Tuesday, May 26, 2009

COULD YOU PLEASE USE THAT IN A SENTENCE: Well, the written (computer, actually) round is over. The spellers, 15 at a time, took the test today and will start spelling onstage tomorrow. I've been following @scrippsbee as well as a number of spellers and their parents on Twitter; it appeared that the parents were much more nervous than the spellers and that sightseeing was on the agenda once the pesky spelling was out of the way.

A list of the written/computer round words will be posted to the Bee site later tonight. I took last year's written round test today, having somehow missed it last time around, even though ALOTT5MA blogged about it, and got 22 out of 25. I think I probably peaked in spelling some time close to my Bee appearance in 1983 and my spelling ability has declined precipitously since.

I recently found the scrapbook that a family friend had made for me post-Bee, and it's interesting to see what my words were: tortellini, plastisol, flammeous, penurious, clowder, chieftain, xerography, and muniment. Somehow, the words these kids are spelling seem exponentially harder than mine were. The scrapbook also contains a copy of my check for $50 (which seemed like so much money in 1983!) and some highly embarrassing photos which pay tribute to the absolutely awesome fashion sense of the early 80s and chronicle our visit to the White House and audience with then-President Reagan.

By this time tomorrow night, we'll know who our semifinalists are. I still have a soft spot for four-timer Kavya Shivashankar, but I have a funny feeling that one of the first-timers is going to take it this year. We'll see.

ETA: It appears that the 2008 Championship Round will be broadcast starting tonight at 8:30 pm Eastern on ESPN2. Check your local listings.

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