poll: board games

I'm seated at a table in the basement of a friends' parents' house, around 12:30 a.m. My head is fuzzy because of the late hour; I'm usually in bed two hours earlier.

"I've got sheep! Who wants wood for sheep?"

"How about a rock?"

"I don't rocks, I need wood."

"How about some wheat?"

"You have WHEAT? What do you want for your wheat?"

We're playing The Settlers of Catan, a board game in which players establish roads, cities and commerce on a remote island. I like it better than the usual games that this group plays on Friday nights because it's a "nurturing" type of game rather than the "betray and stomp out your enemies" type that tends to be more popular. There is some betraying and stomping, of course, but at least it's subtler.

I think it's very cool that this group of friends have gotten together every Friday night for years. The exact individuals change from week to week, but a core group has made it a regular part of their lives. Jeff used to play Magic with them, but then dropped out for a long while. I'd come sometimes, but would usually read on the couch or play/work on my laptop.

My family used to play board games pretty often. Our favourites: Candyland, Stock Ticker, Monopoly, Masterpiece (I think that was the name? art auction game), Clue. I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

Jeff and I haven't played many board games until recently, when we picked up Scrabble and started playing, at least as of the last visit, Settlers and Puerto Rico at the cottage. I tend not to like battle strategy games like Risk and Diplomacy, or games where part of the strategy is making deals with other players and then betraying them when the time is right. Jeff has accurately summarized my general board game and computer game preference as one leaning toward "nurturing": helping villages and cities grow, helping Sims manage their work and love lives, taking care of a virtual pet.

Speaking of which, Aspyr is coming out with a virtual pet expansion package for The Sims! Can't wait!





Yesterday my female Sim character, Candy Flirtatia, did hit it off pretty well with an exotic-looking hunk named Ocean (yes, really) in a pinball shop in town. I played The Sims last night while the others were playing Puerto Rico. The guys mocked my fascination with my little virtual people, but some of them drifted over out of curiosity and got hooked into watching for a while.

Amusing to compare my technique for getting a couple together to their technique. While I focussed on establishing a good rapport and trust between Candy and Ocean before even thinking of progressing towards any kind of physical intimacy, my observing companions were mainly interested in seeing how quickly Ocean could get Candy in bed. :-D

Sadly, Candy got distracted by a tragic clown, an annoying figure that invades the character's house if you let any of her emotion/wellbeing scores fall below a certain level. After he showed up, the clown spent all his time following Candy around, trying to cheer her up in annoying ways and trodding on Candy's and Ocean's private moments. I combed the Sims message boards for clues on how to get rid of the clown, and finally succeeded by setting him on fire.

I've never liked clowns.

But I digress. Back to board games and today's poll question...

Poll: What were/are your favourite board games?

Answer in Blatherchat

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Settlers game at Vartan's & Hrach's place with Vartan, Hrach, Scott, Jeff, Walter, John, Mark. Reid left earlier in the evening.
	Luisa & Scott at a Greek restaurant last night.
	Reid, during a game of Puerto Rico.

woohoo!

So I took my Articles of Dissolution forms and permission letters and payment to the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations yesterday, waited in line for about 20 minutes. After much hemming and hawing and checking of records, the woman finally relented and stamped an approval on my copy of the Articles. I swear it caused her pain; she was so obviously reluctant to let me go free without further bureaucracy.

When she handed me my papers and said, "That's it, you can go", it took ENORMOUS restraint for me not to jump in the air and cheer and kiss everyone in the room. Well, maybe not everyone.

In theory, I shouldn't be getting any more harassing calls or letters from the government about anything Inkspot-related ever again. I'd love to have a ritual "burning of the corporate seal and minute book" party in the near future, but with my luck I'll find out I need both items someday. Does anyone use their corporate seal? I seriously want to know. I don't think it would burn very well, anyway. The minute book, however, would make a fine blaze.

Some people have asked me if I plan to ever start up another Inkspot or Inklings, particularly since my non-compete contract with Xlibris (which forbids me from doing exactly that) expires next year.

My unhesitating answer: No.

While I loved working on Inkspot, at least until things got brain-numbing, I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying being able to finally focus on my own writing. I also enjoy not working 12 hours a day, the constant stress. Sometimes I look back through my Blatherings archives to when things were the worst; those days seem so far away now.





