We spent this rainy afternoon sitting in a cafe with friends playing Trivial Pursuit and drinking coffee, which is the best way to spend a rainy afternoon that I can think of. Bouldin Creek Cafe, an Austin fixture, has moved down the road to a new and spacious location - I must admit, I miss the shabby old one a bit, but it's nice to have the extra space! And they don't mind you ordering two drinks and sitting there over a game for three hours, which is downright wonderful of them.
Anyway, it made me think of all the hours I've spent over the years playing various board games. I think they bring out a person's true character - or, at least, certain sides of a person's true character. Some people practice quiet brilliance, where they lie low for the majority of the game and then surge up from behind to win; some people sulk and are sore losers; some people are surprisingly magnanimous; some people dance around singing "Nyah nyah nyah," songs when they win (I'm looking at you, Ally). I am not competitive. At all. In fact, I am anti-competitive. I like to beat my own goals and personal records, not compete against anyone else - I fall apart when placed in head-to-head competition against another individual. If I win, I feel horribly guilty and unworthy, and if I lose I feel horribly miserable and unworthy. I can't win. Or lose. (Har har). My favourite games are those that you can play collaboratively or in teams - or those where all the other players are light-hearted and not taking the game too seriously, which doesn't often happen. Usually I seem to be playing with a bunch of whooping, shrieking savages, who see me, inexplicably, as an oversensitive, over-apologising board-game-wimp. For some unknown reason. Yes, all right.
Monopoly is the ultimate test of character, I think. Everyone has his own version of the rules and defends them to the death. (One of my house rules states that all tax money goes in the centre and you get it when you land on Free Parking - does anyone else do this?). The mildest people become frighteningly cutthroat. The most unlikely people show a flair for subterfuge and money-laundering worthy of the Godfather. Understandably, you have to be in the right frame of mind to play Monopoly. LOML and I don't play often, as he is a ruthless Donald-Trump-type player and makes me cry. And when I'm winning I keep apologising for it and it drives him nuts. We weren't much good at chess together, either, partly because he's really good at it and partly because I become way too emotionally invested in the pieces and give them names and get sad when they are taken. I was on the chess team at school, but not for long - I tended to protect my knights more than my queens because I liked the little horse figurines. I don't think I have the right brain for chess.
There are some games that we enjoy equally, however - among them, Carcassonne and Settlers, the best board games on the planet (we also play Warhammer, which is a little more embarrassing. And yes, I played Dungeons and Dragons in high school). whole weekends get swallowed up by these two. Do you play board games? Which ones? (And did you ever name your chess pieces?)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Goodbye, 2010!
I am feeling so much better today - such a relief! I've even managed to get dressed, which is a victory at the moment, believe me. And have moved from a horizontal position to a semi-vertical one. All good advances.
I have a bloggy tradition of posting a round-up of the year's major events at the end of the year. This one is a little late and perhaps a little cold-medication-y, but here it is ... 2010 as was. Thank you so much for your comments, support and friendship over the past year. Here goes!
1) I edited The Cry of the Go-Away Bird ready for publication - and took my first official author photos!
Crick in the neck after this one.
2) A momentous occasion in a vintage-lover's life - my sister-in-law's mother kindly gave me her entire wardrobe from the '60s onwards, as she was cleaning out all her closets. I can't tell you how exciting this was.
3) I went back to a publishing company at which I used to work (as assistant editor) and did some freelance work for them. I really, really enjoyed it. It was great to see everyone again, and it was fun to be back in an office-commuting-buying-lots-of-takeaway-coffee environment after a couple of years of working from home.
4) I had my remaining wisdom teeth removed and experienced the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. But now I have no wisdom teeth, which is a definite bonus (hate those evil little buggers).
5) I walked (in an ungainly manner) in a vintage fashion show to raise money for Endometriosis New Zealand.
Awkward smirk.
6) I turned 25.
7) I got my full New Zealand driver's licence! Hooray, hurrah. Although now I need to get my Texan licence.
8) I revised my second book three times. Yep. But I'm relatively happy with where it is now.
