For the second year in a row we were able to attend the day-long puzzle fest hosted at the local library. It's a really fun day with lots of different puzzles. And even though we didn't win anything, I did noticeably better than last year. Especially on the crosswords.
The day kicked off with the group challenge, which was slightly different than last year. We had to cut out one of the rounds due to time constraints, but the rounds we played were fun and different. It started with a categorization-type game where we were asked questions like "Of the US states, which begin with an uncapitalized English word of at least 5 letters?" (Colorado is in the set, Indiana is not). Then there was a difficult "coordination" activity where we had to select where on a picture something was located (say the appendix on a picture of the human body), but the people selecting the horizontal coordinate couldn't communicate with the people selecting the vertical coordinate. We did surprisingly well. The final round presented questions, but with only the first letter of each word filled in. As time ticked by more letters were filled in, and the sooner you got the correct answer, the more points you got. For example the first question started as "W--- w-- t-- l--- -N-- t--- t- w-- t-- S---- B---?" in the category sports. (the answer, which we got right away, was The Patriots).
After the group challenge we moved on to the crossword puzzle game, where you're given 20 minutes each to complete 3 crossword puzzles, and the three people who do it the most quickly and accurately compete on a final puzzle in the front of the room. I didn't even finish any of the puzzles, but I came very close on the first one. I did somewhat better on the Sudoku version of this later in the day. I finished every one of those puzzles in the time limit. Alas, everyone else there was much better, too, and the lady who ended up winning was consistently finishing the puzzles in two or three minutes.
It was a fun way to spend the day, even if I wasn't nearly as good at puzzles as most of the people there. It's fun to stretch your brain a bit. I just wish a bit more time could be devoted to the group competition, since that's my favorite part of the entire day.
Showing posts with label games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label games. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Crabble!
One of the first things we did when I came to visit Kevin in DC way back in 2008 was go to an all-you-can crab place. I'd never had crabs before, and Kevin was excited to share with me one of his favorite foods. I had three crabs that afternoon, while Kevin sat at the table and ate crabs for three hours.
We still make sure to eat crabs once a year, but this has changed from something we go out to do to a party we throw at our house. Where I can drink beer and hang out friends and eat something other than crabs which are not, in my opinion, worth the effort.
With more friends and tighter schedules, it's becoming harder to schedule things like this. Especially in the summer. But we did find a weekend when most people were free, and when Ben, Autumn, and Alex were able to come down from NYC. The addition of out-of-town guests morphed this from an afternoon party to a full weekend extravaganza.
Ben and Autumn arrived at our house late on Friday night. We had a few beers and visited for a bit, but it wasn't long before exhaustion took over and we went to bed. The next morning we had plans to meet the rest of our group at the National Building Museum for their "beach" exhibit: essentially a gigantic ball pit. We woke up early, and I made shakshuka for breakfast. I've been wanting to make it since we went to NYC last month, and we finally had guests I could make it for. We'll get better flatbread next time, but it was enough of a success that I'm putting it in the rotation.
We ended up at the museum half an hour before it opened. This was good. The exhibit is popular, and by getting there so early we were close to the head of the line, able to get tickets and go right in. Kevin hung back to give tickets to the other half of the group, and we spent some time playing in the ball pit. It was enormous and almost waist deep in some places. I had a really hard time standing up once I'd sat down, or even keeping my head above the balls. After the novelty wore off we wandered around the rest of the museum, which had some pretty cool architectural models and a fun exhibit on the differences between houses and homes, as presented through the history of housing in America.
Just before noon, Kevin and I departed to pick up the crabs. We went to the Fish Market, which wasn't as big as I'd been expecting. It was really cool. Boats full of fish pull up to the dock and you buy seafood right off of them. Then it was off to get a keg and prepare the shrimp boil. The shrimp boil was a great addition to this party, especially for people like me who aren't too fond of crabs. Basically, you boil a bunch of potatoes, corn, onions, sausage, and shrimp in water that's been heavily seasoned with Old Bay. It's just a tad spicy and all around delicious and easy to eat.
People started arriving around 3, and we sat in the backyard, eating and drinking beer, until some time after 7. We had 16 people at our house, and I'm actually a little surprised we managed to fit that many in the backyard. But with two tables it worked out pretty well. Still, our parties are beginning to outgrow our house. I think it's time to start thinking about upsizing. (No, it's not. But it will be before too much longer.)
