A View From Saturday

I borrow this title from a book that my friend Nathan always says I should read. Appropriately enough, it's about trivia competition, which is exactly how I spent my Saturday in Chicago. (Ah, if I'd only spent "Saturday In The Park"!)

We started the morning with a staff meeting, led by our roommate Frank. He promised two things: 1. Those who found errors would receive a Scooby Snack and, 2. Those who messed up the venerated card system (for organizing team matches) would be shot. Fair enough.

I think Frank and I were the coolest room of the tournament. Besides having a sweet suite (meaning 10 people weren't crammed against the walls of a two-person hotel room like I saw happen last year), we had some fun Johnny/Ed and Pat/Vanna schtick going on. Hopefully this mitigated the fact that I couldn't add worth a hill of beans most of the day (Sorry Frank!). In my defense I was much better when I was fully awake... around 2:30 p.m. By this time Frank had shot four people.

For lunch I went to Panda Express, one of my very favorite places, followed by a Coke at Target, one of my other favorite places. As if lunch we're already perfect enough, I passed a Flea Market. My heart fluttered at the prospect of old stuff.

It's very interesting being a trivia nerd among trivia nerds, as you find yourself silently screaming answers they either don't get, or don't get nearly as fast as you would have. For me, these included Simon Cowell, Alveoli, and Stephen Foster. We got to see a couple teams more than once. After Frank noted this situation with one team, I looked at the other and said "Yeah! They had me last night!". ::Pause:: ::Laughter:: So I added my own: "That's what she said!" to lots of appreciative laughter from all. It's fun being your own heckler sometimes :-)

It was 6:00 in no time and we went up to our rooms to change for dinner. I took off my shoes and collapsed on the bed in the guys' room. "Well, if you're taking off your shoes and laying on my bed, I'm going to loosen my tie!" Frank joked. Jokes (not to mention pictures) about me falling asleep anywhere and everywhere seemed to be a recurring theme of the trip.

Dinner at Harry Caray's was good, but the best part was undoubtedly after when we played Chrononauts (a complex and fun time travel game) and many other card games late into the night (despite the fact that I scored so low at one that I had to be designated (*) for the remainder of the game.) I can't remember the last time I laughed so much. I highly recommend playing "Store" when you're punchdrunk sleepy.

To Paul, Paolo, Frank, and Nathan: Thanks for one of the best nights of my life. And you know that's what she said...

Current Mood: Charged
Current Music: The Ventures