Scrabble, Continued

I feel like I need to explain myself after being slightly misrepresented in THB's most recent post. So, here is the entire story, from the beginning. It all started out on an uneventful Sunday evening. I was visiting my parents, and I don't typically do much other than watch TV or read after dinner when I'm at home. The night before, I had actually gone out for one of the first times in my hometown--I find it a little uncomfortable to drink where I grew up, because I haven't lived there for an extended period of time since turning 21. However, I made an exception for this occasion. I'm not in town that often, and I thought it would be nice to catch up with an old friend. The original plan was to get coffee, but really, no one wants to be that "mocha-latte-cafe-americano-drinking" group of girls in the local Starbucks at 9pm on a Saturday night. Instead, we decided to be sophisticated, and tried out a new wine bar in town, called Vintage Port (Get it? Maybe you don't. It's supposed to be play on my town's name, which I won't disclose here for privacy purposes). After a glass and a half of sauvignon blanc, I was ready to call it a night. It wasn't that much of a "night out," but we did have a nice conversation. You have to give me a break though--I had slept about 6 hours in the previous two nights combined, and I needed a good night of sleep. Side note: what kind of wine bar doesn't have a pinot grigio by the glass on its wine list? That is simply unacceptable in my book. I bet the store owners don't even know how biodynamics relate to the process of making wine. ANYWAY, my point is that when I'm at home, I live a very contained life. I go to my high school track to run 5 miles on a regular basis. I do the crossword with my coffee in the morning after paging through Newsday. And I play Scrabble with anyone in my family who will play with me, which is usually my Mom. It's OK. I know I'm cool.

So, how could I NOT take offense when The Honest Bro insulted my very way of life? A sacred ritual in my household? I could not stand for this! In my friendly attempt (re-read my greeting, if you will--"Hi, friends") to bring this hallowed tradition to the streets of Boston, I was sarcastically shot down. Quelle horreur! You know what, I think I'm going to take the high road on this one. The offer still stands. I'd love to play a game of Scrabble with any of you readers out there now that I have a vintage board here. Oh, and FYI, last time I played, I opened the game with a seven letter word. YOU try to come back after being behind by 83 points when you haven't even made a move yet. It isn't easy, let me tell you.

A little more on Scrabble, since it is just that awesome. If you haven't seen this game played on ESPN, you are seriously missing out. They have these 12- and 13-year old whiz kids popping out seven letter words like it's their job. These kids have memorized the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary, and can spout out every two letter word there is. In fact, one of these kids could probably beat me with his eyes closed, and one hand tied behind his back. Sadly, this isn't the only thing that people ten years younger than I am can do far better than I ever will, but I can at least dream of greatness.

Second note: at home, we keep our Scrabble letters in a purple velvet Crown Royal whiskey pouch. I have no idea where this came from; my parents never drink. We have had it for at least 15 years though, from back when I used to eat Alphabet cereal. Actually, that's not true. We always ate Cheerios in my house growing up, which aren't as good for spelling out words. They can reduce your cholesterol, though, so I've got that going for me.

Third point (which isn't directly related to Scrabble): I wore a Polo shirt to work today, in honor of THB's latest post. It had thin yellow and white vertical stripes, and a little embroidered horse in multi-colored thread, because I'm classy like that. The homeless man who sits by Dunkin' Donuts (you know who I'm talking about) complimented me on my attire.

One final note. I told my sister about this blog, as well as the blogs of THB and IRNJ&OT, this week. Since she currently resides in Sydney, I suppose that all three of us can say that we have readers around the world. Pretty cool, if you ask me... (Hi, Kate!)