When the sun went down (well, a little before) we transitioned to beer pong. Alex and I did a good job of crushing other teams for a while. Then Autumn and I had a good winning streak until I abandoned her to get some sleep.
At one point, the guys became convinced that we were going to run out of beer. Several of them spent a long time taking turns lifting the keg and trying to determine how much beer was left. It was finally decided that we were nearly out of beer and that we had better go pick up some more while there were still sober drivers around. Ben went can came back with three cases. The next morning we discovered that the keg had not really been in danger of running out. In fact, we didn't actually finish it until some time in the afternoon, and that took a concerted effort (it didn't help that the beer was warm and going flat by then).
Sunday morning was filled with mimosas and board games. We played games we haven't played in years, which was a lot of fun. And we laughed at Kina's attempts to carry a pig ear around the house. Then she tried to bury the pig ear using her bed and Alex's shirt. At which point we noticed that Alex's shirt was damp and smelled. As did Kina's dog bed. We couldn't figure out if it was beer or urine (it was probably beer), and rather than running an extensive investigation I threw everything in the washing machine. Which both ruined the dog bed and revealed a mysterious puddle of liquid on the lower shelf of the table behind the bed. I still can't fathom how it happened. It's a very awkward spot to spill a drink, but it's not like peeing there made any more sense. We cleaned it up and spent some time reminiscing about the other mystery puddles from our drunken adventures over the years. I don't think this one will ever be solved.
People started drifting out in the afternoon. We miraculously got the house cleaned up in less than three hours, which I believe is some sort of record for Kevin and me. Usually it takes a week to get the house back in shape. But with the cleaning people coming to mop and dust the next day, I was motivated to clean up as much as I could.
And now we rest until Hallowiener. After which I'm seriously considering taking the Monday off to help recover.
We still make sure to eat crabs once a year, but this has changed from something we go out to do to a party we throw at our house. Where I can drink beer and hang out friends and eat something other than crabs which are not, in my opinion, worth the effort.
With more friends and tighter schedules, it's becoming harder to schedule things like this. Especially in the summer. But we did find a weekend when most people were free, and when Ben, Autumn, and Alex were able to come down from NYC. The addition of out-of-town guests morphed this from an afternoon party to a full weekend extravaganza.
Ben and Autumn arrived at our house late on Friday night. We had a few beers and visited for a bit, but it wasn't long before exhaustion took over and we went to bed. The next morning we had plans to meet the rest of our group at the National Building Museum for their "beach" exhibit: essentially a gigantic ball pit. We woke up early, and I made shakshuka for breakfast. I've been wanting to make it since we went to NYC last month, and we finally had guests I could make it for. We'll get better flatbread next time, but it was enough of a success that I'm putting it in the rotation.
We ended up at the museum half an hour before it opened. This was good. The exhibit is popular, and by getting there so early we were close to the head of the line, able to get tickets and go right in. Kevin hung back to give tickets to the other half of the group, and we spent some time playing in the ball pit. It was enormous and almost waist deep in some places. I had a really hard time standing up once I'd sat down, or even keeping my head above the balls. After the novelty wore off we wandered around the rest of the museum, which had some pretty cool architectural models and a fun exhibit on the differences between houses and homes, as presented through the history of housing in America.
Just before noon, Kevin and I departed to pick up the crabs. We went to the Fish Market, which wasn't as big as I'd been expecting. It was really cool. Boats full of fish pull up to the dock and you buy seafood right off of them. Then it was off to get a keg and prepare the shrimp boil. The shrimp boil was a great addition to this party, especially for people like me who aren't too fond of crabs. Basically, you boil a bunch of potatoes, corn, onions, sausage, and shrimp in water that's been heavily seasoned with Old Bay. It's just a tad spicy and all around delicious and easy to eat.
People started arriving around 3, and we sat in the backyard, eating and drinking beer, until some time after 7. We had 16 people at our house, and I'm actually a little surprised we managed to fit that many in the backyard. But with two tables it worked out pretty well. Still, our parties are beginning to outgrow our house. I think it's time to start thinking about upsizing. (No, it's not. But it will be before too much longer.)
When the sun went down (well, a little before) we transitioned to beer pong. Alex and I did a good job of crushing other teams for a while. Then Autumn and I had a good winning streak until I abandoned her to get some sleep.
At one point, the guys became convinced that we were going to run out of beer. Several of them spent a long time taking turns lifting the keg and trying to determine how much beer was left. It was finally decided that we were nearly out of beer and that we had better go pick up some more while there were still sober drivers around. Ben went can came back with three cases. The next morning we discovered that the keg had not really been in danger of running out. In fact, we didn't actually finish it until some time in the afternoon, and that took a concerted effort (it didn't help that the beer was warm and going flat by then).
Sunday morning was filled with mimosas and board games. We played games we haven't played in years, which was a lot of fun. And we laughed at Kina's attempts to carry a pig ear around the house. Then she tried to bury the pig ear using her bed and Alex's shirt. At which point we noticed that Alex's shirt was damp and smelled. As did Kina's dog bed. We couldn't figure out if it was beer or urine (it was probably beer), and rather than running an extensive investigation I threw everything in the washing machine. Which both ruined the dog bed and revealed a mysterious puddle of liquid on the lower shelf of the table behind the bed. I still can't fathom how it happened. It's a very awkward spot to spill a drink, but it's not like peeing there made any more sense. We cleaned it up and spent some time reminiscing about the other mystery puddles from our drunken adventures over the years. I don't think this one will ever be solved.
People started drifting out in the afternoon. We miraculously got the house cleaned up in less than three hours, which I believe is some sort of record for Kevin and me. Usually it takes a week to get the house back in shape. But with the cleaning people coming to mop and dust the next day, I was motivated to clean up as much as I could.
And now we rest until Hallowiener. After which I'm seriously considering taking the Monday off to help recover.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Good Beginnings
2015 started out perfectly.
As always, we went down to Zach and Sarah's for their New Year's Eve party. Kevin and I ended up heading down pretty early in the hopes that it would be easier to find a parking space. This worked perfectly, as we found a spot right by their building. Jen and Steve arrived before too long, and we ate delicious enchiladas and exchanged presents before the rest of the guests arrived.
New Year's Eve is a time for drinking games. Specifically, it's the one time a year we play something called Rage Cage. Mostly because it takes a whole year to work back up to this game. There's a lot of beer involved. It's also a fairly lopsided game, meaning that one or two people bear the brunt of the drinking, while the rest have to make it up with some beer pong afterwards.
I had spent most of the day napping and taking it easy in the hopes that I would actually be awake at midnight this year (I fell asleep at 11:59 last year). My strategy worked, because I was actually the last one awake this year. I was very proud of myself for that.
We spent the entire next day drinking mimosas and playing the Game of Thrones board game. It took about five hours to play Game of Thrones, though an hour and a half of that was just reading the rules. Hopefully it won't take as long next time. Assuming there is a next time.
I'd taken Friday off from work because it seemed silly to go in for a single day. This ended up being the best decision I ever made. Kevin and I spent three whole days laying on the couch. I read and he played his video game and we basically just lounged around. It was a perfect, lazy vacation, and a great way to get over the cold I'd been fighting since Christmas Eve (sleep deprivation + travel = sick).
We did get out of the house a few times, to take my car into the shop and pick it back up the next day. And I went out to buy the next few Wheel of Time books. But mostly we just hibernated in pjs and blankets. And now I feel ready for whatever 2015 brings. Hopefully it's mostly good stuff, like 2014.
As always, we went down to Zach and Sarah's for their New Year's Eve party. Kevin and I ended up heading down pretty early in the hopes that it would be easier to find a parking space. This worked perfectly, as we found a spot right by their building. Jen and Steve arrived before too long, and we ate delicious enchiladas and exchanged presents before the rest of the guests arrived.
New Year's Eve is a time for drinking games. Specifically, it's the one time a year we play something called Rage Cage. Mostly because it takes a whole year to work back up to this game. There's a lot of beer involved. It's also a fairly lopsided game, meaning that one or two people bear the brunt of the drinking, while the rest have to make it up with some beer pong afterwards.
I had spent most of the day napping and taking it easy in the hopes that I would actually be awake at midnight this year (I fell asleep at 11:59 last year). My strategy worked, because I was actually the last one awake this year. I was very proud of myself for that.
