The Thirteenth Mission - #25: Surprise

Honey, where are my pants?

This one was easy...and convenient! My wife saw a pair of pants at Target she wanted me to try on and I have been in need of new slacks and a pair of jeans, so we ended up making an afternoon of trying on things.

So while I was trying a few pairs on, I slipped this card into a pair that just wasn't quite right.

I learned two things on this trip:

1 - I'm actually a little skinnier than I thought I was, so...yay!

still should probably exercise a little more and eat a little better...

2 - khaki is really NOT my color

I got one leg on and just said 'NOPE!' didn't even let my wife see them on me...it was that bad.

I know in this deck there are more of these 'hide somewhere' cards and I'm rather looking forward to those. Not as much thinking involved...until next time Travelers!

The Twelfth Mission - #16: Connect

Guess Who?

This week I started coming up descriptors that I could use to fill this card. I thought of physical attributes, you know, hair color (or lack of hair), eye color, facial hair (didn't want to limit this card to just men), height, etc. Then I went into kinds of clothing, jacket, shirt style, slacks, skirt (likewise didn't want to limit it to women), shoe style. In my consideration, I was hoping to find something that could be easy for those who will pass on these cards to do so.

It dawned on me while I was checking out of a CVS, the gal across the counter had the following descriptors, however I did not have the card on me.

I realized these would be generic enough to apply to anyone really. Even the 'glasses' item could be satisfied with sun glasses. 

The next day I was actually at my local ACE Hardware store and the clerk there Noah was wearing a sweater, but I noticed his t-shirt poking out over the collar happened to be a navy blue. And satisfying the other two descriptors, I handed him the card.

Until next time travelers!

The Eleventh Mission - #29: Care

DELAY OF GAME

Before we get into this week's post (or rather what should have been last week's post, but got pushed back because of whatever reason, regardless), we must address this delay of game. Now, in our rules, we did not consider a delay of game penalty, or penalties in general. Whoops!

So I began to think of ways to issue myself some sort of extra challenge that would be commensurate with leaving everyone waiting. The only thing I could think of:

Draw and extra card and have to complete both the primary mission and secondary (penalty) mission.

Thoughts anyone?

Now onto this week's mission:

America Runs on Dunkin'

...and so do I! 

I believe I have mentioned my favorite palace du café, Dunkin' Donuts, and my regular haunt on my way to work. For I guess would be the past year and a half or so, I have been enjoying their On-the-Go ordering through the Dunkin' app.  At first I was reluctant to go down that route as I enjoyed my daily reparté with the staff there.  However, when the school year began and the influx of GMU and NVCC students returned generating longer wait lines, I decided to give it a go. I have not been disappointed. I greatly enjoy walking in getting my coffee and leaving the store while getting looks from everyone in line wondering how I got special treatment (at least that's how I like to envision it).

On this particular day, for this mission, I decided to wait just like everyone else. At first I was a little disappointed that there was no one else in the store. The staff there was a little surprised to see me in line and it took them a moment to remember my order (it also took me a moment, because I usually just tap my favorite on the app and there I go...not very often do I need to vocalize it). During this exchange, and my subsequent fidgeting with my phone for my Dunkin' Moblie app, in walks a gentleman (Ron) with his daughter (Iris) in baby carrier and when I was asked if that would be it, I said 'and whatever this gentleman is having' and subsequently handed him the card.

Now before I finished this post, I stopped back at that shop and there was Ron with Iris again and I asked him who he handed it off to. Apparently that card made it 11 hands that morning according to the store manager.



Unfortunately, none of those hands have logged the card's movement on sneakycards.com, but there is still time. I'm just glad to hear that they are at least moving.

CARD UPDATES

If you remember my coworker Kelly who I mentioned in the Ninth Mission? Well, she finally broke open her deck and began with Mission #4, the largest game of tag!

I'm looking forward to hear how all her sneaky missions go.


Until next time Travelers!

The Tenth Mission: #42: Grow

The 4 R's:

Reading, (w)Riting, (a)Rithmetic, Rhetoric

I may have stretched this one...just a bit. As I only have a week for each Mission, I didn't necessarily have the time to find a class, apply, attend, or whatever...BUT...I had already scheduled our first session with a Trainer from Affectionate Pet Care for our dog Daisy.

