Okay. Onerous task of speaking with boss about bullshit goals is over. Officially on vacation now.

There were a lot of French words last night. Who missed oubliette? I was suprised by that one.

Kids seem to get caught up by French words in the national spelling bee all the time. I guess they're hard if you've had no French classes.

Alouette.

We learned that song in elementary school. I'm not sure why. We weren't learning French.

What is the word for the shoes you wear when you are seeking revenge?

I can't remember how to spell it, but it's something like "kerdycha" or something even worse than that.

Actually, oeil de boeuf (bull's eye) was easy for anyone who knew French (or architecture). I was going to stand up for it if no one else did.

Aw, it would have been great if you'd done it. Frickin' French!

Who missed oubliette? I was suprised by that one.

I think it was Daniel Handler? Come on, it's an X-Files episode! With Jewel Staite!

The bee was recorded by City Arts and Lectures and will be available as a podcast in April. I'll be sure to post a link.

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

I think you actually missed the i, but in the excitement for some reason they focused on the a. (Not that I had any idea how to spell ptomaine.)

I loved the color commentary, but there were a few times I really thought it hurt the spellers and I had to remind myself it was all for fun and charity.

Chabon went out on kurdaitcha after correctly spelling kraal (an Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock).

There were certainly a few easy words (cow, jihad, spaniard), words I thought were easy because of French or Italian (oubliette, crepuscule, cenacle), other words I might have gotten through cheating (palaestra, capybara, astrobleme, kulak), but then a whole lot of "poor bastard" words like kurdaitcha that I mostly can't remember.

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.

It was pretty funny. She asked who I was there to see and I said I knew someone on Dewey, Cheatem & Howe and she immediately knew who I was talking about and said something about how she was the mother of your rival (shocking because this woman did not look that old) and I just looked right at her and said "You mean his nemesis?". She just laughed (not an evil laugh). She was nice, but, yes, she looked well-heeled. I didn't realize until later that she wasn't the team member spelling, was she?

ita has earwormed me with a song in a language I know maybe a dozen words to.

I need to get the kids dressed because we're meeting DH for lunch but I can't stop watching Say Anything.

Wonder Woman amigurumi.

I think you actually missed the i, but in the excitement for some reason they focused on the a. (Not that I had any idea how to spell ptomaine.)

I am looking forward to/dreading listening to the recording and hearing what I actually said. Because in my head, I spelled that damn word right. And now that you say it, I think you may be right that I missed the I! That seems more plausible to have skipped over.

I didn't realize until later that she wasn't the team member spelling, was she?

Nope! And I'm glad. I would have hated to lose to her in SPELLING, too.

I'm glad she actually considered me her rival, though. I think our mutual desire to win ended up raising a few thousand more dollars for 826 Valencia, I'll tell you what.

I'm glad she actually considered me her rival, though. I think our mutual desire to win ended up raising a few thousand more dollars for 826 Valencia, I'll tell you what.

Was the first bee on her team? Because she seemed a bit obsessed with you as well (she was in my box after missing) and I heard her friends talking about your team afterwards. As well as others. You were clearly the man to beat.

Alouette.

As kids, we came up with our own english-language version - "Suffocation."