Last night was a really cool, good night for me, and it might be sort of silly, but let me tell you why. On Mondays we tend to go to bingo night at a bar in one of the cooler neighborhoods in Eugene. I like bingo regardless of the setting, but this is maybe the best bingo ever. The two hosts are super funny, the beer is tasty, and they have vegan chocolate chip cookies so, like, perfect. It’s really my favorite night of the week out here in the EUG. Anyway, one of the rounds is a fun guessing game called What’s In the Nut. A secret prize is placed in a large wooden nut and the hosts read clues while calling the numbers. If you guess what’s in the nut before someone calls bingo, you win. The clues are pretty obscure, and the prize is always something really random. I sort of guessed what was in the nut the very first time we played bingo at this particular bar, but I didn’t call out the answer loud enough (story of my life). Anyway, last night, I was determined.

I barely paid attention to my bingo card and I listened carefully as the clues were called. I was intensely focused, y’all. First word: Has to do with houses. Second word: Not animals. Last word: The queen.

Neighborhoods. A man. Reading about your birthday. Tent cities. A tribe. At this point I knew the first two words but not the last. My heart was pounding. Something that comes in the mail at Christmas.

Village People Card. I started to rise to my feet and I said it louder than I think I’ve said anything before. (Okay, except for when I’m very drunk, because my volume tends to go through the roof.) I knew I was right and I marched up to the stage. People were congratulating me and for a moment, I felt smart. That is to say, I sent a mass text proclaiming myself a genius.

All I won was this stupid little card and a free beer, but it felt really good to feel good.