Do You Like Classic Battleship?

My son asks me if I like Classic Battleship or Battleship Advanced Mission, as the onslaught of Christmas toy commercials wash over us as he watches Nickelodeon.

It takes me a minute to realize both of these choices are boxed games with pieces of plastic to play a game we use to play on graph paper with a pencil. This makes me crazy. This makes me a little less crazy than the boxed versions of Charades or Dictionary -- perfectly wonderful games that require no more technology than ... yes, again, that tried-and-true ... PAPER AND PENCIL.

I tell him I like REALLY CLASSIC Battleship -- the kind you do yourself on paper. He looks at me strangely.

Lost art ...

I remember how we used to play. I still know how to make a damned fine house in the dirt with sticks. I have a good eye for finding little sticks with forked branches that support a tiny ceiling which I like to cover with leaves and grass for a thatched effect.