Who ARE these people?

Tony is a fireman and kind of cute in a rough sort of way. Jack is a world-traveling rogue, with an inflated ego to go with his chisled features. Jasper is from the islands, and speaks with an accent, using terms I'm not famliar with. Rhett is a redneck cowboy from Texas, with a low opinion of Marlon Brando. Chloe, the personal trainer, is so perky that some mornings I can barley stand her! Hedda speaks with a strong Germanic accent and reminds me of somebody's cruel governess in a Dickens novel. Tasha is a cute chick, but strikes me a just a little light in the brain department. Elaine is a definite bubble head, a blonde from New York, whose nasal whine annoys me so much I avoid spending much time with her.

Then there are those who are somewhat unusual. Marvin is a tyrannosaurus rex, who doesn't like to lose and threatens to eat the competition. Harley is a bear who likes garbage cans and can't sing worth a hoot. Captain Scurvy is a parrot, who apparently belonged at one time to a sea-going pirate; I suspect the patch over his eye is just for show, but since I don't like his gutteral tone of voice or his briney witticisms, he's also not one of my favorites. Roswell, the proverbial big headed little green man with slanty dark eyes, claims to have been stranded for years in the desert after his spacecraft crashed, and sounds like he's talking from the bottom of a well.

That's the weird crew with whom I spend part of nearly day. They're the characters dreamed up by the folks at Hoyles Games, and can be chosen as partners for card and board games, including, poker, hearts, dominoes, and gin, to name some of my favorites. I also like double cross, which is a scrabble-like game involving four players.

Passing time with these "folks" is one of the ways I employ to try to keep my brain from turning to mush. I have other means to keep my mind active, but few I enjoy as much as my morning session with the gang from Hoyle. I talk back to them (don't tell anyone) and chortle with glee when I defeat them in a game. They play for keeps and always go by the rules, so I know if I win, it's fair and square. (Can't always say that about some of our off line acquaintances, can we?)

Some people may think that, like Kix, games are for kids. I don't mind, since I see nothing amiss with letting my inner child play a little every day. I'd way rather commune with Tony, Harley, and Hedda than watch the gratuitous violence and sometimes just plain nasty sex that turns up on TV and in the movies these days. Call me a stick-in-the mud. (Just don't call me "matey", like that stupid one-eyed parrot does!)