Old Parlor Game: Describe the Path, Knife, Bottle, Water & Building

[mugaliens]

I think it might be more fun to identify a person's psychological condition based upon his answers:

1. Path: It's El Capitan, 1,000' of sheer vertical.
2. Knife: Headed right for me!
3. Bottle: In pieces, after being smashed over my head.
4. Water: I cannot see beyond the horizon, it's very cold, very rough with huge waves, and incredibly deep.
5. The building is dilapidated, run down, and the last bits fall flat as I approach.

This person's mental state is:

1. Euphoric
2. Depressed
3. Psychotic
4. Despair
5. Well-adjusted

Pick one!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

MIH didn't analyze me so I guess I will have to do it myself. I expect to do a better job than the psychiatrist who tried it. He showed me a bunch of Rorschach pictures and asked me what I saw. If you are not familiar with that term, it means a collection of pictures of people making love in various positions. When I told him what I saw he said I was obsessed with sex. Yeah right, I'm not the one who goes around carrying a pack of dirty pictures. Anyway, here goes:

I had the old homestead landscaped last year. There's a winding path through my side and back yards. I walk along it until I get to my patio table. There sits my wife looking tanned and beautiful.

The path represents how I view my life. I am the homely type. When asked to envision a path, I choose a path that doesn't wander far from my house and family.

On the table I find a butter knife. Also some excellent brie and a plate of water crackers. I spread some cheese on one of the crackers for myself and another for my wife. I set them aside for a moment.

The knife represents my relationship with my father. My father enjoyed the good things in life. I enjoy them too. In part because they are inherently enjoyable, but also because he did and I loved him.

I also find a bottle of champagne. It's a good year. I pour two small glasses, just enough to go with the cheese and crackers.

The bottle represents my relationship with my mother. This is a tough one. After my parents divorced, my mother went to work to support the family. It was hard for her and she could not afford the finer things. What surprised me was that once the children became adults and moved away, she could afford better things. She wasn't interested in them and lived as cheaply as she could. She got enjoyment in life from doing, not from having.

The patio table is next to the pool. We take off our robes and jump in for a short swim.

The body of water represents my feelings about sex. I like to dive right in.

Now we're suitably relaxed and ready for adventure. We go inside to the parlor and try to think up a game to play.

The building represents my feelings about death. That last one was meant as a joke. My mother joked about it when she learned that she had little time left to live. I hope I will do the same when my time comes.

 

[Astronuc]

OK so here is the key, in white:

1. The path represents how you view your life
2. The knife represents your relationship with your father
3. The bottle represents your relationship with your mother
4. The body of water represents your feelings about sex
5. The building represents your feelings about death

Who (what deranged and demented mind) comes up with this stuff?

I like Evo's cobalt blue bottle. I have a cool blue bottle of Rakiya from Bulgaria.

I would have picked an upward path sometimes rocky sometimes filled with soft ground. The knife would have been a Swiss Army knife - multifunctional and practical. The water would be a quiet mountain lake - something like Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (I went skinny dipping there) where the water comes off the snow pack. Building would be a small shack - comfortable but simple.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Who (what deranged and demented mind) comes up with this stuff?

I don't know the original source, but it was introduced to me by the same people who taught me "Bloody Mary" and "Light as a feather, stiff as a board".

 

[lisab]

I don't know the original source, but it was introduced to me by the same people who taught me "Bloody Mary" and "Light as a feather, stiff as a board".

Ooooo, I knew those people, too!

http://anybodythere.net/yabbfiles/Attachments/ouija.jpg

 

[Math Is Hard]

We did Ouija and tarot cards, too, but neither worked out very well for us.

Ever play "X marks the spot"?

 

[Astronuc]

Ooooo, I knew those people, too!

http://anybodythere.net/yabbfiles/Attachments/ouija.jpg

Spin the bottle worked better.

 

[turbo]

Spin the bottle worked better.

Lots more fun, too!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Spin the bottle worked better.

An excellent way to predict whether.

 

[lisab]

We did Ouija and tarot cards, too, but neither worked out very well for us.

Ever play "X marks the spot"?

Hmm...no...it sounds, erm, interesting . How does it go?

 

[drizzle]

OK so here is the key, in white:

1. The path represents how you view your life
2. The knife represents your relationship with your father
3. The bottle represents your relationship with your mother
4. The body of water represents your feelings about sex
5. The building represents your feelings about death

It just fit well to my input

Funny I need to enter the key word to die!

