My New OWL

I got a new owl for my office...picked it up at the book store.

Of course, it's a paperweight...AND IT'S SO COOL! I have to run a fan in my office because, for some reason, I don't seem to get enough air circulation and it stays really, really hot. Instead of laying my stapler, tape dispenser, and other heavy things (like my head) on my papers, I actually use the nearly-forgotten decorative paperweight.

When I was choosing a new one recently, I saw this one with the owl and knew that it was exactly right for me!!

Scrabble Drought

There was no Scrabble today. At all. I'm not kidding...believe me now and hear me later and talk about it last Monday. Scheduling issues for our director kept us from scheduling regular club games last Saturday and today, but last Saturday we had a casual, non-official get-together anyway.

So now we look forward to the Pittsburgh tournament next weekend. It sounds like Stan and Terry have really got things organized and ready to go. As far as I know, Brad, Martha, Chris, and me are going and carpooling up in my van. All day Saturday and half of Sunday we'll be engaged in 12 games of official, ratings make-it-or-break-it, nationally-sanctioned Scrabble. Part of the fun of tournaments, though, is the laid-back games with your friends when the tournament's not in progress, breakfast, lunch, and dinner with old and new friends, and Taxes Hold Me after hours (a Scrabble version of Texas Hold 'Em poker played with real...um...chips).

As for me, I can't wait to get another tournament under my belt and to see my Pittsburgh friends again (not to mention other Scrabble friends also traveling to Pittsburgh from places other than West Virginia). Last time I visited Pittsburgh, Stan's wife packed me a lunch bag with Babybel cheeses, wheat crackers, and an apple just so I wouldn't starve to death waiting for the delivery of Chinese food. Of course, the Chinese food arrived quickly...and I smiled to myself as I enjoyed my delicious fruit and cheese breakfast on my drive home the next day.

IN-troducing...the other two contributors!!!!

So we've got our other two contributors on board now. I want to take a minute to "introduce" them -- even though straight-up identifying someone as the author of a blog is sometimes a no-no. I won't do that, though.

Almost Famous is a relative newbie at competitive Scrabble but she's tearing it UP!!! By day, she's an arts and sciences educator and, by night, a singer. She's young and energetic and just as sweet as she can be. At Scrabble, she seems like a very intuitive player and sometimes she just makes it look effortless!! What does she do in her other spare time? According to her blog, she likes to take pictures of her cats' tattoos while she sings to them...and tells them jokes to make them LOL.

Jedi Jawa is a public interest attorney here in Charleston who also loves to blog about life in general. He's been playing Scrabble for quite a while but just played his first tournament recently. How did I do against him? He kicked me around like an ugly puppy. ;-) He's not going to like that statement but -- I KID, I kid. JediJawa claims that he felt bad about beating me with all those phonies because I'm all...how did he put it?...cute and sweet and nice and smart and just all-around awesome...or something like that. Nonetheless, he straight-up, legit beat me and, if I want to hold my own with him, I better get to studying. Did I mention he dressed like a Mormon to throw us all off at the tournament?

You know what? Here's the rest of us, too...

Like I've already said, Brad dedicates most, if not all, of his free time to the development of West Virginia's number one Scrabble club. His efforts have resulted in a tournament that had twice the attendance this year as last. When he's not playing Scrabble, thinking about Scrabble, or memorizing low-probability bingo stems, he's doing computer stuff. That's the job description I apply to all persons who work in the computer/IT biz...because I don't understand the inner workings of computers or how to get them to do what I want anymore. Obviously, I do have the Intrawebz at home.

Deadpan Alley is the quiet strength of our club. When she nonchalantly lays down those seven tiles, and keeps counting up that score higher and higher until you're like, "OH, MY GOD, WOMAN...STOP!!" she maintains her perfected look of serenity and modesty. I wonder if she's laughing her arse off on the inside. When SHE'S not playing Scrabble, she's working as a paralegal, taking care of her kids, and saying funny things.

And, as for me, I work, I have about a dozen kids (they move fast so it's hard to keep count) and I overuse parentheses (a lot). In my spare time, I enjoy Scrabble, my book club, photography, fireworks, and roller coasters!! I'm not only obsessed with Scrabble, but with meeting up with other Scrabblers...so I'm managing to squeeze in several tournaments this year. I hope to blog about moving up, up, up the Scrabble rating system. If not, I just love to play.

So help us spread the word about this fun, family game and Scrabble clubs in general. Even if someone isn't close enough to join us at our club, there's probably one near them. Scrabble on!!