Jaws, Teeth, Mess

(cross posted on x-tables forums)

I have recently become a sanctioned NASPA director (certificate on its way in the mail), so I am looking to step forward with getting Scrabble started here in Kelowna. Here's what I've planned:

In partnership with Project Literacy and Okanagan Regional Library, I am doing a trial run for a casual club during the month of January. We will be meeting once a week at the downtown library branch. During the first and third weeks of the month, I will be doing a short workshop to introduce basic Scrabble rules and strategy. After that workshop (likely 1/2 hour in each case), there will be 2 games played. On the second and fourth weeks of the month, it will just be games played (2-3, depending on timing). If we have enough interest, I will proceed with starting a casual club. Here's my trouble though: Project Literacy is also interested in setting up an annual NASPA sanctioned tournament. Unlike any potential Scrabble club here, the tournament would need to be NASPA sanctioned if it has any hope of drawing people from outside of the city.

Until recently, Seattle has had a tournament during the May long weekend in the US. The Canadian May long weekend (Saturday May 22nd - Monday May 24th) is one week before the US May long weekend (Saturday May 29th - Monday May 31st). From what I can see on the NASPA tournament calendar, it doesn't look like there are any tournaments in the Pacific Northwest close to that time. What do you think about a tournament starting in the morning on the 22nd and finishing mid-afternoon on the 23rd? As much as I'd love to run a longer tournament the first time around, I'm thinking of several things: 1) it would be the first tournament that any player from Kelowna (besides me) has ever played in so I don't wanna make it too impossibly long, and 2) any American players, most likely from Seattle, would need to be able to get home in time for their work week. Maybe 8 games on Saturday and 6 on Sunday, a la Vancouver?

Thoughts, ideas, anything like that, much appreciated.

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Well friends, it's Year 2 for me in the Bachelors of Arts program at the University of British Columbia here in Kelowna, British Columbia. My major is still undeclared and I feel no more confident about what I hope to obtain than I felt going in to Year 1. Here's what I'm taking this year:

ANTH 170 (Linguistic Anthropology)
This is my random selection of the term. Part of the Arts degree requirements is that we take several course types from preset lists, and this fills out part of that requirement. The prof is bubbly, enjoys what she's teaching and obviously knows it inside out - she makes it interesting.

SPAN 203 (Spanish Oral Expression)
An intermediate course intended to get students comprehending more spoken Spanish and of course, speaking a lot more of it. This has its challenges being first thing in the morning Monday, Wednesday & Friday, but I do like this course.

SPAN 251 (Upper-Level Intermediate Spanish)
I had the choice to take either regular intermediate Spanish or this course. This one is the more challenging of the two and the prof really knows her stuff, unlike the prof doing the regular intermediate course. The prof is insane, but she's a good kind of insane.

PSYO 220 (Lifespan Development)
This might be the one dud class of the term. The topic fascinates me but the prof is not very good. We are being read to when we are very capable of doing that ourselves at home. Tests have mostly been on material in the textbook and rarely on that which she covers in class.  

PSYO 252 (Intro to Social Psychology)
We have the privilege of getting lectures from a former UCLA prof. He commands a lecture hall like I've never seen from any other, yet he's personable and makes the material very interesting.


It's probably apparent that languages and psych are my two bigger focuses. I went in to Year 1 thinking I might double major in French and Spanish, but I was only able to do one year of French and Spanish at the same time. I've dropped French this year because I like Spanish better and I retained more of it, and thus also dropped the idea of double majoring. I've also dropped the idea of majoring in Spanish because I have no desire to take courses about "the golden era of Spanish literature" and other such 'gems' that I would have to take in order to obtain a Spanish major. The only reasonable thing left to consider as a major is Psych. However, there lies a problem with being a Psych major. A Bachelor of Arts degree in Psych does not get a person very far in the industry - a Master's (additional 2 years) or PhD (additional 3-4 years) is almost expected. The idea of being in school for 8 years does not appeal to me. The other Master's degree I am considering is a Master's in Education (teaching). That might be 5 years total (Bachelors degree + 1 year) or 6 years total, which to me is somewhat more feasible. However, right now I am facing the biggest lack of motivation I remember since starting uni last fall. I barely have any desire to go to class right now or do homework, and that even includes my Spanish homework, which by FAR I enjoy the most out of any of them normally. My lack of desire to even do that concerns me. I am completely apathetic toward my marks right now, which is a major warning sign since it's midterm time.

All that being said, I'm looking at several solutions. Keep in mind I have set up a summer exchange term with the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia - it goes from July 2010 to December 2010, and I have no plans to change that.

Option 1: Slug it out
This option would have me taking 3 courses next term, as opposed to 5 like now, but enough total courses to keep on accumulating credits towards my degree.

Option 2: Take it easy (in Kelowna)
This option would have me taking 1 course next term (just Spanish), me getting a part-time job and otherwise focusing on physical training.

Option 3: Take it easy (in Redding)
For those of you who don't know, my parents and younger brother live in Redding, California, so I have that as an option too. This option would have me taking the next term off from UBC-O and focusing on physical training in Redding.

