Aleutian Islands

Tonight I was doing a puzzle book and came across the clue "Aleutian Isle." All I knew about the possible answer was that it was four letters long and had two syllables.  All I knew about the Aleutian Islands is that they are by Alaska.  So of course I went to wikipedia to find out more.  Here are some interesting facts about the Aleutian Islands:

-The chain includes 14 volcanic islands and 55 smaller islands
-The islands extend about 1200 miles west from the Alaskan peninsula
-The islands have 57 volcanoes total
-The largest islands are Attu (which is the furthest from the mainland), Unalaska, Umnak and Akun.

Map of the Aleutian Islands

The answer to the question in the puzzle book was Attu.

What I learned: I learned about the Aleutian Islands.

Wasabi for Two

Tonight I went to game night at the Sonnenberg's which was wonderful because I feel like I haven't gone in over a month.  Unfortunately, it was just me, Karen and Gary, but we were able to play 4 games.  I didn't learn any new ones but the last game we played was Wasabi, one of my new favorites.  I have only ever played this game with three or four people but tonight, just Gary and I played it. I can't decide if I liked it with two players or not. On the one hand, it was way easier to complete all of your recipes without anyone messing you up or completely ruining your game plan. On the other hand, it almost seemed too easy to complete all your recipes because there was almost no challenge. It's not that I wouldn't play with two players again, but I think I prefer playing with a bit more of a challenge (or maybe Gary and I were just way too nice to each other!).  I won, so maybe playing with two isn't so bad!

What I Learned: Playing Wasabi with two players is not as fun or challenging as with three or four players. On the other hand, it is nice to play with two if you aren't in the mood to be frustrated at other players for screwing you up!

Yogee

Today, Blake played "yogee" in Words with Friends. As I did a few days ago, I looked up this "word" in the dictionary but it wasn't in there! So I asked Blake what it meant and he said it was in the urban dictionary and he thinks its a term for a white guy who raps. According to urbandictionary.com, the definition of yogee is: "White kids who act like they are black gangster rappers. Less offense form of wigger." Hahaha. I guess I need to start using the urban dictionary or more slang words in Words with Friends...either that or Blake can start using real words!


My next question is, how on earth does Blake know that term?


What I Learned: I learned what "yogee" means, as well as the fact that Blake apparently has a wide vocabulary of slang words that are accepted in Words with Friends.

Bananagrams

Tonight, I learned how to play Bananagrams. My in-laws just gave it to us for Easter, so we decided to try it out. It is so much fun! Jared thought he would suck at it but he was surprisingly amazing and we were just in a race to keep up with him the whole time. I like that you can play with any number of people (we've only done it with three, but Jared and I could easily play together or we could play with 6, etc) and that it involves both speed and skill. It is definitely a fun game.

What I learned: How to play Bananagrams.

Shangri-La and Don Quixote

Tonight Jared and I went to the Sonnenbergs to play games. It was just the four of us and we were able to learn two new games. The first one was called Don Quixote and was basically a tile laying game where each person had the exact same tiles and they had to be placed on your own boards. I was really good at this game and apparently got one of the highest scores ever on my first game. Gary then challenged us to a rematch since he did so poorly the first time. The second time, the scores were a lot more even but I still prevailed. The great thing about this game is that it was quick to learn and to play as well as involving skill. I really want this game now.

The second game we learned was called Shangri-la. This also was a tile placement game but was slightly more complicated and involved more strategy, but since none of us had played it before, none of us really knew the strategy yet. This game was also fun and with four, still didn't take very long (about an hour). One of the best things about the game was probably the names of some of the tiles. My favorite one: The Yeti Whisperer.

What I Learned: How to play Don Quixote and Shangri-La

Blue Moon City

Tonight I went over to the Sonnenberg's for game night and learned another new game: Blue Moon City. This game involves dragons and crystals, and has really cool illustrated cards. The game was really easy to learn and had a straightforward concept, as well as being really fun to play. I really like finding games that don't take an hour to teach and multiple hours to play. While there are plenty of games like that that I really love (Agricola, for example), there's just something nice about being able to play a fun game that only lasts an hour and that can really easily be taught.

What I learned: How to play Blue Moon City.

