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Rachel’s Ten

I, The Mastermind, recently led the unachievable. Due to my ability to organize huge and seemingly impossible undertakings out of chaos, I directed a breakout of legendary proportions. Here’s how I Eskaped with nine of my buddies.

The Mission

Trapped inside a vintage 31-foot Airstream trailer, my prudently-selected team had 45 minutes to crack puzzles, poke props, and analytically unravel a series of clues to access the key to our release.

I played around with a number of the items in the trailer and did a few useful things.
I played around with a number of the items in the trailer and did a few useful things.

The Team

Jas: The Escape Artist

Jason played Houdini as a kid with his siblings and broke free every s.i.n.g.l.e. time. During our Airstream undertaking, he was particularly skilled at discovering hidden hints by fiddling with everything.

Cam: The Cognitive Genius

Cam can solve a Rubik’s Cube faster than anyone WITHOUT removing the stickers. We ended up using both his mental and lung capacities since he took it upon himself to provide the pedaling power for some of our operations.

Fran: The Illusionist

Fran can hide massive green pipes from everyone’s eyes! You aren’t seeing those pipes right now are you? Yup, magic. She was responsible for unsealing some of the trailer’s most hush-hush compartments.

These three got to the bottom of the books' enigmas.
These three got to the bottom of the books’ enigmas.

Drew: The Pontificating Instigator

Drew is willing to discuss and dissect any situation or problem. He’ll happily scrutinize your issues for you anytime. He spent most of his 45 minutes deciphering a series of codes found within a set of books.

Simone: The Collaborator

Simone has the ability to transform the nonsensical into the sensical. After all, somehow she makes sense of Drew. She too was instrumental in the book decrypting.

Jim: The Wizard

… has a beard… must be a wizard and wise… Jim figured out some brain teasers that were perplexing the rest of us. Thanks Wizard.

Cindy: The Competitor

Cindy is willing to conquer any challenge. Oh, and she can leap buildings on a snowmobile. We knew her daring nature would come in handy. She bounded right into cracking some tough conundrums.

Rachel's Ten proved to be a successful collaboration.
Rachel’s Ten proved to be a successful collaboration.

Jeremy: The Memory Master

Jeremy can remember every rule to every board game and sometimes other stuff too. He did recall a few helpful things during our stay inside the Airstream.

Rebecca: The Wrangler

Rebecca has the ability to make The Memory Master focused and useful. She also proved valuable in the book decoding department.

Thanks to my wisely-selected band of solvers, we retrieved the key to our freedom in the nick of time. With less than a minute left on the clock, we breathed in the sweet whiffs of success… and fries. Thanks Jason for the puzzling gift!

*Jason co-wrote this post and, therefore, deserves recognition (or disdain) for such.

Rachel June 14, 2016 No Comments

My Manic Mountain

This winter, Utah had a manic boarding season. The snow seemed intent on shrouding its fluff in mystery. For the flurries came when they weren’t expected and no-showed when they were. Jason and I only boarded five days at our usual haunt, Brighton, due to inconsistency of the storms yet some of the season’s surprises were rather inspiring. Here is my faithful report of our experiences with the snow’s highs and lows.

December 23rd

New Snow: 78 inches

Weather: Who cares? Did you not read that last line?

Commonness: This was the best snow Jason or I can remember encountering in the recent past. It was almost too much powder, if such a ridiculous thing could exist. If you lost your speed, you basically had to tunnel out. Being buried repeatedly in a motionless avalanche was exhausting yet intoxicating. I wish we had gone a few more times while the getting was good.

Trailblazing through powder that deep is quite difficult on a board but we decided to try it with our friends Kelsey and Zac anyway. We almost made it.
Trailblazing through powder that deep is quite difficult on a board but we decided to try it with our friends Kelsey and Zac anyway. We almost made it.
On many of the runs, one could only escape certain powder death by staying on a narrow band of compacted snow. Kelsey and I converged in an unplanned manner on one such band.
On many of the runs, one could only escape certain powder death by staying on a narrow band of compacted snow. Kelsey and I converged in an unplanned manner on one such band.
I fell on one slope and sunk this far. Wow! Incidentally, as demonstrated by this photo, iPhones do not take as good of pictures as regular cameras, despite what their fans claim.
I fell on one slope and sunk this far. Wow! Incidentally, as demonstrated by this photo, iPhones do not take as good of pictures as regular cameras, despite what their fans claim.

January 17th

New Snow: 30 inches

Weather: Warm and sunny

Mountain Pack: Crowded! We literally got the last parking spot in the entire resort.

Conclusion: Brighton broke their previous parking records several times during this season. I believe the winter tourists have finally discovered my little slice of the powder pie. Drat! Unfortunately, based off the number of times I heard “Wow! You don’t see that at home!” uttered by out-of-towners as they gawked at the Heber Valley from the top of the Snake Creek Express, it seems unlikely that they are going to forget about their new finding. Frankly, I feel a little conflicted about my resort’s latest fans. I’m pleased Brighton is getting the appreciation it deserves but can’t it be appreciated from a distance?

This is one of my favorite powder fields at Brighton.
This is one of my favorite powder fields at Brighton.

March 4th

Weather: Mid-fifties and cloudless

Complications: Even though we were heading down to Moab that evening, we decided it would be nonsensical to forgo a chance to board in conditions so pleasant. So we went from riding on white to riding on red within a few hours. I threw a rib out and injured my rotator cuff and neck on the slopes. Still, I biked the next day. Pain is for the people that pay attention to it.

