29* video games

  
   A few days ago, one of my sons said to me in an upset tone "you don't do anything anymore". And he is right--for months I have been numbing my mind with t.v. and spider solitaire. I can see Kenny now shaking his head at me because I get frustrated with losing the game all the time. It was one of those things that he would say is a waste of time. He would try to get me to play other games because computer solitaire is a game of chance and not strategy he would say. He did not like me playing at all. He taught me how to play 'Katamari'--it was the only video game I was any good at since the original 'Bomberman'. He patiently tried to teach me many other games that he thought were easy enough for me, like 'Kirby' and 'Mario Party'; but I am terrible at video games. Although I really liked playing 'Phoenix Wright-Ace Attorney', that was a game Kenny shared with all his friends. He got through it in a matter of hours~it took me days, and days to finish. Another time he had me watch him play Ghost Trick so I could try--it was a very cool game but I needed his help so much it was like he was playing again. That was a laugh for both of us!! He couldn't believe how hard it was for me to play--what would he say?..I think it was "you're just not good at video games mom". 
   However, Kenny was very good at video games, as is most of his generation. He could play from morning till night. The last years of his life his favorite game was 'StarCraft'**now that was a game I could not keep up with at all, even watching him play was confusing. But that was his all time favorite;when his best friend Callie gave him the new version 'StarCraft II' for his birthday Kenny was thrilled>and disappointed because he couldn't play it right away. He was so excited but he had to buy a new laptop with highly advanced specifications, which he did rather quickly.It was a big purchase for him, probably the most expensive of his life. I think he played all night when he first put it on his new computer. One of the reasons he like that game so much was because he was able to play with his friends. They would plan times to get on their computers and play-Kenny always looked forward to that time very much. When his other best friend, Ben got the boardgame version of 'StarCraft' they got together for 3 or 4 days to complete the game,,very long interesting days according to Kenny.I sure do miss seeing his eyes light up when he'd had an exceptionally good battle. It was a game of strategy he would say,,and I really miss so much knowing he is in room, on his bed, playing his favorite game. It will never ever happen again!!!AND THE TEARS BEGIN TO FLOW.............

Element of the day (day 29)

#21) Sc-Scandium-]metal

Discovered in 1879 by Lars Fredrik Nilson, Sweden.
A soft, silvery-white metal with a very high melting point, rare on Earth, more common in the Sun and stars. Few uses: makes very bright mercury-vapor lights, very important for color television cameras. Used in alkaline batteries. The first pound of pure scandium was not produced until 1960.

Rare-  is only economical to extract from uranium ore tailings and from the minerals euxenite, gadolinite and thortveitite. Most mined in Scandinavia, Iceland, and Madagascar.