Fun Times on Rachel Joi

Mind Games 2026 recap

Mon, 25 May 2026 10:19:00 +0000

In April, I attended American Mensa’s Mind Games for my tenth (10th!!!) time. It’s a fantastic weekend of playing so many board games with people I’ve known for a long time and people I’m just getting to know. It’s a very intense time for both my brain and for “peopling”. This year, it was in DC, and, as has become more common, it started on Thursday instead of Friday, which meant we had about 60 hours to play games instead of 36+.

new board games rundown

Fri, 09 Nov 2018 07:23:00 +0000

I spent the better part of five days last week playing the newest board games at a convention in Seattle. It was quite a change from the board game convention I usually go to, where players have about 40 hours to get through at least 30 games. This one was more relaxed time-wise, but the games were considerably more intense. I played a lot of “heavy” games, which took up to about five hours for one game. Altogether, I got through 27. The games were of a much higher caliber than my other convention too, so that made me happy. Here’s the rundown of the games I played:

two years of dates

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 08:00:00 +0000

For Christmas of 2015, Carl and I decided to plan a year of dates. We alternated months and planned an activity around town (or at least within driving distance), trying to keep the overall budget down, but allowing for a splurge. We liked it so much that we did it again this last year and are planning on doing it this Christmas too. We haven’t done all of them, whether because of time constraints or budget constraints or something else, but we’ve managed to get to about 3/4 of them. Without further ado, here they are!

board game extravaganza 2 (April)

Fri, 12 May 2017 14:00:58 +0000

I went to Mind Games in April, at which judges play at least 30 games and vote on their favorites. On Sunday morning, votes are tallied, and five games are heralded as winners with the right to put the Mensa Select seal on their game. This was my fourth year going, and it was a lot of fun to see old friends, meet new people, and play LOTS. OF. GAMES. The winners this year were Amalgam, Around the World in 80 Days, Clank!, Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, and Imagine. I didn’t play Clank!, and I had played Hogwarts Battle at the other convention (and it wasn’t on my ballot this time), but I played so many other games. I promise I like more games than just those I win. I know you’re curious about my thoughts on the games, so here goes:

board game extravaganza 1 (March)

Sat, 18 Mar 2017 00:23:58 +0000

I went to a board game convention at the beginning of March, and I played lots of games! Here’s a list:

