Scrabble @ MindSay 
Today, I am working at the public library. I got to work a few hours with Jan, which is a special treat. She is an amazing person, always upbeat and full of life, with tons of knowledge and interests. I hardly ever work with her, our schedules just don't mesh, so it was a rare treat.
We discussed Italy, one of her favorite destinations (she traveled there earlier this year for an extended visit) and she gave me some great information.
Then we were just chatting for a bit and she asked me if I was on Facebook. I am not. I. AM. NOT. I have this strange aversion to Facebook, which we discussed and made her laugh. I asked her to tell me what she liked about it and she gave me a great answer. Part of her response was because of the games you can play there with your friends. She is a huge Scrabble fan and plays online with her Facebook cronies regularly. We then began a discussion about the intricacies of Scrabble and the various strategies used to play.
She showed me one of the boards she has going currently, which she began with the work "undrew." I said "that's not a word, Jan." To which she replied that she didn't think so either, but they allowed it when she played it.
So I checked it out. Sure enough, both the Official Scrabble Dictionary and my buddy, dictionary.com list "undrew" as an actual word.
Essentially, it is the reverse of "drawing or closing" an item, such as curtains.
Therefore, if you draw the curtains and I undraw them, I would let you know that I undrew them, hm?
See how much fun it is to work in a library...
I've been trying to play a game with misshap and be42677 for six weeks! Ugh!
Dixie currently feels:
Alone
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- I was planning for my blog title to be alliterative, but I think there's only like two things I'm going to mention that start with S.
So I sort of failed there.
Adam stayed over last night (Saturday).
We started off by him coming at about half 12 - and waking me up. So I went and had a shower, and we sat around for a while, playing Guitar Hero III and watching random stuff on YouTube.
Then he leant me his monster turbo hairdryer, because we were sick of waiting for my hair to dry before we could go out.
- Yeah, on Friday, I went to ASDA with mam. We bought some stuff for Adam and I to munch on, and I bought some socks for dad for father's day today, and a card. I got Adam some hairbands and some Jelly Babies for his birthday present - as he turns 16 tomorrow. :)
I actually made a bit more effort this year, because I totally forgot his birthday last year.
We're best friends, and have been for like 11 years - and I forgot his bloody birthday. :)
I actually remembered it, TEN MINUTES AFTER IT HAD PASSED.
At like 00:10, I remembered. :)
Mam went a bit overboard, she wanted to get Adam presents herself - so she went mental, buying him a Smarties cake, a shirt, a little bracelet kit (as a joke, of course. :D), some Malteasers and some deoderants.
Because it was father's day weekend, ASDA had put all their birthday cards away, so there was a really shitty selection.
Lmfao, today's fucked suggested tag is "I heart Adam".
I do, but he never hugs me. Which makes me sad. :(
But when I was shooping with mam, I persuaded her to get me some Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice-cream.
It's whopper expensive.
It's about the same price as Hagen Daz - which is THE expense of frozen desserts.
I got a little tub, about 250ml, - £2.70!
I told Adam over MSN before he came, and he got a craving for it himself.
Anyway, after my hair was dry - (I put on the new shirt mam had bought me on Friday - red and grey striped polo with a collar :D) - we went down to ASDA so Adam could get his dad and his nana presents for father's day and her birthday, respectively.
And we got a big tub of Ben & Jerry's half-baked. - I actually preferred the cookie dough, but they were both proper lush.
So we got home and shared that - then returned upstairs to play some more Guitar Hero III and mess about with anything we found - like we normally do.
Then we watched The Weakest Link: Blue Peter special - and I don't know WHY we watched it, either...
I think we were just bored and couldn't be arsed, so we watched telly instead of playign video games.
Earlier on, whilst faffing on with the cable box, Adam found the music on demand menu - and we found tons of music videos we could watch for free.
So we watched AFI, Slipknot, Gorillaz, All-American Rejects and The Ting Tings.
