It's an Exciting World

Adam invited a lot of people over to his apartment for Latkes.  He had the social room and most people showed up a little after time.  We were able to get half way through a board game before people really showed up.  Yutong was nice enough to run the latke production line, and did a great job at it.  We also helped Adam mount his new TV, which was interesting as it was so thin it flexed when handled.  Yutong also really enjoyed peeling off the plastic film on the TV.

George hosted a great holiday themed karaoke party at his place.  I sang the Grinch song.  The others were more prepared, with Lindsay notably rocking it for one of her songs.

We also had a white elephant gift exchange.  Three people brought extra presents, so we had a good set of gifts.  Steph and I were happy with the gifts we got, both of which came from Tina, and Tina was happy with a gift of mine.  People were surprised that I wanted the kitty socks, but they were adorable, and easy to hide when not appropriate.  I am enjoying opening them, and archer likes them as well.

Adam invited a few of us over to Tapt for games.  I got to see Brian and Chris, who I don’t usually game with since I’ve stopped going to Thursday games.  Adam, Chris, and Brian played Feast.  Tina, Tim, and I played ‘Welcome to’ and it was pretty interesting.  It was a dynamic set building game.  We then played some Race for the Galaxy.  Tim, Tina, and I played six rounds of games while the others only played one.  They also took longer for their one round than our six rounds.

We had a good discussion of what the book was about, the ancient narratives it is meant to mirror and change, and the arcs of the more interesting characters.  It was a well written and thought provoking book, and that led to one of the better discussions we’ve had in a while.

I organized some people to play Terraforming Mars online.  I first played with Adam, then later that day with Yutong and Paul on a team.  That weekend we were able to get a group of Yutong, Tina, Amit and myself.  I got last and Yutong had a strong win.  If the game had gone longer I would have caught up very quickly.  I had help from the kitties.

Hasham and I went to Atlanta for the Dreamhack Conference and I stayed a few extra days to spend some time with family.  On Monday we had dinner at Mom and Dads with Jeff, Katie, Kim, Grace, and Fred in attendance.  I enjoyed talking with everyone.  Tuesday, Dad and I went to the club then Mom, Dad, and I did an escape room together.  It wasn’t all that well designed, but it was still fun.

Sunday morning, after playing Tennis with Ricardo where we were both very bad, I met Adam at Tapt.  We played a few rounds of Wingspan, and traded off winning by a ton.  We then headed up to his apartment where he prepared a great dinner for us.  He made some amazing steak, and we had a good time.

Lindsay was kind enough to have me over to MC the newlywed game.  The game went smoothly and we had a good time.  At the end Lindsay and Kevin tied Andrew and Debby.  Lindsay and Kevin won it with the tie breaker.  I look forward to next year’s.