Miss Scarlett with the lead pipe in the ballroom

For as long as I can remember, I've always enjoyed playing games. Whether it was Monopoly marathons in the basement of my dorm with my college pals Bill, Wayne, and Gene, or endless hearts games with my grad school friends John, Elliott, and Don, I never have to be asked twice to join in some game. In fact, I have vivid memories of playing hearts every single day for an entire quarter at Ohio State, anything to avoid having to study.

One of the first games I remember learning to play was color coded pick-up-sticks back when I was a boy in Germany where it was called Mikado. Back then, it was played with wooden sticks, whereas now they're often made of plastic. I also remember how much my dad like playing charades with party guests since he was very good at acting out the various scenarios. But he never wanted to play cards. Once, when I asked him why, he told me that playing card games triggered unhappy memories of passing the time in air raid shelters during the bombings of Berlin during the war.

While attending Ohio State as a grad student, I also spent many nights in the basement of Steeb Hall playing ping pong. I got pretty good at it except if my opponent was from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, or South Korea. They held their paddles differently and would often stand way back from the end of the table to execute fancy spins and slams that I couldn't return. I rarely won those games.

I also liked playing dice and card games like Yahtzee, Crazy eights, 500 Rummy, Pinochle, and various kinds of Poker. There was seven-card stud, five-card stud, baseball, Texas Hold-Em, and many others for which I remember using red, white, and blue poker chips to tally up the winnings. But I never got much beyond playing penny ante. Of course, there is my favorite card game -- Cribbage -- which I enjoy playing on a regular basis with my friend Brad. Some of my favorite board games include Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Clue, Checkers, and Parcheesie. When I was a boy, I used to be a sore loser, but as I got older, and acquired my share of wins, I learned to take winning-losing in stride.

However, the two games I never mastered, or even liked, were bridge and chess. I never learned to play bridge. And I remember a British professor friend of my dad with the distinguished name of Leslie Howard who tried to teach me to play chess while I was in college. Even though I learned the basic moves, the strategy of the game eluded me. It was just too difficult to plan ten moves ahead, and it required too much thinking. Plus there was no luck involved. However, I do remember, how excited I was in following the championship chess matches between Bobbie Fischer and Boris Spassky back in 1972.

I don't know how I got this far in my blog without mentioning my all-time gavorite board game: Scrabble. I think I learned to play it in college, and it has become a cherished

past-time in my pantheon of games. I find it very satisfying to find a partner who is closely matched in skill who shares my love of creating words. I like it so much that, even when I can't find a partner, I play it against myself or the computer. I also enjoy doing crossword puzzles, especially the ones that appear in the StarTrib earlier in the week. The only games I don't enjoy playing are jigsaw puzzles. I just don't have the patience to spend hours on end assembling 500 to 1000 tiny cardboard pieces to produce something I can recognize. In conclusion, I don't think I'll ever run out of ways to amuse myself. When the conversation lags, or I have a hard time breaking the ice, I can always turn to my favorite games to keep boredom at bay.