- When mam and dad came home, I forced mam to watch The Ting Tings' video. She didn't like them, but after I'd been banging on about them all week, I felt she ought to know why. :)
I made us lamb grillsteaks and chips for tea, and we watched Dr. Who. I played on my DS for a little while, because I don't understand Dr. Who at all - because I don't watch it, really.
It was alright though, it killed some time.
When mam and dad came home, Adam started banging on about playing Scrabble again.
- Last Saturday, he'd wanted to as well, and I didn't want to get under my bed.
I actually wanted to play it myself yesterday though, so he stopped downstairs, and I went upstairs, propped the airbed against the wall, and started looking under my bed.
I found a little box that belonged to my grandad, with dominoes, draughts and chess in it - magnetic!
I put that to one side, because it's awesome.
I also took out my Lego, which I found, (You'll see... :D) and I even found my old hymn book from primary school.
I sang some of my favourite ones to myself as I looked for the game.
As I stuck my head inside, the airbed fell down on top of me - so I had my head and my shoulders stuck inside my bed, surrounded and enclosed by piles of boxes and tins, with a big beasty airbed on top of me.
It took me about five minutes to get out!
- But I found the Scrabble - and Adam read through the hymnbook too, and we both felt nostalgic at our memories of singing them at primary school.
It was about 12 by this time - and mam and dad were in bed.
Adam said it was too depressing in my room at night, so he wanted to play Scrabble downstairs.
- And we were there for two hours!
Everything is so much funnier when you can't make any noise... Seriously.
Our first few games of Scrabble were quite good - and it also gave us something to piss ourselves over all night.
See, we were coming to the end of one of the games, and I had some really shitty tiles like F, X, J and Z.
Earlier on, I'd been desparate, and put down 'HEN'. - A proper shitty word, worth proper nothing.
Out of boredom, frustration and annoyance, when Adam wasn't looking, I added the Z to the end of 'HEN'.
So it then became 'HENZ'.
And I was proper laughing into a pillow, so he realised summat had amused me - and he didn't realise for ages, but when he did, we were both adding it randomly into sentences and pissing ourselves.
- When we were setting the airbed and the sheets upstairs - bear in mind, this is at about half 2 in the morning - Adam forgot to get the extra cushions, and he goes: "Oh wait, I just need to go get the HENZ..." - and I was crying at it!!
Before we went to sleep properly, after we'd set the airbed up, and Adam was laid on it, and I was laid next to him in my own bed - we were playing on Pictochat on DS.
Of course; we were drawing pictures of hens, or HENZ, should I say. :)
Then we started our Guitar Hero piss-taking again.
Hit Me With Your Best Henz - ROFL.
She Bangs The Henz - LMFAO.
Through The Fire And Henz - PMSL.
And so on. :)
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Next day, today - we woke up at about 11 - well, my mam woke us up - coming in the room, shouting: "SOCKS!", and putting a bag down on my computer desk.
We played some more Scrabble, and I got a proper legendary streak.
I put down 'DYKE' on a triple word score, and got about 30-od points.
Then from it, I added 'FETID', and got another 30-od, thanks to the triple word score.
Then Adam owned me in the next two games, of course.
We had our showers, then played some co-op Guitar Hero III.
We haven't played it together for a long while, and we've gotten a LOT better.
We were going from 3 stars to 5 stars on Expert-Expert.
Then, I got the wonderful Lego, and I built myself a castle. :)
- I was doing most of it whilst Adam was washing his hair and browsing YouTube.
...And I have photos. :D
Here's my castle from the front - notice my two identical guards. :)
Here's an arial shot. :)
I'm going to explain each part now, with a close-up shot of each. :D
This is the main living quarters. :)
At the back, you can see the king's treasure chest, laid out on his royal red carpet.
To the right, that's the king's throne, and his table - complete with a large ice-cream knickerbocker glory, and a pack of cards - because my king is a gambler. :D
At the front, that's the king's sleeping quarters, and his pet cat Soda sitting on it. :)
Here's the kitchen.