Option 4: Spanish Immersion
It has long been a desire of mine to live in a Spanish-speaking country and this would be one of those times I could finally do that. This option would have me taking the next term off from UBC-O and focusing on acquiring more Spanish language ability, particularly aural and oral.

All 4 options would finish by May, and then I'll be preparing to go to Brisbane. Your perspectives would be greatly appreciated, as I have no clue on how I want to proceed.

www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/13/bc-schoenborn-trial-darcie-clarke-testifies.html

When did the law stop being about what was right and become a battle to see who can find a loophole first? Repeat offender, murder being the most recent of his criminal activity, and yet it could end up as another case where the defendant gets out on an insanity plea. This guy is beyond help, not difficult to see... *sigh*

A few of her numbers are wrong, but thankfully none of the 'vital' ones. Check it out!

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/news/57874732.html

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/news/57088502.html

In mid-August I had an interview with a member of the Project Literacy board in Kelowna, and a result of that was me getting invited to have a booth at their Literacy Day event next week. I was quite surprised to find out just yesterday that they put me in the paper! A reporter from that same local newspaper contacted me yesterday and has scheduled an interview with me on Tuesday. She said "I need something to hang the [Project Literacy] article on and it seems like you've got a cool talent to talk about." She's also asked me to bring my Scrabble board for a picture.

This may be the spark I need to get people in the area interested in playing Scrabble.

Ladies and gents, this is why drbing's the national champ:

www.poslfit.com/games/canam/2009/dw-al-13/010.html

Also, congrats to nigelbo on the el win!!

I found this by accident after watching satireblank's vlog:



I love it.

Me and rafij52 were the high game on ISC when we played last night. Turned out to be a pretty sweet game! Check it out: www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=4604

As always, questions/comments are welcome.

...and it was the best one ever for me results wise! 18-13, +439, 24th place. My new rating is 1805, back up to where I've been trying to get for ages, and where I feel I roughly belong. I feel that I played far better than I ever have in a tournament, despite not studying at all before Dayton beyond a few spontaneous Jumbletime and Aerolith sessions with dugy1001 in the 2 weeks prior. I did have some luck on my side to win a few games that I was almost certain to lose otherwise, and lost 2 games due to chickening out on words despite finding them instantly. However, I feel that strategically I've improved and that's been the difference between this Nationals and all previous. I owe a portion of that to cuzzakenji and wallydraigle for their invaluable advice over the last year, but also to all of you who have been posting games on here. I don't usually comment on them, but I do play through them and learn from them, so thanks for putting them up!

Also, mad props to rafij52 - I looked at all of your annotated games and you were playing amazingly well. I knew you were good, but those prove to me that you well deserved to be up as high as you were. Sorry the end didn't go so well, but you know what? I'm certain we'll see you near the top at Nationals again in the future. j00 rock!

Great to see old faces, and awesome to meet new peeps. Thanks pwerth for being my gym buddy, etheridge2 for the fun games (we sure draw a crowd, don't we?) and goldfishbw for the speed games, cheezchick for some of the best hugs in Scrabble (sorry we couldn't continue to be record twins, but you know it's bound to happen again in the future), ftangredi and all others in the cast for the very entertaining play readings, and everyone else for just being awesome in general. I would have stopped playing ages ago were it not for all of you. That being said, I am done with tournaments for the year. I told my family and several Scrabblers (including bbstenniz and others) that I was limiting myself to 4 tournaments this year, and I intend on keeping that promise. Interestingly enough, Project Literacy Kelowna sent me a Facebook message while I was in Dayton asking if I could talk to them about what it would take to get an annual Scrabble tournament going in Kelowna, and also whether or not I'd be interested in being at an event they're holding next month as a Scrabble celebrity. I get to talk to them next week about details, which may include getting to speak at the event for 10-20 minutes. Pretty cool eh?

My other focuses for this year are related to education and fitness, and I have yet to be completely satisfied with the latter. I have gained muscle mass but not as much as I could with a strong focus. It's been very passive due to my studies and to Scrabble. Now that tournament Scrabble is done for the year and uni doesn't start for another month, I will be formulating my workout plan and eating plan for the year in the next couple of weeks. As for education, I have slightly changed plans. Rather than going to Australia for a full year, I will now be going for one term. This allows me to complete a full 2nd year of schooling at UBC Okanagan here in Kelowna, take 2 months off to work, and then go to Australia from July to December for my 1st term for year 3, and then come back to Kelowna for my 2nd term of year 3 from January to April. I will no longer have to miss an entire year of education by adjusting to the Australian university year, which starts in March rather than in September like we're used to over here. The good news is, by choosing to do Year 2 over here, I've earned a $1500 scholarship for finishing in the top 5% of my faculty this past year!

Overall right now, I feel very priveleged. I don't what I've done to deserve any of this.

