Another Busy Weekend

Posted on by Jordan

Disclaimer, as always I am falling behind on posting, so this may not discuss last weekend, so much as a weekend I meant to post about. 🙂

 

Friday night, Heather and I had a quiet evening at home. The evening got a lot quieter when the power failed.

I quickly discovered that Heather’s love for scented candles makes us well prepared for this kind of event. I have been careful to keep a few flashlights handy, but we only used those to get some candles lit, and then we had plenty of light.

It was a great reminder that I need to get moving on that emergency preparedness kit I have been thinking about from the day I rejoined the scouts. If I let myself get a blog post or two out of it, I might actually get it together 🙂

About the last thing I remember before falling asleep was marveling at how quiet our building was without power, and then hearing fans and motors kick in as the power came back up.

The next morning, Heather’s parents came for a short visit. We took the opportunity to teach them how to play St Petersburg; in the hopes that it was something people who weren’t already inclined to enjoy board games would have fun with. I am pleased to report that, despite our less than ideal introduction, they enjoyed the game.

Later we took advantage of the fact that it was somehow over 50 degrees in February, and headed up to the “High Trestle Bridge” trail. The bike route we take is 11 miles, but there is a nice trail-head only a little more than mile from the bridge, giving us a nice walk out to a great view of the valley.

I encourage people to come visit us, but chances are your going to be playing a board game and then walking on one of the many trails around here. It isn’t glamorous I suppose, but everybody seems to enjoy it.

We finished up the day with dinner and a movie.While we were out, Heather and her mom both managed to independently pick the phrase “it looks like a hearse” to describe a vehicle we were interested in. I still can’t explain how they arrived at that.

Sunday was more food, and more boardgames. Don’t let the lack of a long description here lead you into thinking it wasn’t enjoyed, I just don’t think I can produce interesting reading by recapping.

-Jordan

Valentine’s 2012

Posted on by Jordan

Heather and I might not be exciting people. I say this, because it is the only conclusion I can really draw when faced with the events of Valentine’s day this year. That being said, it was a good day… Just not terribly exciting.

The day started off with Heather giving me Saint Petersburg the board game. We discovered this game over the weekend, at the West Des Moines Board Game Club. It isn’t the sort of game that ether of us would initially be drawn too, but thanks to the people at the game night, once we learned it, it was really enjoyable.

Before we got a chance to actually play the game, I tried out a new recipe: Stuffed Panko Crusted Chicken. I think it went rather well, and Heather stated that I should take a picture of it, so I must not be the only one who thought it came out ok.

We then played a lovingly contested game of St Petersburg… Pretty good for a work night 😉

-Jordan

Bastion

Posted on by Jordan

I just finished playing through Bastion. I wasn’t exactly on the leading edge of people playing though this game, thanks to my pattern of buying most of my games when they go on sale… all the same it’s somewhat current.

Well, let me back up and give a little context to what I am thinking about.

This week I read and article (which I am unable to find now…) that was talking about how research found that spending money on an experience rather than an item tended to have a larger and more lasting impact on a persons life. The author was using that research to argue for taking classes or going on trips etc.

OK, Back to Bastion… It’s a great ride. The game play is fun, something that should not be taken for granted, but they nailed an atmosphere in ways I haven’t seen done in games for quite a while.

To start with, the game is narrated in a way that responds to events as you play. It may not sound that interesting, but the effect is satisfying. It doesn’t hurt that the narrator has a great voice for the job…

Here is a small example:

There isn’t much to the story, but I found myself always wanting to play one more level just to find out what happened next.

I shouldn’t wander too far into review territory, there are plenty of places online you can go for that kind of thing.

Having finished the game, I couldn’t help but think about the ideas from that article on how experiences stick with you and how that applied. It was an experience that grabbed me, and it felt amazing to close out the story. It would probably be wrong to reach too far ideologically while I am still so excited about the game, but it is interesting to think about what kind of returns I got from my time and money.

-Jordan

Entertaining

Posted on by Jordan

I learned soon after the post went up about being done decorating and painting furniture that we are not actually done with that.

