Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder

27 Jun 2009, 9:44 a.m.

Nuts On My Pocky Like Grains Of Sand

Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2009 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.

There are party games and then there are game parties. Last night: played Cartagena and Settlers of Catan for the first time, and got people addicted to Catfishing. Met Neil Sinhababu, who last year created a site explaining the ridiculous things we could do for the cost of the Iraq War, like buy two iPhones for every single person in the world. Also met a woman who works for Peter Jennings's widow; in her office there is a photo of the late Mr. Jennings, topless, holding a huge fish.

Traditionally in Cartagena, the player who most resembles a pirate goes first. Bill, a white guy with a huge beard, was the obvious candidate. But then I pointed out that modern-day pirates, in the Indian Ocean or near Indonesia, more resemble Neil. And then Scandinavian-looking Dennis noted that he most resembled a plausible member of the Swedish Pirate Party.

Settlers of Catan is a lot of fun. I nearly won! I should probably get over my distaste for learning new complicated tabletop games, because for ten years I've been going to parties and missing out when they brought out Catan.

Note to self: when trying to get someone to trade you a card you want, suddenly hitting on her or suggesting that "the game will get more interesting if you give me that sheep" or "I'll give you another card for it later, I promise" are not workable tactics.

Comments

Camille
camillesname@yahoo.com
27 Jun 2009, 11:17 a.m.

When I hear "topless" I always think breasts (and barechested for men without shirts) so I froze a moment on the last sentence of that first paragraph.

I am curious about this Catan. Will read up.

Camille
camillesname@yahoo.com
27 Jun 2009, 11:24 a.m.

Just found a useful video here. Looks fun.<br/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuk23A27osg

Alexei Othenin-Girard
27 Jun 2009, 17:03 p.m.

I like your Catan strategies, and I believe that with a little more work they'll probably end up paying off for you.

rachel
28 Jun 2009, 11:24 a.m.

yay settlers!