansion lost that wonder. This new expansion retrieves that and expands on it. 

If you need me, I'll be lost in the Mists of Pandaria. 

Beverage:  Cranberry Raspberry Juice

Deb

Visiting Ohio: What I Played

The Ohio friends are a group that has been getting together for eons, usually on a Monday night, to play games. The gaming location varies between houses but it's the same crew. When I came through for the very first time, back in November 2010, I made sure my trip included a stop-over on Monday night so I could participate in game night.

Games have always been a part of my life. Growing up, we had the usual; Scrabble, Sorry, Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, etc. My house contains three dozen games of the card and board variety. When Carole was growing up, we got one or two new games a year.

I don't do well with strategy games. I term them "stradegy", because my strategy is usually a tragedy. I have never won Clue. The logic of trying to figure out who did it with what where eludes me. I'll play it but I have never, ever won.

April and Perry, Jim and Joe, Chad and Chris, Jim M and Greg are gamers in the purest sense of the word. They follow gamer podcasts and YouTube updates. They keep abreast of what games have been added to the pantheon available at a local store or online. I have nothing they haven't played to death, but there is a vast world of games that I have never experienced. Part of the trip was to assure myself a spot at the table, to be exposed to new games and at least one old one.

I know I'll forget something or put what we played in the wrong order, but here goes. Perry and I played Carcassonne. I really like that game. Every time I visit, I want to play it. It's sort of strategy but it is determined by the tiles you draw. Then, he taught me to play Dominion. I wasn't too sure about the game at first, but it grew on me. I don't think we played anything else, just the two of us, after Dominion because it was time to get ready for the party.

While we waited for people to arrive, we played a newer card game called The Resistance. In this game, spies infiltrate a group of resistance fighters. You draw a card at the beginning which tells you if you are a loyal member of the resistance or a spy. A leader, which rotates around the players, chooses a certain number of people to go on missions. You get to vote on whether you think these people will carry out the mission. Then, they get to vote on whether the mission succeeds. Loyalists have to vote yes. Spies can vote yes or no. It was great fun to try to figure out who was the spy.

After dinner, we played a game I knew about because Carole plays it; Cards Against Humanity. You can see one set up above. If you are easily offended, do not play this game. If you like Apples to Apples and have a quirky sense of humor, you will love this. It's exactly like Apples to Apples but the cards, well, interesting doesn't quite cover it. There was much, much laughter and poor April got the worst one to read. She wound up handing off the black card to someone else to read because she was laughing so hard.

This is a game called 7 Wonders. We ended the night with this but I know we played something else that I had to learn and have forgotten the name of already. It was green.

I was lousy at 7 Wonders. I had a lot of cards, but you also have to build wonders from each age and that part I didn't understand. Oh well. We had to maximize gaming and card games seem to be the best way to do that.

On Monday, Perry and I played quite a few games in the afternoon. We started with a game by one of my favorite card game creators, GameWright. We played Forbidden Island and There's a Moose in the House. I really liked both of those.

After those, we set up Settlers of Catan, but discovered you can't play that with two people. So, Perry pulled out Rivals of Catan, a card game with the same idea. This was great fun. It took me a bit to figure out what I was supposed to do, but it is easily learned. I won that game. I was quite surprised.

Chris arrived at this point and we played some Wii bowling. I had never done that. I'm rather impressed that Wii bowling even gets your hook. In spite of tossing the only gutter ball, I won with a 146.

We had supper and settled into another Cards Against Humanity. It was fun but the game definitely benefits from having more rather than fewer people. After that, we played Citadel. This was a very fun game, once I got the hang of  it.

From there, it was another round of Cards Against Humanity and we ended the night with Munchkin Impossible. Last year, I played Munchkin for the first time under the Munchkin Booty banner. Munchkin Impossible was just as silly and enjoyable.

I do miss gaming. I miss the long games of Trivial Pursuit we used to have. I have a large number of GameWright games, including a few they don't make anymore. Nothing like a rousing round of Rat-A-Tat Cat to end an evening.

In getting together, it's not just about the games, trying something new or something familiar. It's about the camaraderie. It's about friendship. It's about being with other people, sharing life and conversation and insults across the table. I got to see a lot of different games, games that, if I had a group I regularly played with, I'd get.

Most importantly, it's about laughter and togetherness. Solitaire is nice but sometimes, there's nothing better than playing a card on your neighbor that destroys his army.

Beverage:  Edinburgh's Finest tea

Deb

Scenes From A Party

Dale actually turned 80 on the 4th but a celebration was held on the 6th. This involved a catered dinner for all the family and then an open house with cake and punch. I didn't count how many of us there were at the dinner but we filled the middle tables and spilled over to the side tables. That's a lot of relatives.

