Cheese in defense of freedom is no vice

 

 

Memo

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Mice and Mystics

I’m still obsessing over board games.  It’s pretty bad, in a distracted, non-productive way.  And by bad, I mean I even enjoy reading board game reviews, rules discussions, people’s top ten lists, that sort of thing.  I don’t get much chance to play, partly because I just have too many hobbies and interests.  When I have time to play, it’s mostly with close family (wife and daughters), who aren’t generally “into” the sorts of long-playing strategy games that I am most interested in, though I appreciate and enjoy lots of other types of games, too.

On the Fourth of July we met up with some friends and played some games; the most involving was simply blackjack, played with poker chips, which was a nice hanging-around-and-chatting game.  We also went through some trivia cards.  Although they are not my favorite genre of games, this sort of thing makes me want some more party games to play with family and friends at get-togethers.  I recently read about a “werewolf” style game called “Resistance” that sounds great; I’d also love to try “Cash ‘n Guns,” although the cost for that game is very high, perhaps because it no longer in production. (Another problem with that game is that it centers around everyone pointing foam guns at one another, which might be excessively violent for certain people’s tastes within certain contexts, but among my adult friends I think it would be great.)

Over the past few days I finally managed to get my board game fix by playing Mice and Mystics with Erin.  I bought a copy a couple of months ago and had not had a chance to play it, but when I asked last week she jumped in.

The game is fairly simple as far as its basic rules, but is given a pleasant complexity by the players’ ability to make a wide range of decisions, the variability of the game board, and the long-term nature of the game’s story line.  If players choose, it is a heavily story-based game, proceeding through “chapters” that tell a story in which the players are humans who have been turned into mice and must accomplish missions to thwart the plans of an evil sorceress.  Gameplay involves moving one’s mouse figures across castle room tiles and defeating enemy rats, roaches, and other critters in combat.

After some though, I picked up the game based on: 1) Many reviewers said their children really enjoyed it; 2) Lots of adults really enjoyed it; 3) it has simple elements of strategy and combat tactics, appealing to the miniatures gamer in me; 4) the game components and artwork look appealing and well-designed.

I was a little worried that my immediate family would be turned off by a game in which the heroes ran around killing rats with swords, since we are such a pet-rat-heavy family, but thankfully the game rules and story line are not explicit when it comes to the bloodshed.  You can interpret “defeating” your enemies however you want.  If a mouse-player is defeated, he or she is captured, not killed.

Erin and I finished the first chapter last night, and she seemed to really enjoy it. Jill jumped in a played a little, too, and was interested on-and-off in the proceedings.  It went well, we won the chapter, and Erin said she wanted to keep playing to see what happens next, so I am very happy!

I’d love to pick up another game sometime soon, but it’s hard to decide what.  I think Ticket to Ride will probably be next, since it’s high on so many people’s top ten lists of family games AND games every gamer should own AND “gateway” games that would be enjoyed by non-gamers.  I even just heard one game reviewer call it one of the very few games that he would call “flawless.”

Sometimes terrible photos have a charm all their own. In my opinion, anyway.

Independence Day

 

 July 4: Rained all day. Went to parents' house with lots of family; great homemade ice cream and birthday cake; great brats, hot dogs, and vegetables; fun drawing contest; fun visit; went to friends in the evening, played games and talked; did sparklers after dark when rain let up.

 

July 5: Attended Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration at Peterson-Dumesnil House in Crescent Hill. Rain threatened the whole time; ate ice cream; listened to live music; looked at art & craft booths; accidentally met up with some friends; our girls and their girls danced and played; watched fireworks while it sprinkled; heavier rain didn't start until drive home, late.

 

All-around success.

 

Painting gladioluses

I’m working on a commission that I’ve decided to do primarily with acrylics.  I’ve used acrylics for many purposes, and use them frequently, but I actually haven’t attempted many complete “works of art” with acrylics alone.