Scoville: This is similar to Pastiche, but with peppers. It’s a cute game where you plant peppers and try to harvest increasingly more expensive or strategic peppers. You get victory points by making salsa recipes and selling your peppers. It’s cute and fun, not too heavy, and I really enjoyed it.
Kodama: This is a sweet and pretty game that can be played with children if you want. You start with a trunk card that has one of six features on it. Each season (spring, summer, and fall), you place four cards on your tree, scoring points for features, and at the end of each season, you invite a kodama (tree spirit) to your tree, and it gives you additional points. There are kodama cards for children that give more basic points so they can be competitive with adults. It’s a very pretty game, with really nice art.
Lost Cities: This is a two-player game where you go build expeditions by going through a deck of cards and playing cards out of your hand in sequential order for each color. Some rounds can be devastatingly bad, going into negative points, but it’s a fun game for two, and it can be quite competitive over a few rounds. I ended up with two copies of this through the math trade, and I think we’re going to give the second copy to Carl’s parents, who like games too.
Viticulture: I was really excited about this game, because I love Scythe, and this was his earlier hit. I think this game would be best played with people you know really well, whom you can harass if they take too long, because a couple guys we played with were fairly dense and fairly oblivious. The mechanics are interesting, as you plant vineyards, harvest grapes, and make and sell wine, and it takes a reasonable balancing of resources. It was a fun game, and I’d like to play it again, though with people I know better. :)
Deadwood Studios: You’re filming a western movie, and you take roles and get paid and get fame for performing well. For each turn, you’re encouraged to perform your line expressively, but you ultimately roll a die to determine whether you succeed or not. It ended up being a lot of fun, with plenty of laughter.
Letter Tycoon: I entered a tournament for this game and ended up losing badly. It’s kind of like capitalist Scrabble. You have a hand of cards, build words, and buy patents on letters, which pay out when other people use your letters. I was a little disappointed about doing so poorly, but I love this game. I’d like to add it to my collection, if it weren’t so similar to other word games (that Carl won’t play with me).
Shadow Hunters: This game is best played with a large group of people. I think we played with eight. You’re assigned a role of hunter, shadow, or neutral. Hunters and shadows are trying to kill each other, and neutrals each have different win conditions. You can try to figure out who’s who, and you can cause damage to others. It’s a fun game that I’ve played before. It has pretty simple mechanics, and it’s just a good party game.
One Night Revolution: Based on Revolution, but happening faster, everyone has a faction, either rebel or informant, and a role, which include signaler and revealer and other things. Informants try to keep from being discovered, and rebels try to figure out who they are. It can be pretty quick, and it’s a fun puzzle game with lots of conversation. We played about eight rounds of it. Very fun.
Herbaceous: Very pretty game. You cultivate herbs and plant them in herb boxes for various levels of points. It has simple mechanics, plays quickly, and has beautiful art. It was fun and pretty, a good palate cleanser.
Elevenses: Another fairly simple game, it mimics morning tea. You have cards face-down and a few cards in your hand. You try to figure out where your high-value cards are and maximize your points, and each round ends when someone has three cards face-up and plays an elevenses card. It was sweet to play.
Biblios: I was interested in playing this game to check it out for a friend. It turned out to be not that cool. You’re trying to build your collection of types of books in a scriptorium. Each person takes a card for herself, a card for the auction, and as many cards for the public offering as there are other people playing, and you go through the deck that way. The auction phase comes with buying cards. People bid on cards to add to their collection. It’s… okay. Not awesome.
Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle: We only played two years of the game rather than all seven. Characters (Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Neville) try to fight villains and gain spells and items. It’s a cooperative deck-building game, and it was both fun and not too thrilling. I’m not sure I’ll play it again, but it was good enough as we went.
Hardback: This is the “prequel” to Paperback, similar to Paperback but with some different mechanisms. This is going on Kickstarter in April, and if you don’t have Paperback already, you should look at both and decide which to get. Hardback involves buying cards that are one of four different genres - mystery, adventure, horror, and romance - and those cards give special powers when used together. It’s fun but still needs to be polished. It’s similar enough to Paperback to not make me need to buy it, but it could be a good option if you are looking for a word game.
Sheriff of Nottingham: This is a bluffing game where you bring legal goods into the town and try to smuggle illegal goods in. Each person takes a turn as the sheriff, and as sheriff, you try to extract bribes from other players. It’s fun if you get into it and really live up your roles. I loved this game a year ago and enjoyed it this year too.
Captain Sonar: This is a game for 2-8 players, and we played with all eight, two teams of four. Each team has a captain, a radio operator, a first mate, and an engineer. I was the engineer for two games and the first mate for one. It’s basically real-time Battleship with additional complexity. It was a lot of fun, though the dry erase markers basically stopped working while we were playing. It worked really well with eight players. Not a game I need to own, because I’m not sure I could find seven other people to play with.
Broom Service: We played this with five players, and it was fun! This was my first time playing with more than two people, and it was quite enjoyable. It was tense trying to figure out if you should be cowardly or brave. The other people seemed to enjoy it too, one guy said it was his favorite game of the weekend.
Artemis (simulation): This was a Star Trek bridge simulation with a crew of six. Five of us did it, and a random person joined us for it. I was the captain (yay!). We helped some Romulans and destroyed basically an entire Klingon fleet, then flew through an asteroid field on our way back. It was fun, and I’d like to try it again (and maybe go rogue).

Stay tuned for another board game extravaganza in April!

