Written by We’re completing the first week of World Watercolor Month and it’s been amazing to see the thousands of watercolors that have been posted so far on social media in celebration of the month! If you’re trying the 31 day challenge, then one week down and just three more and three little days to go! Hang in there… it’s totally DOable! Today’s official prompt, if you’re following along with those, is playing games, which for some reason, made me think of the game of Jacks. This game is of ancient origin and is also called “knucklebones” because, instead of metal pieces, it was originally played with the ankle bones of a sheep. This was thankfully well before my time and so we simply had little metallic jacks and a red bouncy ball. I remember playing the game, but can’t remember if I was any good at it. Mostly, I just remember bouncing the ball around and making mad little grabs for the pointy metal bits that left little marks on my hand. Even without the sheep bones, it was not a game for the faint of heart and not terribly entertaining. I quickly moved on to other games as I got older.
I was bit nerdy as a kid, and well, probably still as an adult, so I liked games that required mental skill over physical prowess. I liked cards games, but I think my favorite were games like Mastermind, where you had to break the code created by another player or Battleship. Both of these were really just guessing games, but required a bit of quick thinking that I enjoyed. My family loved word games most like Boggle and Scrabble. Our family game nights would consist of geeking out over how many words we could assemble. And often included rousing arguments about the validity of certain words so we always had a dictionary nearby as an inanimate judge. By the late 70’s, the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary was released and appeared at every family gathering after that. This was an abridged dictionary that only included playable words that conformed to the game’s rules. The idea of automatically conforming to rules and not gleefully arguing them out made me lose interest and so I left it to my aunts to play and moved on again to other games.
Video games had been growing up along with me and were suddenly reaching maturity becoming all the rage. In 1980, Pac-Man was realized and I was so enamored with it that I designed and reconstructed a little model version of the arcade machine, complete with joystick, as my Valentine’s Day box for school. In my memory, it was a perfect replica, but I think the real version left a lot to be desired. Later in life, I would go on to direct creative teams making online games for a few years, which was incredibly fun, and so I guess I have Pac-Man to thank for that. But what I’ve loved most over the years is that this little kid who liked to laugh and play games has never become a distant memory. He’s still very much a part of me and who I am today. I like to always look for the joy in life and never take it too seriously. And when it comes to painting and sketching, I just want to have a lot of fun! That’s what keeps me coming back each and every day. It would be terribly daunting to think I had to show up and create a masterpiece, so I think of it more as simply taking a “fun break,” like I did all those years ago as a little kid, just playing games.
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About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Yellow Ochre, Quinacridone Red, Terra Cotta, and Cobalt Blue. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop! |
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I was the youngest of my generation and pretty much the youngest kid on the block, so I tended to lose games a lot. I’ve always preferred crossword puzzles and such. I did like jacks though, whether I lost or not, but I think mostly because the jacks came in sparkly colors and you could collect the different kinds. Even then I was into collecting, lol.
Lol! You and I have that collecting thing in common. I have way to many things that I don’t likely need. But it’s so fun! 😃💕Yeah, crossword puzzle were very popular in my house back then. I haven’t done one in years though!
Jacks were definitely a game we played along with pick up sticks (never did figure that one out) lots of board games and cards. Now my play time is my watercolors and brushes. Nice Doodlewash for today’s prompt, Charlie!
I loved pick up sticks; still do, though I have not played it in quite a while.
Yeah, I haven’t played that in ages, but I remember it being so much fun! 😃💕
Thanks, Mary! 😃💕Yay for pick up sticks! hehe… I almost forgot about those. Fun! But yes, my playtime is definitely watercolor these days as well!
Some things will live forever. Jacks, slinky, Monopoly, Checkers, Chutes and Ladders…whoa…most all of the good ones are still around. Speaking of nerdy, I still belong to a Scrabble club.
My pick for today is:
“The idea of automatically conforming to rules and not gleefully arguing them out made me lose interest ”
and this one should not be overlooked either:
“I like to always look for the joy in life and never take it too seriously.”
Bravo!
