George V.

Pontiac part 2:

2008-09-04T03:46:52Z

Some things I forgot to mention re: Pontiac:

1. aruspex took his sub-par performance seriously, but it made him no less fun to be around. Maybe the mustache wasn't long enough, Kelly.

2. How about Christopher (THORIUM + CFGK??) Walleck? 19-1 performance and still humble as shit. Good kid.

3. I played Taxes Hold Me for the first time. Even won a couple hands. It's a fun game, though I have never played poker. So Stock and tailskid had to hold my hand most of the time. Not literally, though.

Anyway, here's my game vs. sneakyofverb from Pontiac. First round. First loss.

Play it

ipecac_icecap @ 2007-12-29T09:54:00

2007-12-29T15:02:46Z

For those who wanted an Albany update:

Yesterday was awesome. I didn't play in the early bird because I wanted to relax, especially after a delayed flight, a jog from one end of Philly's airport to the other, and a bumpy flight. I got in about the same time as Tom and Erica. Spent the day relaxing. Played a few games, played Anagrams and Racklash. In Anagrams, we all though the game was over with a pool of CFGK??, and then Kenji takes all those tiles, plus Randy Greenspan's THORIUM. Plug that into Zyzzyva and you'll find the greatest Anagrams play I've ever seen. It was a lot of fun. I even got to keep a word.

tatermunch won his div at the early bird, good for him. That was for money, and he'll be steadily picking up points for the next few days.

As for myself, I am ready, and hope to be a contender here.

ipecac_icecap @ 2007-12-12T23:52:00

2007-12-13T05:05:09Z

Met up with Pete tonight to play a couple of games. I thought I played pretty well, the way I want to play at Albany. Minimal fishing, making shitty racks work, finding words that wouldn't play. In the first game he got both blanks, bingoed once and won by 5. In the second one I got both blanks, bingoed 3 times to his 1 and won by one point. In Quackling the second game, I find that I lost a total of 79.6 equity points in 15 turns. 27.2 of those are from missing (B)IKINIeD when I held DIIIKN? and 14.1 are from a play in which I had to shut down an open E with a 3-point play to ensure a win. I made a dumb play in the end game because I was really low on time and ended up giving him a much better out than he had before. Like I said, it appeared that I had won by 1, but in a tournament situation we would have found that he shorted himself 3 points throughout the game and actually won by two. But then if he had counted correctly, I may have ended up making a different play somewhere along the line. Who knows? I might quackle the other game to find that I actually won.

Also, allow me to say that Kenji is the only 1800+ player with a halfway-interesting blog. For better or worse, it's the only expert blog that a 1500 can appreciate. Sorry, everyone else.

ipecac_icecap @ 2007-12-04T09:43:00

2007-12-04T14:50:52Z

Met up with pbzeigler to play a couple of games last night. Both were good, we each won one, nothing out of the ordinary. In Quackling them, I found that I still have a long way to go. In the second game, I felt like my best play was always obvious. I think I had 17 minutes left on my clock at the end. And I did make my best play nearly half the time, but then the other half I was making Quackle's 6th and 8th and 10th choices... ah well.

Had a Scrabble nightmare last night. I was in a huge tournament, probably Nationals next year, and in round 1 I was paired against Joey Krafchick. He played super-fast like in real life, but I kept having to go to the bathroom when he made his plays, and when I came back he had played some ridiculous 11 and 12 letter phonies. I wish I could remember what some of them were. I knew I couldn't challenge them off because he had already drawn his tiles while I was in the bathroom (I guess in the dream I hadn't read the CGP discussion of the pissing while playing rule), but I couldn't stop peeing. Every time I came back, it was a different board with different words on it, and the tiles were smaller and smaller each time. It was awful.

I have a day off today but I have to go to the dentist and get a tooth pulled. The rest of the day should be really enjoyable.

'til death do us part, asshole!

2007-10-14T03:17:04Z

Burning River Blowout is going well. The site is good, we have about 35 people... not bad for the midwest. I'm 5-3 so far after a 1-3 start. I don't know how I know LABROID but I got it down to win a game against a formidable opponent. Challenged off some shitty bingos (PANELLER, REALINED) let some even shittier ones stay (REBRAID). I hope to do well tomorrow and cash.

Trivia Bowl was alright but I will not do it again. It was flawed. Also, I forgot that I hate being the center of attention, and being the center of attention makes me irritable. Some people got on my nerves and I wanted to be the opposite of the center of attention, so I am in my room now watching the Indians. I'll probably be asleep before the game is over.

Man in Motion

2007-07-23T09:53:15Z

My grandfather worked for General Motors and once he worked every single day for 15 months except Christmas day.

This is my ninth work day in a row and I wonder how I'm going to make it through. This weekend was especially tedious. Two 11-7 shifts in the MARO (Marriott Area Revenue Office) with the same person. I like all of the agents we have working on MARO, but 16 hours of conversation (and silence, for that matter) with any one person is going to get a little old.

Went to club last night and had my first bye in months. Beat Terry Oblander, lost to Jim Smith and Walter Konicki. I took risks that I wouldn't take in a tournament, and they ended up costing me games. Ah well. I used the time to inhale a Whopper. Came home, got 5 hours of sleep, and here I am.

