ACE OF JACKS

My neighbor is visiting. He wants to see my nephew, who is also visiting. The waves are high on gadgets, Mac or PC, and women dressed in black. Should there be a belt around the waist or not? The boys insist on one, so I keep it. Vlad's mother tells me: “stop asking the boys about these things, they have other things on their mind.” And I go, “Really? Perhaps you should stop talking on your son's behalf. He can answer for himself.” And then I continue? “So, Vlad, how's your love life?” And he goes. “I keep it simple. I don't have anybody and I don't want any kids.” Paul, my nephew intercedes: “well, you want to keep it simple, but not that simple.” I'm thoroughly amused to hear Einstein being echoed, and to see that someone has been paying attention to my favorite quotes. Vlad's mother gets into it, and says: “Yes, Paul, that's a good one, yes, tell him, he has to change his mind. I've already started collecting kiddy things for my future grandkids, so he can't mean what he just said.” At this point I am even more amused, as a few seconds earlier this woman was convinced that one cannot have a conversation with young boys about such things. Ha, ha. I voice the remark that it's not a good idea to change your mind so quickly, and then go: “as far as I'm concerned, this is it: Most boys find me more entertaining than you people - [and I turn to Vlad's and Paul's mother, my sister] - because I have a higher range of tolerance for 'inappropriate' topics." Vlad picks up on my phrasing and asks me: "have you seen Michael Jackson's “This is it?” “No, I haven't,” I say. “Oh, you've got to see it,” he then says. “Ok, cool,” I go, and we all go over to his apartment. Now, while I'm not into Michael Jackson and that kind of music, I can appreciate his musicality and what he does with his body. He was quite a genius, and I can perfectly understand why so many people got so distressed when he died. Thus we watch “This is it” on the state of the art gadgetry, and judging by the way the boys appreciate all I have to say about what I see and hear, I'm convinced that I can play the boys' game to perfection, while retaining my infallible sense of when to trump, and when to show my ace. Folding the game is not an option here.