(12/12) Well played, kid. Well played.

(11/12) When the cards were revealed, there could be only one winner. Even our beloved straight-laced, literal-minded patriarch had to give the card to now-smirking Nephew.

(10/12) Reader, I did not have a shot.

(9/12) “I’m telling you,” Nephew insisted. “I’ve got this one.” Yeah. Sure, kid. Grandpa plays Apples to Apples quite literally, and the off-the-wall humor of Gen-Z rarely lands. I thought I had a shot.

(8/12) I dismissed his trash talk. The red cards in my hand weren’t great, but I thought “broken collarbone” might work, so I tossed it in. (Someone else played the “knee surgery” card, so we were clearly thinking along the same lines.)

(7/12) My nephew started giggling. “Nobody else should even bother to play a card," he said. "I’m soooo winning this hand.”

(6/12) “Should we get him a new card?” my sister whispered.
“Don't touch that card," I told her. "It's his now."

(5/12) Then it was Grandpa’s turn to be the judge. Hand to God, we did not stack the deck. This was the green card the benevolent universe decided to give him.

(4/12) Play proceeded around the table, with adjectives like witty, dim, and cheerful. Apples to Apples is a pretty tame game. Good wholesome family fun. Usually.

(3/12) My favorite thing about Thanksgiving this year was the game of Apples to Apples played by three generations, including a 19-year-old college kid and a 90-year-old grandpa.

(2/12) My second favorite thing about Thanksgiving this year was that after the dishes were done, we put away our phones and made our own fun.

It's only a matter of time before humanities departments will be forced to accept AI-authored assignments, as part of revised university policy to cooperate with these billionaires. It's already happening, and our response needs to be decisive. Because our students' ability to *think* is at stake.

It was delicious.

Yep! First thing I did when I bought my mac and also the first thing I check after every update (They like to sneak in there and turn it back on when they do an OS update.)