Oh come on, surely PC could spell that! He has an advanced degree in biology!!

Oh, he didn't miss it. I think he missed ouabain (wä-bā'ĭn) right before that.

Ouch. Taken out by the luck of the draw. Unluck, I guess. Uh...misfortune.

Yeah, unfortunately, at that point they couldn't cheat anymore.

Oh man, that sucks! But 2nd place is pretty awesome!

Way cool! I wasn't able to go but glad you were able to, Ms. Walker! Yay for P-C!

Seekrit message to P-C: I meant the mother of your nemesis outside the bathroom.

I think he missed ouabain (wä-bā'ĭn) right before that.

Yeah, and I totally almost guessed my way through that one, with the French hint.

I am still kicking myself because I know how to spell ptomaine. I don't know how I managed not to say the A.

Michael Chabon got knocked out on a fucking ridiculous Aboriginal word that means "the shoes you wear when you are out seeking revenge." It was only the second-most ridiculous word of the night, however, the most being a word Adam Savage managed to cheat his way past by finding someone in the audience who knew it.

Ouch. Taken out by the luck of the draw. Unluck, I guess. Uh...misfortune.

I made it to the final round by the luck of the draw. My words were Spaniard, fidalgo, kumis, and roly-poly. All words I could have gotten without cheating, though I looked the last three up just to be sure. I am most proud of kumis, since I just guessed the correct spelling on that one. Hilariously, fidalgo wasn't even in the dictionary, but I was told to go with my instinct, so I did.

I knew a lot of other spellers' words, but there were definitely several where even the dictionary wouldn't have saved me if I had gotten them, so making it to the final round was all luck.

Seekrit message to P-C:

ZOMG. Was she wearing a solid gold dress and gold shoes and all her teeth are gold?? I couldn't bring myself to talk to my nemesis. I'm told she's well-connected. CLEARLY.

Thanks so much for coming, megan!

That sounds like a good time was had by all, P-C. And now if I ever meet Adam Savage, I'll have something more interesting to say than, "Dude, seriously? A cement mixer AND a back-hoe?"

Awesome job, P-C!!!!

No school today here--fortunately, we had parent-teacher conferences scheduled a while ago so it's not like other districts who are cancelling because of teacher call-ins. I hope the Dems are still holding out. I'd like them to stick it out the weekend at least--let the news cycle run and see if there is any way we can get some concessions in the bill.

I doubt it, but if enough republicans get scared of losing their seats in two years we might get something.

Possible, I guess. One thing I've seen reported in a couple of places, but not widely, is that two Republican sens are missing also. I'd like to find out who they are.

But the general scortched earth mentality of Walker and his cronies suggests to me that that may be optimistic.