Another thing I love about my wife :)

One of the most amazing things about khristle (my amazing wife) is how quickly she adapted to becoming a Washingtonian and, more specifically, how she took to COFFEE like only a true Seattle Native can take to it.

I was born and raised here in the Pacific North West. I grew up with Coffee. Black, hot, cold, week-old, cheap, expensive, it didn't matter. Cheap caffeine please get in my belly and make life more better thank you. The catch-phrase I grew up to know and use was "siiiiiiip OOH that's terrible coffee... siiiiiiip". Doesn't matter what it tastes like, you drink your damn coffee every damn morning damnit. Curse the bad coffee, praise the good coffee, but above all else DRINK THE COFFEE.

But my darling wife, she grew up in Ohio. Coffee was what old people drank while reading the paper or playing pinochle. Thin, hot, watery stuff meant to sooth the mind and aid in digestion... best served with coffee cake or noodle koogan. You didn't drink coffee because you needed to or wanted to, you drank it because that's what was expected of you.

I don't remember exactly when or how it happened, but now (some 12 years later) she's a Coffee Junkie. Also, a Coffee Snob. Oh she'll drink terrible coffee if it's all that's available, sure... but she has very definitive opinions regarding the coffee she is drinking. She can tell if it's a drip or a mix. She rarely ever goes anywhere without a travel mug ready to be refilled.

Today there was a quote in an article about Starbucks opening their first store inside a Disney Park (in Disney's California Adventure this year) that fits her to a T:

"And as the coffee culture grew over the last 20 years more and more Disneyland visitors can no longer stomach the coffee flavored swill served to them, especially the more demanding tourists from the Pacific Northwest where coffee is king and a badly made Latte can be spotted from 10 feet"

Yeah... that pretty much sums her up :)

When we were in Disneyland at the beginning of the year, she had been having a difficult morning and wishing she had some coffee. And so me, being a dutiful and loving husband, went and bought her a "Latte" from one of the beverage stands. I brought it to her and her eyes lit-up and she said "Oooh COFFEE where did you get me COFFEE is it REAL COFFEE???" and took a drink... and then frowned. "Oh, this is some of that mix-stuff from the beverage stand, isn't it?"

HOW DID SHE KNOW???

Game Trade?

I have two awesome games in my game closet that I need to admit, I'm never going to get around to playing. I bought them with full and good intention, but now that they've been in the game closet for over 4 months I've just kind of lost enthusiasm for them, and am more enthusiastic for some other games I have recently seen.

First up is the A Game Of Thrones Card Game Core Set.


Recommended to me as being the third best CCG of all time. From what I've heard (and this may be wrong), this game was released as a CCG back during the CCG boom of the 90's, based on the books. Like 99.999%of the CCG's released at that time, this game tanked pretty quickly. SO instead of just clearing out their inventory, they repackaged the whole thing in to a boxed game with a play mat and game pieces and full sets of those formerly "collectible" cards. And now thanks to the popularity of the HBO series, the game is taking off rather well! Expansions are "Chapters", new box sets are "Books", and it all starts right here with the Core Set. Four preconstructed-yet-customizeable decks, play mat and game pieces. Looks awesome, I just never got around to playing it :( RETAIL VALUE: $30 to $40, I paid $49 at a local shop.

And next I have Thunderstone: Dragonspire



Technically a stand-alone expansion to the "Thunderstone" line of deck building games. Was sold to me as "Almost exactly like Dominion, only with an Adventure aspect thrown in". Having watched gameplay videos online, yeah... it's Dominion only with the fact that the deck you are building will then be USED for SOMETHING other than just having had built a deck of cards. Pretty neat, and of the two games this one is the one I am most likely to play if I get bored. RETAIL PRICE: $45 to $60 shipped, I paid $35 at a local shop during a Going Out Of Business Sale.

So I'm looking to trade these to another gamer. Anyone interested? I would like to trade these for either 7 Wonders, Small World, Pathfinder Core Rule Book or... I dunno... what else?