Daisy waiting
to get adopted
January 2015

From earlier blogs, you all know that we have a dog. Two years ago, my wife and I rescued a 9-year old retriever mix and she had a bit of a rough go the year before we adopted her. As much as we can tell from her medical records, a divorce (her owners, not a puppy divorce), and there was another dog in the house and it looks like the two got separated through the divorce. At that point she was exhibiting signs of separation anxiety and was put on heavy doses of prozac. A year later she was left at the vet for a new family to take care of her and that's where we come in.

First Weekend Home
February 2015

At first she was mentally not all there, you could see the fog, until we weaned her off the prozac and then she became attentive and responsive to food and got closer and closer to my wife and myself. Daisy is a sweet girl, but can't be left alone. Her anxieties are a lot to overcome, but we've made it work. Our family's schedules are off-set a little, so at least one of us is home 3 days out of the week, but on the days neither of us can be around, we put her in day care. After a little over a year of going to day care and getting to know the staff there, we finally got a meeting with a trainer.

Pumpkin Picking
November 2015

Looking Out My Favorite Window
February 2016

Papa's Production Assistant
August 2016

Happy 11th Birthday
October 2016

Our Trainer, Mary came for a house visit and we started working on a plan for Daisy. Our hope is we will get better at recognizing some of the signals of her anxiety and getting ahead of them and redirecting her behavior. We also hope that we can get to the point of leaving her alone for a couple hours.  We'll see how it goes.  In the meantime, Mary was given card #42 and when she received it, she was a little worried because we already gave one of her coworkers something to work on (see The Eighth Mission - #39: Grow). Apparently that has gone around their office (again...maniacal laughter). I am really loving this game!

The Ninth Mission - #13: Connect (AND THE FIRST CARD UPDATE!)

Apologies Travelers...it appears this post was never finished and posted as promised. This task was completed early in what turned out to be a very trying week personally and I never seemed to get back to this one until getting ready for this week's post. Nevertheless, here is The Ninth Mission! 

"Don't worry be happy now!"

This Mission was quite easy, well...maybe not easy per-se, but well...yes it was easy. I am normally a happy, smiley person so I had to think about how someone makes me actually smile and not just because they told a good (or very lame) joke. In fact, I used to collect all things smiley. On my first day of shooting on my first student film set, I found a smiley bobble in the dirt and kept it with me throughout the day, the following day I found some cord at home and made myself a necklace out of it and wore it throughout principal photography for the rest of the film and every one while I was at Florida State, for luck. Other Smileys I collected include: Smiley Flag, Smiley Beanie Baby, Smiley Do-rag, Smiley Hackey-Sack. I had a sketch that I would draw every so often...the Smiley Roger!  Arrr matey!

Alas, I rather moved on from collecting all things Smiley. Not entirely sure why I gave up on this line of collectibles, and I believe all these have been stored away or lost in one of my many moves.

Back to the present. I have been meaning to give one of these cards to a coworker of mine who is likewise a very happy, outgoing person, Kelly! So I selected her for this one in particular because of her perpetual sunny disposition and how when we interact at work and City related events, she always makes me smile. That and her adorable son, he is just as much the life of a party as she.

As we were talking while getting ready for a meeting, I gave the unsuspecting target card #13, just to find out that she has also received a deck of Sneaky Cards from yet another coworker of ours (that coworker has been put on notice that she will be the target for an upcoming and as yet to be determined card  **muah-ha-ha-ha** maniacal laughter).

Likewise, I believe I will be the target for one of Kelly's cards!

Card Updates:

THE FIRST CARD HAS BEEN TRACKED!

WOOT!  We have card movement!  Well...turns out it was this week's mission.  Thank you Kelly for updating the tracker on Card #13:

Looking forward to see where this one goes next!

The Eighth Mission - #39: Grow

"the other hand"

This week's mission proved to be a bit more challenging.

You never realize how much you rely on your dominant hand for mundane, everyday tasks. I figured it wouldn't be so bad when brushing my hair, but then quickly spiraled downward when trying to brush my teeth and finding the micro movements of my dominant hand could not be replicated by my off hand.