Whisky Advent Calendar

Sat, 24 Dec 2016 21:00:00 +0000

I bought the Drinks by the Dram Whisky Advent Calendar this year, and it’s amazing. Each day, I’ll update this post with the one I’ve tasted. Twenty-four drams of deliciousness. Here we go! 1 Dec: The Lost Distilleries Blend Batch 8 from the Blended Whisky Company, blended scotch whisky, 53.1% Maybe it’s the season, but the nose of this was caramel and eggnog to me. Deliciousness. It was a really nice fruity taste with an ideal peatiness (which, in my book, is not much). The taste that lingered was a little herbal , maybe sage. This was the first blended whisky I’ve deliberately tried, and it was quite pleasant. 8/10 2 Dec: Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera, single malt scotch whisky, 40% This smelled strongly of apple juice with hints of peach. The taste was cinnamon, with a finish of leather. It’s similar to the scotch I normally drink, so I didn’t think it was particularly special, but it was really nice. 5/10 3 Dec: Kilchoman Machir Bay, single malt scotch whisky, 46% Peaty scotches are just not my thing. I mean, that blended one from the 1st was really good with just a hint of peatiness, but this was a little too much. It had a nose of pineapple and campfire, and it tasted and finished like hot tar. It wasn’t terrible (I mean, hot tar isn’t an awful smell), just not my taste. 3/10 4 Dec: Wolfburn, single malt scotch whisky, 46% This was a very nice scotch. Bright citrusy nose with a taste of cherry jolly rancher and something dark, maybe chocolate. Just a hint of peatiness, which was really delightful. 6/10 5 Dec: Mackmyra Svensk Ek, Swedish single malt whisky, 46.1% Wow, I liked this one a lot. The nose was vanilla and lemon, and it tasted of bananas and graham crackers. Can you feel that warmth? It was like wrapping up in a down comforter on a cold night. 8/10 6 Dec: Rock Oyster, blended malt scotch whisky, 46.8% Apparently, I need to drink more blended scotches. This one had a nose of mandarin orange and salt, and a taste of chipotle peppers and wood. A little smokier than my taste, but really nice all the same. 6/10 7 Dec: The Dalmore 12 Year Old, single malt scotch whisky, 40% I was surprised at how strong the smell of this was in comparison to the taste. And a little disappointed, I guess. The dark color had me excited. The nose was burnt caramel, the taste was old book, and the finish was totally tobacco. I’m not quite sure what I think of this one. Probably not one I’ll seek out. 4/10 8 Dec: Lagavulin 16 Year Old, single malt scotch whisky, 43% This one smells like being on a farm, with a hint of grass. The palate is coffee and dirt. The peat is really strong. And the finish isn’t very pleasant. I like sweeter scotches, ones that are less earthy and less smoky. 2/10 9 Dec: Old Perth Sherry Cask Blended Malt, blended malt scotch whisky, 43% This was pretty pleasant. Nose of raisin and maple syrup, palate of fresh spinach and fruitcake, finish of raw silk (I do love the smell of silk). It was quite smooth, and I liked the boldness of the flavors. They meshed well and seemed pretty distinct. 5/10 10 Dec: Teeling Whiskey Single Malt, single malt Irish whiskey, 46% An Irish whiskey this time! Nose of green apple and… chocolate? Palate is very floral, and the finish is almost like a berry, though I can’t pick it out. I consider myself a scotch girl, but this was quite delicious. 6/10 11 Dec: Evan Williams Bourbon Extra Aged, Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, 43% Bourbons are a little rough around the edges. This one had a nose of wood (obviously), honey, and nail polish remover, and it tasted of vanilla and caramel. It tasted like… bourbon. This one might be better as a mixer, though it wasn’t unpleasant. 3/10 12 Dec: Tomatin 14 Year Old Port Wood Finish, single malt scotch whisky, 46% Maybe because my first favorite scotch was a ruby cask one, this tastes to me just how scotch should taste, but there is nothing distinctive or outstanding about it for the same reason. It’s just how scotch should taste, right? Nose of honey and dark cherry, palate of vanilla and cinnamon, finish of fermented berries. It’s kind of like an unembellished ideal for me. 7/10 I’m halfway through now. It’s been a fun experiment, though I’m not sure I’ll need to do it again. I thought I was a scotch girl, and I enjoy it, even drinking it every day, but I find that I’m running out of words to describe the scents and flavors. I don’t know what that says about me as a scotch aficionado. I’ve been surprised that I liked the blended scotches as much as I did, though it makes sense if I think about it: if there is a person who is skilled at blending the flavors, the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. I’m excited for the second half of this calendar. It’s been great! 