The Games Night Application

Growing up, "Games Night" was a regular thing in my family. Scrabble, Monopoly, Crib and Crokinole were brought out with great frequency. Even into adulthood, these games have been a regular part of family gatherings.

Crokinole has always been a source of great entertainment. Lets start with the fact that I have zero eye-hand coordination. Add to that how easy it is to make me laugh. Laughter + Bad Aim is guaranteed to equal Really Bad Aim. A couple of times, it has led to injuries. Nothing too serious, just, you know, pinging my brother between the eyes with one of the disks. But, it does mean that when we play doubles, no one wants to be my partner.

Scrabble is one of our family favourites. My mom and I have an ongoing marathon, which we pick up every time I visit. Scrabble has provided many, many fun memories. One of my favourites is from a couple of years ago when, after a few drinks, my brother, Adam, joined us for a game. After a few turns, Adam tried to spell the word "Shitted". Between fits of laughter, Mom and I tried to explain to him that "Shitted" is not a really word. "Sure it is," Adam argued, "I shitted on the lawn." It took a while longer, but we finally managed to convince him that he wasn't allowed to spell it. Another time the validity of a word came into question was when my one of my friends was playing with us. Now, this friend is funny, sweet, totally awesome, and gay. When he played what was definitely not a real word, we told him he couldn't play it. His response was "You won't let me play that word because I'm a homo!". My mom looked at him, completely straight-faced, and said "Sweetie, I don't care that you're a homo. You can't play that word."

Last year, I took my love of games and brought it to the school I work at. I started a Scrabble Ladder. Basically, students and staff signed up and were randomly put into a ladder where they could challenge anyone up to three spots above them to a match. The whole goal was to play your way up to the top of the ladder. It was more popular than I expected - students as young as grade 2 were signing up and challenging older students, and even teachers. Some of the younger students were so into it, they insisted that we run it again this year. One of the grade 4 boys was particularly vehement in his insistence. Last year, in grade 3, he had managed to play his was to second on the ladder and was unable to defeat me (though he definitely tried). This year he was more determined than ever to beat me - over the summer he made his mom go out and by a Scrabble board so that he could practice (and this Christmas he got a Scrabble Dictionary in his stocking; it is one of him most prized possessions). So, after a few weeks of play, he had made it to the number one spot, and I made it to number 2. I challenged him, won, and was instantly challenged by him. Our game was set for the following week. That meant that for the next week, every time he saw me in the hall, he would look up at me and say with all seriousness "Tara, I'm taking you down!". After five days of this, I knew I had to say something. So, next time he said "Tara, I'm taking you down!" I looked at him and said "I'm taking you down to Chinatown". Not missing a beat, he looked up at me and said "I'm taking you down to Chinatown, and to London, and to Edmonton!" Down to Edmonton - you know that's serious.

Life Lesson: Make time for games night. It gives you a great way to connect with people, be it your family, friends, or students.

The Shower Song Renormalization

I got some pretty cool things for Christmas this year - a goat donated in my honor to a family in Africa (I fondly think of him as Phil), plenty of gift cards, a painting, and unique things like personalized dishcloths and a separator plate. But two things stand out above all that. My periodic table shower curtain, and my loofa ducky.

Now, I have a history of singing in the shower. I sing in the key of off, so I am quite thankful that my bathroom is central in my apartment, not sharing a wall with either of my neighbors. Normally, I'd sing fun songs - something from Broadway, or Disney maybe. However, the shower singing has decreased over the last few months, probably due to lack of time in the mornings. But, ever since I started using my new shower curtain and loofa, I've had some new songs to sing.

My loofa ducky is a long loofa - the kind designed for washing your back, with strings attached to either end - and has a plush duck head on one end, and the feet on the other end. It is absolutely adorable and the second I saw it, I was reminded of the Rubber Ducky song. Naturally, I had to alter it a bit to work with my loofa ducky, but every morning, guaranteed, as I scrub my back I sing "Loofa Ducky, you're the one! You make showers so much fun! Loofa Ducky, I'm awfully fond of you!".

If you watch The Big Bang Theory, it is likely you are familiar with a periodic table shower curtain. I have the same one. I also have a tendency to sing the periodic table. It started back in university, when I had four hour chem labs with nothing to do but watch a burrett drip. I'm not sure where the tune came from, but one day I just started singing the elements in order. And then, to spice it up, I added jazz hands at the end of each phrase. When I started teaching, I sang the song to some of my students to try and get them interested in chemistry (or at least see that they could have some fun with it). Ryan and Anne decided to come up with their own song, but have never actually made it past Boron, largely do to the fact that they dissolve into laughter at that point. They chose Carol of the Bells as their tune: One, hydrogen, two, helium, three lithium, four, beryllium, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-Boron. Normally it was somewhere during the "ha's" that the real laughing started. It probably didn't help much that when Ryan sang it, he would sing in either a really high or ridiculously low voice. So now, when I'm showering, I'll start off with my song - I can do up to silver from memory - and if I need a good laugh, I try to sing Anne and Ryan's song.

Life Lesson: Let the things around you inspire you, whether it is to go back to doing something you enjoy (like singing in the shower), or to try something new.