We spent the entire next day drinking mimosas and playing the Game of Thrones board game. It took about five hours to play Game of Thrones, though an hour and a half of that was just reading the rules. Hopefully it won't take as long next time. Assuming there is a next time.
 |
| How we spent New Year's Day |
We did get out of the house a few times, to take my car into the shop and pick it back up the next day. And I went out to buy the next few Wheel of Time books. But mostly we just hibernated in pjs and blankets. And now I feel ready for whatever 2015 brings. Hopefully it's mostly good stuff, like 2014.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Puzzlefest
It turns out that a competitive crossword puzzle competition is our idea of a good time. If we didn't realize we were nerds before, this knowledge definitely solidifies it.
This past Saturday was the annual Arlington puzzle festival, and we were able to attend for the first time ever. Historically it's the same weekend as Hallowiener, and Hallowiener takes precedence.
We arrived bright and early for the group puzzle competition, which was surprisingly hard. There were some word puzzles followed by a more complicated puzzle that involved 32 trivia questions, the answers to which had to be grouped together according to rules we had to figure out. For example, mail, harmony, commerce, and bay were all in group E, because sticking an e in front of each word results in an internet thing. Meanwhile dead, north, and Irish were all in group C because they're all seas. We didn't start to figure all of this out until close to the end of the time limit, so we didn't get as many points as we could have. It was a lot of fun to stretch our brains out, even if we didn't ultimately do very well.
Then it was the crossword puzzle competition, which I did horribly at. Kevin and Zach finished the first two puzzles in the time limit, and Sarah almost did, but I had a whole empty section even on the easiest puzzle. By the last puzzle I was able to figure out maybe 4 words.
We decided not to stick around for the Sudoku competition in the afternoon, because we had too much other stuff to do. Maybe next year we'll be able to spend the entire day doing puzzles. Even if we only go for the group competition again, it'll be a lot of fun.
This past Saturday was the annual Arlington puzzle festival, and we were able to attend for the first time ever. Historically it's the same weekend as Hallowiener, and Hallowiener takes precedence.
We arrived bright and early for the group puzzle competition, which was surprisingly hard. There were some word puzzles followed by a more complicated puzzle that involved 32 trivia questions, the answers to which had to be grouped together according to rules we had to figure out. For example, mail, harmony, commerce, and bay were all in group E, because sticking an e in front of each word results in an internet thing. Meanwhile dead, north, and Irish were all in group C because they're all seas. We didn't start to figure all of this out until close to the end of the time limit, so we didn't get as many points as we could have. It was a lot of fun to stretch our brains out, even if we didn't ultimately do very well.
Then it was the crossword puzzle competition, which I did horribly at. Kevin and Zach finished the first two puzzles in the time limit, and Sarah almost did, but I had a whole empty section even on the easiest puzzle. By the last puzzle I was able to figure out maybe 4 words.
We decided not to stick around for the Sudoku competition in the afternoon, because we had too much other stuff to do. Maybe next year we'll be able to spend the entire day doing puzzles. Even if we only go for the group competition again, it'll be a lot of fun.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
The Official Start of Summer
I've always been amused by the idea that summer officially starts with Memorial Day Weekend, almost a month before the actual start of summer. Of course, it makes sense for any number of reasons. This was always when school let out for the summer, so it marked the beginning of those blissful months of freedom. The weather is starting to seriously heat up, which makes it feel like summer. It also marks the beginning of what promises to be a friend and activity filled few months for us. So it makes sense to mark this as the beginning of the season.
We had a bunch of friends over for a barbeque on Sunday to celebrate Memorial Day. Though if we're being honest it was mostly to celebrate the fact that the weather was perfect and we didn't have to go to work on Monday. Plus we hadn't seen anyone since the wedding.
We were expecting 12, maybe 13 people. And as always, we got too much food. But then we only had eight people at the BBQ, which meant that we had way too much food. We're going to be eating chicken thighs and drumsticks for the rest of the week. It's a good thing I like leftovers so much.
It was a lot of fun to see our friends after all the craziness of the wedding and the honeymoon. Settling back in to normal life is exactly what I wanted to do. We ate burgers and chicken and drank beer and bourbon and played some games. It was a perfect afternoon.
On Monday, we went to Rappahannock winery with Kevin's mom and some family friends to drink wine and have a picnic. The winery was a little farther out than we usually travel, but the wine was delicious. And there were a bunch of dogs running around begging for attention.