Farmington this weekend. It'll be nice to play a good 7 games when I don't have to worry about my rating slipping like it usually does at Farmingtons. I feel pretty confident in my field for Dayton, and I feel like that won't change if I somehow drop below 1300 again.

stolen from squeegman

2007-07-19T03:45:32Z

1. How tall are you barefoot? 5'7"
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? I didn't know heroin was smoked
3. Do you own a gun? I don't even own A gun, let alone many guns...
4. Do you play with the ads on the side of the screen? No.
5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"? Not really. People over 40 love me for some reason.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Love them. Especially corn dogs.
7. What's your favorite Christmas song? "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee
9. Can you do push ups? If I wanted to, which will never be the case
10. Is your bathroom clean? Decently
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Does a watch count?
12. Do you like pain killers? I just take ibuprofen but I like it.
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? It's so secret I don't even know how to use it.
14. Do you own a knife? Just a little pocketknife.
15. Do you have A.D.H.D? No, just regular A.D.D.
16. Middle Name? Croston
17. Favorite number? 16 - the number of days until Dayton
18. What's your normal bed time? between 11pm-2am
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink: Coffee, Pepsi, water
20. What time did you wake up today? 8 am
21. Name one person that comes to mind right now? Stephen Colbert
22. Current worry? Next day off is 6 days away
23. Current hate? Tooth pain
24. Favorite place to be? a Scrabble tourney
25. Least favorite place to be? Dentist's chair
26. Is there anyone that you haven't seen in awhile that you want to catch up with? Tons of people. Jimbo and Daniels, Scotty Mc, Hannah, etc.
27. Do you own slippers? No
28. What shirt are you wearing? Hands Across America
29. How many people have ever truly ever broken your heart? None really
30. Favorite color(s)? Navy blue
31. Would you be a pirate? More like a Viking
32. Last time you had an alcoholic drink? a beer like a month ago
33. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't
34. What did you fear was going to get you in the night as a child? Tornado
35. What's in your pockets right now? Nothing. I empty them.
36. Is anyone on your mind right now? The people from #26
37. Do you think you get enough exercise? Haha no.
38. Worst injury you've ever had? burst eardrum
39. If you could cheat on your spouse, would you? If for some fucked up reason I had a spouse, no.
40. Who is your loudest friend? Horus
41. Who is your most silent friend? I don't get along that well with silent people.
42. Do you have a crush on someone? Always at least like 5 people.
43. Does someone have a crush on you? No idea.
44. Do you wish on shooting stars? No.
45. What is your favorite book? A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
46. What is your favorite candy? Gummi cola bottles
47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding? "The Air That I Breathe" by the Hollies
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? "Let's Hear it For the Boy" by Deniece Williams
49. What is one of your favorite quotes? "I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members." -Groucho Marx
50. What were you doing 12 AM last night? No idea.

All Over This Town

2007-07-03T19:22:05Z

Things have been pretty dece lately. With the exception of another good friend moving away (this time to greater Phoenix), the summer of George has been on the upswing. On the Scrabble side of things, Michigan Madness went well for the most part. On the fun side of things, it was awesome. My only complaint was that the doses I get of ericaareicceria and tatermunch are much too small.

Work is going really well too. Another promotion. I'll be brief here, because I realize that not everybody finds the hospitality industry as interesting as I do. I work for a company called Lodgian, Inc., that franchises hotels. They own 30 or so Intercontinental brand (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza) hotels and 12 Marriott brand (Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, Spring Hill Suites, etc.) hotels. The office I work in is essentially a call center for all of the Intercontinental brands that Lodgian owns. When you call the Crowne Plaza in Albany to make a reservation because you don't want to call 1-800-2-CROWN and speak to someone in Bombay, you end up unknowingly speaking to someone in suburban Cleveland. Anyway, all of the Marriotts that my company owns were still being booked by Marriott's huge ridiculous (but American) call center. We've been shop-calling these Marriotts and grading the agents on the same rubric we use on our agents and submitting the results to the suits at Lodgian, essentially trying to convince them to let us take the calls. And really, their agents suck. So, these suits finally caved and we're going to be taking on 11 of their 12 Marriotts. We're going to be creating a new Area Revenue Office (ARO) within our existing office space for these Marriotts, and I'm going to be the project manager. I don't know what my pay will be like, but this is a big step up for me, and as always, I plan on moving up.

This also means that I'll get my employee discount at not only Intercontinental brand hotels, but also Marriott hotels.

On the study tip, things have been going very well also. I did the top 1000 8s last week and with a few exceptions (sixty or so bitches like EMANATOR, DIPTERAN, AGENTIAL/ALGINATE, etc.). Now I'm reviewing the top 1000 7s (after missing STRIATE in my game against Dave Leonard at MM). If I stay on pace, I should have a ~95% knowledge of the top 3000 of each set by Dayton. My goal is to finish in the top 20 of the division and be rated over 1400 at the end. It's not that lofty a goal, as I'm going to be seeded near the bottom of the pack. The goal I have that is lofty is to be rated 1530 by the end of October. When I got out of the Clinic last October 28th, my rating was 530. If I somehow hit 1530 at the Burning River Blowout, I will be ecstatic. It's the first divisional tourney in the Cleveland area in something like 8 years. Plus, there's going to be a trivia bowl.