That's at least a solid inch of air.
That’s at least a solid inch of air.
I am tiny but I'm not quite as minuscule as I look in this picture.
I am tiny but I’m not quite as minuscule as I look in this picture.

March 16th

New Snow: 12 inches (AKA powder enough)

Weather: Mid-thirties (AKA warm enough)

Cohorts: We treated my dad to a day on the slopes for his birthday. I think if he had had any birthday wishes left he would have used them up wishing we hadn’t, at least on his first few trips down the mountain. After not skiing for a decade, he was a bit clumsy initially but his muscles, like his mind, have a good memory. By the end of the day he was plowing smoothly.

I am no boarding expert but I do go fast enough that you can actually tell I'm moving.
I am no boarding expert but I do go fast enough that you can actually tell I’m moving.
Mountaintop or otherwise, spending time with my dad is always a pleasure.
Mountaintop or otherwise, spending time with my dad is always a pleasure.
The reasons there are lots of pictures of me snowboarding and not so many of Jason aren't egotistical but technical. I can't board and take pictures at the same time; Jason can.
The reasons there are lots of pictures of me snowboarding and not so many of Jason aren’t egotistical but technical. I can’t board and take pictures at the same time; Jason can.
Jason and I like to live on the wild side of the ski boundary. That's a full foot of danger there!
Jason and I like to live on the wild side of the ski boundary. That’s a full foot of danger there!

April 3rd

Weather: Mid-fifties and mighty springy

Mountain Pack: Practically vacant

Conference: Thank you!

That smile should be self-explanatory.
That smile should be self-explanatory.

This boarding season started out like a superhero but it must have lost its lucky tights in one of the drifts or something because it took a rather ordinary turn in the middle of January. Still, we caught enough powder and sunshine to put big smiles on our faces and a little lament in our hearts over the approach of spring.

Rachel June 7, 2016 No Comments

School v RowleyCon

Spring is the perfect season to suck in stale air, to sit in the shadows, to gorge on Funyuns while strategizing how to take over the world… it’s the perfect time for RowleyCon. Coincidentally, spring is also the perfect time for graduate school to ruin the perfect time for RowleyCon.*

I decided to take some gritty pirate pictures in our basement.
I decided to take some gritty pirate pictures in our basement.

This April, our friend Jeremy again hosted a weekend-long tribute to all things geek. Videogames, board games, anime, cosplay, and nerdy crafts all had a rightful place at this affair, as did I. However, school, the enemy of free time, inhibited my undivided appreciation of the chaotic masterpiece that is RowleyCon. Drat my needy education!

All is fair in love letters and war.
All is fair in love letters and war.

Jason and I won the costume contests at RowleyCon again this year but no one else dressed up so it would have been literally impossible for us not to. Yippee! We achieved first place… and last. Yet, assembling different sets of costumes both Friday and Saturday was kind of an accomplishment in of itself.

With his resin weapons and manly arrrs, Jason was ready for some steam-powered piracy.
With his resin weapons and manly arrrs, Jason was ready for some steam-powered piracy.
My buccaneer's hat was handmade by Captain Jeff MacKay.
My buccaneer’s hat was handmade by Captain Jeff MacKay.

For college claims most of my innovative energies these days, leaving little oomph for other original endeavors. My brain still has a few tricks up its nodes though, tricks to bypass school’s creativity tax. I thought of a new steampunk-pirate-ensemble idea as I was drifting off to sleep the night before RowleyCon, something with a little Middle Eastern panache that incorporated harem pants and Moroccan jewelry. Sometimes I think my noodle pulls fast ones on me during my waking hours and saves all of its good stuff for sleepy time.

I dig dramatic lighting but not drama queens. Go figure.
I dig dramatic lighting but not drama queens. Go figure.
Jason and I have enough costume parts and accessories to create new outfits from nothing new.
Jason and I have enough costume parts and accessories to create new outfits from nothing new.

Jason and I didn’t play too many games at RowleyCon. (Did you somehow miss all of those whiney comments about school?) We did undertake a little 7 Wonders and learned how to build Castles of Mad King Ludwig. Jeremy, of course, underestimated the amount of time needed to play Castles of Mad King Ludwig by about 5000% so we weren’t able to finish constructing our royal residences before the lateness of the night ended our stronghold struggles. (Only a crazy person would think they could erect a castle in half an hour.)

Virginia fashioned a very fashionable gnome.
Virginia fashioned a very fashionable gnome.

We also made meeples, which are personalized players’ tokens that can be used for just about any board game. This was probably the highlight of the con for Jason and me. I sculpted one meeple strutting the exact outfit I was currently wearing, which happened to be a Starfleet uniform. I also molded a slave Leia version of myself to go with the Han Solo that Jason crafted. I’m pretty sure my Leia could eat his Han for dinner and still have room for a Hutt; like me, she has a big head. Drew and Simone organized the meeple animation so thanks Drew and Simone!

The meeples ranged from animal to alien and spanned beyond legend, space, and sense.
The meeples ranged from animal to alien and spanned beyond legend, space, and sense.

And thanks Jeremy for putting up with a bunch of messy, kid infested, ungrateful gamers for an entire weekend. Despite my presence at RowleyCon, I’m afraid I’ll never achieve my 8th-level potential. As carefully constructed as my schemes to take over the world are, I think school’s plot is much more liable to succeed. For graduate school is like a prestigious and unstoppable doomsday machine that sucks the energy out of the universe one assignment at a time. Funyuns anyone?

*I actually love school. But I also love a whole lot of other things too and school makes enjoying those other things nearly impossible.

Rachel May 29, 2016 No Comments
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