February 11, 2006 – 1:50 am

We all like to think we are exciting, dynamic individuals. We like to think there are those who envy our lives. I’ve just finished playing a game of Risk with a Frenchman, a Irisher, and a cockney English bloke who kept mocking the French empire over our shoulders. Am I the master of my destiny, the captain of my soul?

I’d like to think so. I made some new acquaintences — Oscar, another Englishmen, Mika, a friendly soft-spoken Japanese girl (is there any other kind?), Kai, the Irisher… But then again I missed out on free champagne across the street, at the trendy dive bar. That’s a loss. However, I did get into the free sherry in the yellow bin. The yellow bin is the free bin you know.

So I spent my Friday evening hanging out with a buncha guys playing a game which normally occupies those whose voices haven’t yet dropped. So what? I had fun. Would I have done it again? Hell no. There are about a thousand things more interesting than Risk here, and that’s just off the top of my head.