WOW! This is going to be a long day.

Most of my other chores for the day were relatively easy, using both hands simultaneously, until I began cooking...

...how easily these blogs turn into something food related...

...cutting an onion for chili was very difficult, well at least for the speed and accuracy that I have practiced so well with my dominant hand. I kept having to put the knife in my right hand to get the feel for how I usually hold it, and again I couldn't replicate it with my left.  ANNNNDDDD you can't believe how much my hand would cramp up...so not used to working those muscles like that. I am quite impressed with myself for not cutting any of my digits off, but still it was quite a feat.

Later that evening, my weekly D&D group got together and I was supposed to continue the drawing our map, but quickly handed it off to one of my fellow adventurers because there was no way I would be able to properly sketch any form of detail. I even tried taking player notes...NOPE! Totally illegible.  I'm going to have to rewrite those later this week.

The first person I saw happened to be one of the gals at the front desk of my dog's daycare, Tonya. We'll see how her trials with her non-dominant hand go, and where the card ends up!

Until next week Travelers!

The Seventh Mission - #27:Surprise

"words, words, words"

- Hamlet

For this week's mission, I got to infiltrate a library.

I also needed to come up with my favorite book, so I had to think back and remember what my absolute favorite book was. Thankfully my parents instilled in all of me and my siblings a fondness for reading. We had such a library growing up.

One of the biggest reasons our library was so large was the Book It program. We would spend hours at the bookstore finding our treasures, the next adventure we would set our young eyes upon. I always loved the smell of a bookstore!

The Book It program happened to begin in my second grade year, with one of my most influential teachers, Mrs. Whittier of Maple Wood Elementary. More than just my teacher, she was also a family friend. She had such a love of teaching and helped inspire a love of creativity and bolstered my parents' desire to make us all fervent readers.

That same year, we were introduced to several authors that I would admire throughout my life. So when I thought about this mission, I thought back to that year and what books I was really getting into.

My first thought was Marvel Books graphic novelization of The Return of the Jedi. I read that thing so many times front to back, inside out, until it literally fell apart in my hands.

...I never replaced that book...

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a copy of that book in the Fairfax County Library System, so I started thinking of other books.  I included more recent titles that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed:

• Name of the Wind (of the Kingkiller Chronicles) by Patrick Rothfuss
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
• The First Heretic (of the Horus Heresy Series) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

But then I was reminded oddly enough during a session with my D&D group about a poem.

Just a quick aside, my character's hands slipped into a magic fount and lost all but his thumb and middle finger on his right hand and ended up with a dagger for a left hand.

So I was reminded of a poem by one of those authors I was introduced to during that influential year.

Captain Hook by Shel Silverstein:

Captain Hook must remember Not to scratch his toes.
Captain Hook must watch out
And never pick his nose.
Captain Hook must be gentle
When he shakes your hand.
Captain Hook must be careful
Openin' sardine cans
And playing tag and pouring tea
And turnin' pages of his book.
Lots of folks I'm glad I ain't--
But mostly Captain Hook!

I decided that the book with this poem in it, Where the Sidewalk Ends would be my target. As I was sitting in the Mary Riley Styles Public Library thumbing through the 40th anniversary of his collection, I ran across another poem that I have often found myself repeating.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too
Went for a ride in a flying shoe.
"Hooray!"
"What fun!"
"It's time we flew!"
Said Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle was captain, and Pickle was crewAnd Tickle served coffee and mulligan stewAs higherAnd higherAnd higher they flew,Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too,

Over the sun and beyond the blue."Hold on!""Stay in!""I hope we do!"Cried Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.


Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle too
Never returned to the world they knew,
And nobody
Knows what's
Happened to
Dear Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

For those who haven't experienced Shel Silverstein, I highly recommend.  His poems have stuck with me for a long LONG time: Sick, Sister for Sale, It's Dark in Here, Invitation, Hug-o-War, and so many more.

Until next week Travellers!

The Sixth Mission - #52: Creative

Food! Glorious food!

Yet again, I am beset by another food challenge...

Who shuffled this deck!?