Brussels Sprouts

My mom and I were taking turns reading each other trivia from her new Trivial Pursuit book that she got for her birthday from Blake. The answer to one of the questions was Brussels sprouts (something like, what vegetable is named after the capital of Belgium, a no-brainer). My mom told me that until recently she never realized that the real term was BrusselS sprouts, not brussel sprouts. Well, until that very moment, I didn't know that either. Most people don't really think about it since when anyone says it, no one pronounces two separate "s" sounds. And I suppose I've seen it written out before but never actually paid enough attention to realize that there is an "s" at the end of brussel since it is named after Brussels. I wonder how many other words are like this.

What I learned: Brussels sprouts is the correct spelling of the vegetable.

Sublime

Tonight we were playing a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit for my mom's birthday and the question was thus: What happens to a solid when it sublimes?

I have never heard this term before. I mean, I have heard of the word sublime, of course, but always as a noun or adjective, but not in this context (as a verb). So I was surprised to hear the answer: that it turns into a gas. Upon further research I found that the exact definition states that not only does the solid turn to gas upon heating without ever liquefying, but it also implies that it then turns back into a solid upon cooling. How have I never heard this before? Then I remember who I had for a chemistry teacher in 10th grade and am no longer surprised.

What I learned: When a solid sublimes, it turns into a gas when heated and turns back into a solid when cooled.

Nutria

Tonight I was playing Trivia Pursuit with my mom and the answer to a question was the nutria. I have never even heard of this animal before, so I looked it up. It's a semi-aquatic rodent that lives mostly in South America. It's weird to think of a rodent as aquatic. What's weirder is that they are very similar to otters and yesterday I learned something new about otters.

What I learned: The nutria is a semi-aquatic rodent.

This is my 100th post! Woohoo!

Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries

Tonight I got to go to Game Night while Jared stayed home with Avery (we decided to try switching off going for awhile so at least one of us can play games uninterrupted for an entire night!). While there were only three of us there (Karen, Gary and me), I had a lot of fun. We played 5 games, including one new one I hadn't played before-Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries. The rules are basically the same as Ticket to Ride with just a few variations. The game can only be played with 2 or 3 people. I really liked this version because it was different enough from the first one to present challenges (like people blocking your routes; trying to find your cities on the new map) and the routes were shorter which meant you went for a lot more routes throughout the game. There were also tunnels and ferries in some of the routes, which required different cards to complete. And the best thing was, I won! I actually won 3 of the games we played, which is amazing for me.

What I learned: How to play Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries.

Rush n' Crush

Blake came over this morning to play games. After I annihilated Jared and Blake in a rousing game of Agricola (50 to 23 t0 12), it was decided that we should learn one of our new games. Jared really wanted to learn Rush n' Crush, so we went with that. It is a racing game that involves getting your car/driver around the racetrack before everyone else. There are obstacles that you have to "drive" around and you can inflict damage upon other cars by ramming them, etc. It' a pretty cool game but would be better with more than three people. Blake got ahead of us after the second turn and was so far ahead that we couldn't catch up to him and there were no collisions of any kind. It seems there is a lot more to the game when you add in the collisions so if there aren't any, then that aspect of the game is lost. With more players, there would be a lot more opportunity to crash into other cars and walls, etc. Overall it was a fun game and we liked how varied it can be (in length and in difficulty) based on how you decide to lay the track. I hope to play it with more people soon.

What I learned: How to play Rush n' Crush.

Tolls and Mr. Jack Pocket

Today, Blake, Ken, Gary, Jared and I drove down to Board Game Barrister at Gurnee Mills for their awesome game sale (see post from the 12th). Upon arrival we soon realized that they really didn't have that much left in stock that we had heard of or that were on our lists. We looked up a lot of games online to see ratings, etc and finally decided on five new games (buy two, get three free!). Here are the games we purchased:

-Mr Jack Pocket
-Martian Fluxx
-Rush n' Crush
-In the Name of the Rose
-Megacorps

Ken and Blake got one game each while Gary got three. All in all, it was worth the trip. However, we found out on the ride down (too late of course) that apparently as of January 1st, the tolls in Chicago on 94 went up. The first toll, which I believe used to be $1.50, is now $2.80! I hate taking 41 but man, it looks like I'll have to do that from now on. Either that or buy an I-Pass.

After Avery went to bed today, mom agreed to learn Mr. Jack Pocket with me. This is a 2 player game based off of the board game Mr. Jack which is about Sherlock Holmes trying to catch Jack the Ripper. This pocket version of the game only takes 15 minutes and is really easy to learn but requires a lot of logic, so we both really liked it. Only four more games to learn!

What I learned: The tolls in Chicago almost doubled; how to play Mr. Jack Pocket.

Sushi, Rum, Pirates and Robots

The Sonnenbergs came over today to play games and I learned three new ones: Wasabi, Rum & Pirates, and Robo Rally. I really liked all three but think that I liked Wasabi the best (the game involves making sushi recipes; it also made me really hungry for sushi). Rum & Pirates had the coolest theme of the three while Robo Rally proved to be the most challenging, mostly due to the fact that I kept miscalculating where my robot would end up between moves which ran me off the board three times! Overall, it was a great game day.

What I learned: I learned how to play three new games.

Board Game Sale

Jared sent me a text today from work to let me know that Board Game Barrister, a board game store at Gurnee Mills, was going out of business and was having a massive sale until they closed shop on January 22nd. How good of a sale? Well you could either buy one game and get a second half off, or you could buy two games and get three for free. Wait...what?! Seriously? Looks like we might have to make a trip down to IL for some serious game buying.

What I learned: There is an awesome game sale going on at Board Game Barrister.

London Season

Ok ok, I know I use a lot of my posts to talk about new games I've played but I think it is a completely valid thing to count as something I learned. Sorry to all of you who read this blog and don't like gaming!

Today we went to the Sonnenberg's to play games all day. And when I say all day, I mean it (we got there at 8:50am and left at 10:30pm). While I played 7 games today, there was only one new one that I learned.

After arriving at the house, I inquired where my cousin Wendy was and I was told she was in the bedroom, working on finishing up her board game so that we could all play it. I was surprised that I had not once heard that she was making her own game. I was intrigued. Later in the day, the board game was apparently ready and six of us sat down to learn London Season. It is a game that takes place in June 1814 and revolves around the theme of ladies trying to win husbands. Each player is a lady who has a set fortune and rank and has "stats" relating to how beautiful, virtuous and accomplished she is. Throughout the game, you try to raise your standing by gaining beauty, virtue and accomplishments. You attend dances to charm men, go to church to earn virtue, and even attend the races at Ascot to raise your income. The game is wonderfully themed (as any Jane Austen fan would attest) and very well thought out.

This was the first time the game had ever been played so it took almost 4 hours from the time we started reading the instructions (which we did out loud so we could all see what did and didn't make sense or what wasn't clear to benefit Wendy so she could edit the rules) to the time we all (except for Blake, teehee) had a husband. For being the first time the game had ever been played, there were no glitches and nothing that didn't make sense. It was a really good game and I am proud of my cousin for making something so awesome. I can't wait for it to get published so I can buy it. She needs to get in a lot of test plays however before it gets close to that point, so I'm hoping I can play it again this week while they are still here (they live in Des Moines). Great job on the game Wendy!

What I learned: How to play London Season; also, my cousin is super talented and awesome.

Fill or Bust

Last night, mom, Neal and Blake were playing a dice game called Bunco. It reminded Jared that he had a dice game that he hadn't played in awhile called Fill or Bust so he ran downstairs to find it. He brought it up to be played but the boys left after Bunco, probably tired of rolling dice. So today, Jared taught me how to play. It is a simple dice game where fives and ones score, as well as three of a kinds and a straight. There are also cards that dictate how your turn will be played out. It is simple enough to learn and the cards keep the game interesting enough so that each turn isn't just rolling your dice and scoring.

Later in the day, I taught my Mom and she said that she learned this game in Norway but it was called Chop Chop. The only difference was that there was no deck of cards that went along with the game. Does that count as me learning two new games then?

What I learned: How to play Fill or Bust

Life on the Farm

As previously mentioned, my mom is giving me gifts every day for Advent. My gift a few days ago was a new game called Life on the Farm. The game was created to properly simulate life (expenses and income) on a farm and comes highly recommended by the Minnesota Farm Association. Today, Jared and I played the game before going to bed. The game took about 3 minutes to learn (according to the box, the game is for ages 8-108, but I think a 5 year old could play easily) and was really basic: Roll the dice, move the allotted number of spaces, do what the space says. There are farm expense and farm income cards to pick up as well as spaces to go to cattle auction. There are also spaces that say things like "A car hit your cow. Lose one cow," and "a hunter cuts your fence, pay to repair," etc. The winner of the game is the first to have a herd of 60 cows and the original $10,000 you started with. Since I have a thing for cows, I found this game fun but it was clearly meant for children. The only skill involved was deciding how many cattle to buy at each auction as you might not want to spend all of your cash in case you had a few farm expenses before you received any more income. Other than that, it was all in the roll of the dice and the draw of the cards.