13 Dec: Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old, single malt scotch whisky, 40% Perfectly pleasant. Nose of yeast and grapes and cake, palate of wood, vanilla, and chocolate, and a finish of yeast again. Very nice scotch, though not outstanding. 5/10 14 Dec: That Boutique-y Whisky Company Invergordon 25 Year Old - Batch 9, single grain scotch whisky, 49.8% I liked this one, but it didn’t seem “old”. The nose was of raspberry and coffee, and the palate was banana (maybe) and gingerbread. The herbs lasted into the finish. I’m not sure I know what age is supposed to do anymore - smooth it out? This didn’t seem much smoother than yesterday’s. 5/10 15 Dec: Glengoyne 12 Year Old, single malt scotch whisky, 43% This one was a lot sweeter than I expected. It had a nose of apple and creme brulee, a palate of pound cake, and a finish of toffee. 5/10 16 Dec: Glenfarclas 21 Year Old, single malt scotch whisky, 43% This was very very smooth. Nose of lemon and rose hips, palate had hints of fruit, and the finish was tobacco. This was quite pleasant. I do enjoy the fruity, floral ones. 7/10 17 Dec: KaVaLan Concertmaster Port Cask Finish, single malt whisky, 40% A Taiwanese whisky this time! I quite enjoyed this one. The nose was of blackberry and maple syrup, the palate of jam, brown sugar, and vanilla, and the finish of tobacco again. This seems like a great scotch to drink while smoking a cigar. 7/10 18 Dec: Oban Little Bay, single malt scotch whisky, 43% Not very smooth, but quite nice anyway. Nose of cherry and vanilla, palate of coffee and salt (just a little), finish of orange. Not getting to the Oban distillery was a disappointment on our trip. 6/10 19 Dec: English Whisky Co. 5 Year Old - Batch 1 (That Boutique-y Whisky Company), single malt English whisky, 49.5% This was pretty raw and rough, though maybe it’s the higher alcohol content. Citrus nose, palate of ginger and chili, hints of smokiness. Adding water to this didn’t really smooth anything out. It was just… okay. 3/10 20 Dec: Fettercairn Fasque, single malt scotch whisky, 42% Great name for a scotch. :) Nose of dried cranberries and grass, palate of chocolate and coffee, and finish of vanilla and cinnamon. Pretty good! 5/10 21 Dec: Macallan 12 Year Old Double Cask, single malt scotch whisky, 40% This was a really nice scotch. It had a nose of apricot or some other stone fruit, a palate of honey and vanilla, and the finish was very woody. Quite pleasant. 6/10 22 Dec: Buffalo Trace, Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, 40% Bourbons are fun but a little raw. This one had a nose of lemon and caramel, a palate of charred wood, vanilla, and cinnamon, and a finish of spices. This was a nice bourbon, one I may actually want to keep around. 6/10 23 Dec: Highland Park 12 Year Old, single malt scotch whisky, 40% This one smells like fruitcake. Fitting, for the season. Hint of smokiness in the palate, with a lot more depth than I expected, tastes of vanilla and… forest. Finish of wood. Decent scotch, not my favorite of the month. 5/10 24 Dec: The Blended Whisky Company Half-Century Blend Batch 1 Aged over 50 years, blended scotch whisky, 45.5% Last one! This one seemed really rich. A very nice nose of dried cherries, walnuts, and chocolate, palate of vanilla and toffee, finish of spices and stone fruits. Really nice, but honestly, I can’t tell much difference between a 50-year and an 18-year. 8/10 In summation, I’m glad I got to do this, but I don’t think I need to do it again. It wasn’t quite worth the cost of shipping it all the way from the UK just to try a bunch of different whiskies. I’m thinking Twelve Days of Christmas Wine next year. :)

bridal emergency kit

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:50:00 +0000

A good friend got married last weekend. It was a wonderful ceremony and a fun reception. As one of the bridesmaids, I elected to bring the emergency kit for the day. And this was the emergency kit to end all emergency kits. I was prepared for basically anything except a biochemical attack. It was a pretty packed duffel bag, but it came in handy, and thankfully, I didn’t actually have to use much of it. :) So here’s my list of contents: