A very lazy Saturday morning is turning into a very lazy Saturday afternoon. The girl child is off at her theatre class for the morning to be followed by a piano lesson and lunch with her grandmother.

The morning was grey, windy and damp so we chose to skip the scheduled 9:00 soccer game. The boy child I curled up in front of the fire and put on a DVD. Yu-Gi-Oh! I quickly fell asleep. Yu-Gi will do that to you when seen the DVD a dozen times or more. Unless, of course you are a six-year-old boy. In that case it inspires you to duel.

Yu-Gi-Oh, or more accurately Duel Monsters, is a complex trading card game. There are monsters of different strength in attack and defense; some with unique "Special Abilities" and effects. There are spell cards and trap cards. There are detailed rules about the playing of each and the progress of a player's turn. Strategy both in the composition of your deck and the way in which you play your cards is crucial.

Unless, of course you are a six-year-old boy. In that case your strategy becomes do whatever you want. The rules are limited to the steps of each turn. What you do with your cards during your turn is limited only by your imagination. The only nod given to rules governing the cards is that the further you stray from them, the more loudly and dramatically you call your play.

As usual, I lost badly and quickly.

The sun had come out so we planned a trip to the park. The boy with his sandbox implements. Me with the Treo.

On the way it occurred to me that we had missed lunch. I decided to try something beyond fast food. So we went to favorite Mexican place La Salsa. Good food cooked fresh and quick. For the boy - cheese quesadilla. For dad a steak burrito.

I don't think this will mean the end of Happy Meals any time soon, but it is a giant step foreward.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 08:57 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment