Fun and Games

 

           It's all fun and games with Alex J. Cavanaugh today.  Alex has come up with some good favorites lists in the past, and I think this one is the easiest so far.

           A nice easy post is something that I need and I always find these subjective favorites posts no hassle respites from trying to be all serious and deep.  Sure, I could make this a big complex deal, but I won't.   I'm just going to list the game, maybe some runner-ups, and a little background or explanation of what the game means to me and why I liked it.

       When I was growing up I always loved playing games.  I was never a sports nut or any athletic type, but I did enjoy the games like dodge ball, kick ball, baseball, and volleyball.  You certainly won't find me playing any of these games now, but I liked them when I was in school.

         Most of the games I enjoyed were board games (since we didn't have video games when I was growing up), some card games, and certain "mind" type games.  Checkers, Parcheesi, Monopoly, Life, and Clue were some of the games we played that I enjoyed considerably. 

         Then there were an array of card games with which we used to pass the time.  I still play Solitaire on the computer, but it's more of a time waster than a favorite.   And there were the entertaining games like Mad Libs and various guessing games.

           Here are some game favorites that define me:

Scrabble  --- It has to do with words and since I consider myself a writer, I like words.  I work Crossword puzzles almost daily so if we consider that a game then Crossword puzzles would be a favorite.   I tend to take my Scrabble very seriously, but I rarely play since I usually have no one to play with.  "Tumblebees" is a computer game that kind of reminds me of Scrabble and I used to be obsessed, but haven't played Tumblebees in the past couple of years since I've become more obsessed with Blogging.

Sonic the Hedgehog -- I don't have much experience at all with video games, but I must say they look pretty cool and I could probably really get lost in them if I started playing.  One game I did get seriously involved with in the mid-nineties was Sonic the Hedgehog.  My daughters had the game console in their bedroom and I would frequently go in to play.  There was something about the surrealism of the storyline, the psychedelic imagery, and the whacked out music that entranced me.  I would sometimes play for hours.  One of my daughters said recently, "You thought I was asleep, but I saw you playing Sonic the Hedgehog at night."   Busted!   I also played Mario sometimes, but I was obsessed with Sonic.   I never got very far into the game as much as I played--there are levels that I guess I will never see.

Juggling Battle -- Just to get something more unique I thought I might include this one since it is more defining of me.   My sister and I were usually the only ones to play this since I didn't have too many friends who could juggle.  The game's premise is perhaps comparable to a demolition derby.  Players would begin juggling--preferably clubs ( or pins as they are sometimes called)-- and attempt to cause other players to drop their juggling props while keeping their own in action.  The last juggler to remain juggling is the winner.  Our Juggling Battle rounds were pretty short since there were only two participants, and rarely more than three.  

         Combat Juggling has actually become a competition at Juggler's Conventions and other juggling events.  Here is last year's event at the International Juggling Association convention:

             Sign up and add your own games or visit the other participants here:




Have Fun playing the Game!






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This Is Only A Game (How Do You Feel About That?)

           Yes, I am a sucker for games--certain games that is, like trivia related and word games.  I don't care too much for those internet games like Farmville.  I started a farm, but everytime I planted crops or accepted the animals people gave me, when I would go back to it the crops were all dead and the animals escaped. I guess if I'm going to devote time to farming I'd rather get a real farm and try to make an income from it.

            What I do enjoy is a few hours with friends or loved ones playing games and enjoying the fun and conversation of just being together.  Scrabble is always one of my favorites if I can find companions who are willing to play.  As a writer I suppose I am just naturally drawn to words.

          Then there is the psychologist part of me.  When I first started going to college my original major was psychology.  Something I used to enjoy was playing word association with my friends.  In case you're not familiar with this psychological testing process, the tester provides a word to the patient who must provide the first word that comes to their mind.  There is some significance to what they answer but the actual usefulness is probably questionable since the test is so dependent on a number different variables --probably vary similar to dream interpretation.  But it is interesting to see what the responses are and it does make a somewhat fun game to play with others.

           So my interest in word association being what it is, I was naturally drawn to a post I saw on Sol's blog,  The Window to My Sol .  This little blog exercise is called the Five Word Association Meme.  You may have seen it before since it has apparently been travelling the blog circuit for some time.  The premise is that you get five trigger words and respond with the first word that comes to mind.

         And now, thanks to Sol, here are the five words she gave me for the Five Word Association Meme, my responses, and my explanations as to why these came to mind first:


fierce:   warrior --- the word warrior just seemed to follow the description.  Fierce is a very graphic adjective and I immediately pictured a muscular warrior adorned in feathers and leather garb, brandishing a spear and baring his teeth in a fearsome manner.

snake:   Betty--  Betty is my wife and she is terrified of snakes.  If she sees a snake in a movie she hides her eyes until I assure her it's okay to look. I am my wife's protector and snakes are one of the things from which I provide her protection  I don't really like snakes that much, but I don't mind seeing them.  I could write pages about snakes since I have a lot of snake stories in my life.  Snakes are strange and fascinating animals and I have had an interest in them since childhood.

cook:     restaurant ---  I go to restaurants far too much-- it's one of the money-sucking vices that my wife and I have.  She doesn't like to cook and I don't cook as much as I used to when our kids lived at home.  I've always done most of the cooking in our household.  But much of the time I go out to eat because I'd just rather have someone else cook and clean up for me.

bliss:   fort ---okay, I know there's a Fort Bliss around El Paso, TX because I've seen the signs for it when I've passed through there.  I guess I could have thought of "marital bliss" but instead I thought of something militaristic.  What does that say about me?  Perhaps some of the most blissful times that my wife and I have had have been on our long trips we've taken.   We always have had so much fun and feel so happy driving across our beautiful United States.  And we get to eat in restaurants when we're travelling.

tomato:     sauce --- My mother makes some great spagetti sauce which requires canned tomatos, tomato sauce, and tomato paste with a number of other ingrediants.  I really like tomatos a lot, by themselves or as a part of something else.  But a good tomato sauce evokes some wonderful memories of childhood and my mother's home and pizza.

        There you go, you can make your analysis about me if you wish.  But I enjoyed that.  My mind was working to the point that I could have written lengthy essays about any of these words.  It's really a great prompt for an exercise in writing.

          So now it's your turn.  If you'd like to play, let me know in the comments and I will give you 5 word association memes for you to play with.    Or if you wish you can go to Sol's blog and ask her to give them to you --but please let her know that you came from my blog.  Either way it's fun to play and it's a worthwhile writing game that can stimulate your writing mind.  Have fun!