Alumni Weekend

[logisticslad]

Last weekend was Swarthmore's Alumni weekend. it wasn't my class' year to get together, but since I knew many people across the classes and the sci-fi club that I used to be part of always has a gaming/hang out room, I went up for the day on Saturday. I was delighted to see dwvanstone and his handsome beau, eclectic_boy, who arranged for a yummy BBQ, my former housemates grr_plus1 and ruthling, the lovely metasilk with pictures of her son, mst3kforall who is actually in my class, nutmegger and his lovely wife, jedediah who is New Jed to my Jed Classic, and syndicatedebby sans jhp64 who was home with the kids. In addition, I hung out with a number of folk who don't have blogs such as Jim H., Anne M., David SG, Neil O, Sylvia W., and Jay S. It was good to see everyone and recapture memories and reaffirm the camaraderie we had all shared during our college years and beyond.

In the gaming room, I got to watch two games that I had heard of but had not seen. Transamerica looked like it was easy to learn and kind of fun, but did not seem to require much complex strategy. Order of the Stick looked overly involved with too many rules and modifiers, but definitely captured the spirit of the webcomic. I think it would be more fun if everyone actually knew the basics of how to play (which did not seem to be all that intuitive).

In the midst of the heat, I drove over to see blueflamedfire and cuddlebunni3 to drop off stuff for June Pride. My brother had invited me up for a family visit on Sunday, so I decided to do that instead. It was fun to see them and I look forward to seeing their new place. Sunday also turned out well with the rambunctious nephews telling me that they wished that I lived with them all the time (melt). Of course, my brother pointed out that he and I had lived together growing up for quite awhile and that we were both much happier to no longer do so. In any event, the weekend was very centering for me with prepared me to face another week at work.

Comments

[mst3kforall.livejournal.com]

It was wonderful to see you and talk a little bit. I'm sorry I was a little off my game. You should definitely play Transamerica if you haven't. It is always fun. So is Tsuro. True, Transamerica seems simple; the interest for me stems in the different "chemistry" of groups and how that works itself out in cooperation or non-cooperation and who get the benefit.

[notshakespeare.livejournal.com]

Whereas TransEurope, which uses the same rules but a different map, is to crowded. It is much harder not to assist someone to force them to win.

[logisticslad.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I can see how a smaller board would create that kind of problem for TransEurope. Have you ever played Order of the Stick? Since I love the comic so much, I am curious about the game beyond my initial impression.

[notshakespeare.livejournal.com]

I've never played Order of the Stick.

[logisticslad.livejournal.com]

It was nice to see you, too. Tell me about Tsuro. I don't know that one at all.

[notshakespeare.livejournal.com]

Tsuro is a good-looking game that is quick and easy to learn. In less than an half hour you'll be able to learn and finish your first game.

Tiles are layed on a board that dictate a path you must follow. Last piece on the board wins. Theoretically, it is possible that everyone wins - I've never seen it happen.

[bear-left.livejournal.com]

When I was tabling for Amnesty International on Friday night at the R.E.M. concert, we were next to a local non-profit doing environmental justice work in Roxbury. One of the two folks staffing their table was a college student from Swarthmore (who lives in So. Cal., not sure how he ended up in Roxbury). Great young guy - reminded me why Swat is still a dream job for me.

Btw, my sister-in-law and other friend/brilliant young queer history colleague are both Swarthmore '01...

[logisticslad.livejournal.com]

Swarthmore folk are indeed (mostly) pretty cool!

puzzld1 and I have tickets to see R.E.M. here in Philly on Wed. I've never actually seen them live so I'm psyched!

[bear-left.livejournal.com]

I'll be writing up a post before then about Friday night - they did about 25 songs (18-20 plus a six-song encore), covering all the way back to the early 80s (Stipe was trying to remember when one song was from, & he said, "1066, right after the Norman conquest") & up through the current album. It was so damn good...

[alanhamilton.livejournal.com]

Sunday also turned out well with the rambunctious nephews telling me that they wished that I lived with them all the time (melt).

Awwww! Of course, they're right.

Despite what your brother said. :)

[logisticslad.livejournal.com]

Well, I'd say that my brother is correct that we would NOT enjoy living together again, but it was very sweet of my nephews to say. That one is going to keep me smiling for the next week!

[rabidotter.livejournal.com]

The Order of the Stick webcomic is quite funny. It comes out often enough to be worth following, but not so often that I compusively check it every day.

[logisticslad.livejournal.com]

You can join the lj community orderofthestick and it will let you know when the next one it out.

[sympullminedead.livejournal.com]

We have the OOTS game and it is extremely long. It took a whole play session just to figure out the rules. The cards are hilarious, however, and it really is fun if you get everyone playing in character. Plan for a truncated game or an all day affair, though.

[logisticslad.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I thought from having watched a bit of a game. I loved reading the rulebook comic, but I'm not sure that I'd enjoy actually playing the game.