According to the “Which Big Lebowski character are you?” quiz, I am the “Stranger”, the narrator, the man who’s never seen a queen in her damned undies, but who’s seen things every bit as stoop-e-fying. Oh yeah, and I moved my blog too. Welcome to the new digs. I’m still tellin’ stories, and the Dude is still takin’er easy for all us sinners.

Maybe it’s a need for mental diversions, with all the angst and plans and yadda yadda, but in the last few weeks I’ve turned into a board game fanatic. A Trivial Pursuit fanatic, to be more precise. Though I have to say, I’ve had my head handed to me by my own mother twice in 80’s Trivial Pursuit — note how the Care Bear lifts her arms in victory like an extreme fighter dominating the Octagon, while the Trapper Keeper binds himself up in shame. These outcomes were eerily similar to the results we had in the 80’s, when she habitually whooped my grade-school ass in the original. Though I was sure the outcomes would be different this time around, me being a bit older and all, I guess having grown up in that decade hasn’t really given me a competitive edge. The questions aren’t totally of a pop culture, MTV bent — you actually have to know stuff like current events — ya know, important things actually went on in the 80’s (yes YES they did!). That all being said, the Trapper did eke one out in the end, a 6-tiles-to-1 crushing in fact (”Tenderheart Bear, I break you back! Make you humble till you respect Trapper Keeper!”).

Not content with board games, I’ve also joined a fantasy football league. First time I’ve done this. Last Saturday was a trip. An auction-style draft lasting a marathon seven hours, alcohol supplied, and for which I did almost zero prep work, leading to some questionable newbie judgment at the end of the night — [slurred voice] “I’ll take Garo Yepremian, the Rams cheerleaders, and Spuds Mackenzie, 25 cents a pop …. whatdya mean they’re not on the f*ing list? … make it happen dammit.” Though my week 1 was respectable (shocker), I’m going back to the trading post for some new pickups.

And besides that, everything was great.