Next time your mind is adrift in a travel dead zone--security lines, waiting lounges, awkward moments of silence between attractive men who don't speak English--whip out your pen! Jim Gladstone's idea for a backpack-friendly book of portable pen and paper travel games was hatched while waiting for midnight mass at Venice's St. Mark's Cathedral. "For three hours a boyfriend and I played games on blank pages turn from my notebook," recalls Gladstone. "We started out with the old standard hangman, then figured out ways to complicate it." (The resulting variations, Dueling Danglers and Wellhung Man, appear in the book.) Also included are more than 20 games that don't require much in the way of common language. "It's a great way to engage--and flirt--across language barriers," offers Gladstone. Try playing Star Qualities:

HOW TO PLAY Point out someone who resembles a celebrity (already a major gay pastime). Whisper the celebrity's name and a "likeness percentage." For example, "95% Dolly Parton." The other players then try to identify whom you're referring to. The game becomes more challenging when the likenesses are lesser and played in combination, for instance "This person looks about 20% Harvey Fierstein and 30% RuPaul."

HOW TO LOSE Get caught gawking (or worse, pointing) at a stranger and giggling.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Liberation Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group