We had prime rib, pork loin, smashed potatoes, 7-layer salad, broccoli cauliflower salad, rolls and green beans. Of course, there was a lot left over. I have a chunk of pork loin in my fridge waiting for supper tonight. I'm thinking french fries and corn for one meal and pork and beans with jello (gotta make jello tonight) for another meal. It was really good. Whomever this "Tony" is that everyone knows does an exceptional job of catering.

There was cake.

Oh my was there cake. I think they had 4 sheet cakes. Mom and Dale have a full sheet cake in the freezer. We will work on it at Thanksgiving and again at Christmas.

We cleaned up after our dinner and prepared for the public. My family sat in a group on one side of the room.

We don't know any people here other than Dale's family and we really don't "know" them to socialize. We played Apples to Apples until it got too loud in the hall to hear.

I'm going to hazard a guess and say the open house part of the event was the best part, for Dale. Yes, having all the kids and grandkids and great-grandkids together was special for him, but the hall was packed with people about 3:30 p.m.

For Walker, Iowa, it wasn't just a chance to drop in and wish Dale a happy birthday, it was a chance to see people. It was not a fundraiser. No one would come around with a can for change. It was a chance to have cake and coffee and talk to that person you may not have talked to in a few years. As Dale sat at the kitchen table later that evening opening his birthday cards, he kept remarking on who had shown up. "It was so good to see x. He's not been well and I haven't seen him in a couple of years."

I think that's what's different about small town life. You know everyone. Whether that's good or bad is debatable, but you know them and they know you. These kinds of events bring people out. It's a chance to reconnect that meeting at the bank does not. There is the built in sociability, the built in camaraderie of a shared celebration. People come to festivals or chili suppers, but it's not quite the same as this. And you certainly won't get this in the 'big city'. As much as we crave friendships, it's a lot of work to do it in person. At an event like this, it's easy to be sociable, even if you're not the most personable because you are sharing the celebration. "How do you know Dale?"

I didn't get up a whole lot. It was tough. But it was a great event to sit and people watch. Even in a small town, where everyone knows everyone, people live singular lives. It can be hard to get out of your comfort zone and reach out to others. An event like this forces people to do just that. The results were exciting.

In the end, it was a celebration of one person. Dale said later he was incredibly humbled by how many people took time out of their day and their football games, to come say hello, have cake and spend a few minutes talking to all these other people.

The event ended at 4:30 and we cleaned up. Dale's kids made him wear the hat and we all blew the noisemakers. We also all agreed that had we blown the noisemakers when all those people were in the church hall, we'd all be saying, "Eh? What? I can't hear you?"

It was a great event. I'm very glad I made the trek.

Beverage:  Earl Grey tea

Deb

Day 3-A Book that completely surprised you (bad/good)

This was going to be another easy book to pick. Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

I had to read it in "American Literature" class in college. We spent an inordinate amount of time on this, never really getting through the first 6 chapters. There was, in the instructor's view, so much to address, but we had at least 10 more books to discuss before the semester ended so she had us read the last 3 chapters and skip the middle. It fell into the 'loathed' category only because we spent way too much time on it.

But, three years after graduating college, I was looking for something to read and found the slightly battered copy in a box. As this is considered a classic, I felt I should give it another try. Low and behold, once I got past the chapter discussing the minutiae of whaling and the chapter on the different kinds of whales which were hunted, which fell into the first 8 chapters, I got to the middle and it was funny. As Melville discussed life on the whaling boat and added more nuances of character to Captain Ahab, Queequeg and Ishmael, he brought out the humanity of those on the boat and that humanity was, at times very funny.

I knew Melville had taken jobs on ships, including a whaling vessel, but the depth of that experience really comes through later in the novel. As Ahab's obsession grows, Melville weaves into the narrative just enough factual information that the story stays grounded in reality. It makes the ending all the more powerful. You've just got to get through the first 8-9 chapters.

In looking for an appropriate illustration for this post, I found this. This is NOT Moby Dick. First of all, the ship is not correct. That is not a whaling ship of the 19th Century. This is Jaws masquerading as Moby Dick. The only thing the two have in common is that they take place on the ocean. There are documented stories of whales attacking and sinking whaling boats. Early whaling was a very treacherous occupation. But this book cover doesn't relate to the story. Someone picking this up thinking they are going to get a book about a monster whale attacking ships in the 20th century is going to be disappointed.

