Trivia

Last night Sweet Hubby and I did something I've wanted to do for a long time; something I thought would be loads of fun.  We attended Trivia Night at a local pub.

There were lots of people there, making up about 13 teams.  We were the only team of two.  A couple were as big as 8 or 9 people, so we were up against a lot of heads being put together.  And the questions, oh my lord.  They were so much tougher than I had imagined.  

There were 6 categories of 9 or 10 questions each, and although SH and I got at least a couple right in each category, we basically sucked scissors.  The first category, for example, consisted of questions about Agustus Gloop, one of the child characters in the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and the 1971 film "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".  I've never read the book and haven't seen the movie in several decades (I didn't bother with the Johnny Depp remake).  I was useless on every single question.  Thank goodness SH was able to pull a few out of the deep recesses of his memory.

There was a category all about the number 13, one asking that we identify by their Italian names 9 kinds of pasts based on faint photos, one about heavy metal, both music and earth metals.  I don't remember the other categories.

It was humiliating. Certainly we were there for a good time and managed to get into the spirit of the game.  But both of us pride ourselves on being super-smart, so this demonstration of how much we don't know about an awful lot of subjects was humbling, to say the least.  It got me thinking that there really are only a few subject about which I would feel completely confident, and none of those were included in this particular game.

I was also reminded that I find crowded, noisy rooms to be rather tiring.  If the game had lasted only, say, an hour and a half I would probably have been all right, but this one went on for two and a half, and there was a lot of talking and laughing throughout.  I'm glad we went, but gladder to come back home to our quiet house and kitties.

Exploring the Eastside

I have been wanting for a while to go across Lake Washington to the Eastside and take the recently opened light rail train.  Except for going to an annual arts fair, I don't really know the Eastside (Bellevue and Redmond) at all, and riding the train seemed like a fun way to explore a bit.

When I  mentioned this to a friend, so offered to come with me, which of course made the day much more enjoyable.  (This is the same friend who joined me for the 6 hour drive to Bend, OR when I went there a few months ago to see a new short play performed in a festival. The play was a disaster but my friend and I still had a wonderful time on the drive and trotting around Bend.)  I picked her up at her condo and we made what ended up being a swift, almost traffic-free drive across the bridge to the train station.  We did a bit of "Do we go here or there?  Take this escalator or that elevator?", found the train platform, and boarded.

We got off the train at the Downtown stop, which seemed most promising for brunch.  For some reason we had a hard time getting ourselves oriented, even with the help of her phone, but we did finally find a splendid French restaurant where we ate quiche and croissants.  Then back to the train to continue our ride.  

The Eastside light rail track isn't very long, so we were back to the starting station within about half an hour.  As adventures go, this one was pretty safe and smooth.  But it fulfilled a "one of these days I'd like to..." itch, and was the sweeter for being shared.