Back in 1997, purely by chance, I caught the National Spelling Bee on ESPN. It was one of the most intense things I had ever seen and every once in a while I think again about Rebecca Sealfon. Watching this child lurching on the edge of total psychotic break down for well over an hour was fascinating, funny, terrifying, and voyeuristically satisfying.
The best part of the spectacle was when Rebecca wins and she gets to speak to the cameras. She says that she wanted to win this year so she could say that there shouldn't be a bee.
I'm still not sure what exactly it is about this neurotic little soul that I'm so attracted to. Partly, it's the catharsis of watching her emotions. There they are! She's ecstatic. She's terrified. She's relieved. She's an open story, but alien at the same time. I almost cried re-watching the spelling of euonym and her little speech today.
The winning word:
Nietsche Family Circus: Connecting randomized Family Circus comic squares and Nietsche quotations since 2005.
Slightly more depressing...Dubya the Menace
via
I just signed up for Nanowrimo again. This could be my year. All I have going on in November is a full-time job, a trip to Iowa, and moving house. Plus a couple other minor side projects.
I named my novel Backache and put it in the category "Chicklit."
These are the songs of my life. Last week I learned how to embed mp3 files and starting making this map of the songs of my life. I haven't even made it past 1989 yet. Writing stories about the past really stirs up the memories. The more you remember, the more you remember. It's kind of incredible.
Let's all do something for this potentially lucrative writing exercise and see what happens.
From Michael Carter:
I was just having an enjoyable wander through your Sputterly Utter and it occurred to me that your viewers may enjoy this site: museum of hoaxes. The best part of it is the "Hoaxes Throughout History" section. I'm a big fan in particular of Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography (1887) and The Fortsas Bibliohoax (1840).
This miniature train is one of the main attractions of the Great Clay County Fair.
I like themed fotologs.
sad bikes
tattoos
sequential numbers
shadows
stripes
campfires
clouds
fireworks
the contents of people's bags
Play the Striperella game.
Not everyone loves Striperella as much as I do. Ah, those Socialist Workers...
I bought a Pilates book today. Old Joe Pilates didn't call his method Pilates. He called it "Kontrology". The man loved to hang out in his undies. In the book there is picture of him at age 82 standing out in the snow wearing nothing but his briefs and a pair of ballet slippers. I couldn't find it on the internet. I bet he was a pretty weird guy.
I loved my Etch-A-Sketch. Most online Etch-A-Sketch games don't really let you turn both dials at the same time. That's no good!
My grandma had a Spirographe at her house. Spirographe is very popular.
I always wanted a Lite-Brite when I was a kid and never got one.
Thinking I had a very slight chance of a Googlewhack with "hirsute theremin," I gave it a shot, and the Sputterly Utter didn't even show up at all. What's up with that?