 

[GeorginaS]

You're all very troubled. Here are some analyses:

Georgina: clearly a voyeur

Ooooooo wow, that's eerie. It's spooky how well you know me.

 

[hypatia]

I don't know the original source, but it was introduced to me by the same people who taught me "Bloody Mary" and "Light as a feather, stiff as a board".

How could we of lived so far apart, yet known the same people?

 

[Nicodemus]

I'm a guy and I remember girls talking about those games. Granted, the first was well known, but the second was just odd sounding. Seems like Cat's Cradle, or those little paper fortune tellers... or creepy old guys staring at you the moment you hit puberty! It's universal for women at a given age.

Am I right ladies? Why do I just hear crickets chirping?

 

[BobG]

I don't know the original source, but it was introduced to me by the same people who taught me "Bloody Mary" and "Light as a feather, stiff as a board".

I remember your old parlor game, too, except it had different items when we did it: you had to describe a path you were walking on, a bear you ran into and what you did, a key you found and what you did with it, a building along the path and what you did, water you came across and what you did, and a wall or fence across the path and what you did.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Hmm...no...it sounds, erm, interesting . How does it go?

"X marks the spot" gives you a shiver. It works best on people who are ticklish. Little kids think it's hilarious.

You start by standing behind a person. Recite this rhyme (while doing these actions):

X marks the spot (draw an X on the person's back with your finger)
With a dot, dot, dot, (poke three times across the back)
And a dash, dash, dash, (draw three dashes across the back)
and a question mark.(draw a big ? on the person's back)

Crack an egg on your head, (pretend to crack an egg on the person's head)
Let it rollll down (sweep your fingers down the sides of their head)

Short breeze, (lightly blow on the neck)
Slight squeeze,(lightly squeeze the neck)
Brings ch-ch-chilllls down your spine. (lightly run your fingers from the nape of the neck down the spine)

 

[Math Is Hard]

I remember your old parlor game, too, except it had different items when we did it: you had to describe a path you were walking on, a bear you ran into and what you did, a key you found and what you did with it, a building along the path and what you did, water you came across and what you did, and a wall or fence across the path and what you did.

Your game sounds more interesting

 

[turbo]

Want a fun "game" to thrill little kids? Teach them this one and they will torment their friends and school-mates.

Say "Glad to see you're back" and spin them around so you can see their back.
Say "I hasn't seen you in 'ears" and grab their ears.
Say "I hardly nose you" and tweak their nose.

Most little kids realize the entertainment value right away, and ask you to repeat it so they can learn how to do it to other kids. Let them practice on you. They'll love it!

 

[Evo]

Wow, I didn't have any of those games when I was little. But then I didn't really associate with other children until I was 12, and my friend thought I was smart and cool and stood up for me against other kids and even her parents.

Then my new best friend moved in two houses down and we were an elite clique of over acheivers. We had reading groups and discussed new books like "In watermelon sugar" by Richard Brautigan, also Ken Keysey and Tom Wolfe. Many, many sci-fi authors. Along with a lot of Ezra Pound and T S Elliot.

Yeah, I was strange.

 

[rootX]

Would that be a (proper) childhood if you never played any silly games?

If I ever get my childhood once again, I would do everything stupid and silly a child can do without falling into antisocial behavior like drinking/smoking/gangs etc. I did few silly things .. but they weren't enough.

 

[Evo]

Would that be a (proper) childhood if you never played any silly games?

If I ever get my childhood once again, I would do everything stupid and silly a child can do without falling into antisocial behavior like drinking/smoking/gangs etc. I did few silly things .. but they weren't enough.

I never fell into drinking/smoking/gangs. I was so *good* that other kids used to tell their parents they were with me so they could go out.

I was always the sober one, the one that got them out of trouble, the one that always stayed grounded. But it was also my group, my best friend was also a genius academically, they all were and well above me.

Anyway back to games. Yeah, I missed out.

 

[rootX]

I never fell into drinking/smoking/gangs. I was so *good* that other kids used to tell their parents they were with me so they could go out.

I was always the sober one, the one that got them out of trouble, the one that always stayed grounded. But it was also my group, my best friend was also a genius academically, they all were and well above me.

Anyway back to games. Yeah, I missed out.

I feel like being having too much of anything is not good and this also applies to being an ideal child.
I also missed out on most of the games not because I was good but just too stupid for being unable to associate myself with other kids

I cannot remember much other than experimenting with ants and observing how their colonies work , making houses-tunnels out of sand, playing with my dog, painting, and talking to old people.