YK’s 365 Release: Day 53

I don’t like Spades. The card game. Even though it seems to be a vital part of Brooklyn home gatherings.

The first time I played it, I don’t think I really understood it, the second time I tried (because as you already know by now I try everything at least twice), I couldn’t deal with how competitive it was. And as we know, I hate competition (see Day 17 and Day 9).

As soon as I hear a game of Spades is going to be played I look around, entertained by the fierce and vociferous competitive glances that shoot from individual to individual. This seems to be a game that only people serious about Spades play. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that plays Spades and is not serious about it.

Growing up, my younger sister Kate was a Nintendo game maverick. She had one of those portable Nintendo consoles, one of the first ones, that now seem gargantuan and bulky. She used to play for hours, and I would just watch her on the tiny matchbook-sized screen. I loved watching her play more than playing the game myself. She would play a game for a day and “finish” it. Meaning, there were no more levels, she literally finished the entire game that had been written. I thoroughly enjoyed myself observing, knew the game’s secrets and tricks, just from watching her.

In college, the Snood computer game was practically an epidemic and I would watch Timbre (see Day 26 for more on Timbre) play it for hours. Literal hours. We pulled many all-nighters playing Snood, drinking cola and smoking cigarettes. Oh college.

Still, I do enjoy some games. Games, not competitions. Games to me are activities where you are entertained, when you’re laughing, or learning. I like those kinds of games.  No pressure games.

While I stayed in Germany, I purchased a deck of cards because the letters were different through translation; Q is instead D, and J is instead B. However, due to my negligence, I failed to note that this specific deck was made for a specific game where no cards from 6 through 2 are necessary and therefore not included, so in essence, it’s half a deck.

I’ve held onto this because it was one of the few items I purchased and kept during my time in Germany. I haven’t used it once. So on Day 53 of my 365 Release, I am letting go of this game that I acquired due to novelty and ignorance and kept due to nostalgia. By releasing this game I remind myself that I live a life of lightness with no pressure.