19 thoughts on “January 18, 2019: In Memorandum”

  1. This jumped out at me because of the cribbage talk a few days ago:

    Cribbage Tournament @ the Hewing Hotel
    Every 2nd & 4th Sunday from 1pm - 4pm January 13 – April 28th
    All skill levels are welcome this Sunday at the Hewing Rooftop Bar on the 6th floor. Everyone will play at least 6 games and there will be food and fun with people from the North Loop Community.
    All participants pay $11 in cash at the door. All of the money collected will go back to the winners of the tournament.

    1. Any of those fancy apps you guys were talking about have a tutorial function? Wouldn't mind playing, but don't know how.*

      *I've been taught a couple times in the past, but it never stuck...

      1. Would think with knowing a few basic rules and the point structure, playing on one of the apps should get you the hang of it.
        Mini cribbage theory:
        Deal, keep cards for your hand (and keeping in mind discarding to the "crib" - good cards if yours, bad for opponent) that will get you points for combos of 15, pairs, runs, or a flush.
        Cards are then played, taking turns with opponent, up to 31. Points for pairs, 15s, runs, go (opponent can't play) or 31.
        Count points in your hand, opponent's hand, and crib.
        Repeat

        Overly simplistic, but maybe we can Citizen-source a decent tutorial here. Or copy/paste from Google...

      2. I think learning might be quicker in multi-player versions as you can see two or three other people playing and knowing how it goes.
        "Captains" is the preferred three-player variant in my circles. One dealer for the entire game (preferred if you play three games so everyone gets a turn).
        Other two players are a team, so they can set each other up "pegging".
        5 cards to each player, the dealer gets 6. Dealer makes two hands (one the crib) out of the 8 cards (his 6 and the two discards).
        The fact that the dealer can't drop to his crib until the other two are done gives people a chance to take a bathroom break or get a beverage.

      3. I started playing through Cribbage Pro this week, and they have a short tutorial on there. It was enough of a refresher for me after years of not playing, at least.

  2. For everyone who is the parent of a boy, this is a short but profound article by Laurie Halse Anderson, author of the book Speak--it prompted me to think about a number of things I'd not considered.

    In schools all over the country, in every demographic group imaginable, for 20 years, teenage boys have told me the same thing about the rape victim in Speak: They don’t believe that she was actually raped. They argue that she drank beer, she danced with her attacker and, therefore, she wanted sex. They see his violence as a reasonable outcome. Many of them have clearly been in the same situation.

    They say this openly. They are not ashamed; they are ill-informed. These boys have been raised to believe that a rapist is a bad guy in the bushes with a gun. They aren’t that guy, they figure, so they can’t be rapists.

    1. I've seen this come up a lot in the last year plus. Many of the defenses amount to questioning what the big deal is and how widespread acceptance of dangerous notions of behavior and consent are. Depictions of this in movies from the '80s come to mind.

      1. Why it is so hard to fathom that other people should have agency, autonomy, and rights escapes and enrages me.

        Sex is about mutual satisfaction. Otherwise it is (a) rape or at least rapey or (b) narcissistic or masturbatory.

        As parents, we have a duty to help our children grow out of extremely narcissism and to appreciate the value created in consensual relationships. /Soapboxing

        1. With ya man. I can't say I'm perfect and no doubt I've said things that have made a woman uncomfortable, but I recognize my power and privilege being male and try really really hard not to exploit that. And I can't imagine enjoying physical touch that wasn't reciprocated.

        2. You stop and think about what we've grown up with on tv and movies and it's not hard to see how boys who rarely were told no by parents wouldn't accept it from a woman.

          "You're lips say no, but you're eyes say yes."

          That's not to the point of rape, but boys watching it are going to get the idea that women say no out of obligation but they "really want it." There are also those who prey on a young woman who has low self-esteem. "If you're not going to do it, I know someone else who will." Or prey on a woman's longing for commitment. "If you love me, you'll do it."

  3. So last time in Scandia, I spotted a new bird in the trees by the house, but couldn't match it to anything in my books.

    The uncommon visitor turns out to be a Carolina wren, a rare-regular.

    1. That one weird bird that migrates north to Minnesota/Wisconsin/northern New England/the Maritime provinces for the winter, then returns to the southeastern 1/3 of the US for breeding in the summer.

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