The current official standings in the J and M Championship of the World: him 17, me 16. I would be more worried, but this is a best-of-36,500 series. I think my chances are still okay.

The series includes both TWL and Collins, home and club. Speed games don't go in the official standings.

His average score is higher than mine. I think that's because he's more pragmatic than I am. I'm slightly more likely to go for the gusto if I see a sliver of a chance at the end. Usually I find that the sliver is more like the glimmer of fool's gold.

**

Club yesterday was a blast. I won the coveted $3 prize for high word containing the letters G and H -- AND I won the $3 prize for last session's M and J word. $6 bucks, ladies and gentlemen. There's real money to be made in this game! I went 2 and 3. I have yet to dare to look at the scoresheets to see where things went wrong, although I already know I missed at least one nice endgame solution against K.C. K.C. gets solider and solider as time goes on. Watch out for her. Laura has decided to make Scrabble less of a priority in her life. Since then, she has been winning like a fiend. Hmph.

After the first three games, I went outside to take a phone call to discuss child custody stuff. This doesn't mean anything is wrong. When you are part of a parenting team with your ex-spouse, and when your child's situation doesn't fit the "normal and expected" custody formulas, you spend time on the phone. There's no way around it.

When I came back inside, I was: thirsty, hungry, sweaty, and hyper. I'm curious to see how my games were affected. I THINK I played more creatively than usual in those last two games. That's how it felt.

It's not just about strategic ability and word knowledge. Players are living creatures, not scrabble devices. The other stuff in their heads -- it matters.