Update Mishmash

It has been a long time since I posted, so I’ll just do a little stream-of-conscious bibbleblab.

I attended a coin club meeting the weekend before last. Not much to report on. That Jim guy (I think that’s his name) gave a presentation on collecting varieties and resources for identifying varieties. I bought nothing at the auction. I renewed my membership by paying ten dollars.

One of Kim’s mom’s clients gave us a small freezer, which we put in our garage. We got it for free, which is a pretty sweet deal, especially considering that it’s very new.

Before we could move the freezer in, we had to clear space in the garage. The garage was a wreck—like downtown Tokyo after a couple monsters had finished a tough man competition. Or perhaps a better metaphor would be junkyard jenga—it was impossible to pull out or move any item without at least two other items falling over. I therefore had to spend quite a while throwing out old boxes, rolling things up, stacking boxes wisely, and generally condensing the lot. Although I haven’t finished making the garage presentable—not by a long shot—I did manage to make room for the freezer, and give myself some very reasonable hope that I’ll have room to paint on my easel.

As far as actually producing artwork, the closest I’ve come recently is some sketching in my sketchbooks.

I’m trying to get my D&D game back up and running. I have so many old notes, many of which are simple ideas or musings that contradict one another, that simply sorting them is a job in itself. Now that I think of it, my condition of my D&D campaign bears a strong correspondence to my garage. I must endeavor to keep it simple. My players would probably be amused—and would probably also groan—if they saw how many variations on plot ideas and background and history were jotted down, elaborated on, connected to other bits of background or plot, changed again, then discarded. I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions, but here’s one: Get my game going again, and streamline it.

We’ve played two games of the board game Puerto Rico so far, and it’s pretty good. The rules look complex at first, but game play is actually quite simple. Behind that simplicity, however, is a lot of subtlety. There are many little gears turning in that game, and it’s hard for me to think of strategies.

We also played Settlers of Catan again on Sunday. We had an expanded 5-player game. Kim won. I started slowly and remained behind the whole game. I had fun, though.

I watched “Little Miss Sunshine.” I approve heartily.

Now that it is nearing the end of January, verging on Spring, a young man’s (meaning mine) fancy turns to gardening. And love, sure, but gardening is what I do also. I bet there’s a good way to combine the two. I digress. What should I plant? My ideas are bigger than my garden space, at least for now. I foresee a time when that may be different. When the girls can play by themselves a bit longer in the back yard without eating sand or demanding to be picked up, I may enlarge my garden quite a bit. Presently, though, I think I’ll plant a small early Spring crop of…maybe cabbage? Radishes? I dunno. Later, I’m going to try watermelons. I’ll probably try to use a trellis for that. More tomatoes, of course. Hmm.