When the doge comes around

[avram]

Games Club. Played a new game, Doge, really good, simple yet leading to interesting interactions. Came in second, but it was oh so close — another player and I both achieved the victory condition in the same season, but he had one more house than I did. Also played Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers (did miserably) and a few games of Light Speed.

Before that I shopped around a bit at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, looking for a birthday gift for my mother. (Oh fuck, I forgot to call her! Despite having a reminder in my Palm. I suck.) I eventually remembered her once having said she liked Janice Joplin, and figured she wouldn’t have any CDs of hers (my parents having come late to the CD revolution), so I got one at Virgin. Also picked up Johnny Cash’s American IV: When the Man Comes Around for myself.

I’ve been reading AS Byatt’s The Matisse Stories, which isn’t my usual sort of thing, but I’m liking it quite a bit. These are short, slice-of-life stories, with strong visual descriptions, lots of emphasis on color. Byatt has a great talent for description and for conjuring up characters with an economy of phrasing. (Her grasp of formal color theory, in the second story, leaves a bit to be desired.) I’ve forgotten what turn of conversation led cthulhia to lend it to me.