Jodi, Allison and I went out for sushi and a movie in Richmond Hill last night. We saw Simone, which is about a producer who uses a computer-generated actress for the lead in his movie. General consensus: entertaining, but not enough was done with the idea. The best part of the movie was seeing the Two Towers trailer! It was the first time I had ever seen it on the big screen. It looks VERYVERY cool. Also saw the trailer for Chicago which looks intriguing.

Links/News:

Spam makes up 36% of all e-mail traffic. Some predict that it could take over the majority of message traffic by the end of 2002. (Source: ZDNet)

Check out this trailer for Comedian, which is pretty funny. You'll recognize the voice of the guy in the booth for sure. :-) Thanks to Jeff for the link.

Blue French Fries? (from BoingBoing)

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Sara on the merry-go-round at Centre Island yesterday.
	Sunrise at the cottage last week.
	Zoë during my visit earlier this month. Zoë turned 1 year old yesterday! Here's the Blathering entry in 2001 where I posted her birth announcement.

poll: amusement parks

I went to Centre Island yesterday with Ruth, Sara, Annie and my father. I really should go over to the island more often. The short ferry ride is fun, and once you're on the other side you can wander the island at will, picnicking or snoozing on the grass or sneaking crusts of bread to the hordes of ducks. I probably wouldn't go on a regular basis during the summer season, when it's swarming with strollers and impatient parents, but opt for a run in cooler weather.

As some of my friends already know, I get motion sickness pretty easily. I can't even watch Jeff play Doom or Quake, let alone play it myself. One of the reasons I fall asleep so readily in moving vehicles is because I developed the habit when I was much younger, in self-defense against my tendency to become carsick. As you might expect, rollercoaster-type of rides are not my thing. Even ferris wheels sometimes make me sick.





I found it impossible to say no to Annie and Sara, however, when they eagerly asked me to accompany them on various rides. We went on the ferris wheel twice, the rollercoaster once, the logjam ride twice. To give you an idea of what I'm like on rides, even kiddy thrill rides, here's a scene from the first time that Sara and I did the logjam ride, where "log" cars carried us, bobbing like corks in a river, up a steep slope and then whooshing down the other side with a tremendous splash at the bottom:

ME: (screaming)

SARA: Auntie Debbie, we haven't started going down yet!

Poll: Do you like amusement parks?

What do you like most? Least? Do you like rollercoasters? Do you prefer to stick to the exhibits? What's your favourite amusement park food? What's your favourite amusement park?

Answer in Blatherchat

Links/news:

My friend Michelle still uses her Newton. Looks like there are other Newton enthusiasts as well, despite the fact that Apple discontinued it in 1998. (Source: Wired)

Want an easy US$10,000? Name your child "Turok", after a video game, and Acclaim Entertainment Inc. will reward you. (Source: GlobeTechnology.com)

In an attempt to return to profitability, Indigo plans to close six of its stores. (Source: Canoe)

A year ago:

Beachcombing: Wandering the beaches at the Wickaninnish Inn.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	My father and Annie at Centre Island yesterday.
	Annie, Ruth and Sara on the ferris wheel.
	Dad serving birthday cake with Sara's assistance.
	Sara's and Annie's guinea pigs, doing what they do best: eating. Fluffy and Stripe have expanded considerably in girth since they were bought in April. Hard to believe that guinea pigs roam wild somewhere in the world. They might as well just have "EAT ME" tattooed across their furry little foreheads, don't you think?

lost in space

I did go for a swim after writing yesterday's Blathering, but only after a brain-sizzling sauna bake. Cottage weather has definitely careened off full-out summer and is hurtling down the blissfully bracing ramp that is autumn. I love autumn.

We dropped Harry and Jean and an unhappily tranquilized Mackerel off at the airport yesterday before heading home to downtown living and high speed access again. Yay for the access! I can read Allison's California report without having to wait ages for the graphics to download.

Sorely behind in e-mail, but nothing like my Inkspot days. I was on the Filkhaven IRC shortly after returning from California and moaned about having 500+ e-mails waiting in my Inbox. "500 e-mails after a week away? LUXURY!" scoffed one Filkhaven visitor. "I dream of having only 500 e-mails when I get back from a vacation!" said another. And it's true...how quickly I forget that I used to get 200-300 e-mails on a daily basis when I worked on Inkspot.

Even so, 800 e-mails (the total has crept up while I was at the cottage) is a lot for me.





Bryan Fullerton dropped by to chat and to give Jeff his much-anticipated copy of Jaguar, and then Jeff and I headed off to Parki's for dinner.

