BONUS: Special Events - CMC^3 and Thanksgiving

These days it is me, David, and Jacob in the area, but it is rare that I get a photo of all three of us, as one of us generally has to take the picture.  This weekend we had the chance to meet fellow gamer Adam, a  math professor at CSU Fullerton, who gamed with us and took a picture of our family.  He was a keynote speaker at the CMC^3 Math Conference in Monterey, which is where we were this weekend.  I made sure to connect with him, as I had read in his bio that he has created a freshman-level class on problem solving based entirely on board games.  How cool is that?!?!?!?  I connected with him after his keynote address, and we decided to be in contact after dinner to see if gaming would work out, and it did!  As had we, he too had brought a bag of board games along "just in case."  Below you see them all laid out on this table in the hotel lobby.  It was fun to see that so many of his games were ones we were familiar with (For Sale, Code Names, 7 Wonders, etc.), but some that he brought and some that he mentioned were new to us (The Resistance, Terra Mystica, Twilight Imperium, No Thanks, Red7, Pandemic Legacy, etc.).  It's always good to make new gaming connections!
The first game we played was Adam's (who is pictured on the left below) No Thanks game.  I tried not to feel completely foolish that I rather misunderstood as we began and ended up with the highest total (not good!).  Sometimes as a mathematician, especially in the presence of another mathematician, I feel I should be really good at gaming.  Honestly, I'm mostly in it just for the sheer joy of it and not all that tied up in strategy or winning (unless it is a bidding card game involving trump, at which I am deadly!).  I came in dead last in this game - the only person with at triple-digit score!
At some point David and Jacob left the gaming table to allow me and Adam to discuss mathematics and Scotland (where I have been on sabbatical and where he had done his post-doctoral work).  At the end of our discussion, he requested a selfie in order to prove to "unbelievers" that he does come across other gamers at such places as conferences!  I was happy to oblige!
After Adam taught us No Thanks, we re-taught him Kingdomino, a game he had played a time or two, but a while ago.  (This game appears previously on this blog.)

 After Jacob and David had headed out, Adam introduced me to Red7, and I'm hoping David is not keeping up with my blog, as I may get this for him for Christmas (shhhhhhh!)
 On Sunday morning David, Jacob and I headed back to the lobby for check-out and then a game of 3-player Rook.  We weren't sure how that was going to go, as we are used to "call-partner," but it sure worked out well for me!  (See the picture below this one!)  Like I said, I am deadly at trump card games!

 As seen in the previous post, David and Jacob played Hey, That's My Fish!, while I was in math conference sessions this weekend.
OK, back to Thanksgiving, a couple weeks ago now, but I hadn't been able to post.  Anthony, Brianna, Declan and baby Maleah spent a whole week with us.  Kindomino (see above) was a popular game.  Here's Anthony, doing the daddy-thing as he plays (as we used to do with him so many years ago!)
 We got nearly the whole family in on Camel Up after Thanksgiving dinner.
 Towards the end of the Thanksgiving week, Anthony blessed me by playing Magic the Gathering with me.  We played dragons against a red-white equipment deck.  He tweaked the red-white equipment, and he has a good head for Magic, but I beat him a few times none-the-less, as things weren't coming up well for him, but once he got it going he trounced me, as you'll see in the final photos!
 I love playing green, and I love getting out the birds right away.
 Here we are 8 years later.  Eight years ago we sat and played the day before Anthony was to leave for college, my first son to move away.  Every time I thought he wasn't looking at me, I stared at him, thinking, "He's here today, but tomorrow he will be over 2000 miles away!  How can this be?!"  Now he is done with his undergrad and some grad work, is married and is the father of two children.  Where does time go?  (Or, as poet Henry Austin Dobson writes, "Alas, Time stays, we go!")
The equipment finally came up well for him, and he won big time against my dragons!  Just like the good old days! 

Comments

  1. Adam GlesserDecember 19, 2018 at 10:02 PM

    It was so wonderful to meet you and your family. Playing with you all was easily the best part of my trip...which is saying something because I liked a lot of things on my trip 😀

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Caleb MeyerDecember 27, 2018 at 1:07 AM

      Hi Adam! I am sorry I didn't see your comment earlier! I used to get email notifications when a comment was put up, but I didn't get one this time. Honestly, meeting you and gaming with you was the best part of the conference for me as well. I hope you and your family have had a wonderful Christmas! I look forward to staying in touch.

      Delete
    2. HeidiDecember 27, 2018 at 1:10 AM

      And somehow I was signed-on as Caleb! Hmm . . .

      Delete

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