Mad Gabs Poetry: Noah Wyle & Tricky Dick Edition

Do you love the game Mad Gab?*
Do you love poetry, especially writing it?

Last night, Emily and I made up an activity combining Mad Gab and writing poetry.

After playing the game for a few minutes, we held onto the last 5 cards (which is 10 puzzles) and had to write a poem using some of those Mad Gab solutions.

Here are the words/phrases we had available:

1. bet your bottom dollar
2. don't talk to strangers
3. exterminator
4. big man on campus
5. Noah Wyle
6. when do we start
7. liquid detergent
8. I am not a crook
9. Subaru Motors
10. I Dream of Jeannie

Here's the poem that I came up with:

When Doc Noah Wyle walks into a room,
The ladies may faint or at least start to swoon.
They struggle to walk; they can't find the door;
Like bugs that have been sprayed by an exterminator.
As the hospital's big man on campus, or BMOC,
He's the star, like Larry Hagman, from I Dream of Jeannie.
Where is the patient? When do we start?
Noah asks as the nurses wheel in the cart.
Are you good at your job? Do you stick to the letter?
Bet your bottom dollar, sir, you're gonna get better. 

Remember when the show E.R. was a big deal?

And here's Emily's poem:

Bet your bottom dollar
To get ring around the collar
Out of all your shirts you'll need liquid detergent
And dear Nixon should have known
That his scheme would soon be blown
"I am not a crook" he said; a new president's urgent.

Tricky Dick

Fun, huh?

This activity may sound ridiculous (and maybe it is), but you should give it a try. We sure had fun with it!

*In case you're hooked, you can play Mad Gab online [here].

Dressed to the Elevens

What's that? You say the subject line is confused and should be "Dressed to the Nines"?

Not so, friend. At the Mt Ida Elevenses (11-11-11) party, we were dressed even better than that.

We were dressed to the elevens.

Exhibit A:

Emily and I looking smashing in our cocktail attire

Exhibit B:

The lovely Mt Ida hostesses

Two of my friends played bartender, and they came up with some very tasty mocktails and a couple different non-alcoholic shots, which added to the festive atmosphere.

The bartenders, serving up some fierce ginger-loaded shots.

This group denied that they were being intellectual. I didn't believe them.

Check out this good-looking foursome.

Each hour on the 11 (8:11, 9:11, etc), people performed short acts for our entertainment. Songs, poems, reflective thoughts, etc, were among the talents shared.

Emily helped me put together a quick little poem after the 10:11 acts, so that I could share it right after the 11:11 countdown and celebration. This is what we came up with:

It's 11-11-11, here at Mt Ida,

And so, briefly, I just wanna try da

Share a few words from the bottom of my heart;

How grateful I am before we all depart.

Our wonderful hostesses, or is it hostess-eye...

Uh oh, I just used ellipsis, hope that doesn't make Amber cry.

We've had great entertainment, from reflective to funny,

While these gals stuffed shots into our tummies.

Handsome fellas abounded and ladies pretty as the heavenses;

Thank you all for coming to Mt Ida to celebrate the elevenses.

Nothing fancy, but I was happy to contribute and be involved in such a numerologically significant party.

See you all on 12-12-12!

"Wild & Wonderful" Weekend in WVa

When you need to get out of the DC area, there are many options here on the East coast. New York, Amish Country, Philadelphia, Annapolis, Hershey, Colonial Williamsburg, and a plethora of beaches are within just a few hours. But there's one gem that gets forgotten. Yes, that gem is West Virginia.A group of 16 of us rented a cabin in West Virginia for the weekend and escaped civilization (for the most part). We had no internet, TV, or even cell phone service. Instead, we enjoyed lots of fresh air, sunshine, and nature.

We spent our time going on hikes, hot-tubbing,

playing horseshoes,

dining on scrumptious vittles,

canoeing,

reading poetry,

and speed-scrabbling.

It was a great weekend and just what we all needed. Thanks, Amber, for arranging everything and making it such a fun time!

Partyin' All Saturday "Eve"ning

My friend Eve Speer had her birthday party and it was a blast. Not only was there great socializing and some tasty party food, but she had a terrific idea for the main activity. It was a poetry reading. Now I am not huge into poetry, but it can be really fun to hear the types of poems your friends pick, as I think it tells you a lot about them and it's really fun to see how into it people get.
I shared two of my favorite poems, "Reincarnation" by Wallace McRae, and "Too Many Daves" by Dr. Seuss. Both give me good memories of my childhood and how fun my parents are/were to share this kind of cultural genius with me.

"Fishing is Poetry"

I like to think that I'm a fairly cultured guy. My parents took us to various museums, historical sites, symphony performances, Broadway shows, etc while we were young, and I've enjoyed these things ever since. In the home, we were taught, most often by example, the importance and value of literature and poetry for a well-rounded education (readings from Shel Silverstein's "A Window in the Attic" are still some of my favorite memories from childhood).

Anne Sidwell and friends planned a poetry night and invited everyone to memorize or bring their favorite poem(s) to recite. There was a really good turnout and many insightful poems were shared. They ranged from lyrical to actual lyrics, from fanciful and funny to cranial and thought-provoking.

Some of the highlights included Anne Sidwell and Megan Stevenson performing their Beauty Pageant piece, Dustin Currie's guitar-fused gas pump escapade, Becca Haynie's journey into the Jabberwocky's lair, and Grayden Ridd's impromptu poetic stylings of words we don't like. My contribution was a tastefully-profane recitation of selections from "A River Runs Through It".

Instead of clapping, we snapped our fingers with delight at the end of each poem. It was a lot of fun to see the type of poem individuals picked. Some fit what we expected and some didn't. It was a wonderful, cultural, and jovial evening.