Bananagram Virgins

Posted: July 25, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Diet- comedy | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Games hold a dear place in my heart. Some people would call it an obsession. I would rather play a game than do almost anything else, even eat. Of course you would not like to be playing against me long if I have not eaten. My favorite game is Mah Jongg. At camp we do not have any Mah Jongg so I am playing a camp favorite, Bananagrams.

For those who have never played, it is a scramble-like game without a board and everyone is making their own words that attach together. It is a speed game and you want to use up all your letters first then you yell “peel” and everyone is forced to pick another tile which you have to add to your board. The first person to use all their letters when there are none left on the board wins.

There are a few tricks that really help you win. First is knowing all the two letter words. If you play with someone who has never heard of the words that are the spelling of the letters of the alphabet, like “em” for “m” or “en” for “n” they get very upset with you so having a dictionary or dictionary app is very helpful. Second trick — always use your worst letters like Z, V and Q in the first words you try and make. You can always find a place for an A or S, but when you pull K good luck. The most important strategy is not to be wed to the words you have already made. This is not scrabble, you are allowed to change things around.

At camp this week we have a lot of brilliant scientists so I am having fun teaching them this great game. I am not very popular because I am winning, but I am also creating a big challenge for them to try and beat me. I’m not sure how long it will take them to overthrow me, but I am enjoying these virgins while they are still learning. Sometimes not being a scientist is helpful because long words are not always useful in this game. It is not about making the longest words, just the fastest. There are no extra points for smart words, just some oohs and aahs.

The only unfortunate thing is that we are not playing for money. I would hate to take money from poor college students trying to earn money to go to school, which is the case for most of the counselors working here, but those scientist’s dough, that would be ok. Maybe it’s not that bad we are just playing for bragging rights because I might have been run out of camp by now and I still love being at camp, even more than winning at games.

Calling All Bingo Players

Posted: December 26, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Diet- comedy | Tags: | 1 Comment

This is more of an ad than a blog.  Tomorrow night at 7:00 I am calling Bingo at The Lukes’ frozen yogurt store Graffiti at 751 and 54 in Durham.  Cards will be for sale and the pot will become the prizes for the winners.  It is the perfect thing to do with young and old family members.  For the ones who are driving you crazy you can sit them at a different table.  Cards will be $3 for the whole evening, unless you get there really late and we discount the cards so you can get in the game.  No promises, I will be calling the numbers, not selling the cards.

 

If it were up to me I would play games all day.  I think now with I-phones and I-pads I practically am playing all the time.  But playing games with real live people is so much more fun. I think that loving to play games is a gene you either have or you don’t.  My husband can’t stand to play games, which is really interesting because he has such an analytical mind.

 

My father also hates games, but his brother who is two years younger loves them. As a child I loved when we went to Pawley’s Island with my Uncle and his family because I was always needed to play games with the adults who wanted to play.  At the end of a long session of Risk, My Uncle Wilson, Cousin Brooks and I were usually the only ones left having annihilate all other relatives long before.

 

Neither of my sisters liked playing games with me much because I was enough older that I beat them a lot.  I wonder if I dampened their potential game loving gene or if they never actually had it?  I got my gene from my maternal grandmother who passed it on to my mother and then me.

 

I can remember visiting my Mima in Knoxville, Tennessee when I was five and playing gin rummy with her.  Being competitive, even with her first grandchild, was the way my Mima would play.  She would beat me almost every time and then would sternly hold her pointer finger straight up in the air and say, “No crying.”  I would stifle my tears and re-deal the cards, trying my best to win.  Her domination in Gin rummy did not dampen my love of games and she made me a better player and not a sore sport.

 

My mother would like to play bridge everyday and almost does.  I am glad she kept after me to learn because I love playing it, although I don’t do it as often as I used to.  Mah Jongg is my game addiction.  I could play it everyday and never tire, except if I were playing with tiring people.  Even a losing day of Mah Jongg is better than doing almost anything else.

 

So bring out the inner child in yourself and play Bingo tomorrow, Thursday December 27th in Durham, NC.  If you are too far away call up some friends and play at your house.  Unless you are in Canada you might be able to hear me calling the numbers, I-27, G-45, O-60.  You know I am my own backup PA system.