September 22, 2005 spelling bee recap

The spelling bee tonight was charming! It was a full room but not overly packed, with fourteen contestants (we'll take up to twenty if people sign up in time, but with twenty, I have to rush things a bit).

The bee was won decisively by Mr. Josh Malamy (also winner of the August 22 bee), who brought his mother and aunt to watch. He spelled a fantastic array of words correctly, including "chaffinch" and "lepidopterologist." Spellers Jean and Annie took second and third place, respectively. Annie actually conquered in a runoff for third, thus achieving a particularly hard-won sandwich.

bobbyblue and I did a bit of bantering about the sandwiches at Pete's (third place winner gets a free sandwich) and why it is that panini sandwiches become better because they've been pressed. Do we really want our sandwiches denser and flatter? I theorized that it was related to the desire to smush Wonderbread into dough when you're a kid -- pressing is great! Pressing greatly adds to the desirability of bread products. Mmmn, Wonderdough.

Josh may soon be moving to Chicago, where he is thinking of starting up his own spelling bee. I have given my blessing to this project. We could have a sister spelling bee!

At some point during the bee, I made remarks about spellers uniting to form a giant Voltron Speller. I really can't remember the context. I have no idea why I said this.

Spelly-spellers, unite!