The Things You Can't Pick...

... do not include a nose. Though I'd rather not.

No. I refer to family.

I think I ended up with a fairly good one. I don't agree with most of the extended family on some things that matter to me (a lot of them being political issues), but we're all at least a little kind, funny, and sarcastic. Plus, we have history!

The good points of today (Thanksgiving) was seeing Katie and Diana (and the two J's too); I hadn't seen them in a long time, and it was good to play games with them. Then there was Mom, Dad, Grandma, and S, who I'd seen more recently, but were good to see again nonetheless. And all the rest. Playing games, eating together... I like that. Best point - beating each other with soft swords and axes, though it got a little old when Joe and Vann went into super competitive mode. We also got to play good games like kickball, which don't happen often due to a lack of people.

The bad point was when Taylor and Brad started purposely picking each other's cards in Apples to Apples. Then Fran would always pick the card that Angelica indicated was hers. It broke the game, which bummed me out enough except that Taylor and Brad kept denying they were doing it, because they found it funny.

I don't know why I was bothered by it so much. Games aren't that serious, and I typically don't mind too much if I lose. But there's a sense of fairness in playing them right, a sort of social code or contract everyone enters into, a frame to have fun around. The game is fun when anyone can enjoy some success, and any of the banter that goes around otherwise is incidental fun (a lesson Scott could learn). But once the possibility of success in play goes away, what's the point? Especially in a game like Apples to Apples, when picking the best noun/adjective match matters, what's the point when the choice is determined so crudely?

So I didn't pick them. For better and for worse. If the worst thing we have going around is lying in a game, it could be worse.