Back to studying.

Michigan Madness, day 1

2007-06-24T03:38:30Z

Day 1 of Michigan Madness was pretty good. I was comforted to find that I am still "underrated." My expected wins against the field I played today was 2.3something and I went 5-3. If the ratings calculator is accurate, I've already picked up 70 rating points. Two of the losses were ones that I could do nothing about. I got double-blanked by people who don't need both blanks to beat me. I held it down though. Also played my first phony two in tournament history. It was an accident. I didn't grab the wrong tile, I just hit the clock before I realized PO* is not good. It's one of those (TE*, OT*, FI*, etc.) that I sometimes see as part of a word I wanted to play, then I usually pick it back up and say, "Oop, that won't work..." This time, I hit the clock before I caught it. It stayed. A 1441 player let PO* go. It just shows to go ya, nobody's rating should mean shit to me except my own.

Full report someday soon. There are 6 games tomorrow. My prediction is that I'll end up 8-6, but we'll see.

Michigan Baddness

2007-06-22T01:45:04Z

I've got one of my songs done for karaoke on Saturday night. I'd like it to be a surprise, so I'm not going to post the lyrics here. But I am singing mine to the tune of "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" by Looking Glass. It's one of the staples of my repertoire in regular karaoke, so I figured it would yield the best results. I was going to write a second one ("Balance That Rack", to the tune of "Baby Got Back") but it's going to take more time than I currently have. Maybe next year.

I decided not to study tonight. I might hit the Strongsville Cafe and perhaps the Rib Burn-off, if I can round up a crew. I am pretty excited for the weekend. Work dragged today, of course.

I changed my mind about my predictions and I think I'm going to go undefeated this weekend. That's your heads-up, those who haven't yet picked a roto team.

Stoked to see/meet all the LJ Scrabblers this weekend... I owe you all a free high-five.

Take the skinheads bowling

2007-06-20T03:18:41Z

So it's been a week or so since we got a Wii. It's definitely been a distraction, albeit a fun one. I'm big on bowling. My high game thus far is 210. It has kind of reignited that bowling flame in me. Was a time (age 15-16) when I bowled in a league and maintained an average of 188 or so, my high game being 233. I don't think the "touch" is gone entirely. I'm thinking about getting a new ball (and trying to take it up again. My dad's bowled on a team for as long as I can remember, and he's gotten a few 290+ games and a couple 800+ series throughout the years. I think I might have that bowling gene too, I just need to refine it a bit. Scrabble is great and very satisfying, but I think I'd like to get good at something else as well. That will be something to think about in the next few weeks.

I won't even bother writing about how stoked I am for this weekend. I'm expected to win 4.3 games, and I predict I'll win 8. The lower my expected wins, the more wins I get. That's how it's gone in the past, so I have high hopes. Aside from the actual tourney, I plan on having a great time at karaoke. I've got one song almost complete and another one I may be able to get done in time. Karaoke is one of the things I don't half-ass.

Two work days left before the weekend.

best joke

2007-06-13T15:28:51Z

Once upon a time, a young man went to the circus. He was very excited, as he lived in western Manitoba and had never seen a circus before; the kind of town where you shave and the trolly stops. Anyway, as circus days drew nigh, the young man grew ever more excited. He arrived before dawn to get the best seat in the house, and was seated hours before the first trapeze act.

Finally, the trapeze artists gave an awe-inspiring performance, the elephants danced, and the lion tamer tamed. At last, the clowns came out in full regalia and green hair. They rode around by the gross in a purple volkswagon. The volksie pulled up to center of the ring, and an overweight clown with orange hair, acne, and a purple nose advanced to the podium:

"Will the person in section A, row Y, seat 42 please stand up?"

The young man looked at his ticket, and to his surprise, he was sitting in that very seat. The young man stood up.

Clown sez, "Wellllll, there's the horse's ass, now where's the rest of the horse?"

The man, dumbfounded, stood for a moment, then made his way quickly through crowd and out of the tent. Returning home, the man wept for days, and mourned the loss of dignity and honor. Eventually reason overcame his grief and the man grew determined. "I'm not going to get mad, I'm going to get even, and avenge the honor of myself, my family, and this town," exclaimed the man. He picked up the curriculum guide for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) correspondence courses and started to read.

Eventually his eyes came to rest on an advert for a class in "Quick Wit Retort." "Learn how to use those snappy comebacks to your advantage, now!" So the man sent in his $19.95 and soon received the course materials. In a few weeks, the man mastered the materials, and sent the final back to UNLV.

Much to his surprise, a registered letter arrived from the president of UNLV. It read:

Dear Sir: We are utterly flabbergasted at your performance in Quick Wit Retort 101. We would be most gratified if you could come to UNLV to complete your degree with our fine academic institution. Here's a check to cover your expenses.

To make a long story short , the man made straight A's in the QWR program. He was awarded numerous distinctions, and when he graduated, the graduation speaker Ed Meese awarded the man the Presidential Medal of Outstanding Quick Wit Retort, signed by Ronnie himself!