This one should prove to be interesting, especially with my allergies, it has been the crux of what my wife and I have had to deal with the past 4 years.

The second week of February has proven to be a very VERY long week. Regardless of my intention for 2017 to "do less", it seems I have ended up with the same breakneck pace as previous years. So the last couple days of this week left me with a sense of inability to get this task done.

Thankfully there is my weekly D&D group. One of the ways I have lured them into playing at our place is the offer of food. One of the things I love to do is host (I believe I mentioned that before). In this group, we have several different food preferences, whether they be medical, religious, or moral, so trying to find something that fits can be challenging.  This week I settled on BREAKFAST! But to make it portable to the gaming table, I made them all in muffin form.

One of my fellow gamers was so enamored with tonight's offering, he became the recipient of the card.  Thanks Steve!

1 loaf Against the Grain Baguette

     (a regular french bread baguette will suffice, if you don't feel like avoiding wheat)

1 - 8 oz package three cheese cheddar cheese blend

9 large eggs

3 tblsp half & half

salt & pepper to taste

Optional:

   1 - 12 oz package Smithfield All Natural Uncured Bacon

       0r

   1 - 12 oz tube Country Style Pork Sausage

for bacon muffins:

Line a baking tray with parchment paper, lay bacon on tray and place in 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness (I prefer mine just a little under done so it has some room to cook in the muffins). Set aside and let cool.

Dice Bacon.

for sausage muffins:

Brown sausage in skillet. Set aside and let cool.

Spray 12-count muffin pan with cooking spray.

Defrost baguette according to directions, dice baguette in 1/2 inch cubes.  Place 3-4 baguette cubes in each muffin tin.

Optional: Sprinkle bacon or sausage in each muffin tin, cover each with cheese.

Crack all eggs in bowl, add half & half, salt and pepper. Scramble eggs thoroughly. Pour enough egg mixture into each muffin tin to about the 2/3 mark.

Place in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean).

Let cool and serve.

Feel free to make modifications, use ham instead or add sautéd vegetables till your heart's content.  make sure not to overload any of the muffin tins.

Card Updates:

No movement yet Travelers! Stay tuned though, hopefully soon we see new and exciting locations!

The Fifth Mission - #1: Engagement

apologies travelers...apparently I did not publish this one when I finished it on Monday...ack!  

Make it so number one!

Sorry...when I read ENGAGE it was in Patrick Stuart's voice...hmmm...nerd...meh!?

Anyway, yes, this week is about engaging the public!

Actually, one of the things I do the least...selfies...for some reason I cringe slightly when I heard that word, let alone for me to do it.

I am more comfortable being the person behind the camera, not in front of it...ACK!

Then again, that's what this game and this year is all about, stretching myself to new experiences and see what happens.

All that being said, I can actually say that I'm really excited about this card.  Now I can put a card in someone's hand and say "YOUR TURN" and hopefully they venture beyond their comfort zone (unless they already do copious amounts of selfies and then this is a walk in the park).


This weekend was also:

The City of Fairfax 25th Annual Chocolate Lovers Festival

There's a Chocolate Chip Pancake Breakfast, a Chocolate Challenge where professionals and amateurs compete for the best cake, cupcake, or sculpture, there's the Taste of Chocolate where you can purchase all kinds of chocolate confections, and new this year was a Liquid Chocolate Tent with all kinds of delights like chocolate beers, martinis, milkshakes, chocolate sodas. For a brand new event, it was quite packed actually. We have even had guest judges who have been featured on Food Network and demonstrations by these individuals as well. So, if anyone is around the City of Fairfax the first weekend in February, I definitely recommend. Especially for those who love chocolate!

My participation in the festival is I spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12 hours running around the City with a large camera on my shoulder following my boss around as we cover this tasty celebration with events all over Fairfax. So, I was around all kinds of strangers and had plenty of people to chose from, but sadly no time. 

Until I realized I had to go back and get some pickup shots on the second day of the festival. Wearing my Patriots hat, a gentleman by the name of Tim who was donning his Cowboys jacket wished my team luck in Superbowl LI later that night and bemoaned his team not being in the big show this year...maybe next year Tim, maybe next year!  But in that moment, I asked if I could take a selfie with him, handed him the card, and tried to quickly explain the game to him before the light turned green and we got our walk signal.

