Last night was another fantastic celebration at our semi-weekly gathering place.  Everyone brought food or spirits to endulge in.  Friends who do not usually frequent our game nights came to shar in the festivities.  I went with my lingering effects from a visit by Uncle Larry N. Gitis.  Honestly, I feel fine but my voice says otherwise.  I remember losing my voice years ago a few weekends before I auditioned for a summer position at Cedar Point.  I made the audition, sang my audition piece and was asked to come back a half-hour later for the dance portion of the try out.  Unfortunately, my graceful choreographic ability failed to impress… their loss, right?

While playing charades, which my team was winning (thank you very much) the time had arrived to watch Ryan Seacrest announce the ball drop.  Dick Clark made an appearance from the studio; however, the damage done by his stroke of a few years ago is still apparent.  I noticed an almost plastic appearance to Mr. Seacrest.  Not sure if it was the lighting or makeup but he just looked wierd.  Speaking of charades, I do not think that the movie or novel Return of the King is obscure.  It was a title given to one of the other two teams but I thought it was a very good suggestion.  My gracefulness was put to good use in my acting out the movie title Last Tango in Paris.

Shortly thereafter, we read some Weakest Link questions.  I tried to keep quiet to allow others to answer.  However, I heard some moaners from the other players imploring me to wait until the question was read.  Finally, we moved on to some Outburst, and thank goodness for the arrival of our final player because some of the questions were beyond my expertise.  By the time we had arrived to an I.Q. testing game, I was lying on the floor.

But like last year, it was a great end to the old and beginning of the new.  There was no other place I wanted to be.  I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe holiday season and wish everyone the best in 2009.

Last night was my first foray into the world of role-playing games.  It was really fun not knowing what you are doing at first but diving right in and going with it.  Our leader (who instructed us and narrated the adventure as well as assumed a role… although he was limited to what he actually did) has been doing this for years although life has limited the amount he has been able to participate in groups.  He even said that one game lasted from the time he was 18 until he was 25.  NOW THAT IS A LONG GAME (not all at once, but still…).

The role I decided to tackle was a thief in the medieval time of the Dungeons and Dragons setting.  I chose the name Zarf.  The quest led the players on the search for an old man’s daughter.  We eventually came to a large, battle-scarred castle and soon became separated.  After climbing down a seemingly endless flight of stairs, my three companions (the strong Ivanhoe, the cleric Lothario (I think he was a cleric), and Faramir – the damsel’s intended) and I came to a pit.  We discovered that the route we had taken was totally useless and we ended right back with the other players.

There were battles aplenty with goblins, hobgoblins, and wererats.  Magic (of which I had none).  Secret passages and lots of other exciting elements involved.  Now if I could just learn to throw something more than a 1 on an icosahedron (my new 25-cent word for the day)… although I do recall throwing at least a 10 on a few occasions.  But happily, we all survived the quest and rescued the fair maiden.  Even if Lothario denied my gift (and they say there is no honor among thieves) of rocks for his sling (which eventually broke.. HA!)  A great intro into what appears to be a fun world.  I’m curious to actually see a centagon…

I received an email today and thought it was one in an endless stream of useless waste of time pieces of junk. Even reading it I was hesitant, but after following the link and following the instructions, I found it to be very accurate although I do have to question one of the qualities it listed:

• “Fruity and adventurous” the adventurous DEFINITELY; however, fruity? I don’t think so.

Which brings me to the big topic of the day. Who cares who sleeps with whom? I think there are much more important issues in the world than the fact that Clay Aiken came out of the closet. I was TRYING to watch the new Knight Rider (which is one of the best NEW offerings this season… which usually means it will be gone within a month) last night and I swear I heard the news at least 5 times in one hour. Live and let live.

Ok… back to the topic at hand. Follow the link, follow the directions and see if you find yourself:

Http://DNA.imagini.net/friends