(no subject)

[stormdog]

mocha_mephooki and I shared a special, first-time experience with moiracoon last night. Something I've been trying to convince her to try for years, but she was always a little bit nervous about it. She'd been involved in activities of a similar, if more mainstream, nature before. Often, at conventions or parties, she was willing to participate in some fun of a lighter, less intense variety, but stepping outside the known and into new territory was a little intimidating. I can understand that; I'm pretty slow to warm up to a lot of new things myself. But together, the two of us broadened her horizons in a way that I've been hoping for for years. We got her to play Empire Builder with us!

We've done lots of stuff like Apples to Apples or Trivial Pursuit, but I hadn't managed to get her into the world of strategy and tactical games. Every time I looked over at my sweetie and saw her moving her peg along the rail lines that she'd drawn across the board, or puzzling over her next destination, I'd get this gigantic smile on my face. From there, maybe it's only a few short steps to... Iron Dragon! And then, then, it's on to Wizards! And Titan! And then... Freedom in the Galaxy and War of the Rings! All of which just conveniently happen to be in my parents' collection! *Cackles like a mad board-game scientist*

Err, anyway, sorry about that. Got carried away for a minute. Heck, I've never even played a full game of those last two. And we didn't manage to finish a whole game of Empire Builder either since Mocha had to leave, but that's ok. I am just tickled that everyone seemed to have a really great time! It's amazing me, now that I've been playing them again, how much I like board games and how much I've missed them. I want to do this on a more regular basis. And I need to weed out some of the extras in the basement and collect a few that I really want. Like Wizards. I will get a copy of that game. One of these days.

And there's another reason I'm happy today! I'm buying a drum set after work. Remember how I said a while ago that there was this set for only $150 and how cheap that was? Well, the one I'm buying doesn't actually have cymbals, so I'll need to pick those up on my own. It doesn't have a kick pedal for the bass drum either, so I'm going to comb Craig's list for that too. But I'm getting a bass drum, a floor tom, two mounted toms, and a snare for all of 50 dollars! Considering that that's about a sixth of what I was expecting to pay, I can live with that. It's a used set, and an entry level one, but the picture looks good, and all I need is something to mess around with while I see how much fun I have with them. I'm driving up to Hartland, which is west of West Allis, after work to pick them up. I'll have drums!!