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.
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."
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.
No, the girl who beat me was on her team. The first bee was just flabbergasted by my ability to raise so much money. Our entire team's ability, really. Everyone knew about us. The folks at 826 Valencia loved the crap out of us (and her team was all 826 people besides her, whom they brought on to spell for them). The president of the Board thanked me personally. Like I said, I'm practically an 826 Valencia celebrity now, and I certainly plan to milk it every time I take someone to the pirate store now. Also, I'm going to try to start volunteering.
(Dave Eggers gave us hints about the bee at the pre-party because we were the highest fundraisers. Hee.)
Also, I'm going to try to start volunteering.
The friend I came with (who is also in my book salon) just started volunteering there and is really enjoying it so far.
It's Friday! What are people doing this weekend, and how many people have a three day weekend?
I have to be here on Monday to cover, even though we technically are supposed to have the day off. I'll be taking next Friday as my makeup day, though, which is good because I have a 10-minute presentation due in class next Saturday and then a 3-5 page paper due the day after. I can work on both next Friday if I don't finish them earlier in the week. All of that work is based on a phone interview I'm having with the director of the Milwaukee Public Library on Tuesday afternoon, which I am really looking forward to doing. I've got some pre-interview research to finish off this weekend so I've got a nice long list of questions to ask her.
Otherwise, I'll be swimming tonight and Sunday morning, doing some cleaning tomorrow, and cleaning off the movies I've got on my dvr during the big rain we're supposed to get on Sunday (District 9, Iron Man, and Dark Knight are all waiting for me to watch).