This is not a photo of the commission work, but rather a smaller painting that I’m working on alongside of it, only in acrylic.  A couple of years ago I did an acrylic landscape that I was not satisfied with; this will be only my second full acrylic painting (not counting murals) since, oh, probably 1987.

This is also my first flower painting since 1987. Ironically, the last floral I painted was also the first full painting I had ever done with oil paints.  I don’t normally go in much for flower paintings, but I love the glads that bloom in our yard each year and have sort of wanted to paint them.  Also, I hear they are popular, and I’d like to have another painting to display at the art fair later this month. (That’s another reason I chose acrylic: oils would never dry in time for the art fair.)

Seven-year-old's art

...She had this listed under "Invention's," but I think I  would file it under "What the hell?"

Feeding alpacas

 

 Thanks to my sister-in-law, Pam, we got to visit an alpaca farm for an alpaca party.  Don't you want a dozen for your back yard?

Fauna

I decided to go for a walk in the woods at lunch, and then encountered wildlife before I even left the building.

Foodstuffs

finally tossing out these old canned goods.

Old watercolor sketch

 Last night I was going through a box of stuff and found this little tree (about 6 x 9") that I did while playing with some watercolors.  I can't remember when I did it, but I think it was two or three years ago (Don't be misled by the date at the bottom, I put that on last night as an approximation.)  I had been searching for this, but couldn't find it and thought I must have given it away.  It's small and not sophisticated or great in any way, but it's one of the few things I've done with watercolors in decades and I liked the result.  I have been wanting to try watercolors lately, or use inks or acrylics for watercolor effects.

A striking example of storm damage to a tree

My family and I were out on Saturday, and as I pulled into a parking spot on one of our stops I noticed that the oak tree in front of me had an odd, tall gouge running up its side about eight feet or so. It looked like a single giant claw had run down it. I wondered if it was lightning damage--I couldn't think what else would cause it--so I walked over to take a look.

Moving around to the other side of the tree, about 90 degrees around, there was a similar gouge, but this one ran up as far as I could see into the canopy.  I thought it was very impressive!  The bark had exploded off; there was shreds of it scattered for dozens of yards all around. Some of the wood beneath it, the blond part, was blown out, too, in thinner strips about an inch deep in spots.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Sycamore & Butterfly Bush

 Both of these are walnut ink on paper.

Spiderwort, cilantro, bee balm, bachelor's button, mustard spinach

Lunch break sketch 6-18-13

I sat on a tree stump and drew for a bit. I think some little wasps had nests in the stump (that, or it was their hunting ground), but I remained unstung.

Fathers' Day

 

I had a great Fathers' Day.  First of all, I received a very nice gift from Mom and Dad: a seed sprouter for starting sprouts to add to sandwiches, soups, etc.  Besides a couple of different seeds for the sprouting tray, they also gave me a few different seed packets for my garden.  That's great stuff.

 

My daughters brought me breakfast in bed on Sunday, and unloaded the dishwasher for me.  That is quite a treat.

 

After that, I ran some errands, and then spent some time making ice cream.  We still had some frozen blackberries from last year, so I pureed and then strained them.  There wasn't enough for a full batch of blackberry ice cream, so I added flavors to make vanilla blackberry chocolate chip.  I am delighted to report than it came out great.

 

For dinner we grilled a couple of steaks in the rain, and at those with corn on the cob.  Then we me Mom and Dad at Willow Park to hear Blair Carmen and the Bellevue Boys, one of our favorite concert regulars there (the rain ended just in time for the concert to proceed, and the weather was perfect.)  And that was my Fathers' Day.

 

Lunch break sketching

Sort of hot, but I was in the shade and there was a little breeze. I ate some mulberries and swatted some flies.

School banner completed

Last weekend I had a moment to snap a photo of my completed painted banner hanging in place.

Plum Creek

 Another drawing with black walnut ink, my first landscape (not counting foliage seen in house portraits) since...I don't know, last year sometime.  This is 10 x 14 inches, done with a combination of brush work and dip pens.

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