38th Birthday – Showered in Board Games

I recently celebrated my 38th birthday. This is the first year, that I can remember, not receiving anything video game-related. Instead, thanks to generous/loving family and friends, I was drowned in board games!

I can’t tell if this means that I am growing up… or what.

The Mind

Wyatt and Tabitha gave me the card game, The Mind. Imagine playing with three to four other people. On level 1 (there are 12 levels), you are each given a single card. Without talking, signaling, or having to take ordered turns, you each have to place your cards down in sequential order. If someone plays their card out of numerical order, you lose one of your 3 lives. Once all 3 lives are gone it is game over.

Tabitha, Wyatt, and I played a few rounds of The Mind and became frustrated. The lack of communication makes the game difficult combined with a certain level of patience that is needed. Tabitha and I played the game later on that evening and had a great time. We even made it to level 8 (which equals each player having 8 cards in their hands to place down). There is something about The Mind which shouldn’t work but is almost magical when it does. I love the concept of it.

Azul is a tile-based game which was super fun. I’d like to play this again soon.

Star Wars: Destiny

The RavingLuhn sent me a copy of Star Wars: Destiny (thanks again, Joe!). Tab and I had a time with the rules. So we watched a Youtube video. The video we ended up watching was less about how to play and more about strategy. We are planning on watching the official Fantasy Flight Games video when we get a chance to play again. I like the dice mechanics. (Saving the video below for later.)

My brother-in-law and his family brought donuts over for breakfast on my birthday. We indulged in greasy goodness, conversed, and then got in the pool. They went home after the pool and we had a quiet afternoon until Tab’s parents came over that evening. I fired up the BBQ and cooked some chicken that Tab had marinated in a balsamic dressing. I then topped the chicken with cheese, tomatoes, and some avocado (except for Tab’s dad, who dislikes the green fruit). All which equaled an amazing birthday dinner.

My co-workers gave me a birthday card this year.

Getting closer to the big 4-0. Whatever that means…

Revisited – The Onion Layers of Time

I wrote this back in March of 2012. I can tell you that I’ve chilled out a bit since then. No longer do I feel angry or frustrated when I don’t get to play a game in the evening. I’ve gotten to where I might game once a week (IF). I more so now enjoy the time I’m spending with my family. Just needed to grow up and discover a few more layers. Always thankful to Shrek for that analogy. – Bryan

As we advance in years, I believe that we all wish that we would personally be able to grow and mature with time as well. For some, growth and maturity are unattainable due to personal life choices; for others, growing in maturity and stature are a knowingly made decision.

Before I was married, I had all the time in the world to pursue what I wanted to pursue. If I wanted to go out with friends for coffee at 2AM, I could. If I wanted to sit down and play a video game every evening, for hours on end, I could do so as well. I was a free man and time was all mine.

As I dated and was soon married, my time quickly became our time. No longer did I have the freedom to do what I wanted to do. I had to now take my wife into consideration. What did she want to do? What could we do together? There was nothing wrong or bad about this change in the way I spent my time. Like an onion, I had simply discovered a new layer of personal depth; like an onion, my time had also grown thinner in peeling away that new layer.

The birth of our son set into motion the equation of: my time + our time = his time.

Age, growth and maturity force us to constantly evaluate the things that matter to us. Are we spending our free time pursuing the things that we love or the things that we simply like? This got me thinking about video games and my constant struggle to figure out where they place in my life. Do I love them or just like them? Are they keeping me from pursuing the things that I love?

What about you?

Adventures in Odyssey will help me discuss puberty with my son

Jimmy Barclay was going through changes. Or as Mr. Whittaker put it, he was going through “adolescence”. Jimmy was growing up. He noticed that:

His voice was changing
He was angry at people for no reason at all
He was in love, with Connie Kendall

So flat. So boring. Captive audience on an 8 hour drive.

As we listened to “Coming of Age”, an episode of Adventures in Odyssey, Tabitha and I laughed. There is something surreal about listening to an episode on puberty with your seven-year-old in the car. We were driving home from vacation. The boy was in the backseat, running a high fever, and had no clue about what was plaguing Jimmy.

I told Tabitha that when Wyatt starts to go through puberty, I am going to make him listen to this episode. Odyssey can explain everything. Poof! An awkward conversation bites the dust. Who wants to talk to their parents about changes anyways?

Let this be a lesson to all parents: Media is a fantastic substitute for all major life conversations.

This important lesson is provided to you by JohnnyBGamer, tongue-in-cheek.