World, meet Ghengis.

A group of my friends gets together once a week to play strategic board games, and I typically have a great deal of fun there. Last week, in the middle of a long and frustrating game, my one friend mentioned that in order to do better at the game I simply needed to unleash "my inner warlord." Amused at the whole notion, I playfully wondered outloud if my inner warlord has a name. My friend, without hesistation, replied "Ghengis."

Although I hate it when it happens, Ghengis occasionally rears his ugly head (or "comes out to play," in the words of another friend). Here are some observations that I've collected on the behavior of Ghengis:

Ghengis comes out to play when...
1. I feel isolated (Ghengis gets most of his exercise this way)
2. I feel betrayed (Ghengis acts fiesty in these situations)
3. I am frustrated with the world
4. I feel attacked
5. I see someone hurting someone else (Ghengis becomes almost intolerable if the person doing the hurting attempts to justify his/her actions)

Ghengis either goes to sleep or is already sleeping peacefully when...
1. I have fun and laugh
2. I am really looking forward to something
3. I feel appreciated or liked
4. I believe that people actually care
5. I feel organized and on top of things
6. I have 25 lbs. of chocolate nearby

The effects on Katie when Ghengis is roaming freely (the Ghengis-Katie interaction):
1. I retreat from people or shun their advances
2. I mope
3. I simmer and occasionally lash out. I mean, Ghengis lashes out.
4. I get caught in a downward spiral. This means that if Ghengis originally comes out to play because of one of the reasons above, he continues to amuse himself with some of the other reasons.

If anyone has other observations about Ghengis, let me know. I'm currently thinking of grounding him, but he's too annoying to catch. Maybe another day.