None the less, Heather and I have had the opportunity to invite friends over on several occasions in the past few weeks. It has been really gratifying to feel that our hard work getting this place cleaned up was worth it. I should also note that Heather practically levitates around the house as she gives the tour of our final decor placement.

For a while there we were averaging just over two nights a week with three or more guests over. That pace has dropped off this past week, but we were having a lot of fun with it!

A few things we are discovering:

Cooking for more people is harder! I generally manage to scale the recipe up enough, only to be 20 minutes slow getting it done. Not the worst problem ever, but it feels like it throws the entire night off.

Letting guest bring over a salad or dessert helps out more than I ever would have guessed. It isn’t that we couldn’t make those, but in the time between getting home from work and when things start there often isn’t time.

And then the final bullet: Ticket to Ride is a great game!

Heather has deemed it her “favorite game ever” and thoroughly enjoys it every round, despite often loosing to a new player. And there have been quite a few new players… we played the game every night, and every time taught a new group of people how to play the game. Without fail, everyone picked it up quickly and was having a lot of fun by the end.

I am still looking for other games that we could perhaps move to once people have bought into the idea of boardgames being fun, but so far that search hasn’t turned up much. Perhaps as it gets colder and staying inside sounds more attractive we can devote some more time to the question 🙂

-Jordan

A Few Numbers

Posted on by Jordan

Today is December 16th. The current outside temperature is 19 degrees F. I say that because we turned our heat on yesterday!

To be fair, we often ran the fireplace for a few more hours while we were hanging out in the living room in the evenings, but still… This little apartment has amazing insulation we have discovered!

The other significant number is kind of sad… but well I will post it anyway. The new expansion to World of Warcraft came out a few weeks ago. It sold 3 million copies on the first day, and has approximately 12 million players worldwide. That isn’t the sad part though, I also bought the game. Not on day one, but I bought it. One of the many features the game provides is a report of how long you have spent playing. Not calendar days your account has been active, but actual time you have been playing. I am just over 100 days played! It’s kind of a horrifying number. I try to justify it with the fact that I basically quit watching TV about 4 years ago. I don’t know if that quite covers it though.

and…. I really thought I had a 3rd item to talk about here, but somehow it has slipped my mind. I guess that will be another post for another time… when it comes to me!

-Jordan

Another Landmark Day

Posted on by Jordan

Its now three months until the wedding. October 24th – January 24th… its also 91 days until the wedding if the countdown I have been running is setup correctly. With two major holidays and my birthday in the upcoming months, I have a feeling they will go buy fast.

At the same time I haven’t seen Heather in almost four days, and won’t see her for another two! I know, I know…. we are both spoiled, but it just makes this week seem really long and I wonder what its going to be like once Heather is living in Blair.

In other news, I just found out Left 4 Dead won’t run on my gaming rig. I knew the day a game completely eclipsed my PC with hardware requirements was going to happen sooner or later, I just didn’t expect it quite yet.

Have I mentioned I will be spending my Friday night alone? blah… its just not the greatest day 🙂

-Jordan

Social People

Posted on by Jordan

They might not be who you think they are 🙂

I was a little surprised by this Gamasutra article:

Study: Gamers More Likely To Date, Marry, Socialize Than Non-Gamers

55 percent of gamers are married, 48 percent have kids, and single gamers are twice as likely to go on dates in a given month than non-gamers. That’s according to the results of a new research study from IGN Entertainment and Ipsos Media CT

The study had a few other interesting facts, its a short read so I will just encourage you to go read it!

-Jordan

Well if I *have* to play

Posted on by Jordan

This program is a ways from being implemented I suppose, but I find the prospect fairly amusing.

Could playing computer games enhance mental agility enough to turn people over 50 into better drivers? Allstate Corp. wants to find out, and if the answer is yes, it might offer insurance discounts to people who play the games.

I have told Heather in the past that our generation will be playing video games in retirement, this may or may not play a role in that future 🙂

-Jordan