The Good and the Bad

Good: Barack Obama has evidenced proof of the American Dream and shown that the practice of racial discrimination and oppression on a national/societal level is a closed chapter of American history.

Bad: He's as close to being a utopian socialist as we've had in a leader in a long time. And how will this play out internationally- will his presidency embolden terrorists who will perceive him as weak and scare the oppressed worldwide who are fearful that an Obama led America might not protect them anymore?

Good: We leave for Peru tomorrow! New adventures.

Bad: There are calls for a national strike this week that may prevent us from getting to Manchu Picchu once we are in Peru or prevent us from leaving the country when we are ready to come home.

Good: my mother is settling in better in Woodbridge and getting to know people.

Bad: She is rubbing in my face how the paid caregiver we hired is "practically a daughter" who "loves her and takes her places like a daughter should", directly implying that I'm deficient in not being able to take her everywhere because I work. Thanks mom. Thanks for never saying thank you for anything I've done and telling me how much more you love the caregiver.

Good: I went to sleep early last night to come into work early today and get stuff accomplished. Go me!

Bad: Screaming revelers at 2 in the morning drove down our street honking and screaming "YES WE CAN". Wasn't that the slogan for Bob the Builder Toy (Can we fix it? Yes we can!). Also, the power went out so this morning I had to dress in the dark and I was late to work b/c of a big accident on the beltway.

Comments

Anonymous said…

You should point out to your mom, when she makes wonderful comments about how much the caregiver "loves her," that it's not cheap to pay for that kind of love. Furthermore, while you're glad she's getting to go places, you also enjoy working hard at your job so that you can buy the caregiver's love and time that wouldn't be there without her daughter's dilligence and sacrifice. It's a sacrifice that someone has to make and you're glad you can make it for her.

November 6, 2008 at 11:04 AM

Board Game Review: Hues and Cues

Last week we received Hues and Cues from The Op Games. We recently finished playing through Scooby-Doo Escape from the Haunted Mansion (a fantastic game in The Op Games catalogue designed by Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim, and Kami Mandell that you should absolutely pick up to play with your family) and wanted to give another game from the same publisher a go. I picked Hues and Cues because I’ve been pleasantly surprised by other “test whether our minds think the same way” games such as The Mind and Wavelength. In Hues and Cues , players gather around a large central board comprised of 480 graduating colors of the rainbow surrounded by an x-y axis and scoring table. White and black (which are technically not colors) are conspicuously absent as are shades (mixtures of color + black; e.g., grey) and tints (mixtures of color + white; e.g., cream). On each player’s turn, they draw a card with four colors and the x-y axis codes of those colors depicted and they select one. They are in the

Board Game Review: Anno 1800

Whenever Martin Wallace designs a new game, I am all over it. This is because I absolutely love Brass Birmingham (another MW designed game); in fact Brass Birmingham is my #1 board game of all time. Over the years, his other games I've tried have been pretty good, but not necessarily amazing must-buys. Still, I keep trying each new release of his, searching for that next star performer. That's why I'm excited to report that Anno 1800 is, in fact, a star performer, and an amazing must-buy board game. Anno 1800 was adapted by the publisher (Kosmos) from a Ubisoft video game of the same name. In the board game, players take on the role of industrialists, charged with developing their island economies and exploring other islands. Each player begins the game with a personal industry board with trade & exploration ships, a shipyard, and industrial goods tiles printed on the board. A starting collection of workers (wooden cubes) of various types to produce the goods is a

Board Game Review: Brass Birmingham

Here’s a story of a lovely lady (spoiler: it’s me) and her pride and how it has led to the discovery of the single greatest board game I have ever played. It’s probably also a good primer for other reviewers on increasing your reach. At GenCon this year, I was perusing the wares of the various booths and my eyes caught a glimpse of two beautiful game boxes. Each had crisp metallic lettering with an old world feel and artwork that radiated European class. I made my way to the booth and waited patiently to speak to to the team manning it as there were many buyers lined up to purchase the games. I didn’t know anything about the games (Brass Birmingham and Brass Lancashire), or the publisher – Roxley Game Laboratory – but I knew I wanted to review one or both of the games. Almost every board game love story I star in in can be summed up this way: I am seduced by the artwork or theme and then I stay for the right mechanics. When the lead rep spoke with me, he gently rejected my request. He

That's What Jenni Said

Search This Blog