So, what is up with the clamped deck?

First, I need to say a few things about playing cards; I’m a big fan.  Really.  I have a plastic basket full of different kinds, shapes, sizes, card backs and colors.  As long as I can remember I’ve loved playing cards, and I’ve always wanted to know how to use them in new and interesting ways.  I was lucky enough to be taught poker when I was but four years old, and that’s the first card game I remember learning (I had an actual kiddie-deck of ”old maid” and “go fish” cards, so a real deck was never used for those).  Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of learning many new games, like rummy, kings corners, war, pinochle, whist, cribbage, blackjack, and others I’ve forgotten playing and/or how to play.  I thought college life was going to be so dull compared to my life in a town of 300 (I seriously thought that…wow) one of my biggest pre-college purchases was a book that contained over 200 variations of solitaire.  I didn’t get very far into the book, but once in a while I pull it off the shelf and teach myself a new game.  Another thing I did in college was take some older decks of cards and stash them in various coat pockets, so I’d have a deck no matter where I went.  One of those decks was an old deck of Bicycle brand cards.  The deck passed the time on more than one occasion, and being in a jacket without a box did the cards no favors.  The deck sat in my crate of cards for years, held together with a rubber band that got so old it actually stuck to the cards and cracked apart.  The cards shifted about in the crate several times, always getting hastily bunched together and then sliding apart again.  A few months ago, my crate of cards was tipped over and it spilled playing cards, poker chips and bits of paper that the crate had picked up all over the floor.  I gathered up the packs, the chips, and all the loose cards from all the decks that were without boxes.  This particular deck of Bicycle cards was warped, bent, and possibly missing a few of the usual 52.  It turns out all the cards were there, but the deck was so warped the deck was almost twice as thick as a regular one.  We had recently bought a tube of cheap plastic clamps on clearance, so I grabbed all the ones we weren’t using and tried to save the cards.  When I was done clamping, the deck seemed beautiful in a way I’d never seen a deck of cards be.  The image reminded me of how I hold on to objects that illicit memories, almost to a fault.  It was a reminder not to throw something away if it was still useful, and a complete deck of cards is always useful.  The color of the clamps added a dash to a world that was only red, black, and kind of purple.  I’ve never thought myself very artistic, but for some reason a clamped deck of cards struck me as something that could pass for art somewhere.

I’ve been writing a daily blog story for ten months now, and in a few months that story will be wrapping up.  I didn’t want to jump right back into a daily schedule, but I know having a set writing schedule helps me write more often.  It dawned on me that a deck of cards has 52 cards, and a year has 52 weeks, with one day getting 53 days.  2009 gives the extra day to Thursday, so Thursday is the day of the week I’ll be updating here.  After I post this, I’ll shuffle the deck, and then I’ll turn over a card.  Whatever I write has to include that card somewhere.  Be it a diatribe, a story, a memory, a rant, an essay, a poem (don’t hold your breath for one of those…I’m quite awful when it comes to that format), or something else entirely, that week’s card will get at the minimum a mention, if not a starring role.  I’ll also be occasionally adding an image of said card, or a random image courtesy the web.  I have no idea what the first card will be, but I’ll get to them all eventually.  Feel free to check in now and then if you like.  It should be an interesting year.