Books 'n Booze

Thanks to our chaotic schedules, February Saloon was a bit of a twist on the usual – we did a BRUNCH SALOON! Appetizers were thoughtfully provided by Sarah and included a cheese and meats platter and also chocolate-covered strawberries (yay Valentine’s leftovers!) and chocolate-covered grapes (I don’t get it but Sarah is a FAN, so go ask her – something about wine and chocolate?). The main course was a disastrously-burnt omelet that I should have tossed the moment the fire alarm went off, as well as the slightly-redeeming (and pre-packaged) smoked salmon, bagels, cream cheese and cream cheese muffins. Des was nice enough to make me feel better about my bad cooking by bringing over a desert that apparently didn’t work so well, but she came with the back-up plan of Girl Scout cookies (Thin Mints) so no one had any complaints. Breakfast actually included entertainment as our sweet (nerdy) friends Des and Tim had a Disney World presentation for us.

Eventually we moved on to the business of book club, leaving Matt and Tim to figure out “Small World” game. We shared our music – songs about games – and even though I left my songs at work (it’s sounds like a “dog ate my homework” line but more lame) we all had Jewel’s Foolish Games on our lists. Des and Sarah had another overlap and Sarah and I both had a Snow Patrol song… not sure if we need new music, new music themes or a new hobby. 🙂

We then chatted about Ender’s Game and its author, Orson Scott Card, a native of Greensboro and, apparently, an ass hole. Des has read another book by Card, one that takes place in parallel to Ender’s and she is a big fan of one of the characters featured in both books, Bean. We all agreed that the connection between the computer and the Buggers – as in how the computer “created” the game and how the buggers knew about it, was tenuous at best and a real weak point in the plot. An Ender’s movie is due out in November of this year and we all agreed we’re pleased that they waited to do it and we have high hopes that it will be well-done and, perhaps, even make more sense than the book.

Finally we moved on the current events and we had some good ones. Des shared a couple videos from “Big Think” about such topics as parenting (our obligatory parenting discussion), the myth of monogamy and the awesomeness of Einstein. We also chatted about the Russian meteorite that impressively set the sky on fire last week and realized that, for the most part, we still need to work on our end-of-the-world plans. We thought it was cool that there might conceivably be a gene therapy to help cure diabetes but Des indicated that she’d like a lot more testing before it moves to human trials. Sarah really enjoyed the Pinterest-like Hizhouzz website (houzz.com) and we all contribute our opinions to a collection of new punctuation (NERD-ALERT!). We also spent a little time talking TV, specifically Walking Dead since I’m finally caught up now.

It was a long afternoon but I think everyone had a good time simply hanging out, chatting, gaming, etc. It was Sophie’s “Gotcha Day” so Des was happy to home and play with her, and Sarah and Matt got to go to dinner with the twins and I spent an evening with John at Downton. All in all a lovely afternoon and we even managed to find a reasonable time to schedule the March Saloon – brilliant!