Derby, board games, and boobies.

Derby is sneaking up on us this year, but we Louisvillians are more than ready for it. It's been a long, unbearable winter, and nothing cures the winter blues like bourbon and horsies. Last year I had one of those crazy Derby weekends that involved discussing cowboy boots at black-tie affairs with Kid Rock backstage at the Barnstable-Brown Party, singing "Stop in the Name of Love" on-stage with Mary Wilson (a Supreme), and receiving a surprise last-minute ticket to Millionaire's Row. I expect things to be a bit more low-key this year.

During this long unbearable winter, I re-discovered board games. Trivial Pursuit is a perennial favorite, but I've also embraced backgammon of late. Mostly I like backgammon because the little game pieces on the old board borrowed from my dad look like bits of milk and white chocolate. I like collecting all the chocolates.

Now that it's Derby season, however, I'm thinking about combining my newfound love for board games with the Derby festivities. A few years ago, my friend Sabrina invented her own board game. A lot of people invent things, but mostly those inventions stay in their own minds. You've got to give props to someone who not only develops a prototype (which she then brought to friends' Derby parties year after year), but finds funding and has the game printed and available to the public. The other awesome part about Sabrina's game is that the proceeds go to breast cancer research at Norton Health Care, in honor of friends, relatives, and all the other women and men whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. I like Norton (despite all my hatred towards the entire health care industry) because they cut out my mommy's cancer, sewed her up nice and neat, gave her a cool fake boobie, and made her all better again. There's a photo of us (including my mommy's fake boobie ... which one's which?? can you tell?) on the Derby Divas website, 2nd in on the 2nd row if you click here.

So anyway, I'm thinking about having a tea party for my friends where we all dress up like Derby Divas and play the board game Derby Divas, while eating benedictine sandwiches and gambling on our TVG accounts. Who's in?

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