Well Tim, it is your turn to pass along your new found Sneaky Card!  I can't wait to see where it travels.

Card Updates:

Mission #40 has moved from the original target (still waiting on confirmation on SneakyCards.com), but has been handed off to another friend, who by the way has tried two new foods since they received their card, but upon doing so forgot to have it on them. Maybe third times the charm?

I have also received word from the recipient of Mission #47 that they will be moving the card this week.

WOOT!

Stay tuned adventurers!

The Fourth Mission - #19:Surprise

In Plain Sight

This one should be pretty easy to accomplish.  Not needing to select a target at random, or a target at all I just needed to come up with a place that had high enough traffic where someone is BOUND to find it.

For this mission, I did think about these potential hiding spots:

The community bulletin board at my office.
(however, reading ahead when I first received my deck, there is one coming up that covers this...so that idea was out)

My usual Dunkin Donuts haunt...I wasn't sure if I should put it in with the sugar packets or tucked into the napkin dispenser.

I also thought about putting it on someone's desk at the office. There was a slight fear of it getting lost in some shuffle to never be seen or heard from again...meh...that is the risk with this game...right?

But it dawned on me as I was sitting down for lunch at Cava. They have these tri-fold standup cards that could work nicely. Hopefully someone bored of people watching, or trying to avoid eye contact altogether, or whatever reason they would look down into said advertisement (for the Cava app), would find this treasure and take off with it...

...no movement yet on this little gem, but still hoping for something.

I am really looking forward to see any of these little nuggets move beyond the boundaries of my home base here!

Keep watching everyone!  Something is bound to happen...and soon!

The Third Mission - Mission Objective #40: Growth

FOOOOOOD!

Of all the cards, I was rather apprehensive about this one...

Trying a new food!

For those of you who know me and my issues with food understand how tough this one could have been for me.

For the rest of you, suffice it to say I have a myriad of food allergies that trigger a condition I was diagnosed with a few years back.

NOOOOOO!!!

I used to like food...no...love food! A fervent Food Network fan and a love of cooking and entertaining, I had often thought of hanging up my camera and picking up my knives and starting a new career in the food industry.

But alas, my allergies have made it...interesting...

...maybe one day...

Onto the MISSION!

My boss, Rachael has on many occasions talked about one of her favorite new beverage finds: Bubble Tea!  After a long day fighting technical demons with the knights who say I.T. we took a break to Kim's Pho in Fairfax for refreshments!

BTW...the place is wicked cool, very nice decor, smelled delicious (unfortunately smell is as far as I can get as all asian food is pretty much off the menu - thank you allergy Gods!). But for those of you who can and are in the area...I recommend at least taking it in!

She ordered a Black Tea Bubble Tea and I myself went whole hog on the 'new food' mission and ordered a Lychee Bubble Tea (never having tried either)....

DAMN WAS THAT LYCHEE SWEET!

They weren't kidding everytime it comes up on one of my Food Network cooking shows.

Anyway, back to the office we went but not before handing the card off to Rachael for the next leg of this journey!

Card Updates

So far, these cards haven't moved yet...well...it's not even been a month, so we'll still give them some time!

Keep watching!

The Second Mission - Mission Objective #47: Creative

Now for more CREATIVITY!

So this week's mission: Create a collaborative doodle!

Man! another Create card.  I know it's not all about creating something (as I read through most of the cards in the deck), but I'd hate to blow through all of these before getting something else.

This not being a mandatory 'give this card to a stranger' I decided to give this to one of my artsy-friends.  

Before handing it off, I needed to come up with something that would give a fair amount of freedom to carry the doodle forward.  I had thought of a circle (you know...for kids), or the silhouette of a bird (I did just get back from Puerto Rico),  at one point I did have the idea of a palm tree, but that seemed too limiting (again, Puerto Rico).

So I decided on something that could be part of an island theme, or a dungeon theme, or a medieval theme, pretty much just about anything...well...maybe a little limiting!?