So I was at Gyro Beach today, the beach in Kelowna where all the young people go to play beach volleyball and swim in the lake (they also hang out behind the bathrooms to sell/buy/do drugs, but we try to ignore that). Sometimes homeless people rummage through the garbage looking for pop bottles/cans and beer bottles/cans, and generally speaking people are pretty used to it. Today though, there was a guy with Down's Syndrome who couldn't have been any more than 15 or 16, going up and down the beach with two plastic grocery bags, approaching people and asking for their empties. He had some social awkwardness, but was otherwise functioning totally fine and doing nothing illegal.

Enter 3 douchebags from the UK. About a half hour before the DS guy showed up collecting, these guys set up close by to where I was set up on the sand. Some 16-year-olds walk by us to set up elsewhere on the beach, including a tan, blue-eyed blonde girl who was no more than 16, but clearly very attractive. The guys stare for a fairly long time at the girl after she's walked by, knowing quite well she was way too young for them. Fast forward a half hour and the DS guy comes by them looking for their empties. They give him some, keeping a few. The DS guy waits, thinking they'll be like everyone else and give the rest too. One of the UK guys clutches his remaining bottles close to him, acting like he wants to keep them. When the DS guy stands there waiting, the UK guy runs down to the lake clutching his bottles, expecting the DS guy to follow him, who does, laughing the whole way. The UK guy's friends are tauntingly laughing at the DS guy now, who clearly is unable to understand that he's being mocked. At this point when I was watching, I wasn't sure if the guy was just trying to get the DS guy to move on or if he was being a jerk. What I saw next left me no doubt, though. The UK guy ran back to his towel with his buddies, and of course the DS guy came back. The UK guy pointed up the beach and said "Oh look, there's lots and lots of bottles over there!", incorrectly assuming like every other ignorant douche that a person with Down's Syndrome is completely retarded. The DS guy of course didn't buy it, so the UK guy took a few cans from the DS guy's bag and threw them further up the beach. Here's where the best part comes: I didn't need to step in (I would have, knowing at this point exactly what the guys' intents were) because the same 16-year-old bombshell they were staring at earlier came walking up to where the DS guy was picking up his cans, helping him out and asking "are you OK?" She then gave the UK guys the BIGGEST death glare I've seen in a long time, and then looking at the main UK guy says "you're a FUCKING loser!" before walking back to her towel! About 10 minutes later the DS guy's social worker comes over and chews these guys out, who vehemently try to deny any wrongdoing. At this point I stood up next to the woman and supported her, ratting the guys out, telling them what they did was NOT cool, and then picked up my stuff and moved to another spot on the beach.

I saw the DS guy with some other people further down the beach. They had invited him to sit down, give him something to drink and just loved on him like he was one of them. I was very happy to see that he was at last being treated like a human being.

This morning a friend of mine from Long Island let me know of X situation that had come up in the family, so I just found out I'm somewhat stranded after I fly into Newark this Sunday at 5 PM. For those of you who are East Coast travel experts and such, your advice would be appreciated. I need to get to Boston South Station at the latest by early evening on the 15th, so I can take the Dartmouth Coach up into New Hampshire. Here's what I'm looking at as options:

a) Stay in the NYC area for the night, take the Peter Pan bus up from downtown NYC to South Station, then catch the next Dartmouth Coach
b) Take the Peter Pan bus up from downtown NYC to South Station at 10:30 PM, arrive at South Station at 3:25 AM (it's the only time that seems to work to allow enough time to get from EWR to downtown NYC), and be a hobo until the first Dartmouth Coach departs after 9 AM

1) Which of these options seems more reasonable, or is there a better yet economic option I don't know of?
2) If Option a) is the best, is there someone in the NYC who would be willing to harbor a fugitive Canadian for a night?


Oh, and eurobikermcdog, check yer phone messages!

Long story short, I'm wrestling with whether or not I should even go.
Pros: Seeing and hanging out with Scrabble peeps, chance to play the best in Scrabble
Cons: Dayton sucks, flights are expensive from this end of the country, low registration numbers this year means less young peeps around

Thoughts?

What the title says. Anyone looking or know of anyone who is? Thanks!

Not just to dillyroo (yes, you were amazing and we've all said so!), but also to j_is_worth8 for her performance in the OT Late Bird. 4.0-0.0 +162 got her an approximate 95 point rating gain to a estimated new peak rating of 1443 (it will change a bit due to the main event's results not showing yet in the TSH estimates). She beat Brendan Huang, winterene, meezerman and Ruth Hamilton on her way to 2nd place! Couldn't happen to a nicer and more deserving person. I know it's due to all those antelopes!

As a random sidenote, it's cool that 3 out of the 4 events at OT were won by women.

Just got my last mark in last night... 4.0 GPA on the year!!!!

*happy dance*

I'm goin' to the HO!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Just thinking a few more things through for BAT. One particular issue, now that I'm last-minuting...

Is anyone looking for or able to take on a roommate for BAT, either at the venue or off venue? Last year magrathean graciously hosted me, but this time around since he won't be there, I'm looking elsewhere. Any info would be appreciated, thanks guys!