what we called by the very un-PC name of "Smear the queer".

We had the same game, but we called it "Schmear the queer."

pauses wistfully to recall bottle rocket fights in the woods

Heh. We did that once.

Basically, think of rugby, but no rules, no teams and no scoring.

but, how do you WIN? Last man standing?

ION, the protest is over. Still don't know what they wanted.

but, how do you WIN? Last man standing?

You just play until recess is over or you get bored or tired or someone gets hurt.

With dodgeball at my school, my strategy was generally to try to be one of the first people tagged out, before everyone had gotten really into the game, and then sit at the sidelines reading or go play on the monkey bars for the rest of the game. I didn't really mind playing, but what I couldn't stand was all the "How can you be so stupid? It figures we'd lose, since we have you on our team," that I'd get if I was tagged out toward the end of the game, when it "mattered." (When we played in gym, the gym teacher wouldn't put up with that stuff, and I usually had more fun then, but all of that would get pretty bad if our regular teacher took us outside to play dodgeball.)

I usually prefered either gym, where the teacher actually knew how to get us to work well in teams, or unstructured recess, where we could split into smaller groups.

but, how do you WIN? Last man standing?

No winning or losing really. If you managed to hold on to ball for a long time, people would remember, but basically you played until you didn't want to play anymore (or were too beat up to play anymore).

Maybe "game" isn't the right term. "Agression release" perhaps?

But my doctor did say that female fertility does drop significantly as you get into your 30's.

Yes, I've heard this, and it worries me. My younger sis is pregnant again. This will be her second. My older sister has two boys. Me? Thirty and single, with nary a prospect on the horizon. I'm not even sure I want kids at all, let alone want to produce them myself, and yet I still hear that damn clock ticking. This is why I would like to get married in the next five years, though there's a voice in the back of my mind saying I'm still not ready for it. But by the time I am ready, adoption may be my only course.

I used to enjoy People's Most Beautiful issues, because I like pretty pictures. But when I started really paying attention to pics, I realised that the ones they use often (if ever) aren't original, and don't even represent the best that celeb has taken that year (there were better pics than this in the same (GQ) shoot, for instance). And I know there must be a better 2004 pic of Jamie Foxx than this. Hilary Swank should sue. Mischa, on the other hand, never looked so good.

I have a friendly viciousness.

Heh. This describes my mood today perfectly.

I played dodgeball in the 70's and have no scars--physical or emotional.

I wasn't a popular kid, but I was a good athlete who was always did well at those kinds of games. There were times the cliquey kids tried to keep the ball away from me, but that was often self-defence on their part. I was/am always a little over-competitive in those kinds of situations. I did hate foursquare because people would just cheat (to get rid of the unpopular kid), so I avoided it.

This describes my mood today perfectly.

Just today?