DSL

Current DC SOWPODS League activity is still confined to the Kitchen at John&Marsh's, but it's exciting and mind-expanding. (Honestly, it's partly Simon's recuperation that has us playing more. He's not supposed to jump on furniture for 2 weeks, and the kitchen is really the only room that he can freely hang out in.)

Anyway, we're playing. We noted tonight that we are playing a game using a world dictionary on a custom board with protiles and a samtimer clock, a homemade bag, and 2 blue plastic racks that predate Hasbro. We play a (memorized) version of the tournament rules developed by world organizations, and we use our own self-designed scoresheets. And roller ball pens. We note a lot of things here at DC SOWPODS League headquarters.

We should develop a logo, and a motto! I love mottoes.

I won both games tonight with the help of the magic tile bag fairies.

Two down, 999 to go

The first two games last night. As usually happens when we start playing again after a break, we were both a little more conservative than we normally are. That fades fast. John killed in the first game and almost broke 600; I did NOT break 300. Some of this was tiles, but some of it was me not seeing GIUSTED# and so forth. It may be like riding a bike, but you also have to remember where the road is.

The second game I drew all the great tiles and barely squeaked out a 25 point win.

But look at the record. It just shows a nice clean 1 to 1.

To be fair, John did play nice words like FIREP(L)UG. For many points.

This is important.

We're about to switch over to all collins all the time (again, yes). Should we start a brand new series? Say -- best of 1000? Or should we merely add on to the lifetime championship series?

There's really only room for one record on the fridge.

Is 1000 games really enough to give a true champ?

No easy answers, I'm afraid.

Why not?

Did I mention that we finally joined NASPA? It was spurred mostly by finding out that Collins events would get a NASPA rating. One likes to encourage this kind of behavior.

So I'm back to not trying to keep the word lists separate. Let's face it, it's not like we'll be playing a lot of tourneys any time soon. So why NOT play the version I love? Why NOT try to do it the best I possibly can?

I don't put much time into studying these days, for sure. I should make it efficient.

But ... we joined NASPA!

optimism?

Our nerdy Tuesday nights of pizza and Battlestar Galactica (no, I'm not joking) have changed to Fridays for this semester. The local writing group has just changed to Thursdays.

Do you know what this means? This means we might actually have a club night! The problem, of course, is that club is that big corporation influenced dictionary instead of the all-inclusive one world order dictionary that we rebels and socialists prefer. So we'll have to decide which principles to trash, but still.

Break out the tiles, baby!

Blank designation

If and only if there is binding of verbal designation, by your opponent's designated clarification -- thereafter -- only THEN may you use the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

Unless the director has been called over to record the blank designation, therefore.

toysRmelodrama

People don't live in tiny villages any more. This "play locally" crap really is crap. We have planes and the internet. My son married a girl he met on the internet, from Scotland*. All of my kids have friends that they interact with EVERY DAY from other countries, from other languages. They sometimes play using a mishmash of English, Brazilian, and curse words from around the world. They make up words -- sometimes just because there is a new idea and it doesn't have a word yet. I love this world. I love that the people in my life are in the same room with me and on the other side of the world. I am sorry that not everyone lives in this kind of universe -- yet. But they will.

Anyway, my real point is: the main objectors are from a certain generation of Scrabble play, with lower NSA member numbers (that might be whimsical; I have no idea if they are sequential member numbers). A lot of them are also from a certain actual generation. The new generations (Scrabble and otherwise) are not "afraid of teh pods". We just have to be patient and keep doing the work.

*And if she tries to play Scrabble with her little brother using official sites, she is actually not allowed to do so, because of the insane Hasbro/Mattel split. You objectors, you are like the rats who catch toxoplasmosis from the cats and then do the cats' bidding. Really. The masters have installed a parasite in your brain, and that parasite is OSPD.

Yes, I'm melodramatic. It's the holidays.