day three hundred fifty-six.

last night was cousin game night.
we played a 13 person version of the game of "things..."
in this game, one is given a question (like, "things you could get sent to the principal's office for," or "things you never remember," and so on) and writes their response anonymously on a slip of paper. the object is to match the responses with the correct person.
i played this for the first time on my birthday this year (or, as we call it here, day one.)

feel free to guess the questions associated with these:

 cousin erik thanks you for your time

day three hundred thirteen.

you guys last night was kind of the best

 a 1989 original

 ready to consume.

abe lincoln approved.

 there is a sale at the: record store.

romance is not dead.
not as long as there are malls.

day two hundred forty-four.

last night there was a kicking and screaming party at robyn & joel's rather grand new apartment, followed by scrabble, instant streams of 30 rock, and watching a raccoon descend from a large tree. emma swore that he would be friendly.

today i slept late and woke to sunshine and excellent breezes creeping through the windows.
alas, the long weekend must end.

day two hundred twenty-three.

illinois, so far

i may have slept through dinner by about 4 hours my first night home, but bonus-dad neil was still looking out for me:

i ate it just like that, removed from the foil and at room temperature. it was the sweetest corn i've had all summer.

sunday: bridal store with sister katie (not pictured)


game night at the earlywacz residence

keith is stoked to be on my team
(team reunite the band)

maggie + the spice girls = pure joy

we played trivial pursuit 90s edition (my favorite of all editions) while listening to the postal service. summer isn't over until i say its over.


(which is like, tomorrow)

day one hundred eighty-five.

the answers to the will shortz puzzles i posted last week
rachelle made a pretty good guess of "liberally" for number three, but was just short(z):

-american cities-

1. The Playboy Club is putting out a movie with an Albany cast.


2. Of all the fruits grown in Asia, residents of Bombay think the Indianapolis the best.


-and the tom swifty-

3. "Get rid of all the conservative party in England," Tom said notoriously.

day one hundred seventy-five.

ALA: day three

(sunday)

hello, seth meyers.

i had a, let's say, low impact sunday at the conference.
i showed up after lunch and took a break to go to the grocery store.

but i did make it my business to go see this man:

enigmatologist and nyt crossword editor, the legendary will shortz.

he split the room into two teams to play puzzle games with plays on presidential names, american cities, and tom swifties: fiction v. non-fiction (fiction won)

he revealed that the youngest submitter to have a puzzle published is only 14, and the oldest 95 (and creating puzzles since 1955!).

he also said that sometimes when editing, he changes things just because they "aren't important enough for you to know" rather than inaccurate, like that UCLA was jim morrison's alma mater.


a few examples from the cities game:

1. The Playboy Club is putting out a movie with an ___________ cast.


2. Of all the fruits grown in Asia, residents of Bombay think the ___________ the best.


and from the Tom Swifty game:

3. "Get rid of all the conservative party in England," Tom said _________.


(leave a correct and non-cheating answer in the comments and i will send you a postcard!)

after my grocery field trip, i loitered for a while with GSLISers whitney and katherine

this happened:

then we were off to the GSLIS alumni reception at the renaissance hotel down the street

swanky.

post-reception, dairy-free chocolate noir sorbet from pitango, which tasted like the best chocolate ice cream you could imagine eating on a humid summer sidewalk in chinatown surrounded by transplanted illinoisans (as in, delicious)

day one hundred forty-four.

(my bedroom is a dusty place)

last night i hung out with friends ashley and maggie, playing games (moods and last word), drinking crystal light, and coercing maggie into listening to justin beiber for the first time (because that is what good friends do).
i slept until 2:00 pm today.

day two.

FEDORA FRIDAY
in which fedoras are present, on fridays:




what i've learned so far:

1. when playing "Things...", "BJs" can be presumed as the best answer to roughly 85% of the cards.