Complete with two water-pumps, a large mixing cauldron, and jars of spices on the wall. :)
There's also some bottles of beer and lemonade for his majesty's liquid nourishment.
Here's the guardrobe - or the toilet. :)
You can see some weaponry and a broomstick at the front - they're kept in a barrel in case they're needed. :)
For the comfort of the king and his knights, I enclosed the toilet with some walls. :D
Oh, and I added a mirror, so the knights can squeeze their spots. :)
The best part of every castle - the dungeon! :)
That's actually made with some jail bars I got from a Mega Bloks cowboy set. :)
Luckily, Lego and Mega Blocks usually fit together. :D
I even added a festering skeleton inside. :)
Oh, and some moss growing on the ceiling!
Here's a close-up of the guards.
I was going to give them helmets, but I only had three, and none of them matched.
Oh well, they can be subjectible to headshots. :)
Here's the royal archer, perched on the right battlement. :)
And on the left battlement is the king's trustworthy knight. :)
I love Lego people - and all the accessories you get with them. :D
And here's our foolhardy king - doing a little dance on the front turret. :)
Behind him, you can see the head of a traitor to the castle.
Mwah, that will serve as a warning to others. :D
And then, I started taking funny pictures with them. :)
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I knew it wasn't safe to stand on that turret!
Our king took a plunge into the horses' feeding trough, his sheild and sword scattered, and his cape seriously splattered.
Yes, I like my alliterations. :)
Our king punishes the unruly and lazy guards.
Of course, medieval style - he chains them up by their feet from the front turret. :)
Here's a closer shot. :)
You can almost hear their screams of pity as the blood rushes to their hairy heads. :)
And what's a castle without a few beheadings?
The royal knight beheaded this guard with his own axe - now THAT'S harsh. :)
Now that's an ice-cream fit for a king!
I think Soda would like a lick too. :D
Ah, Lego is fun. :D
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After Adam had gone, I downloaded some videos from YouTube - ready to go on my future iPod.
After being reminded of the Powerpuff Girls by hearing their song in a background of another video, I scoured YouTube for some full episodes.
It took some doing, but I have found some.
I've downloaded all the ones I could find - INCLUDING ONE OF MY FAVOURITES!!! - and I've even got to watch three new ones I hadn't seen before. :)
I'm a big American Idol Fan. I've been since season three.
I've decided to skip tonights show, even though I rarely miss results shows, because I was getting cabin fever bad and just couldn't stand to be in my apartment any more.
I voted last night for Gina about ten times. I just love her pink hair, it's so hot. Plus the girl can belt out a tune like there's no tomorrow.
I tried to vote to Lakisha (is that how it's spells) but I couldn't get through. I just had to vote for the contestant from my beloved homestate, Michigan. And, again the girl can sing.
I didn't vote for any of the guys on tueday, I thought they all kind of sucked.
But lately I'm really disappionted 'cus haven't had anybody to gossip about Idol with. For the past three years I have been going to this floral shop that used to be in the same building as the my dad's shoe store. Kathy, the old little old lady who ran it, was an Idol fanatic. I would be there every week dishing the dirt about or favorites. Even though there was a huge age gap between us we always ended up rooting for the same contestants.
Well, last year the building was bought by this young guy who is turning the second story and the back office sapace in to loft apartments (the four store fronts aren't being messed with). Smith Floral (the company that owned ths floral shop) decided that with the new owner they didn't want to rebew their lease
So, now I have no one to talk Idol with . Sure, there are a few people at work but no one as hooked on the show as I am.
For a little while she worked at Smith's main location but now she's retired. Bummer I miss Kathy and our Idol time. Holy crap, do I sound like a woman or what? HeHe
Anyway, I have been having another of my off days where I am super lazy. I slept in til eleven, watched The Price Is Right. I read a bit of my novel. I've enjoyed it.
