A Pokemon in Every Pocket

Ian discovered a new website - something like mypokecard.com - where an eight-year-old boy can make his own Pokemon cards, based on whatever fictitious (or real) characters or powers he may have in mind. Moreover, the visitor can also view and print other users' custom-made Pokemon cards. Ian made a point of printing one for each of us and handing them out ceremonially on Saturday night.

The "Pokemon" card that Ian gave me was one called something like "Apple vs. Microsoft," - something he found, rather than made - and the "illustration" was just the Apple and Windows logos side by side. Daniel pointed to the Windows logo and said, "This sign reminds me of weird." Of course, he's onto something, in purely graphic terms, but if he were an Operating System user, that sign might more likely remind him of useless, annoying, counterintuitive, ubiquitous and smug. But that's another chapter...

But this was not enough: he did regular spot-checks to make sure that we still had our Pokemon. For me, he had some very concrete advice, to help me keep track of the Pokemon card that he had given me:

"What I like to do is walk around with my Pokemon or put them in my pocket as I walk around, so I don't lose it. That's a suggestion for you."

Amy got a similar suggestion.

(December 24, 2011)