This book is quite ingrained in our culture, too. My friend, Sheila, posted to my Facebook note about this that she became interested in reading the original when one of the Star Trek books she was reading had Mr. Spock go back in time and become the "Ishmael" who is the narrator. The opening line, "Call me 'Ishmael'" can be sometimes written as "Call me, Ishmael".

The online game I play, "World of Warcraft" is well known for slathering pop culture references throughout the game. One of the most interesting boss kills is the whale shark. When you kill him, you get the achievement, "From Hell's Heart, I Stab at Thee", which is a direct quote from Chapter 135, and are the final words Ahab says,

Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!

The World of Warcraft achievement says, "Kill a whale shark in spite of or because he drops no loot."  I hope this is just enough information that someone who plays the game will investigate more and, ultimately, pick up the book and read it. I hope they will be as pleasantly surprised as I was.

Beverage:  Edinburgh's Finest Tea

Deb

Reward for a Year

I stumbled upon BigFish Games a year ago. In that time, I've found a bunch of games that I have enjoyed and still play. "Plants vs Zombies" is one of my favorites, as well as all the "Youda" company games. I'm working on "Youda Survivor 2" and "Youda Farmer 3: Seasons". Taking advantage of sales, like the recent July 4th, everything $4.99, has netted me a number of free games. Most are $6.99 and there is a monthly fee of $6.99.

For my one year anniversary, I received a gift.

It's their mascot. Now, realistically, I need a stuffed fish like I need measles. I'm not exactly sure what I will do with this. It's nice that they recognize I've been with them a year. I would have preferred a free game. I'll stick it in the box of excess items that may be used as Christmas presents, unless you want it.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Back to April and Perry's

Monday, May 23rd dawned cloudy in Morgantown, West Virginia. We were under no real time constraints to get anywhere. Indeed, we had to linger because of doctor's appointments. Free breakfast at the hotel ended at 9 a.m. so that's what we had to worry about.

I woke up at 7:30 and showered. I woke mom up at 8:15 and we wandered down the hall for breakfast. The Comfort Inn had a better free breakfast than the Fairmont Inn, but maybe our lateness didn't allow us to see all that was offered. As we were collecting our food to head back to our room, there was a Monday morning pep rally by housekeeping and other employees. The start of the rally provoked looks of "What the...?" It must be effective, however, for they had enthusiasm.

We took our time getting going. It was nice not to be expected here at this time, particularly when we weren't exactly sure how to get to here from where we were.

At the West Virginia Pennsylvania border, we drove into rain. It was a drizzle at first but changed into a steady rain. Documenting this section of the trip wasn't going to happen. We drove out of the rain as we neared Pittsburgh. We met more people as would be expected on a Monday in a major city and Pittsburgh put out the welcome mat by closing a lane of Interstate so traffic came to a halt. I'm used to this. I sometimes think the Interstates surrounding Chicago were built, not to assist people in getting semi-swiftly to destinations because, quite often, you just sit, but to provide a steady source of jobs. They are always under repair in some fashion.

Once through the construction, we sailed towards Youngstown meeting more rain at the Ohio Pennsylvania border. It cleared as we approached Youngstown. April and Perry's house was a very welcome sight as we drove down Oakridge.

It was attempting to get out of the car that made me realize things were not right with my knees. We collected our stuff, I swung my legs out and went to stand. My legs refused. I had to scoot to the edge of the driver's seat, grab onto the side of the car and more or less hoist myself to a standing position, my knees protesting all the while. I knew this wasn't right and I had one more day to get through.

We got some lunch, after unloading the few things we would need for our overnight. Then mom took a nap while I learned to play Munchkin and we played another game of Carcassonne. We tidied up just in time for Joe and Bea to arrive.

Joe is a member of my World of Warcraft guild. Bea is his wife. Joe has known April and Perry "for-ever" and is one of the crew who gets together on Monday nights to play games. If I didn't live so far from them, I'd play once or twice a month. We ordered Italian food and then set about to playing games. You can read about our game night here.

Heavy storms pounded the area while we were gaming. A tornado warning was issued for near Joe and Bea's hometown. Joe, the iPhone surfer, kept watch on the weather while being beaten in "Killer Bunnies" by his wife.

When we were all done, I asked for a photo. (Me, April, Perry and Joe, left to right.) One thing, an online role playing game, brought us together. We stay together outside of the game because we have discovered we share interests; music, games, history, literature, laughter, senses of humor. My life is so much more enriched with these people as friends and I never would have met them had we not been manipulating pixels in a fake world.

