In the bleak Midwinter…
…a party was held in Herne Hill, and it was joyous! Having had to show my face at an aunt’s birthday party yesterday afternoon (because pretty much all the family was there), I managed to get to the Midwinter party just before 9pm. I was given some mulled wine (yum!) and I went out into the garden, where there was a huge and impressive fire and, more importantly, lots of lovely people. When I went back into the house I made the mistake of deciding that port would be my drink of the evening. We had a jolly sing-song round the piano, with songs by Tom Lehrer, Flanders & Swann, Alan Menken (Aladdin) and some songs from musicals. It was most excellent (well, I thought so).
Later I witnessed a game of Strip Chess (is there anything for which Wikipedia doesn’t have an entry!?). A dangerous game: even counting pawns as half-items (as were the players last night), that’s a potential eleven items of clothing to lose. One rarely has all non-king pieces taken by the time a game is ended, so let’s say one might expect to have a knight and a bishop left, and maybe three pawns. That’s still 7.5 items of clothing. Right now I am wearing 8 items, including glasses and watch. If I were to take off my glasses I’d have extreme difficulty continuing the game (note to self, in case I ever end up playing Strip <game>: could this be used to force a draw at a time of my choosing?) so, in short, I don’t recommend this game to anyone who wants to retain some modicum of modesty!
I don’t know what time I went to sleep, or what time I awoke. As usual I left before necessary, which is always a painful thing, but I think it’s just that I can’t cope with being with lots of people for long periods of time. I need my private time, and my own space, if only for a short interval.
The mistletoe was surprisingly under-used, I thought; I did get a kiss but not, I hasten to add, by hanging around underneath it! At least, I don’t think so. I did drink too much port, and my recall of some parts of the evening is a bit hazy. Need more mistletoe anyway. Need to find girlies to meet under said plant.
Yesterday morning, I bought Zèrtz, which is a 2-player abstract strategy game. It’s really good! I’ve only played it once so far, but it will take some time to get used to the tactics. I might well look to acquire some of the other Gipf Project games in the not-too-distant future. Meanwhile, need to persuade my dad to play, as I’m certain he’ll like it.
I don’t have to go to work now until 2nd January. Yay! I’m determined to catch up on sleep, though, as I’m suffering from general winter malady heightened by the fact I’ve been so busy recently, I’m a bit run-down.