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Suzie invited Janine and I to a Reddit holiday party in Philly this evening.  I don’t use Reddit, but I appreciate that it has its own community, norms, and customs so I tried to go with my arms spread wide.  By that I mean I brought a trifle and a copy of Jungle Speed.  This trifle version had more layers than my previous one and probably contained fewer calories but more total sugar.  The glass plus contents weighted about 16 lbs and my hands felt weak after holding it up for more than half a minute or so.

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The party itself was fine.  I missed many of the internet references, didn’t know many people’s names and don’t drink but still the atmosphere was enjoyable and it’s nice to meet new people.  A few hours into the evening, I brought out a copy of Jungle Speed and part of the room descended into madness.  One of the things I like about Jungle Speed is that skill compounds.  If you exit a round slightly sooner than others, you’ll be more rested for the next game making your odds of victory a little bit higher.  Two new players were the last out in each round and were exhausted after three games.  The last game went about 45 minutes and ended with one of the players coming over to me and saying “I hate you”.

Glad I could bring people together.

 

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I did four things today.
1) Went to Kevin Ott’s birthday party
2) Purchased jeans
3) Went to a Shiny Toy Guns concert at the North Star Bar
4) Attended a Halloween Party at Kacey’s house

**Kevin’s Party**

Kevin was turning 25 and I gave him the ceremonial gifts of this age point; a copy of Jungle Speed, and an angel food cake. We talked about mostly non-Scout things and this was odd for us as we usually talk about Scout things. He offered me his slot in the Philadelphia Marathon which he wasn’t able to use because of a knee injury and then convinced me to do a Tough Mudder with him sometime in June. Apparently beating the shit out of myself is now one of my hobbies.

**Jeans**

I was attending the concert with Suzie and Jeff and after leaving Kevin’s, learned that they were going to try to skip the opening act and would arrive an hour into the show. Having some time to kill, I stopped at Kohl’s and decided to purchase a pair of jeans. I’ve never worn jeans before except as a small child and then again once for a musical. I am well versed in the periodic chart and 2006 Contingent LIfe Tables but found jean fittings to be utterly baffling. No combination of cut, leg, waist, and brand produced something that felt like it properly fit. To fit my massive calves required a pair of paints with a hula hoop size belt and somehow a 36×32 was shorter than a 36×30 of a different brand. I settled on a pair that compromised on these points that was slightly loose in some places and slightly tight in others. Compromise. I changed into them after purchase and I dare say I looked casual.

**Shiny Toy Guns Concert**

A number of my friends through high school were in bands and I got used to going to crappy shows at shitty venues. Shiny Toy Guns are much better than they ever managed and the North Star Bar is a standard deviation better. The opening act was dreadful, and the one following needed to be a bit tighter. The warm-up act usually doesn’t have the benefit of the crowd knowing the music so cues are important. For instance, if the performer wants the audience to clap, they need to allot a few bars to getting everyone going, and then a long time to justify that start-up. If you leave only enough time that’d be slightly shorter than a bridge, it’s almost rude to the audience and somewhat lame as everyone stops clapping just as everyone’s on board.

The headliners had no such issues and the drummer clearly led the crowd and the keyboardist did a good job of telling the audience how to move. The crowd was a bit static compared to what I think they wanted and the standard rule of “you can only be one standard deviation more excited than the person next to you” held perfectly.

I very much enjoyed the show and wished I had known the performer’s canon better to the point where I could sing along.

**Halloween Party**

Kacey’s family was having a halloween party and Suzie, Jeff, and I arrived right at the point that Mike had gone to bed. I popped up, wished him good night, and returned to the party. I got into an argument over me not finding Bruce Springstein convincing and talked to people. At some point I was holding a cup with a dark beverage in it wearing jeans and an untucked button down shirt. I looked normal.

**Reflection**

There was no activity listed above that was reasonably within my purview as recently as August of 2011. Kevin has made me determined, Mike has made me kind, Kacey has made me trusting, and Suzie has made me brave. Thanks for a good night.

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Kyle Anderson and I caught a nice brunch at a greasy spoon diner in Trevose and caught up. He will be working as a teacher at Mercer County Community College for the next year before starting his PhD program and we both enjoy music and particle physics. He’s a contemporary of mine and I feel we’re within a standard deviation of one another in terms of having a life plan. I respect him and I think he me and if I had to guess we both enjoy that company as we feel out our respective futures.

Late that evening, Suzie and I visited Mike and Kacey at Kacey’s aunt’s and besides booze and chat there wasn’t much to do. I brought up playing Jungle Speed and found a target nearby that had it in limited stock that was still open. We drove there, they had none, and I called the next closest Target to see if they had it. They did and were the only store in the state with any in stock. 30 minutes of 202 and I-95 later we were at the Christiana Mall and I found myself face-to-face with the last six copies of Jungle Speed in the state of Delaware. They were on discount for $9.99 and Delaware is sales tax free so I did the reasonable thing and purchased all of them.

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Yesterday’s return to sugar resulted in some neat ancillary benefits. My weight lifting capacity seemed to jump suddenly as I can now do a whole 2 pull-ups in reasonable form. Additionally, I’ve found my mood to be generally better although that may be other factors.

This evening, Randy and Kelly Booz held a game night where I took pictures and I discovered a wonderful game called Jungle Speed. It’s like a combination of Uno and prison rape or Egyptian Rat Screw meets rugby. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.