Holy toledo, is Parki's newly revamped kitchen amazing! Here's what it used to look like. And here's what it looks like now. You can find out more about Parki's renovation project here.

Parki cooked a wonderful dinner: barbecued marlin, curry potatoes, salad with homemade dressing. Chocolate and raspberry gelato with fruit for dessert. Yummm. We went to a nearby coffee shop to chat (I had banana cream hot chocolate), and then dropped by HMV.

Rand had told me that the new Aimee Mann CD, "Lost In Space", was out. Parki and I both picked up copies, and Parki and Jeff also bought the new Coldplay album. When I got home and opened the Aimee Mann CD, I was delighted to discover that the cover image and illustrations in the cover package had been done by Seth, a Toronto artist that Rand introduced me to a while back; I have Seth's first book, It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken.

Today is my father's 71st birthday! I'm going to Centre Island with Ruth, Sara, Annie and my father today, then to my sister's for the birthday party.





Links/news:

Barenaked Ladies lead singer Stephen Page is partnering with the cofounders of Shift magazine to relaunch an Ontario wine magazine. (Source: Masthead Online)

Universal Press Syndicate is launching a database which will allow you to search for comics and editorial cartoons. (Source: Yahoo News)

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Sign we passed in Huntsville, on the way back from the cottage. Interesting use of spacing.
	All the Canada Post trucks have Amazon.ca advertising now, must have cost a bundle.
	A rather silly sign in Kelsey's, where Allison, Jodi, Rand & I had dinner a few weeks ago.

cottage leaving

Going home today! Pretty cold on the lake this morning; I'm bundled up in a t-shirt, sweatshirt, thick fleece vest, long pants as I type this. If I go swimming this morning, it will only be after a very long frying-up in the sauna, I think. I've been swimming twice a day since arriving at the cottage last week. One very long one in the morning, somewhat shorter in the afternoon.





Jeff and JBR are a bit concerned that I might get hit by a motorboat since I tend to swim out a fair distance from the cottage shore. Since they do have a point, I've been trying to think of ways around this. I refuse to wear anything on my head, so count out fluorescent orange caps, sorry. Another solution would be to tie a piece of string around my waist, and have the other drag along a brightly-coloured float or lifejacket. This could also be handy if I run into trouble with no one around. If anyone has other suggestions, please feel free to let me know!





Yesterday, JBR got a call from Don Lloyd, an old-time cottager at the other end of the lake. Turns out he had a computer problem. JBR passed the info to Jeff, who volunteered to go visit Don. This prompted Ginny to ask to go as well, since she hadn't seen Don's revamped cottage interior yet. Then JBR wanted to go to say hi to Don. Harry wanted to go to check out Don's computer. In the end, we all ended up going except for Jean, who opted to stay behind at our cottage to work and nap. I suppose I could have done that too, except it was my last day at the cottage, and I hadn't visited with Don yet. I think Don was tickled at having such an enthusiastic tech support response (or maybe he was horrified, but he hid it well).

Don Lloyd is one of my favourite people at the lake. He spends the whole summer here, writing and painting and doing wood-carvings. Crusty and down-to-earth, straightforward and generous. And incredibly motivated and creative, as you can tell from the photos on this page. I'll have to include some photos of Don's paintings and wood carvings in a future Blathering.





In the evening, we went to Bartlett Lodge with Dan and Helen Gibson. Jeff and I told Dan about seeing the "Dan Gibson shrine" in the Prince Hotel in Tokyo last summer, along with the Japanese bio. During the conversation, I also discovered that Dan Gibson had invented a type of parabolic microphone, something I hadn't realized. Here's some more info about this incredibly talented man.

Going home today!





Links/News:

Allison's finished her California trip report.

Chris Conway has launched his own Livejournal.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	JBR setting off early one morning to get the Globe & Mail newspaper at the Portage Store. Click on picture to see larger image. Note the coffee cup. :-)
	The mechanical elevator rig that Don Lloyd had set into the steep hill leading up to his cottage. Harry decided to try the elevator while the rest of us opted for the path.
	Sign beside Don's front door.
	Don Lloyd's book, highly recommended for anyone planning to do a canoe trip in the park.
	Embroidery that Don designed (adapting it from the cover of his book) and sewed himself, onto a sweatshirt he was wearing when we visited. I was pretty impressed.
	Don Lloyd.