IMPRINT

-
Over the years, among the small group of friends and family I've played Scrabble with, I've developed a slight reputation for winning, or at least playing words that frustrate people. Truthfully, I don't exactly see it. Like everyone, I have good days and bad. Days of all vowels or no vowels; days where an X and and a J and a Z land in my lap and I have the ability to play them all. Having argued vociferously and many times when challenged on my spelling of letters such as N (en) or Z (zee), or the meaning of the word adz (an ax-like tool) or re (a note to follow so), most now have the same familiarity with such words. My vocabulary is no more vast than anyone else's.

In general I feel I win slightly more than I lose but I certainly don't think that I dominate. Until I was home for Christmas in Utah playing Scrabble with my mom and sister that is. And the motherload hit me. I'd been focusing on using 4 letters in a certain word when I started moving them around and found that I had a 7 letter word AND a home for them on the board. Kapow! It wasn't a humongous net in terms of points but using all your letters is an automatic 50-point slam dunk and all my sister could do is look at me as if to say "Seriously?" Sorry, Brooke, sometimes you just get lucky.


And of course, sometimes you don't. I played the word doh in Tahoe over my birthday weekend knowing without a doubt that it was a word in the dictionary because I'd read that Merriam-Webster had added it in as part of the lexicon. However, per Scrabble rules, if it's not in the dictionary being used in the game it doesn't count. What killed me was that anyone even questioned whether it was a word. Brian!? After pouting for a few turns - and yes, I'm embarassed to admit that - I managed to pull out a victory anyway. Sweet.

Comments

Unknown said…
hahahahhah all i can say is shock and mild frustration!
1:41 PM
Rick Gaston said…
Did you really just use "vociferously":) I've never played a game of scrabble in my life and perhaps if I do try it, never against you.
3:15 PM
Jessica said…
I'd have to say the most fun I've had playing Scrabble is when I've been on your team, Sam!
4:32 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lessons Learned Planning for the Tour de Mont Blanc

-
Image
Random Thoughts and Tips After scavenging around the Internet looking at multiple blogs, websites and discussion groups, I decided to condense what I found to be the most helpful information and include some lessons learned from actually being on the trail. If you want to read about the actual journey and the highlights you can find that post here . For distances, huts, routes you'll want to use this TMB  site . You can make reservations here. Not everyone makes reservations but we did. We had a tight schedule to condense the trip into 6 days and didn't want to leave availability to chance. For planning and while on the trail, you'll want this Kev Reynolds  book . It gives great detail on the routes, the alternate routes, the sites you'll pass and the huts available along the way. We used it extensively before, during and after. If you're planning a trip anywhere around Mont Blanc in the fall do a quick search for " UTMB " and find out when the rac...
Read more

What to Write About

-
Why, when I'm out on a run or taking a shower do I think I have a million awesome things to write about. I mean, a million. And then I sit here with....nothing. (This was started last April 2017) Like watching Damages Season 5 and having an a-ha moment when Ellen is talking to her dead husband, David (dead but so real!) and David points out that for him it wasn't about the success, it was about the happiness. And I think, yeah, man, happiness! Like the urge I sometimes get to move to the base of a mountain, ski for the season, then figure out my next career move. It's not that I'm trying to avoid hard work - or am I? - but life and knees and increasingly, snow, are in short supply and there's just no replacement for pursuing happiness. So then I remember I want to write something about the different pursuits of happiness! (And started again January 2018!) Then I remember I had the idea to package the story of all my great-to-middling love affairs into a musica...
Read more

Christmas, Family and Skiing

-
Image
Back when my mom lived in New Jersey it was always fun to go home for Christmas and venture into New York to see the store windows decorated for the holidays, catch a musical, go to Rockefeller Center, and meet up with friends for drinks. But now that she lives in Utah I'm reveling in her proximity to one of my most happiest of happy places, Alta. (Top of High Rustler run, Alta) Of course, Christmas is all about enjoying family time. But just behind that is skiing. :) This Christmas I hit it just right as I arrived early to enjoy a few days of girl time with my mom and sister before my brothers arrived AND in the middle of a thundering storm that dropped almost 3 feet of light and airy champagne-like snow on the Wasatch Range. 3 days of epic conditions on the mountain and 4 days of movies, games, eating, shopping, drinking and taking endless pictures of the first grandchild in our family; not a bad ratio. I shared first tracks with my cousin Liz and her friend, Kim - both amazing f...
Read more