Spelling Bee

We've been yucking it up for three weeks now, wondering how I might ring the elementary school spelling bee bell when a child misspelled his word. I could be really hesitant and sweet and say, "Good job, hon'," with a delicate *tink* on the bell. I could really whack it and shout, "LOSER!"

All that time, I knew there would be four judges, and the chances of me getting to ring the bell were about zero. (Okay, 25%.)

I walked into the cafeteria for the spelling bee this week, and they immediately gave me the bell. It was the funniest. I was very polite with it, too, although it was one of those xylophone bells with a mallet, and I was constantly thinking about the scene from Grease, where Blanche gets carried away with the xylophone before Principal McGee's announcements.


Patrick's Saturday Six: J

1. J is for JAILBREAK: Would you ever jailbreak a piece of your technology to do things that weren’t supported by the manufacturer, even if it voided the warranty?
Maaaaybe, although I haven't been that desperate for a function yet. I would jailbreak it after the warranty expired. We did jailbreak some "cool" T-Mobile phone we bought at Amazon for Lauren many years ago, so she could use it at AT&T. We didn't sink much money into that though.

2. J is for JAZZ: What your favorite jazz tune?
"At Last" Etta James

3. J is for JELLY: What’s your favorite flavor of jelly?
blackberry

4. J is for JET: What’s the farthest distance you’ve traveled by plane?
5500 miles, from Houston to Frankfurt

5. J is for JEWELRY: Which piece of jewelry that you own means the most to you (and why)?
my wedding ring, because of its symbolic significance

6. J is for JOURNAL: Other than your blog, do you keep a private, written journal that is truly for your eyes only?
Not since college, when Jeff read mine and I threw them all away. Before that, my junior year of high school, John read the ones I had written at that point and I tossed those. I vowed never to journal again. I should have stuck with that. So while we're discussing it--- please do not read another person's journals. It's an extreme violation of trust. If you want to read it or have an excerpt read to you, don't be afraid to ask. I happily read excerpts of my journals with various friends and boyfriends on several occasions, and they did with me as well. It was fun! There is just some stuff in a journal that isn't meant for anyone but the writer to see. That's the point of a private journal.