brownthrasher

So the election ended up being a painful bust this year and the future is looking a bit dim right now, but several good things did happen.

I did well at the ACPT (see below).
One of my curling teams (Sunday night, I viced) came in second place for the league.
I won a second prize for cross stitching at the county fair (hear/see/speak no evil frogs)
Mom and I won second prize (and a trophy! woohoo!) at the Lollapuzzoola in August.
I did a Caribbean cruise, with Maria.
I went to a garnet mine in the Adirondacks.
I sat out on the beach three times!

Placements so far:
05     196/455  43%
06     166/498  33%
07     204/698  29%
08      98/699   14%
09     134/684  19%
10     110/644  17%
11      84/655   12%
12     59/586   10% (from here, pre-adjustment %iles)
13     88/573    15%
14    100/580   17%
15    189/567   33%
16     89/597 15%
Solo again this year, mom electing to stay home and wait for Lollapuzzoola. Several people asked after her, especially Dave and Steve. I drove down Friday afternoon, Friday night the CT group went out for steak dinner (includine Loren Muse Smith now from WV). The Friday night game was an especially good suite from Eric Berlin, an escape room game. Our group (me, Jesse Lanssen, Loren) finished about fourteenth of thirty. (Tyler took first place as a solo). I played Connection on Andy Kravis' team, not much help until the final group (roes!) I was feeling the onset of a cold so didn't stay up too late that night.

Saturday the cold was getting worse. I had breakfast downstairs with Dave and Bob, also Damien Allen. (Thanks, Bob) Puzzle one  was a bit harder this year; puzzle two (T's in clues and answers) a bit easier, puzzle 3 (censored tv titles) was fun. For lunch we tried to go to the burger place but it was crowded, so went to PF Chang's instead. Puzzle 4 (literal symbols) went well, and I aced puzzle 5 (passing lanes), puzzle 6 usual relaxing, but that's where I made my mistake this year. I bought a book of Friday crosswords, and Longo's long crossword, and a kid's book mom requested. I didn't do well on the crossword animals game. For dinner our group went to the burger place again with better luck, I sat with Tereza d'andrade as well as Bob Kern and Loren. The evening program included group play of Idiot Test, and a couple testaments to the late Merl Reagle, including a man's touching discussion of a crossword Merl had made for his ill wife, and Wordplay outtakes/raw footage from Patrick Creadon.  No games for me this year.

Sunday I slept terribly, and was up early enough for breakfast with the above, plus Glen (thanks, Dave). Puzzle 7 went smoothly (anagram book titles). Talent show was okay, included a moth-type story about a woman showing her grandfather that she could do crosswords. Tyer Hinman did not make the finals this year. It was Barkin, Plotkin, and Feyer, and Barkin won by a comfortable margin, hooray! And home to a snow-rimed cape.

Sometimes,when I say I am a nerd, people make disbelieving noises. This bugs me, because I am proud to be a nerd. The fact that I hold a responsible job, and do (nerdy) sports, and that I do not look like the Big Bang characters, does not make me less of a nerd.

Nerdy things I have done 2015
Nerdcruise (aka Joco Cruise 5)--including side trip to Arecibo Radio Telescope, nerd knitting circle, winning nerd trivia
Boskone (one night--especially for the trivia contest, did I come in second? and I heard Brother Guy and Joan Slonczewski and others talk about science lab disaster stories. I avoided the major snowstorm however)
Hugo awards--I nominated, and got mad at the Sad Puppies situation, and cheered their comeuppance
Weird Al concert (New Bedford)
Nerds and Music concert--Rothfuss, Paul and Storm, Joel Hodgson (the MST3K guy)
Readercon
Science Fiction Book CLub

And the crossword contests (ACPT and Lollapuzzoola) are a different flavor of nerdiness, as is my playing curling and watching soccer (go Revs!)  Also trivia, online and at the bars.

Wow, I really stank this year. I'm going to blame lack of recent puzzling; but I was slower, and there were some that I just couldn't get.

Back to Stamford this year! Easy drive down 95. Mom got to the hotel before me, and gifted me with a Fitbit. We met the CT folks (this year Bob, Dave, and Marion) at the bar, later went to a steak place including Jan and Glenn, but missing Tereza. Then the evening program of crosswords on ipads (team included Mom, Marion, Haley Gold), courtesy of the Museum of Math, and a presentation on the puzzle archiving by champion junior David Steinberg. Wine and cheese, I met up with several old friends, including LLamas Peter and Steve; Robert (Moy); also Brent who wrote a book about remembering people's names. Afterwards I hung out with the gamers, playing Concept with Scott Weiss and Jeopardy with Mike Shenk (third place!).
Nex day puzzles--number one was synonyms for wet blanket; number two was continental divide; number three was distorted city names; number four was 'to a' puns; number five was irrelevant added Bs; number six was reversed company names; and number seven was 'and' spoonerisms. On number two I missed two squares--variant spelling of parchisi, politician's name Thune I hadn't heard; and HERD for HIRE. On number five I struggled with the SE section, uncompleted (ABSTRUSE clues), and number seven it was the SW section, missing DOC of all things, wedging a CREVICE into an ORIFICE. Mom ended up two places ahead of me, good for her.
We went out for chinese food the next night, mostly the same group, and the evening program included a brief film about a palindromist, recap of Dr Fill's performance (many errors but stil damn fast, and he beat me this year), and Patrick Creedon telling stories about Wordplay on its tenth anniversary.
The talent show was mostly songs about crosswords this year, with Merl Regal giving us some wordplay, and a couple happy birthdays to Miriam, not 89 years old. I was able to finish the B clues in 8 minutes; Andrew Feist demolished it in 4. The C finals were close, just seconds apart, and Tyler fell down when he lost to Dan by a half second. Ophira and Pliska did a great job with the commentaries this year. I retrieved my glasses, and went back home.