Some days afterward, Harvard University sent a lear-jet to pick the man up for an interview. The graduate admissions officer didn't mince words. "If you complete our masters/doctoral tenured track program in QWR, you will never have to worry about money again," said he. Needless to say, the man promptly moved to Cambridge.

In 5 years, the man had finished his doctorate. By this time, the man was known throughout the world as the leading expert in Quick Wit Retort. Word had even reached western Manitoba, which made his mother very proud. Everyone from Pentagon pundits to Beltway bandits consulted the man on technical questions of QWR.

One day, while sitting at his desk reading his hometown newspaper, the man noticed that the circus was coming to his hometown again. An evil smile crossed the man's face. "Siegfried," cried the man to his assistant, "We must be away to Manitoba. Ready the jet!" As the plane crossed the downlands of Michigan, the man savored the moment of victory that was to be his.

The man arrived at the circus tent very early, making sure to get the seat in section A, row Y, seat 42.

Finally, the trapeze artists gave an awe-inspiring performance, the elephants danced, and the lion tamer tamed. At last, the clowns came out in full regalia and green hair. They rode around by the gross in a purple volkswagon. The volksie pulled up to center of the ring, and an overweight clown with orange hair, acne, and a purple nose advanced to the podium:

"Will the person in section A, row Y, seat 42 please stand up?"

The man glanced at his ticket. This time he was ready.

Clown sez, "Wellllll, there's the horse's ass, now where's the rest of the horse?"

The man rose to his feet, full of confidence. He thrust out his chest and said in the loudest voice you can imagine:

FUCK YOU, CLOWN!!!!

irresponsible.

2007-06-13T14:58:18Z

I've been so bad about studying the past few days and I feel pretty shitty about it. I just haven't gotten around to it.

Went to Cedar Point yesterday and it was awesome. I bought a season pass. We rode the Mantis, Millennium Force, Magnum, Gemini, Corkscrew (lame and jerky), Raptor, Disaster Transport and Iron Dragon. 8 rides in 6 hours isn't bad. But I forgot how completely whipped I feel after riding roller coasters. I came home, ate Chipotle and slept from about 6pm to midnight, woke up and watched the Office for a couple hours, then went back to bed. I'm about to get ready and go study and drink coffee so I can get back into the swing of things.

I can't believe it... now my pants are chafing me.

2007-06-02T15:20:03Z

So I think a bunch more people need to sign up for Michigan Madness. If not for the games, for the karaoke. I myself have penned two songs that are destined to go down in Scrabble-Themed-Parodies-of-Popular-Songs history. There are only 17 people in my division at this point, not including pbzeigler who I know will be registering eventually. I'm not in the ideal position to cash, but my rating will not suffer.

Looking farther ahead, Orlando should be a good time if I can afford it. There are several Holiday Inn/Crowne Plaza/etc. hotels nearby, so hopefully I can get my employee discount at one of them. Staying at the resort is pretty much out of the question. There's also a Wet 'n' Wild waterpark in proximity. It's always nice to have something to look forward to.

Review of local coffee shops

2007-06-01T22:50:01Z

Most of my studying is done at coffee shops. I almost never study at home, there's too much else for me to do there. I have to get out of the house if I want to be able to concentrate on anything. Coffee shops are pretty much the only place that will let you hang out for 2 or 3 hours and not bug you. Plus, they serve coffee. So I usually end up at one of several places. Here, I will pretend you care and weigh my options. They are listed by distance from home, closest to farthest.

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Starbucks, Strongsville, OH

Distance from home: 1.2 miles
Barista Cuteness Index (BCI): Mild

Shitty coffee, dumb names for everything, not cozy, tiny tables. I don't go here.

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Saxby's, Strongsville, OH

Distance from home: 1.3 miles
BCI: Mild

The only reason I go here is because I saw a coupon in the paper for $10 free credit when you buy a $10 gift card. The coffee is not too bad, but the tables are pretty small and they always have a TV on maximum volume, which they tune to whatever news channel is broadcasting the scariest/most depressing/most exploitative news possible.

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Seattle's Best, Strongsville, OH

Distance from home: 1.6 miles
BCI: Severe

This is the one I attend most frequently. It's close to home, which is nice for quick sessions before or after work. The coffee is decent and they have a good selection. Big tables, only crowded on evenings and weekends. No free wi-fi, limited access to power outlets. They are open till 11pm Monday thru Saturday, which is an hour later than most other places around here.

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The Book & The Bean, Berea, OH

Distance from home: 4.5 miles
BCI: Severe

Probably my favorite place to go. First off, they have the best coffee I've ever drunk, which is the same coffee they serve at Grounds For Thought, which was the coffee shop in Bowling Green, where I went to college. Secondly, they are almost never crowded. The only exception was one time a few months ago when the place was PACKED to the gills with Geocachers, perhaps one of the few subcultures dorkier than Scrabble players. They have large tables and free wi-fi, though the power outlet access is a little less than desirable. The drive there takes me through the Metroparks, past Wallace Lake and some other scenically pleasing landmarks.

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Seeker's Coffee House, Middleburg Hts, OH

Distance from home: 6.2 miles
BCI: Cold

I used to come here a lot last summer when I worked nearby, but I haven't been back too many times. It's a nice place with decent coffee, but it's a Christian coffee shop. I've got no beef with J.C., but coffee and religion have nothing to do with each other. The vibe is a little different, but it's not too much to ignore. I like it because there's never anyone here and there's free wi-fi.