Beverage:  Cranberry Pomegranate Juice

Deb

Games Galore

One of the great things about April and Perry, other than how fantastic they are as friends, is that they are gamers. Now when you see the word, gamer, there is a stereotype that pops up. It's a nebbish, late 30-something male, overweight, unemployed and living in the basement of his parents' house. He probably went to college but his degree in business management really hasn't gotten him anything. He held a job for 5 years but got laid off or, probably, fired and he's thrown up his hands and quit looking. Mom would love it if he'd stop playing on the computer and find a job.

Gamers aren't like this. I fall into this category as do April and Perry. They are "hard-core" gamers, too. Walk into their dining room and you'll see a stack of games on the sideboard. Perry regularly combs the Internet gaming sites looking for new games. They have a regular Monday game night where they get together with a bunch of people to play games. They like role playing games but also have dice, card and board games. As I planned my trip to Connecticut in November and this trip to the wedding, I planned around being in Youngstown for the Monday night game session.

We played just a couple of games on Wednesday, Wits and Wagers and Say Anything.  In Wits and Wagers, all answers are numbers and they are based on trivia such as, "In 2005, how many people in New Zealand claimed 'Jedi' as their religion." You answer and then bet on whose answer is the highest without going over the actual number. Bets have a 2-5 to 1 winning and, at the end of the game, you can bet it all. I don't remember who won, but it was fun.

Say Anything. It's hysterical and prone to lots of silly and very ribald comments. I had played this with the crew in November when I had passed through and it's one of those venerable chestnuts you pull out because you know it's going to be fun.

You have dry erase boards on which you write an answer to a question. "In my opinion" starts the question so you want to give an answer you think the reader will choose. Then you bet on which of the answers is most likely to be picked. The potential for answers involving "vibrators" or "in bed" or other similar sentiments is high, particularly if it's late and the group has imbibed. I don't remember who won Wednesday's game. I think Perry won Monday's version.

On Monday, mom and I arrived at April and Perry's much earlier than expected. That allowed us to play a couple more games. Another chestnut of gaming is Carcassonne. In this game, you draw a tile and then use it to build a city or a road. You score points when your "meeple" claims a road or a city that gets completed.

I had played this with them back in November. It was a bit confusing at first, what I was supposed to do, but I got the hang of it. I don't like strategy games and there is a small amount of strategizing here. But the game is quite dependent upon what's on the tile you draw. I finally got the hang of it and I won this round.

After Carcassone, we played Munchkin Booty. I am familiar with Munchkin. I have given one of the various expansion card sets to various friends of Carole for birthdays and Christmas for many years. I had never played it before.

It will take maybe another couple of games for me to really get the hang of what you do and what the cards mean. They are silly, witty and full of puns. I had a great time and I see why people like to play it.

After this, Joe and his wife, Belinda, arrived and it was time to haul out a brand new game, Dixit. This was different. You have to think when you play this one.

You're given a handful of cards. Each card has an image on it which can only be described as "surreal". On your turn, you pick a card and come up with a word or phrase that describes the card. Once you say that word or phrase, the other gamers must pick a card from their hand that they think best represents what you have said. These are laid on the table and mixed. Then you bet on which card is the speaker's. Points are awarded based on whether you successfully pick the speaker's, don't pick the speaker's or have your card chosen.

As this was the first attempt at this game, we played it until Joe and Perry won. I'm on the fence about it. Some of the cards I had in my hand were weird, in a disturbing sort of way. I would play it again but I don't think it's something I would own.

After this game, we played a game I am adding to the wish list. I love Apples to Apples and Say Anything is great too. But playing a card game with killer bunnies, trying to kill bunnies and trying to be the person who has the magic carrot at the end was so much fun. There's strategy with this game in terms of "Do I want to kill Perry's bunnies because he has 3 carrots and he can't win the game if he doesn't have bunnies alive at the end of it?" That's the extent of it and that's the kind of strategy I like. Belinda won this and she was very excited because I guess Greg, who wasn't in attendance, usually wins. My mom had fun playing games too, which made the evening special.

I wish I lived closer. I could see a once a week game night where you get together with friends, order pizza or something else, have snacks and beverages and spend 4 hours playing games. I grew up with games and we bought a lot of games when Carole was growing up. While I love playing WOW, stepping away and playing Mille Bourne or Sorry or Uno or Carcassonne or Dixit or Killer Bunnies would be a great way to spend an evening. Sometimes I wonder if all the games that could be invented have been and then something shows up and, wow, this is great.

Solo games are a lot of fun, but they really can't beat the social interaction of a bunch of friends laughing over "In my opinion, what is the worst thing you can say on a first date?" No, I won't put down the winning answer.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb