LEISURE

All work and no play are bad, so now it's time to play!

CHARADES
SIGNALS
CONSIDERATIONS FOR HOSTING CHARADES
MENSA
ENCORE, OTHER GAMES, AND PUZZLES
HIKING
MUSIC AND ART

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CHARADES

SIGNALS:

I learned a set of signals that some friends use in charades sessions. Later I searched the web for signals, and I found some differences. There is no universally used set of signals, so I combined what I consider the best from all the sources, to produce two pages of signals for charades.

If you have arrived at this section only because you want to see the signals, you can click the link above and then ignore the rest of this Charades section of my web site. If you are more deeply interested in charades (or the other leisure topics), continue reading.

Here are other web sites that deal with charades: Here is some of the rationale for my decisions on signals:

CONSIDERATIONS FOR HOSTING CHARADES:

Here are my suggestions: Some charades parties randomly divide the players into two teams for competitive play (after the entries have gone into the bag), and some play charades noncompetitively: Some people prefer competitive charades. I think that novices would feel more comfortable with noncompetitive charades. If your charades group is just beginning, I suggest noncompetitive charades for the first few parties, and then (after gaining experience) you can try competitive play if the players want it.



MENSA



Mensa is an international society that was founded in 1946 in the UK and that has groups in many countries; I will concentrate on American Mensa. The sole requirement for membership is a score in the top 2% of the general population on any of various intelligence tests. American Mensa's web site says that members range in age from 4 to 100. I (and, I suspect, most members) view Mensa primarily as a social organization, but the official goals are broader: “to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence, and to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members.”

American Mensa has many local groups. Examples are Boston and San Francisco. There are some national activities, including a monthly magazine and an annual gathering (with speakers, games, and other activities), but most social activities are within the local groups. The types of social activities vary among different local groups.

Here are examples of Mensa activities: potluck dinners, games (charades, Encore, Scrabble, bridge, Boggle, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Puerto Rico, Bang!, Settlers of Catan, Alhambra, Cranium, etc.), restaurant dining, videos in members' homes, movies at movie theatres, sing-alongs, wine tasting, miscellaneous parties, discussions, speakers, hiking, target shooting, self-defense classes, and annual local gatherings. These are activities that many people (not just Mensans) would enjoy, and you should not expect to find elitism at Mensa. A few aspects of Mensa (e.g., some discussions, colloquia, and one journal) do have a more cerebral tone, and there are some community service activities. If you join Mensa, you can start an activity! You might even attend an afternoon activity and an evening activity in the same day.

The web sites for local groups list local officers to contact and (for many local groups) list calendars of events. Some local groups list a “Mensa phone,” where you can leave a message to request information. Many but not all events welcome prospective members who want to experience Mensa events before deciding whether to join Mensa; contact the event's host if you are unsure whether an event welcomes people who are not yet members.

You would join through American Mensa, not through a local group. If you move between local groups, your membership moves with you. Mensa accepts many tests. For example, if you scored at least 1300 on the SAT taken before September 30, 1974 or at least 1250 on the SAT taken from September 30, 1974 to January 31, 1994, you qualify; scores on later SAT test dates are not accepted. Local groups tend to offer tests periodically, or you can go to a private psychologist for a test.



ENCORE, OTHER GAMES, AND PUZZLES



Encore is a board game for two teams that like to sing. You do not need to sing well; you only need to remember song lyrics. Some people love Encore, and some have a very different opinion. Each card in the deck has 6 colors, 5 of which have words and 1 of which has a category. Each position on the board has 1 color, to indicate which word to use (or whether to use the category instead). One team must sing at least 8 consecutive words of a song that includes the word or category, then the other team must, then the first team must, etc. For example, if the word is “life,” a team might sing “I tell you life ain't easy for a boy named Sue” (from the song “A Boy Named Sue”). If the category is “musical instruments,” a team might sing “just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze,” which is also from “A Boy Named Sue.” A word in a song can match a category even if the word has a completely different meaning in the song's context; the rules' example is the category of “automobile names” and the song excerpt of “Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow.” Some people (e.g., the owner of this web site) enjoy such outrageous double meanings, and some do not.

There are two editions of Encore: In either edition, a team that reaches the end of the board has an opportunity to win the game via a special set of singing, described in the rules. I consider it unsportsmanlike for the winning team to sing “We are the Champions” at this point, and I have no control over what the losing team would do to the winning team!


Some other games that I enjoy are Scrabble, Boggle, Trivial Pursuit, and Pictionary.

I haven't played Monopoly in many years. Apparently it has been brought up to date. I saw a current edition, in which one “Go to jail” card says that you have been arrested for insider trading.

Crossword, mathematical, and logic puzzles are good mental exercises that can be hard to put down.



HIKING



The National Park Service has a great collection of parks. You can save time on the day(s) of your visit by planning your visit in advance. Information is available on the web, and if you need more information, you can call the park to ask about obtaining additional information.

One good hiking trail, the Appalachian Trail, extends from Maine to Georgia.

In Massachusetts, the Department of Conservation and Recreation provides many hiking trails. Also, here's a book: C. W. G. Smith, Massachusetts Trail Guide, Appalachian Mountain Club Books.

In Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County's Department of Parks and Recreation provides many hiking trails. Also, here's a book: T. Taber, The Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Book, Oak Valley Press.

As a substitute for hiking, an exercise bicycle by itself is not very interesting, especially for those of us who like breathing fresh air and seeing animals, plants, rock formations, and scenery in general. However, an exercise bicycle has the virtue of not occupying your eyes, ears, or hands. Therefore, if you were planning to read something, watch TV, or do some other interesting things, adding the exercise bicycle adds the benefits of exercise but does not add a significant amount of time to the interesting things that you were planning to do. Of course, another virtue is immunity from extreme temperatures, precipitation, and effects of precipitation (mud, snow, and ice).



MUSIC AND ART



When using a search engine to find the lyrics of a song, inclusion of some of the lyrics (not just the title) in your search criteria will concentrate the results on sites that list the lyrics, as opposed to sites that just mention the song without listing the lyrics. There are many web sites that include lyrics. Some but not all also include guitar chords. I make no promises about the accuracy of the lyrics or chords on the web sites. You will find cases where two sites differ on the lyrics and/or differ on the guitar chords. That's life! Buying the sheet music or photocopying it in a public library can give you the melody, the harmony, the guitar chords, and probably the official lyrics.

Here are some but not nearly all of the sites:
When I took a drawing class, I concluded that learning how to observe is a large part of learning how to draw.




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