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Caribou Coffee, Middleburg Hts, OH

Distance from home: 6.9 miles
BCI: Warm

I go here pretty frequently, especially when I meet up with my friend Rochelle who lives in Fairview Park. This is a good halfway point. The coffee is great for a chain, the tables are a decent size, and the wi-fi is free (though it logs you out after an hour). I'm a big fan of the Obsidian blend. The only real drawback is that they play boring Frank Sinatra shit way louder than my headphones can cancel out.

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Arabica, Parma Heights, OH

Distance from home: 7.8 miles
BCI: Moderate

I almost never go here. There are always people that I don't want to run into and it's closer to a bar atmosphere than most coffee shops. They are, however, open 24 hours on the weekends. Yes, I study on weekends sometimes. Also, free wi-fi.

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None of them are perfect, but I do have my favorites. I'm still working on some complex system in which I study certain lists at certain places, hopefully making them easier to recall. In actuality, I usually leave home with the intention of studying, not knowing where I'm going to go, and I just see where I end up.

Recent Study Jams (clickable):

You can't spell Lebron without Boner.

2007-06-01T16:37:37Z

In celebration of his performance last night, I will now share with you a Lebron James story you won't hear on ESPN.

Lebron attended a Catholic(?) high school in the Akron, OH area. I knew a girl who knew a girl who had a class with him. Toward the end of their senior year (I believe it was after he got his Hummer but before he signed a ridiculous deal with Nike, about the same time I saw him miniature golfing) his communications class had a big project due. They were supposed to make a music video and turn it in. It comes to be the day that the project is due and Lebron still doesn't have his done. The teacher allows him to take the school's video camera and leave class to go make his video. Not only that, but he recruits several girls from the class to "star" in his video. The final product turned in was a video of said girls dancing around Lebron's Hummer to the tune of whatever music was blasting from the stereo.

Lackluster night at club last night for the most part, save for a fantastic game against Dan Stock.

Nothing really flashy, just a fun game, back and forth. Interestingly enough, I lost a total of 10 points simply by not counting my plays correctly. For example, my opening play, PRAYiNG should have been 80, but I counted 76. I Quackled the game, and even though the whole game felt good, even though I won, only twice in the game (NEARSI(D)E and HAZED) did I make the best play.

Surprisingly enough I'm not really going through the tourney withdrawal I expected. I got kind of bummed last night looking at pictures from the Arden Cup, made me feel extra lame that I couldn't make it. But I know that Michigan Madness is going to be a goddamn blast, and it'll be here before I know it.

robin hood and his merry men

2007-05-25T13:14:47Z

I told myself I wasn't going to be bummed about missing the Arden Cup, because working is priority and it is work that allows me to play Scrabble at all. But pretty much all of my LJ friends are going, as well as a few people I know in real life. Thinking about playing tonight at Cahnmann's house or staying at Tom & Erica's this weekend is kind of making me a little forlorn. Ah well.

So I got promoted at work. Beginning June 1, I'll be a head agent. Not bad for 3 months on the job. A position opened up and they needed to fill it pretty quickly. It was between myself and another girl, and it was my ideas for improving our intranet and minimizing calls to the properties that put me ahead. So for the first time ever in life, I will have some kind of authority over co-workers. I wonder how that's going to be.

On the plus side, obviously, it means more money. Not that much more, but when you're 26 and trying to get out of your parents' house, you take every penny you can get. On the negative side, my Scrabbling could suffer a little bit. First of all, since I won't be on the phones much anymore, I'll have no time to study while at work. Also, there are only 5 head agents, so when I need a weekend off, there are fewer people to cover it. But it happens all the time, so we'll see.

As my reward for getting through the fours, I've been rewarding myself by studying fun (but still very useful) lists all week. Pretty soon though I'll have to get back to 7s and 8s.

cross-posted to Optical Coalpit

sundown, yellow moon

2007-05-20T02:04:35Z

Been dealing with a weird bout of nostalgia lately. I've been having completely unprompted dreams about old friends, old places, and it's been making me a bit wistful. I've found myself telling a lot of stories lately at work. Most of my co-workers are younger so it makes me feel even older to tell stories about things I did when I was 19 or 22, however awesome those stories might be.

Not sure what's causing all this reflection, but I've been staying occupied. In addition to finally getting my fours down for good, I've begun reading again. I started A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Aside from being Will Hunting's favorite history book, it's also already mine. I want to go back in time and punch Cristobal Colón in the throat because he and his cronies were total dicks. I knew the native Americans got a raw deal, but this shit is horrifying me. As glad as I am that I'm American, I'm also glad I didn't have a choice in the matter, because there's some pretty embarrassing stuff in our past (and present, for that matter).

Anyway, good things may be on the horizon at work, and also Zoolander just started on Comedy Central.

Hudson rundown, Day 2

2007-05-07T23:32:45Z

Saturday after the games I joined Tom, Cheryl Melvin and Danny Kidd at Cruisers, the bar inside the hotel. Danny is a totally nice guy who's just fun to be around. He's got stories, advice, and Hawaiian shorts. I had one beer and really felt it for some reason, played Tom in a game (won $4.95 off of him) and then went to bed.