33%ile, same as my second year 2006. Better next year!

I went to the police station yesterday, and they'd found my stuff! Most of it, minus Mimi's charm. Including the Olympic Swatch, red/blue broken necklace, some pins, buttons, seashells, Pop's sword, an expired drivers license. Most if it wet (the Toledo pendant may be ruined). In a duffel bag, found by the side of the road. It's all being held in the evidence locker, until they get the results back on the fingerprinting (another month!) and decide if they're charging someone.

I also went to a Toastmaster's meeting this week, rocked for the first half of trivia at Liam Maguire's, learned about marijuana prescribing, and presented my quilts at the Southport quilt weekend at Lynn Vigeant's request.

I did my Portugal river trip the last week in July, came back the beginning of August. Then the next weekend I went to NYC for Lollapuzzoola. Spent the next weekend on call, went to craft fair; the next weekend won trivia at the curling club (with Diane, Matina, and Levi) and watched the Hugo awards. Robbery.The next weekend went to Washington DC (by Acela) for the big football game, saw most of the Washington cousins and most of the Fontanas. Mom and Dad and I stayed at the Kuehls. Lots of family get together; went to see the new DC memorials.

So far in September--book club; trivia, won twice at BBC in the Heights; Dedham for lectures, going to Primed tomorrow. Finally saw Her, Grand Budapest; last month saw Guardians of the Galaxy, Pacific Rim, Journey of 100 Steps. Signed up for boards. Got my lights all fixed. Said goodbye to Brandy and Steve (going to Mississippi).

Days spent basking on beach this summer: zero. Although I went to watch a few sunsets.
Needing more exercise.

Lollapuzzoola 7--multiple wrong answers! google tickets!
43rd spot puts me in 25%.

This was the year I flew JetBlue Hyannis to JFK, played boggle and scrabble with Elaine Lippman (who injured her leg last April), and went to the 911 memorial.

Also note that my oriental waterfalls quilt did not win any ribbons at the fair this year.

Went to Belfast with KB, CstM, CM. Won the first, lost the next two, can't win when no one (including me) can get the weight right; and I miscalled the broom a few times, and Karin has difficulty calling the line. Theme was Fiesta, I won a Chia head in the trivia contest, we left before the pinata. Cape teams got into all three final events (although I think none won). Snow slowed our drive home once again.

Steve Golder and I went back to the Sandwich BBC Game Dinner last night. We feasted on boar sausage, venison ravioli, whole stuffed quail, ostrich meatloaf (yum), antelope meatballs (double yum), duck taco, guineafowl springroll, civet of hare (aka jugged hare, or cooked with onion), alligator gumbo, rattlesnake and pheasant puffs, duck wontons. The root vegetable were good, the mushroom gnocchi my only loser. Followed by a almond strawberry tart, crunchy, and accompanied by tempranillo wine.

On Saturday we started off with a ceremony at the Shawnee Prairie Presevr to dedicate twelve maple trees to mom's generation, the Dozen Cousins, the erstwhile Dirty Dozen. These joined the trees previously dedicated to the Magnificent seven, my grandfather and his siblings (Joe, Walter, Otilla, Julia, and Esther). It was a lovely speech by the groundskeeper, followed by short remembrances from the cousins. Afterwards we went into their interpretive center, which had live snakes, bees, and amphibians, and stuffed birds and mammals.  Finally we went to the fair, I was with Mia and Mom, while Amy and Peter went on Bill's guided walk. We saw the baking and vegetation contests in the bottom of the coliseum, and the domestic arts (quilts and needlecraft), ate some fair sandwiches, and then went to watch the horse races. I lost about ten dollars, including a couple photo finishes. Eric's family and Bob's family were there too. I went off and toured the midway and looked at the rides (which weren't that different from Barnstable Co) and had a funnel cake. Eventually we left for the evening's entertainment, dinner and dancing at the Turtle Creek country club. There were more speeches, and cute kids. The bar was open, and the band Dublin was great.

The next morning (Sunday) people drifted home, parents and Eric driving back, Peter hitching a ride with the Steiners to the Cinci airport. I went back to the fair and saw the animal pens and the fine arts, and ate a pork sandwich down by then cattle barns and some sugar waffles. I talked to the spinners and learned what the carcass competition is, and saw a bit of the peewee chicken contest. (We missed the human crowing contest.) Then I went to the Garst Museum, to see the history of Greenville--Tecumseh and the Prophet, Ft Greeneville and Gen Wayne, (not much on the actual Treaty of Greeneville), Lowell Thomas and Annie Oakley. There were 'rooms' set up to display people's antiques, and recreations of old shops (the beauty salon was terrifying, the telescope makers surprising), and a room of unescorted collected farmhouse equipment--old stoves, cider presses, a stagecoach). They made the point that Annie's life was quite different from the fictional versions, that she never lost her hometown roots (despite unspecified abusive upbringing). I drove to Columbus via Bradford, stopping to buy an autographed Scalzi book. At the Fontanas we had a family dinner with the Viaus, Juli, Allison and her fiancé Gabe, and an unrecognizable Carley.

Monday Juli and I went to the Columbus Zoo where she volunteers (and got us in for free, and discounts on food). We saw polar bears being fed, lions, tigers, and bears, a clouded leopard, baby otters and pronghorns, elephants and okapis. Then we went to the watermark Zoombezi Bay and rode the waterslides. Dinner with Linda, Dave, and Allison, then we watched the finale of the Dragon Tattoo movies.

Tuesday Juli and I drove up to Cleveland to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.