P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E

June 6th, 2005

My favorite TV commercial is the one that shows up on ESPN. They're advertising this year's Spelling Bee, and the commercial consists of a bunch of different shots of kids spelling out words. But each kid only says one letter, starting with "P", and then the screen switches to another kid, who says, "...R...". It's not until the end of the commercial that you realize what they just spelled, "P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E". Haha, oh man! that made me laugh!

I'm sure most of my friends would be surprised if I told them that once opon a time I competed in the Spelling Bee. That was in 5th grade...my third year living here in the US. My brother and I always liked to do things together, and when he told me his teacher picked him to enter the Spelling Bee, I of course wanted to do the same. The problem was that my teacher only invited those students who were good at spelling (well, duh!), and I was not a good speller. So during class while the teacher was calling out names in class and asking them if they would like to enter the Spelling Bee, she completely skipped my name. Not to be outdone, I raised my hand and said with a tone of defiance, "I would like to enter the Spelling Bee". I still remember the expression on her face when I said that...I laugh out loud when I think of it. She just didn't know what to say! Here was a punk kid who was only mediocre (at best) at spelling, and was demanding to be allowed to enter the Spelling Bee. Unheard of!!!!! So she finally stammered, "Oh. Umm...uh....O-okay."

So the day of the Spelling Bee came. I lost in the third round with the word "Ballerina". Yes, "Ballerina". But in my defense, it was only my third year speaking English. And I spelled it, "B-A-I-...." because that's how you spell it in Spanish. Oh well, excuses excuses. My brother on the other hand, WON the entire thing and got a trophy and everything!!! He went on to the City Spelling Bee and made a good showing (even spelled Zucchini right!). He graduated from Rice University and just this past year got a job with Microsoft, in Seattle. My brother is wicked smart!!! But I still dominate him in Backgammon...bwahahaha!

While watching this year's Spelling Bee on TV, I was amazed at the words these kids were spelling. EXSICCOSIS, ORNITHORHYNCHOUS, SPHYGMOMANOMETER. When one of the kids (who tied for 2nd) was given the word, "ONYCHOPHAGY", he asked the judge, "Is that the medical term for when nails are bitten enough to become deformed?" And it was!

But my moment of glory came when the final word was given to the kid that won. It was APPOGGIATURA. Ha! Appoggiatura! Every music student knows that word, because they pound it in our heads during our Freshman and Sophomore theory classes. So I may not have even been able to pronounce any of the other words, but I KNEW THE WINNING WORD!!!

I am the smartest man alive!!!!