The only remotely work related thing I did all day is when I called down to my school. I called because I got my tuition bill about a month ago and the bill said it was due monday. Well seeing that I don't currently have the $626 to pay it off right now I called to see about getting an extention on the due date. I was told much better news then that, I have 'til the end of the semester to pay it off. Horray. I'll have the money in about a month and I'll be all good.
Also, last night I was bored so I went to Barnes and Noble. Words of wisdom, if you are a book lover don't go to a book store when you are bored and all coked up on caffine. I bought thirty-five buck worth of books totally on impulse.
I bought were:
*A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
*Word Freak (I can't remember the author off the top of my head but the book is about professional Scrabble tournies)
*and Jack London's classics Call of the Wild and White Fang (in one volume)
I just love good books. I couldn't imagine life without them. I love to curl up with a cup of tea and a good book. There's just nothing in the world that can match it (and this coming from a self-professed film buff)
Thanks,
Mark
Sidenote: The reason why I didn't post blog for several days is I was busy with my scrabble activities like clinics, tournaments. Maybe i could share to all of you some insights about the sport I loved most, and why they called it World's most popular board games.
SHORT HISTORY:
During the Great Depression, an out-of-work architect named Alfred Mosher Butts decided to invent a board game. He create a game that combined the vocabulary skills of Crossword Puzzles and anagram, with the additional element of chance. The game was originally named Lexicon, but Butts decided to call the game Criss-Cross Words.He and his partners, game loving entrepreneur James Brunot, refined the rules and design of the game, and renamed it SCRABBLE, the name which means "to grope frantically," as trade mark in 1948.
SCRABBLE FUN FACTS:
Dutch gave us the generic word Scrabble - SCHRABELAN means to claw or scrape and may have come into language via Dutch settlers in North America.
The highest number of points that can be scored on the first go is 128 -with MUZJIKS (Russian Peasants)
Dr. Karl Khosnaw from Manchester holds the record for the highest word score achieved in a competition, scoring 392 points CAZIQUES in the pluiral for a West Indian Chief.
The Simpsons television series includes an episode in which Bart Simpson plays a bogus word KWYJIBO for a huge score , defining it as a balding North American ape with small chin.
The association of British Scrabble Players who were taken to court in 1995 by an irate player for allowing too little time to go to the toilet between games.
In 1996 a woman was charge with assault when he struck her husband over the head with scrabble board.
A resident in Old People's Home was thrown out when she admitted she didn't play scrabble.
A five year old boy phoned Leicester police to complain his sister cheating at scrabble.
The U.S. Scrabble dictionary has banned all swear words and racials slurs.
SCRABBLE WORDS FOR THOUGHTS
1. The most selfish word "I" Avoid it.
2. The most satisfying two-letter word "WE" Used it.
3. The most poisonous three- letter word "EGO" Kill it.
4. The most used four letter word "LOVE" Value it.
5. The most pleasing five-letter word "SMILE" Keep it.
6. The fastest spreading six-letter word "RUMOUR" Ignore it.
7. The hardest working seven-letter word "SUCCESS" Achieve it.
8. The most enviable eight-letter word "JEALOUSY" Distant it.
9. The most powerful nine letter word "KNOWLEDGE" Acquire it.
10. The most essential ten-letter word "CONFIDENCE" Trust it.
CELEBRITY SCRABBLE PLAYERS:
Chris Evans
Clint Eastwood
Mel Gibson
Sting
Keanu Reeves
Michael Bolton
Richard Bronson
Pierce Brosnan
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Ross
Teddy Sherringham
BLUR (Boys band)
Bouzone (Boys band
WestLife (Boysband)
Boy George
Steve Davis
Sharon Stone
Madonna
Queen Elizabeth II
Linda Evangelista
Joan Collins
Jo Brand
Alistair McGowan
Kyle Minogue
and many more...
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