What I learned: How to play Life on the Farm.

The Synonym Game

Tonight my mom, Avery and I went to game night at the Sonnenberg's. Gary had a new game to test, sent to him by the makers. It was called the Synonym Game. Basically, your team rolls the die, moves that many spaces, picks a card corresponding to the colored space you land on and then you have one minute to think of as many synonyms of the word on the card as the number you rolled on the die (so if you rolled a six at the beginning of your turn, you move six, pick a card, then have to think of 6 synonyms of that word). Each space has a letter on it, spelling the word "synonym." You have to successfully win the card on your turn to earn the letter of the space you are on. Whomever spells "synonym" first wins.

What I learned: 1. Thinking of synonyms with a time limit is harder than you might think, even for those of us who often play word games 2. There was not enough "variety" in the game to really spark my interest. For example, at one point, my team rolled 4 or 5 ones in a row, meaning we only had to think of one synonym for five turns, and suddenly we were over halfway done with the game. The game was a neat concept but it needs tweaking.

Advent Presents

This morning, my mom pointed out to me that I had not updated my Advent calendar today. So I went to the calendar to update it, and there was a folded up sheet of paper in it. Upon opening the paper, it had a clue telling me to look under the diapers. I did as directed only to find a present! I ripped it open to find a box of sour patch kids! Yay! I was happy but confused. Why was my mom randomly giving me candy?

She said that last year, she played this game with Afton and gave her a small present for every day in Advent and so now she was going to do it with me. Yay for presents :)

What I learned: I am going to receive one small gift every day until Christmas for Advent. I think I like this tradition.

Monarchs and Other Things

Today I started my new job as the administrative assistant at Fresh Frame Photography (I actually don't have a title or know what it would be, but based on what I will be doing, it's closest to that, so I'm going with it). I learned a LOT, not just at the job, but throughout the rest of the day. Here are a few snippets.

1. I learned how to scroll on a MAC.
2. I learned how to "right click" on a MAC
**Disclaimer: I am completely computer literate. I just am a PC, not a MAC, so I didn't know how to do a lot of basic things because I've used a MAC all of two times in my entire life.**
3. I learned how to take screen shots of damaged files in Light Box.
4. I learned how to do basic exposure editing in Light Box.
5. I learned that you can order monarch butterflies online and that you keep them refrigerated to keep them alive before releasing them. Ok, this one needs a little more explanation.

In looking through some wedding pictures to find damaged files, I saw that a couple had given everyone an envelope of sorts. Inside each envelope was a monarch butterfly. I was astonished-how did they get these butterflies to stay in the envelopes? How long were they in there? Sarah (my employer) informed me that you can order them online for mass release at special events. They come to you a day or so before your wedding (or whatever event you are using them for) and you keep them in the fridge or in the insulated box they come in. Because of the colder temperatures, they "sit" with their wings together and "hibernate" so they don't need food or water for a few days. Then the day you need them, you take them out of the fridge an hour or so before you plan to release them to give them ample time to warm up and unfold their wings, and presto! Everyone opens their envelope and the butterflies are released! How cool is that? Here's a website to prove it: http://www.mrbutterflies.com/instructions.htm

6. Jared and I went to see Immortals after learning that they changed the movie times since the last time we looked. We were supposed to see J. Edgar. We both realized that neither of us were in the mood to see blood and gore and violence...too late. The movie wasn't bad, but it was not the movie we wanted to see. Boo.

7. I learned how to play a new game at game night called Reverse Charades. It is exactly what it sounds like and it was very fun and I don't really like normal charades. Basically, everyone on your team but one person stands up and tries to get the one person to guess. There is a timer and your team just has to get through as many cards as you can. I think it's more fun because you don't feel like you're on the spot and having to act goofy in front of all these people as you are doing it with your whole team.

What I learned: See above (since they're all spelled out pretty clearly this time).