The rest of summer promises to be both busy and fun. We already have plans for almost every weekend in June. After that, my brother is staying with us for a week to attend GMU's orientation and find an apartment before he officially moves here in August. I'm looking forward to spending more time with him and with friends who moved here at the end of last summer. It should prove to be pretty epic.
We had a bunch of friends over for a barbeque on Sunday to celebrate Memorial Day. Though if we're being honest it was mostly to celebrate the fact that the weather was perfect and we didn't have to go to work on Monday. Plus we hadn't seen anyone since the wedding.
We were expecting 12, maybe 13 people. And as always, we got too much food. But then we only had eight people at the BBQ, which meant that we had way too much food. We're going to be eating chicken thighs and drumsticks for the rest of the week. It's a good thing I like leftovers so much.
It was a lot of fun to see our friends after all the craziness of the wedding and the honeymoon. Settling back in to normal life is exactly what I wanted to do. We ate burgers and chicken and drank beer and bourbon and played some games. It was a perfect afternoon.
On Monday, we went to Rappahannock winery with Kevin's mom and some family friends to drink wine and have a picnic. The winery was a little farther out than we usually travel, but the wine was delicious. And there were a bunch of dogs running around begging for attention.
The rest of summer promises to be both busy and fun. We already have plans for almost every weekend in June. After that, my brother is staying with us for a week to attend GMU's orientation and find an apartment before he officially moves here in August. I'm looking forward to spending more time with him and with friends who moved here at the end of last summer. It should prove to be pretty epic.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Spite and Malice
Even though I no longer live in Colorado, I still listen to a Denver-based radio station every day at work. It's partly a familiarity thing (I grew up listening to these DJs) and partly because I like the time difference. I enjoy actually being coherent during the "Much too early for a question question" in the morning show. I like being able to leave around the time they play the three themed songs at three. And if I do have to work late, hearing the "Commuter comedy" around the time I'm leaving the office makes me feel a bit better about life in general.
But, since I do live 2000 miles away from the broadcast station of this studio, I have to stream it using iHeart radio, which isn't my favorite thing ever. They use the station's commercial breaks for different kinds of promotions. Some of these are Top 40 songs that I have very little interest in (but, hey, at least I've heard the songs on Glee before those kids sing them now). Lately, they've been replaying parts of old interviews in an effort to get me to download (and probably pay for) them.
This means that several times a day, I hear the same conversations between the DJ and Al Gore, Melissa Etheridge, and Alan Alda. To the point that I basically have these interviews memorized now.
During one interview, the DJ asks Alan Alda the secret to his long marriage (50 years!). He responds, "Spite and Malice", a card game that he and his wife play every day. Well I finally got curious enough to look up the rules to this game. If he attributes his long marriage to it, it's probably worth learning to play.
The instructions are here, if you're interested.
It didn't take me long to realize that I do know Spite and Malice. The difference is that I call it SkipBo. And I already play it with Kevin and our other friends pretty frequently.
In fact, we spent most of the morning leading up to Zach and Sarah's wedding playing this game (although our deck had no tens, thanks to Kevin's mischievousness). So if this is the secret to a long and happy marriage, I guess it bodes well for them. Make sure you play lots of SkipBo, guys!
But, since I do live 2000 miles away from the broadcast station of this studio, I have to stream it using iHeart radio, which isn't my favorite thing ever. They use the station's commercial breaks for different kinds of promotions. Some of these are Top 40 songs that I have very little interest in (but, hey, at least I've heard the songs on Glee before those kids sing them now). Lately, they've been replaying parts of old interviews in an effort to get me to download (and probably pay for) them.
This means that several times a day, I hear the same conversations between the DJ and Al Gore, Melissa Etheridge, and Alan Alda. To the point that I basically have these interviews memorized now.
During one interview, the DJ asks Alan Alda the secret to his long marriage (50 years!). He responds, "Spite and Malice", a card game that he and his wife play every day. Well I finally got curious enough to look up the rules to this game. If he attributes his long marriage to it, it's probably worth learning to play.
The instructions are here, if you're interested.
It didn't take me long to realize that I do know Spite and Malice. The difference is that I call it SkipBo. And I already play it with Kevin and our other friends pretty frequently.
In fact, we spent most of the morning leading up to Zach and Sarah's wedding playing this game (although our deck had no tens, thanks to Kevin's mischievousness). So if this is the secret to a long and happy marriage, I guess it bodes well for them. Make sure you play lots of SkipBo, guys!
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