I woke up Sunday morning and realized I forgot my toothbrush, so I drove to Wal-Mart and bought a new one. On the way there and back I listened to one of the finest songs ever written. I'll have to remember to bring headphones to Dayton, as I believe Bob had a positive effect on the day to come. Had breakfast and refrained from pre-tourney play with Tom/Kelly/Pete. Down in the Stow Room, a lady named Pam Cass was sitting at her board and asked me if I wanted to play a game before we started. I told her that I didn't really want to play before the day's games, and I think she thought I was an asshole. I was gearing up mentally.

For those unfamiliar with Chris Sheppard tournaments, it's a very confusing set-up. To those who are familiar, it's still very confusing. Anyway, how it goes is: the top 6 players from day 1 are involved in match play on day 2. First place (Cheryl Melvin) and second place (Dan Stock) would play a best-of-5 match to determine first and second place. Third place (Pete Zeigler) and fifth place (Jeff Clark) play each other in a two-game match. Whoever comes out ahead (record and spread) faces the winner of Viebranz (me, fourth place) and Midge Skwire (Sixth place). Winners of those two series face each other in a two-game match for 3rd, and losers face each other for 5th.

So I felt pretty confident playing Midge. I knew the only way she could beat me would be if she drew the bag on me, and I doubted that she could do that twice in a row. In the event of an outdraw in round 8, I would try my best to minimize spread so that I could hopefully draw equally or better in round 9.

Round 8 v. Midge Skwire (L)

And an outdraw it was. I exchange an ugly opening rack and Midge opens with a bingo, LONGeRS for 66. I try to turn over tiles and score points, knowing that Midge is likely to make a lot of 2 and 3 tile plays. On turn 3 I play TIMOR*, thinking it's the root of TIMOROUS. Neither of us knew it was a phony. I later tried to hook a Y to the end of it, thinking I heard the word in a Ted Leo song (I did, but it was a person's name). Midge challenges it and the hook (CRY for 35) came off. She plays QIS in the same place, and I don't realize that TIMORS* is also a phony. She's up 174-76. She bingos again, SEVEnTH for 98 points, and I'm down 210 points after 7 turns. I was in panic mode, but still trying to make smart plays. I simply refuse to let Midge win this match. Over the rest of the game I make a pretty good play at a comeback.

Me: YOM, Midge: DOPED, 22
UNWED, 27 TAIL, 6
KI, 22 AID, 19
VERT(E)BRA, 66 VUG, 7
FIX, 30 AWN, 9
JAG, 27 LIN, 3
UT, 8 ERE, 6
SLIT, 22 DE, 16
AE, 17 TIE, 3 (+4)

So after a horrible outdraw, I narrow the spread to 33 points. Now I just need to beat her by at least that much in order to play the winner of Jeff v. Pete.

Final: Midge 401, Me 368

Round 9 v. Midge Skwire (W)

Probably my most beautiful game of the whole tournament. I was on a tour de force. My heart was racing. I felt like a mother summoning supernatural strength to lift a bus off of her child. At the end I had more than 17 minutes left on my clock. My plays were powerful and obvious and clear. Not until the end game did I spend much time at all on any one play.

Midge goes first and opens with ZED. I hold EEILORT and play LOITERE(D) for 61. I draw ANIOPRT. Midge plays H(O)W for 17 and I play ATROPIN(E) for 70. A few turns later I get a blank. Holding DILRSU? I play R(E)SIDUaL for 61. So far all three bingos have put a tile in the triple lane, and she fails to take advantage of any of them. A 52-point X play two turns later and I am up 331-240. I already know this one is mine, and there aren't enough tiles in the bag, literally or figuratively, for Midge to turn it around. We both score decently for the rest of the game and I end up on top.

Final: Me 454, Midge 351

So I win the match and it turns out that Jeff won the match against Pete. For my rating's sake, that's what I was hoping would happen. It would be nice to see Pete win, but I know that I'll play a better game against Jeff and that Pete should have no trouble with Midge.

Round 10 v. Jeff Clark (W)

A total nail-biter. We were back and forth for the whole game, and at no point were either of us more than 54 points ahead of the other. We both bingo early with blanks (My ANEROID [forget which was the blank] and his ERaDIATE). We each bingo again later (My SOUREST to his DOURINE) and a careful endgame puts me ahead.

Final: Me 377, Jeff 358

Before the last game of every tourney, I usually become peaceful and try to reduce my stress level. Even if I lose to Jeff and end up losing the match, I've performed pretty well for myself and my rating should go up. At the very least I'll make up what I lost at last weekend's Farmington massacre.

So I went into this one with a clear head, but I wasn't going to accept a loss happily. Either way, I know it's going to be a good game.

Round 11 v. Jeff Clark (L)

It was an interesting one too, because the play that lost him the match came on turn 2. Jeff played FALX, with the A right below a double word score. I hook ZEE across the top for 57 points. FLAX would have scored him the same amount of points, but reduced that counterplay immensely. Anyway, we each bingo once (his FOAmIER for 66 and my REPLATeD for 83. It's a fun and close game throughout. Even when I was down, I never lost control of the board, and I made smart plays so I wouldn't end up feeling defeated. Jeff wins, but I keep the spread down to 7.

