D is for Dice

Dice have been a source of fascination for me at various points in my life.  I'm not just referring to your typical board game experiences, though I certainly had my share of those.  The luck of the throw, the difference in numbers resulting in the victory of landing on Go versus that $2000 hotel in Monopoly; the unpredictability was intoxicating.

I have two favorite dice memories from childhood I'd like to share.  The first is the Dice Game at the local skating rink.  This was the game where the DJ would put out 6 cones numbered 1-6 and play a song.  When the song stopped, you'd have to go skate over to a cone.  Then, the DJ, or someone he/she designated would get to roll this HUGE felt covered die by hurling it far down the length of the rink.  People would have to leave the floor depending on the rule the DJ made up, and eventually you'd be down to a small group of people that would win a prize.  I was very lucky to be picked a couple of times to be the die thrower, and it was AWESOME.  As a kid, that die was huge, hard to put your arms around it actually, and you got to skate around with it while the music was playing.  They played the dice game rarely, but it still remains my favorite skating rink game to this day.

My other favorite dice memory was the games of Dungeons & Dragons with my friends.  We all had our containers of all of the different kinds of dice, ranging from 4 to 20 sided.  One of my friends had this insane actual 100-sided die that almost resembled a sphere due to the tiny size of the triangles making up the outer surface of it.  Some people's sets were plastic, some metal, some color matched and some (like mine) all mixed up, but we all thought our dice were the best.  And we all wanted to use our OWN dice for those crucial dice rolls that would determine whether we would slay the dragon or fall down a spiked pit.  I still have my dice packed away somewhere.

My favorite pair of dice is a purple fuzzy pair that has Jack Skellington heads for pips that I got for a Christmas present several years ago.  They're hanging from the upper shelf of my computer desk, reminding me that you can take your fortune in hand whenever you wish.  Roll 'em!