Back in the day, I played a lot of Scrabble.
For a while during the last year in G5, three or four games a week was pretty standard. The board frequently came out during thesis breaks or What Not To Wear marathons in OM, too. In contrast, in the nearly seven months since I moved to California, I had not played a single game of Scrabble until last night.
Without Claire or Vanessa nearby, and without roommates besides my alternate personalities, circumstances apt for Scrabbling present themselves far less frequently than they did in my former life in Utah.
Last night, however, I met a new friend. We're just two people reaching out to one another, breaking out from isolation, seeking a little warmth and unity amid a cold and fragmented society. And arranging lettered tiles on a grid.
The product:
Making words is fun.
Making friends is delightful.
Making words with a new friend? Marvelous.
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6 comments:
Scrabble is such a great way to get to know people. We love playing Scrabble, and I like it because I'm actually not that good at it (unlike trivia games where I'm embarrassed because I spent years as a trivia player). Anyways, we just found "junior scrabble" at DI the other day and I'm so excited to indoctrinate our children...
There is nothing better than playing Scrabble with a friend, in my opinion. While it lacks the charm and the room for conversation of a real game, there is a pretty good online version at www.isc.ro If you do get set up there, look me up. My name is mikgub.
Reading your post on playing scrabble with a new friend...priceless. To be honest, playing scrabble against someone who delightfully reads the pages of the dictionary sounds a little intimidating. Who won?
I have to admit, my favorite word on the board is Shiv. That word always reminds me of Phil Hartman's Alcatraz guide in So I Married an Axe Murderer.
Kim: Thanks for the isc.ro tip; I will probably find you there soon. I was pretty distraught when Scrabulous fell through, so it's good to know there's an alternative. 'Spesh since my best Scrabble partner is nearly 3000 miles away. Hard to reach the board from there.
Jared: I don't know; we didn't keep score. And trust me, I'm far from being an intimidating Scrabbler. When I play against Claire, for instance, she always wins. By like 150 points. It's ridiculous.
Have you ever read the book Wordfreak? It's about professional level competitive Scrabble players, and it has a lot about the history of the game too. It's a pretty fun little book.
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