9) I visited Austin, Texas for the first time, on a reconnaissance trip to get to know the city and to find an apartment. I loved it.
10) I also visited San Francisco for the first time - and I loved it too!
11) One of my very best friends, Hannah, got married, and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid.
12) I saw my book's cover for the very first time!
13) I had my first breakfast tacos. Seriously, this deserves a mention.
14) I visited Auckland for the first time which, after eight years in New Zealand, seems a little odd.
15) This is a fairly obvious one, but - LOML and I moved from New Zealand to Texas! Originally we thought it was to be for just a year or two, but now it looks like a semi-permanent move. Yay!
16) As a side-effect of this, we packed up all our belongings (including the famed Mink) and shipped them to the other side of the world, where we unpacked them again in our new apartment.
17) My mum visited us in Texas and helped hugely with unpacking and the settling-in process.
18) I received the first Advance Reading Copies of my book - and then the book itself!
19) I made some wonderful new Austin friends.
20) Publicity for the book began, and I got my very first review.
21) We had our first Christmas in Texas!
22) And we visited New York for New Year's.
We made some new friends.
Happy New Year, everyone!
I have a bloggy tradition of posting a round-up of the year's major events at the end of the year. This one is a little late and perhaps a little cold-medication-y, but here it is ... 2010 as was. Thank you so much for your comments, support and friendship over the past year. Here goes!
1) I edited The Cry of the Go-Away Bird ready for publication - and took my first official author photos!
Crick in the neck after this one.
2) A momentous occasion in a vintage-lover's life - my sister-in-law's mother kindly gave me her entire wardrobe from the '60s onwards, as she was cleaning out all her closets. I can't tell you how exciting this was.
3) I went back to a publishing company at which I used to work (as assistant editor) and did some freelance work for them. I really, really enjoyed it. It was great to see everyone again, and it was fun to be back in an office-commuting-buying-lots-of-takeaway-coffee environment after a couple of years of working from home.
4) I had my remaining wisdom teeth removed and experienced the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. But now I have no wisdom teeth, which is a definite bonus (hate those evil little buggers).
5) I walked (in an ungainly manner) in a vintage fashion show to raise money for Endometriosis New Zealand.
Awkward smirk.
6) I turned 25.
7) I got my full New Zealand driver's licence! Hooray, hurrah. Although now I need to get my Texan licence.
8) I revised my second book three times. Yep. But I'm relatively happy with where it is now.
9) I visited Austin, Texas for the first time, on a reconnaissance trip to get to know the city and to find an apartment. I loved it.
10) I also visited San Francisco for the first time - and I loved it too!
11) One of my very best friends, Hannah, got married, and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid.
12) I saw my book's cover for the very first time!
13) I had my first breakfast tacos. Seriously, this deserves a mention.
14) I visited Auckland for the first time which, after eight years in New Zealand, seems a little odd.
15) This is a fairly obvious one, but - LOML and I moved from New Zealand to Texas! Originally we thought it was to be for just a year or two, but now it looks like a semi-permanent move. Yay!
16) As a side-effect of this, we packed up all our belongings (including the famed Mink) and shipped them to the other side of the world, where we unpacked them again in our new apartment.
17) My mum visited us in Texas and helped hugely with unpacking and the settling-in process.
18) I received the first Advance Reading Copies of my book - and then the book itself!
19) I made some wonderful new Austin friends.
20) Publicity for the book began, and I got my very first review.
21) We had our first Christmas in Texas!
22) And we visited New York for New Year's.
We made some new friends.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
New York: Day Four
We didn't have much time to wander around on our last day, because we had to catch our flight (and also, erm, because I over-indulged a bit the night before and slept in till almost noon. Oops). We hadn't had a chance to see much of Times Square on New Year's Eve, so we walked back there to have a look. We spent most of our time in the huge Toys 'R' Us, because we are both big kids and love toys and games, and had a burger in Planet Hollywood because, well, it's Times Square.
Barbie! Barbie, Barbie, Barbie. I was so excited.
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