Draw... Um... Something

First, I would like to thank Instigator for - being true to her moniker - getting me started on something that can be quite the time suck. Draw Something. It's a free app for my iPhone where you play a sort of Pictionary with your friends to earn coins.

The trick? You have to draw with your finger. Your big, clunky finger. My fingernail won't work. You also only get four colors to start. You have to buy more with coins and I don't have enough yet. So you only get black, red, yellow and blue. And no, blue and yellow don't mix to make green. They just write over the other color. Do you know how hard it is to get someone to guess trees when they have black trunks and blue leaves? You've got to have a broad imagination, that's for sure.

For each round, you're given your choice of three words/things to draw at various coin values. You can choose to draw a 'bone' for 1 coin, a 'turtle' for 2, and 'fencing' for 3. I've gotten everything from meteoroid to airport, fairy to ewok. (I'm fairly certain geeks designed this game because I've also gotten Spock.) You draw and submit it, then continue going back and forth guessing with your friends. Here, for example, is my miserable attempt to get Instigator to guess 'ringtone.' What? No, it's not a jukebox. You mean you can't tell that's an iPhone? What's wrong with you?

Aside from the pictures being hilariously awful, the game is kinda addictive. I find myself checking the app constantly to see if its my turn again. Anything fun sucking up your extra time, lately? Cause, you know, I have time to blow...
SP

PS. Just in case you might have forgotten, MY BOOK COMES OUT TUESDAY!! So crazy.

Christmas Carols: The Game

A couple years back, I posted my ten favorite Christmas carols. That kicked off a lively discussion about hippopotami, ruffies and an all-around hatred for Christmas Shoes. This year, I'm going to play a game with you guys. A Christmas Carol lyrics game. And you get to not just guess, but help us try go stump others. We'll play this kinda like our alphabet or wish stomping game... when you guess the answer, you also list a lyric for the next folks to guess.

So... if I post "No crocodiles or rhinoceros-es-es. I only like hippopotamus-es-es. And hippopotamuses like me too!"

You post your answer - "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"

Then you post the next carol lyric. "He led them down the streets of town right to the traffic cop."

The next person guesses "Frosty the Snowman" and we continue. Got it? Hopefully we can play trivia all day! Okay, here's the first song lyric...

"I did a dance on mommy's plants, climbed a tree and tore my pants, filled that sugar bowl with ants, somebody snitched on me!"

Let the games begin! One lucky player will win a Christmas anthology! (although, admittedly, I probably won't ship it until after Christmas.)
SP

Competitive Streak

You all will probably not be surprised to hear I have a massively competitive streak. I didn't always. As a kid, I was never the one that tried to out run another kid or outdo them in some other way. In fact, I was kind of the opposite. I was naturally good at several things, sports obviously not being one of them, and it actually made me uncomfortable. As a kid, I didn't like being smarter than other kids. I got put into an advanced program in second grade and cried every week until they let me quit. I didn't gloat about my grades or test scores. If someone else's parent compared their kid to me in a chastising way (Why can't you be more like SP?) I would feel awful for both of us. I just was who I was. No sense is making someone feel bad for being who they were. I didn't play a lot of games as a kid. For one thing, I was an only child and rarely around kids outside of school. And for another, I almost always won unless Cyndi Trujillo would steal money from the Monopoly bank while I was in the bathroom. So the fun factor was lacking.

Then in high school, I found myself surrounded by people who were pretty much on the same intellectual level. Not maturity level, but they were pretty bright. I think it was around that time that I started to enjoy competition. I had a couple friends that I would battle for the best grades or fastest test times. It was just a healthy motivator. By college, add some tequila, and this bookworm was coming out of her shell. I wasn't exactly in the frat crowd, I lived in an honor dorm after all, so our wild late nights usually involved playing board game or cards in lobby of our dorm. Myself and several friends worked at the front desk and it was easy to hang out and work at the same time. That's when the competitiveness started getting ugly. The taunting, the name calling, the harassment to get the other people to miss their question... fun times.

I'd like to think that I'm not as bad as I used to be, although I'm still very competitive. My college roommate, Dr. Brilliant, and I won the Scattegories and Outburst tournaments on our Alaskan cruise. (Nerd alert!) I just love to play games, especially trivia ones. I like to watch Jeopardy! (their exclamation point, not mine) I guess that makes me weird, but I just love knowing the answer or if I don't, learning something new for next time. I get this giddy euphoria when I announce to the room that "Bridget Jones' Diary" was the first officially designated chick lit book and watch the others look at me like I'm some kind of human encyclopedia. I'd like my blue pie piece, please.

But it's not all about winning. No, really, although PC will insist that I'm a poor sport and only like games I can win. I disagree. I like the challenge of playing with people that can beat me. Those years as a kid were not fun. If I lose, I lose, and I'll respect you more for beating me, even if I taunt the crap out of you and not so subtly accuse you of cheating. (I'll admit I am a stickler for rules.)

Why do I mention all this? Because the Playfriends are going on a retreat this weekend! On the agenda - massages, margaritas, karaoke and game night! I'm packing Totally 80s Trivial Pursuit, Outburst, Cranium and anything else I can think of. It should be fun, although the tequila will undoubtedly make me loud and irritating like it did in college, so be prepared.

Do you like games? What are some of your favorites? I think mine has to be Taboo but my recent introduction to Cranium has moved it quickly near the top. Its trivia, charades and Pictionary all rolled into one. Are you a sore loser?

SP