We will see what they come up with to go with my treasure chest:

Card Updates:

Unfortunately fellow tourists, neither this card, nor the previous week's mission card have exchanged hands (at least not that it's been tracked online).

Stay tuned for next week's mission, and see where these cards have travelled!

The First Mission - #49 Mission Objective: Creative

...aaannnd...we're off!

So the very first mission is about crafting...for those who know how much I love working in smaller mediums will know this is a relatively easy task for me...the difficulty is in finding an OBSCURE HOLIDAY!

In the first week of the year, how many holidays can there actually be?

Thank you nationaldaycalendar.com, I found a plethora of holidays to select from. And the lucky winner is:

National Argyle Day!

Deriving from the tartan of Clan Campbell, of Argyll in western Scotland, the argyle pattern used for kilts and plaids and from the patterned socks (known as “tartan hose”) worn by Scottish Highlanders since at least the 17th century, is recognized and honored each year on January 8th on National Argyle Day. 

So while I was away for my brother's wedding this past weekend, I brought along a very special card to present to an unsuspecting victim.

Other notably obscure holidays the first week of January include:

• January 2:
• Happy Mew Year Day for Cats, Buffet Day, 55 MPH Speed Limit Day, Weigh-In Day, Personal Trainer Awareness Day, Creampuff Day, Motivation and Inspiration Day

• January 3:
• Festival of Sleep Day, Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day, Drinking Straw Day
• January 4:
• Spaghetti Day, Hypnotism Day, Pop Music Chart Day, World Braille Day, Trivia Day
• January 5:
• Whipped Cream Day, National Bird Day
• January 6:
• Shortbread Day, Bean Day, Three Kings Day, Apple Tree Day, Cuddle Up Day
• January 7:
• I'm Not Going to Take it Anymore Day, Tempura Day, Harlem Globetrotters Day, Old Rock Day, Bobblehead Day, Fruitcake Toss Day
• January 8:
• Argyle Day, Bubble Bath Day, Joy Germ Day, National English Toffee Day

Make sure to check in next week and see what mission awaits me and see if this card has gone anywhere fun!

Card Update!

My unsuspecting victim (sister-in-law, Chelsea) and her Argyle Day card:

Can't wait to see where she strikes next!

The Start of a 'Very Sneaky 2017'

(The fact that the title is 'very sneaky' rather undermines the creation of a blog about being sneaky for an entire year...oh well!)

To start off, my wife's parents gave me an interesting gift for Christmas (2016) they found at a local thrift store:

They were most excited to find out "What's he going to do with it?"

(I am guessing the person who received it as a gift before my in-law's find didn't know what to make of it.)

When I opened the box and started reading the rules (and jumping ahead looking at some of the other cards in the box), I couldn't put it down. The rules and a box of 55 'mission' cards sparked an idea for a year-long mission.

The rules of the game are simple:

CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO AN ADVENTURE!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: become a secret agent of joy, spreading art and intrigue to an unsuspecting public. Inside this box is an interactive scavenger hunt that inspires creativity and rewards audacity: Take a selfie with a stranger, give an anonymous gift, become a flash mob of one.

Complete each objective and then pass the card along to an unwitting accomplice, who now becomes part of the game! The fun is ever-expanding, but it all starts with you - Play it forward!

So...each week of 2017, I will draw a card.  I will have ONE WEEK to complete the task given to me.  As each mission is completed, the card is passed to the target of said mission for them to complete.  These cards can be tracked at: sneakycards.com.

Each Monday there will be a blog update with activities from the previous week's mission (can't give away too many secrets, as some of you may be targets for any of these challenges).  On each of these blogs, there will be updates as to where the cards have visited.

Additional Rules:

• A 'Mission Card'  will be drawn each Monday.
• I have 1 WEEK  to complete each task.
• There will be a blog detailing the completion of each mission and updates on where the cards have visited.
• The last blog for completed tasks will be on Christmas Day 2017
• There will be 4 BONUS ROUNDS 
• I realize that of 55 cards, I will be short 4 weeks (want to make sure to complete the deck of cards before 2018 begins).
• The requirements for these rounds are TBD. (so just stay tuned)

So join me in this vicarious tour [of the world] through the eyes of these Sneaky Cards!