oh my god i just played the most intense game of scrabble ever with this chick online who COULD NOT SPELL when we were “chatting” but seemed to have the scrabble dictionary memorized. i asked from time to time what obscure words i’d never heard of meant and she kept saying, “dunno, but they always use it.” they, i realized, = people like ross, or my brother’s friend danny who played my father, a veritable guru, and insisted quite calmly that “jo” counts. sure nuff, my opponent tonite used “jo” and as i was ranting about it, my brother said, “yeah, danny got dad with that one. apparently it means boyfriend” and handed me the phone because ben was calling for me.
BUT i got her – it was neck and neck – i was sweating, i was tense (i hate competition, by the way; in real life, i would have collapsed or given up BUT that, dear friends, is the allure, power, and glory of the internet) – i was ahead by a comfortable 25 and we had picked all the tiles and i was picking the perfect places for my last 3 tiles when SUDDENLY she pulled a “w” and an “x” out of nowhere and won herself 30 points, putting her in the lead. i started screaming at the computer; i nearly shook the damn thing like an infant; until i threw down my last three, using her W, hitting a double-word score, and ending it in the wild hope that her final score, with leftovers subtracted, would be under mine.
and it was. by a single point.
now that, my friends, is a game.