GinohnNews

G: Wow, the weather has been great. I love it, but at the same time it makes me sad because I don't take advantage of it enough, and I will be even more sad once it's hot and sticky.

Marlene and Kevin wanted to get a bunch of Greenbelters to come out to their place in Front Royal for a party, and thought a good tactic would be to invite our usual party goers to their house. So we moved our usual party there, and one day later. So on Saturday we loaded up the car with a cooler full of beer that was leftover from Beltane, food, and Katy, and drove out there. 

They have a really cool place that was decorated very nicely with lots of lanterns, tapestries, and art work. They have a new dog, Dusty, and another dog, Carter, named after Jimmy, who belonged to Candy Girl, was there and they were both all over Katy, playing with her and running around and other stuff dogs do. They would run off together sometimes, and I would worry, but it was a dead end street just 5 houses down so I wasn't terribly worried about traffic. Of course they'd always come back, but sometimes Kevin would go off after them. Apparently Dusty will go for long walks sometimes...

Anyway, Maddy had made three crock pots full of vegan food, so that was exciting, and, as it turned out very delicious, especially the mushroom jalepeno risotto. A bit spicier than anyone anticipated, but very yummy. There was a nice mixed crowd of Greenbelters and "burners," and we got treated to some poi spinning which lit the phoenix effigy fire, that was filled with fireworks and was really cool to watch burn with little explosions and sparks flying out.

Dorian asked me to sing songs around the fire, so I tried to entertain with various funny songs. I did three of Jonathan Coulton's, and they were a hit. Later, show tunes were being sung and I joined in on some from Little Shop of Horrors.

John and I were treated to the guest room and went to bed a bit early. We heard that the party conked out and everyone else went to sleep not too long after. The next day was helping clean up, and cut up fruit, and sitting on the porch wrapped in a blanket because it was COLD. We dawdled and hung around until the afternoon, then came back to Greenbelt so John could go into work and I could be at the last half of Artful Afternoon.

J: How Holdem SNGs and Roguelike RPGs are similar, strategy-wise:

I hate Holdem.	I hate Rogue.
People who play a little poker often think it's a game of luck.	People who play a little Rogue often think it's a game of luck.
Don't go broke on a high pair.	Don't get cocky with your two-handed sword.
Folding is often an option.	Running away or teleporting is often an option.
Watch out for traps!	Watch out for traps!
All you need is a chip and a chair.	All you need is a hit point and a prayer.
Keep control of your chip stack. Get pot committed on your own terms.	Keep your back to the door. Watch your hit points.
When you have a junk hand, keep the pot small or throw it away.	Throw your junk at the monsters.
If you have a lot of chips, don't get greedy. Tighten up and coast.	If you're at a high level, don't get greedy. Look for stairs and go down.
Raise to isolate when you have a good hand.	Retreat to isolate a monster from its nest.
Don't be afraid to go all in when the odds are right.	Don't be afraid to fight to the death.
Count your outs. Look for the right odds.	Count your unknown potions and spells. Use them carefully.
It's usually best not to slowplay two pair.	Don't get too tricky with your weaponry. Shoot first, hack later.
Don't rush. Take time to make correct decisions.	Don't rush. It's easy to forget that Rogue is turn-based.
Don't get blinded out. Steal blinds if you can.	Don't starve to death. Find food.
Careful with those family pots. Look for the scary monster.	Try not to get surrounded, unless you have a scroll of scare monster.
Beware the chip leaders and short-stacks.	Here be dragons.
Tighten up on the bubble.	Get sneakier as you descend.
Busting out early isn't half as bad as busting out on the bubble.	Death five floors down isn't a tenth as painful as death 23 floors down.
Sometimes you suffer bad beats. Don't tilt.	Sometimes you suffer a bad beating. Don't go berserk.
Life is like poker.	Death is Roguelike.