Bernie: This month I am spotlighting a great gazer. She has been around for a long long time. She is one of the best spades player in gazers (I know coz we have made it to #1 and #2 twice in the shuffle~~~I just have to make sure I give her some extra strength pain meds to carry me!!) Here is shellgame11111's (Shelley) story....

Shelley: 1. Tell us about yourself, your family, your hobbies, your work, anything you would like to know about someone else but in reverse. I'm Shelley (shellgame11111) and just as my spades face has blond hair so do I! I have been with the same wonderful man for 35 years which is amazing since I am still 39. (Ok enough blond jokes) We have 2 terrific daughters who are my best friends. I love to do Yoga everyday and have a beautiful garden with roses, strawberries and lots of herbs.I go to the beach almost everyday and can watch surfing for hours. Obviously my main hobby is playing spades! I have been an Architect for 37 years and have designed all types of buildings. I am semi-retired but my passion is design and construction so if someone wants me to work I will always jump!

2. Where are you from, where do you live now? How does living where you live affect the way you play in gazers? I have always lived in California. 2 years ago we moved to a beach town on the Central California coast known as "Surf City". I am so happy to be living here I feel like we moved to paradise! I spend more time away from the computer since we have moved since there are so many things to do here. I enjoy evening time with my husband so I miss out on most evening tourneys.

3. After coming into suicide lounge 4, what made you stay? What keeps you in gazers? I joined Stargazers almost 5 years ago after leaving a league where I was on staff. Many spade friends I had were in gazers so I joined and I consider it my spades "home"!!! I have seen the league through many changes over the years through both difficult and joyous times. I love giving huggssss when I come into the room and trying to list everyone I can remember by name. I think that currently the gazer family is at an all time BEST and I look forward to many many years in the future.

4. When do you play? Days, or hours? What is the time difference between where you are and when we play. What do u sacrifice in order to be in gazers? I primarily play the morning and afternoon tourneys as well as the 6pm as often as I can. Since being 3 hours behind EST it's a challenge. I miss playing spades and chatting with friends in the evening hours but I do try to get in as many special tourneys as I can.

5. What is your favorite game? My favorite game which most people know is Suicide! I have been known to play suicide all night. As you can imagine that did not go over well with my husband lol! I love to play in tourneys where there is a lot of fun in the lobby or someone is doing random trivia or jokes. These days my favorite thing is to play swiss any game. I just like to play all rounds so the more games the better I like it.

6. What is your least favorite game? My least favorite thing is having a long bye and not playing anything. I am not fond of some of the mindless forced bidding "just throwing cards out there" games but generally I will play most tourneys if I have time.

7. What advice would you give to a new member or someone wanting to join gazers? I love to meet new people joining gazers. I think that gazers is one of the most friendly leagues around. It always takes time to get to know people but the best way to get partners is to either ask in the lobby, go auto or make a team with the password as many people recently are doing. I think the best advice for new members is to be patient and ask for help when you need it.

8. Do you have a special memory of something that occurred in gazers that you want to share with gazers? I have many special memories playing games, laughing and sharing things with friends but I also have special memories of gazer friends who I was close with until the end of their lives. I have the privilege of having them in my life to play many hours of games and share numerous hours of laughter. My life is better having known these people. I know that I am blessed to have gazers in my life. I want to thank all the gazer staff who volunteer so much of their time and lives to give us a great environment to play the game we love!!!!

Bernie: I have a special memory of Shelley that shows how special SHE is. We were playing in a tourney once about 3 years ago and I got a call from my doctor I wasn't expecting. She was my rock for the rest of the day..she refused to allow me to get down or give up. And for the next month, I don't think a day went by that she didn't IM me to make sure I was still going strong. And when I got good news, she was celebrating just as hard as I was. Thanks, Shelley, for being a good friend and a great card player........the shuffle is coming up again......(hint, hint!)