Aww thanks, Sarah! 😃💕 And yay!! I adore that you belong to Scrabble club. No wonder we get along so well! 😉
I loved playing jacks! Thanks for bringing me back to those memories. You jacks and ball look fantastic – especially the reflections on the metal.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 Glad you enjoyed this!
I know I played jacks at least once as a kid,, but I can’t remember a thing about it. We played a lot of teatherball. That was fun. And kick the can at home. As the oldest of the neighborhood hang of kids I remember being the one who picked the game. My bossiness is legendary, even today!! 😂
haha! Bossy AND flamboyant, eh? 😃💕 Love it! And yes!! Tetherball at recess is such a fun memory. I really enjoyed that!
Wondrful painting of the game of jacks….always fun.
Thanks so much, June! 😃💕 Glad you liked this!
I played side by in door games.like loodo.
Cards.juming small stone boll in a on place. Pithu boll .i liked your art also but don’t know how to play .envay.pretty.
Thanks Charlie.
Thanks, Snehlata! 😃💕 I’m rather sure I knew learned how to play this properly so I couldn’t teach you. hehe… I just remember the little jacks. Fun memory!
A ball on a rope need to catch it in a hand cone if you are lucky it did not hit you in the face
haha!! Aww the horrors of paddle ball! lol Yeah… it was weirdly dangerous, wasn’t it? 😉
Yes Charlie I ended up with a broken nose
Beautiful Charlie…I loves playing jacks as a kid.
Thanks, Sharon! 😃💕 Yay! Glad this brought back fun memories!
I don’t think I ever played jacks. They’re shiny, so at least they have that in their favour! Game nights are fun, though I often had to force people to play back in the day. I used to love Battleships! Upwords was fun; it was like Scrabble, but easier, as you could stack tiles on top to make new words.
Pac Man was legendary, but nothing compared to Emu Lander. 😉
hehe! Yeah, we have much in common! 😃💕 I liked Upwords as well and also had to force people to play some of my nerdier games. lol But yes, though Pac Man was awesome, Emu Lander is definitely still one of my favorites! Would have been so funny as an arcade game back in the day. 😉
Oh, definitely – doubtless we’d still be playing it today on an emu-lator 😉 It’s hilarious. I just had another go! I got to Level 20! I’ve achieved something today. 😉
WOW! hehe… that’s awesome!! When you first found it I think you only reported making it to level 14! 😉 Indeed an achievement!
Battleship was one of my favorite game when I was young and got to play some arcade machine when my family was going to camping in the summer, never play and got the chance to play Pac-Man sadly because the only arcade machin with it was always occupied. I am more a video game person (I was almost born with a controller in my hand lol) but I still love board games (Catan, Dungeon and Dragon ect) even if I don’t play much lately.
Fun! 😃💕Yeah, my brother was manager as an arcade actually so I always got access to games. hehe And now I’m still a fan as well as Philippe. He bought me a Nintendo Switch for my birthday, but he’s never really relinquished it so I only got to play it a couple of times. lol
I always feel good while playing jacks! Thanks for bringing me back to old memories.
Yay! Glad you enjoyed this post! Thank you! 😃
Childhood memories <3
Now everything is replaced with smartphones … I miss those days …
Thanks so much, Andrea! 😃💕 Yeah… those days were rather incredible. I’m happy that I got to experience them. It helps me understand those days when my smart phone doesn’t feel very smart. 😉
some old memories about games should not forget these games
Wonderful old games! We should never forget them! 😉
These very old games were not so bad.
Yep! The old games were really fun! 🙂
Old is Gold bro, because childhood memories don’t comeback in our life again..
i really miss these days, oh my god please give me childhood.. because children life no tension or no any problem .. it was full fun or enjoyment
Yeah, I agree! There’s nothing like childhood. But I do try to tap into bits of that feeling whenever at can. That child inside is always still with us! 😉
Jacks were definitely a game we played along with pick up sticks (never did figure that one out) lots of board games and cards. Now my play time is my watercolors and brushes. Nice Doodlewash for today’s prompt, Charlie!
Thanks so much, John! 😃💕 Thrilled you enjoyed this and that it brought back great memories!
Those were the days. really miss them