So I end up winning the match and 3rd place. The cross-table will look a little weird, but I take home a ribbon and $85 to put into my Scrabble account.

After saying some goodbyes, I drove home on cloud fucking nine. I eschewed the turnpike for a gorgeous drive down 303 through the valley.

Hudson rundown, Day 1

2007-05-07T03:14:19Z

So here are the final results from Hudson, as compiled by Dan Stock:

SUMMIT OPEN XVII TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Hudson, Ohio May 5-6, 2007

FIRST DAY – Preliminary Session
Note: x = Grand Finalists (to play for 1st and 2nd places on second day)
y = Petit Finalists (to play for 3rd through 6th places on second day)

Player W L T Spread
x-Cheryl Melvin 6 0 1 +446
x-Daniel Stock 5 1 1 +282
y-Pete Zeigler 5 2 0 +568
y-George Viebranz 5 2 0 +322
y-Midge Skwire 4 3 0 +216
y-Jeff Clark 4 3 0 +215
Karen Smith 4 3 0 +3
Danny Kidd 4 3 0 -40
Cecilia Huber 4 3 0 -93
Maureen Kennerk 4 3 0 -118
Walter Konicki 3 4 0 +59
Tom Kowalik 3 4 0 -9
Kelly McKenzie 3 4 0 -16
Christopher Sheppard 3 4 0 -46
Kevin Sears 3 4 0 -159
Linda Hoggatt 3 4 0 -232
Dick Shellenberger 2 5 0 -200
Pam Cass 2 5 0 -311
Pat Hardwick 1 6 0 -637

SECOND DAY

Relegation Match ‘A’ (best-of-two)
Jeff Clark d. Pete Zeigler, 1-1 (+20)
Game 1: Clark, 373-350
Game 2: Zeigler, 424-421

Relegation Match ‘B’ (best-of-two)
George Viebranz d. Midge Skwire, 1-1 (+70)
Game 1: Skwire, 401-368
Game 2: Viebranz, 454-351

Fifth Place Match (best-of-two)
Pete Zeigler d. Midge Skwire, 2-0
Game 1: Zeigler, 557-305
Game 2: Zeigler, 458-257

Third Place Match (best-of-two)
George Viebranz d. Jeff Clark, 1-1 (+12)
Game 1: Viebranz, 377-358
Game 2: Clark, 393-386

Championship Match (best-of-five)
Daniel Stock d. Cheryl Melvin, 3-0
Game 1: Stock, 525-281
Game 2: Stock, 393-379
Game 3: Stock, 412-356

General Pool (standings based on overall tournament record)
Place Player W L Spread
7th Kelly McKenzie 7 4 +490
8th Kevin Sears 6 5 +133*
9th Tom Kowalik 6 5 +133
10th Walter Konicki 6 5 +100
11th Danny Kidd 6 5 +76
12th Christopher Sheppard 6 5 -11
13th Karen Smith 6 5 -63
14th Maureen Kennerk 6 5 -316
15th Cecilia Huber 5 6 -299
16th Linda Hoggatt 4 7 -325
17th Pam Cass 3 8 -560
18th Pat Hardwick 3 8 -709
19th Dick Shellenberger 2 9 -348

*Notes: Kevin Sears finished ahead of Tom Kowalik on the basis of a
434-337 victory in head-to-head competition. Dick Shellenberger
forfeited games in the 1st and 8th rounds due to tardiness.

Saturday started out with a nice drive to Hudson (about half an hour for me). It was beautiful out and I drove with the windows down listening to my pump-up music. I met up with Pete at Bob Evans at about 10:45. Karen Smith showed up and joined us, as did Tom Kowalik later. I had eggs benedict and coffee, a breakfast of novices, and before too long it was time to head to the Holiday Inn.

Checked in and dropped stuff off before round 1.

Round 1 vs. Maureen Kennerk (W)

My favorite way to start a tourney: Drawing the bag on someone I have no business beating. Had a natural bingo, SPI(T)TERS on turn 6. Surprisingly, Maureen challenged and it was good. Drew BILNRTV and played BRIT(S) for 14. Picked up CDJQ. Maureen exchanges, and so do I (keep Q [I forget why] and change 6). I pick up both blanks, so my rack is ADEIQ??. I spend one blank on a 48-point Q play. She plays VAW for 13, I use the other blank for GOALiES (hooking the first three letters in BRITS). She plays Z(A)GS through that A and I'm up by 39 points. Not a very big spread, but I start closing down while scoring a few points.

Final: Me 387, Maureen 333.

Round 2 vs. Midge Skwire (W)

I can usually handle Midge at club. She tends to score pretty steadily throughout the game, so when playing her I try to do the same. I know she also will challenge a word she doesn't know, so I try to throw in some weird ones if possible.

I bingo on turn 3 with ARTICLe, which puts the E below a TWS in an otherwise clear lane. I probably wouldn't have done this normally, but I had skimmed Word Freak a bit on Thursday night before bed and took Marlon Hill's advice: When your word knowledge is equal to or better than your opponent's, "string the board wide fuckin' open." I try not to be too cautious at the beginning of a game anyway. She leaves the triple lane alone and tries PRIC(I)NGS*, which I challenged off with little hesitation, having looked over the -INGS list a few times. I play AY on aforementioned TWS for 29 points. I get hung up with some awful racks, exchange 2 turns in a row, pick up a blank and play RENTIeR, hoping to draw a challenge. She doesn't even hold. It's in the second lane down from the top, which gives her another triple play that she doesn't take advantage of. She plays QUODS elsewhere and I play MOA on the TWS for 30. I'm up 61 points, Midge exchanges and it doesn't take much work to close things up.

Final: Me 389, Midge 314.

Round 3 vs. Pat Hardwick (W)

Another clubmate I feel confident against, though I know I can't hot-dog it. At turn 6 she plays QUAI near the TWS to take a 26 point lead. I hold FAIREST, which I play for 100 on the TWS. I score steadily for the next few turns and end up 61 points ahead after 13 turns. I hold EEIORS? and play sOIREES to take a healthy lead. The game ends before I get much of a chance to shut it down.

Final: Me 392, Pat 256

So now I'm 3-0 with a decent spread, and I'm paired against one of the people I was afraid I'd have to face. On the positive tip, it was early, and if I lost it would mean that I was still 3-1 after 4 games. I'd rather get outplayed by Pete than have an inferior player draw the bag on me. However, if I end up pulling out the win, it would allow me to cross one off of my 101 in 1001 list. Also, a combination of taking the game very seriously and studying a shitload makes Pete pretty cocky, and every once in a while I try to be a good friend and take some wind out of his sails.

Round 4 vs. Pete Zeigler (L)

I just got straight-up outplayed.

Final: Pete 365, Me 307

Dinner at Outback with Pete, Kelly and Tom. Good time.

Round 5 vs. Kelly Mackenzie (W)

Another of the losses I allowed myself ended up turning out in my favor. Kelly won't give you a game, you pretty much have to pull it out of him. We both bingo on turn 7 (Me with the cooler find, REFUsAL instead of FAiLURE or tEARFUL... him with a flasher play, AIGLETS, which you'd have to see the board to appreciate.) I bingo again two turns later with GREASED and nervously I try to close it down. He bingos again with OuTSIDE at the only place possible on the board and takes a 2-point lead after 12 turns. A tense and fun endgame, me with slightly more synergistic tiles.

Final: Me 404, Kelly 375

Round 6 vs. Danny Kidd (L)

I played this one well and had a 60-point lead after 8, but Danny drew both blanks and put up 170 points in 3 turns. All I could do was damage control and keep the spread down. It was one of those games.

Final: Danny 398, Me 363

Round 7 vs. Walter Konicki (W)

Going into this one, I knew I had to win if I wanted any chance at match play. I drew everything I needed (??SSSJQXZ) and scored well with all of it. I let him get away with a phony (V)IOLINES because I would still have a 60-some point lead and a 56-point reply. I like Walter a lot and almost felt guilty, but I had played a hard day of good Scrabble and I will always take advantage when karma works in my favor.

Final: Me 438, Walter 317

Day 2 later.

ipecac_icecap @ 2007-03-31T23:25:00

2007-04-01T03:37:35Z

Wasted my day off because I drank 3 beers last night and even though I didn't get drunk I was somehow hung over today. What a gyp. Took a great nap though. I didn't go out tonight because I work 8-4 tomorrow, but a good shift at work can be better than a boring Saturday night at the Strongsville Cafe. There, I said it.

Already starting to think about where I'm going to go for vacation next year. After a year at Holiday Inn I get 2 weeks of paid vacation, and I figure I'm going to use one week of that for Scrabble. I want to go back to Europe but money might be an issue. Maybe California? Maybe the U.P.? I'm open to suggestions. I know it might be seen by some as pathetic that I am looking 48 weeks into the future, but I haven't been on a decent week-long vacation in about 6 years and I'm really stoked about seeing some new states or countries.

Also stoked about Cedar Point (I've decided to get a season pass, sinusoid, are you in?) and maybe a few canoeing trips.

ipecac_icecap @ 2007-01-08T10:04:00

2007-01-08T15:12:58Z

Weird weekend of Scrabble. I was in Fenton, MI for the weekend, 7 games on Saturday and 7 on Sunday. Saturday's tourney was divisional, so I wasn't playing anyone rated much higher than me. I won three games, 2 against people I should have beaten and one against someone I should have lost to. The four games I lost were all to people I should have beaten, but my rating won't go down because of Sunday. Sunday's tourney was an open, which meant that I could have plausibly ended up playing Chuck Armstrong, who is currently ranked 19th in the country. I didn't play him, but I did play many people whose rating was twice mine. I ended up winning three games, beating people I really shouldn't have beaten in two of them. So my rating will go up 50-60 points, which means that I am one step closer to being out of the bottom division at Nationals, which means I won't have to play old hags that lay their tiles on the board upside down and talk like fucking magpies for the whole game. I'm not being cocky when I say I belong at the top. When I talk to people at the top, it's clear that they enjoy the game more than the people I'm currently playing against. They obviously have great tips for up and comers, and they're just more interesting to be around. I guess I'm starting to sound like a Scrabble groupie (or band-aid) but it's all true, and I won't stop climbing until I'm in division 1.

Comprehensive results later.