Pic a Day - 5/21 to 5/27

Mon. May 21

Tues. May 22, last day on campus

Wed. May 23, burning skyline

Thurs. May 24, not hockey: tenasketball

Fri. May 25, window shopping for summer work gear

Sat. May 26

Sun. May 27, view from inside my new tent

And here's a bonus birthday selfie: 20/11!

Pic a Day - 7/7 to 7/13

Mon. July 7, Russian keyboard stickers!

Tues. July 8, Annik took baby Corey to NYC

Wed. July 9, Tang for my Extant party

Thurs. July 10, Cordie the (Nintendog) boxer

Fri. July 11

Sat. July 12, there are four verbs for "to go" in Russian

Sun. July 13, Kona being a sassafras

Mesa Court

Materials:

• a friend (or a few)
• a tennis ball
• shoes (optional)

Directions:

• Go to your local tennis court, or a fenced-in yard of some sort, or the open street (if you're okay with running around and generally making a fool of yourself under the risk that you'll be hit by a car). Be sure to bring a friend, or two, or three. Utilize net or indicate line that separates the sides for the players.
• Collect a tennis ball, or ball of some sort (NOT a baseball; these might actually hit you/jam your fingers and HURT).
• Toss ball back and forth, trying to catch the ball as soon as you can after it goes over the net/marked point between player sides.
• Switch to your non-dominant hand. The game gets more challenging here, and so the catching becomes less important.
• Return to dominant hand, and throw ball with force, trying to make it go as far as you can throw it based on where you're standing in your court area.
• Shoes are not required for this game, unless you are running around in an area that poses any sort of threat to your feet (such as a mesa full of goatheads and cacti and such things).
• Point values and a scoring system may be added. This could coordinate with how many bounces it took for you to catch it, or if it went outside of the green (in an actual tennis court), or any number of things you want to incorporate to individualize your game.

Note:
My friend came up with the title for this game, not really seriously, just kind of referring to our activity in passing. We had been referencing our barefootedness during the game (which was quite interesting and pretty fun), and my friend wanted to remain barefoot, but we had to leave the tennis courts and walk through the wild desert land. While walking through aforementioned terrain just outside the tennis courts, I wondered how horrible it would be if you were playing the game or walking around barefoot on that sort of terrain, with weeds and goatheads and cacti and all matter of poky things lying in wait).

Pic a Day - 3/11 to 3/17

Mon. Mar 11, Parkour with the pros

Tues. Mar 12, studying for a logic game

Wed. Mar 13, Pope Francis I

Thurs. Mar 14, sleepover/movie night

Fri. Mar 15, we played Clue about four times

Sat. Mar 16, green kettle corn (vegan!)

Sun. Mar 17, sometimes I bomb photos

Season Tin Bounce Competition

Yet another crazy game created by my brother.

Materials:
a tin of any kind, preferably metal or wood, roughly the same size as your splayed palm
a bouncy ball of any size, but not too small

Directions:
Hold the tin in your dominant hand. Bounce the ball against its surface, as a ball and paddle. There can be one person or twenty-seven competing. The object of the game is to get as many bounces at one time on the tin's surface.

Note:
Engage in the game in an open space, NOT around computers and/or uncovered beverages; an open park, outside in the street or in a large room are enjoyable and safe places to play this game.

Grocery-Store Basketball

How to play:

• Go to any grocery store or supermarket. You can be going there for regular groceries or not.
• First make your way to the toy section. Find a small bouncy ball (not so small you won't be able to throw and catch it) that fits comfortably in your palm.
• Find any empty aisle that either has a random empty shopping cart or bring a new one in. Position the cart halfway down the aisle.
• One player starts on one end of the "court", and the other player on the opposite end. Rules are adaptable. What my brother and I did was run to the midway point (halfway between their end court and the cart) or to center (where the cart was) and shoot the ball into the basket, pass back and forth with overhand and underhand throws, and knock down shelves of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.

Have fun! It really gets your heart pumping when you have to chase after the ball if it has gone off-course so it doesn't trip someone passing by the aisle (too late, I'm pretty sure my brother let that one happen). So if you have a busy schedule or have kids or want to feed the kid in ya, give it a try!