I believe I might have told y’all that I started blogging in order to cure my addiction to my computerized Mah Jongg Solitaire game. It didn’t entirely work. Occasionally, I see that icon on my computer and open up the game. Then, I get lost in it for a few hours. Do y’all get caught up in those computer solitaire games? They can be real time wasters. I’d much rather play card games and board games with friends. I think I’d like to try Mah Jongg.

I remember that my Grandmommy Duncan had a beautiful set of Mah Jongg tiles in a wooden box with carving on it. We liked to shuffle through the tiles when we were kids, but we didn’t know how to play the game. I was fascinated by the dragons, and the wind signs and the bamboo signs on the tiles. Grandmommy had played Mah Jongg back in the late 1920s and 1930s, but I never saw her play. It was a pretty popular game back then.

When she passed away, I didn’t take that box of tiles because one was missing. I’ve regretted that ever since, but I think my Big Bubba got it, so it’s in good hands. Several years ago, I read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.

In it, Mah Jongg was featured, and it got me interested in trying it. But, that game you see above is a pitiful excuse for a game in comparison to the actual game. It’s more like the game of “Match” that I played with my children.

Today, I got the opportunity to see Mah Jongg played for real! At the Southlake Senior Center, I met with Alice. She’s one of my volunteers for Share A Square, and she had a new afghan for me. She was meeting with some friends to play the game, and they allowed me to watch and tried to explain it. Mah Jongg is named for a Chinese word that means “sparrow.” Don’t ask me why. I have no clue. I need to sit down and read more about the game here to learn the rules. Alice’s friends said they were playing “American Style” and it reminded me a bit of the game of “Rummy.” They collected tiles in certain patterns (and they had “cheat sheets” to tell them the patterns). I didn’t understand everything they were doing, but I had a vague idea about the game after watching them play three rounds.

I’m glad I knew they were friends! Those gals got plumb rowdy as they stole tiles from each other and blocked each other’s plays. As they discarded tiles, they called out words like “dot,” “bam” and “crack.” They said that was what they called the pictures on the tiles. The “dots”, of course, were circles on the tiles. “Bam” stood for the ones that had bamboo images. “Crack” included any tile that had characters on it. I don’t know if those are traditional terms, but it was a hoot to hear them yelling out the words. The game looked like great fun to me, and I’m going to have to get all into this.

I’ve got to get me a set of those tiles, and I think that the opportunity might present itself next week. We are going to San Francisco, California to visit my youngest son, and then up to Mendocino for a family reunion with Eric’s family. I think it’s still a surprise visit for his Dad, who just had his 80th birthday and celebrated it with cancer surgery (he’s doing very well, thank you). So, y’all don’t let the cat out of the bag.

I think that while in San Francisco I should take a little trip to Chinatown and see if I can find a set of Mah Jongg tiles that appeal to me. Don’t y’all think that would be the place to find them? But, if I get the tiles, then I’ll need to get three more people to play. Y’all wanna come over and give it a try? I’ll supply the chips and dip. You bring the Margueritas.

Technorati Tags: Mah Jongg, San Francisco

Vintage cars lined the streets of old town Lewisville, Texas. “Oooh”s and “Ahhh”s could be heard from the excited crowd as they milled about snapping pictures. Bustling crew members wiped every speck of road dust from the cars until they gleamed as if they were on a show room floor. The exhausted drivers in the Great American Race seemed oblivious to it all as they grabbed a bite to eat and stretched after a long day on the road.

It was the first time this summer that it has been actually “hot” here in North Texas. Y’all remember in that movie “Airplane” when the pilot was under pressure and sweat poured in buckets down his face? Yeah. That’s what it was like. I was melting in the heat. Can you imagine driving in a car with no air conditioning all the way from Concord, NC to Anaheim, CA? Those drivers are much hardier souls than I am, that’s for sure.

Right now, the driver’s are all smiles, but they still have the desert (and a record heat wave) in front of them. They may have forced grins on their faces by the time all that is done! I asked one of the participants if the rain and flooding had been a problem. They said that they had to take one detour yesterday, because of flooding at the Red River, but other than that there had been no problems. If that’s the worst they have in fourteen days on the road, they will be lucky indeed.

My husband was fascinated by the car engines (he’s an engineer, after all). I was enchanted by the pristine interiors! Some of them were very plush.

Unfortunately, because of the goofy people everywhere, it was difficult to get good shots of the cars. And, my dear husband, bless his heart, misunderstood the concept. He was taking pictures of what interested him, and forgetting that my audience perhaps wouldn’t thrill to motor parts. He did get a few shots that were usable, and has promised to remember the audience next time.

One of his co-workers was there, because the fellow’s father was in the race. He was driving a wonderful rambler, and we had a good picture of it. Unfortunately “technical difficulties” (ahem!) caused that picture to be erased from the camera’s memory, but we have a shot of the interior.

Because my husband loves Volvos, we had to seek one out. We found one, that came to participate all the way from Germany (transporting that across The Pond must have cost a pretty penny!), with a video camera mounted on the dashboard. Wouldn’t it be great if this driver was showing the videos of his trek somewhere on the internet?

Lot’s of the cars reminded me of blogs, with all of the “bling” displayed everywhere. This one had participated in the Great American Race many times.

If you are interested in perhaps seeing the race as it heads westward, you can find the schedule here. You’ll see a lot more cars if you visit it yourself. But, now, if y’all want to see some engines, steering wheels, and dashboards—-I’ve got some pictures I can show you!

Technorati Tags: Vintage cars, Lewisville, Texas, Great American Race

I’m not addicted to Mahjongg anymore. However, I am thoroughly hooked on the World Wide Web. When my pea-sized brain lights on a subject, I start following links. I find an interesting blog; then I check out the links on the site to the blogs that person likes. I wind up in places I never would have found on my own. I can now waste more time than I ever dreamed possible.

Today I found something for my friend, Dawn. She liked the article I did about jigsaw puzzles and followed a link I put to on-line jigsaw puzzles. She whined with disappointment, because the games weren’t compatible with her Mac.

I wound up on a site called Duvet-Dayz.com (I couldn’t tell you which links I followed to get there) which had an article called “Top 10 Time Waster Games.” Hey, that sounded like it was right up my alley. This article had a link to Scratchpad, which led me to Lunchtimers.com multi-user game experience. I got started on the jigsaw puzzle and lost track of time completely. I hope this game works on Dawn’s Mac. But, watch out if you play. Other users try to drag jigsaw puzzle pieces away from you!

They also have a game of moveable letters. As you can guess, the players resort to eighth grade toilet humor. Lunchtimers offers a widget so I could put those moveable letters on this blog…but I don’t trust you people to behave yourselves.

Excuse me. There is a jigsaw puzzle awaiting my attention.