The Elusive QUETZAL

Scrabble Rating: 1004

My Internet Scrabble Club rating finally broke 1000. And I hope there's no looking back to those sad days when I was lost in the muck around 820. I used to average 320 points a game; I now average 362.

I can't really explain why I'm playing so much better. Maybe it's because I became accustomed to playing quicker games so that now I'm anagramming faster. Or perhaps I see the hot spots on the board better.

My proudest bingo came in a game where I lost, despite scoring 373. (I'm fuzzgig, the opponent is truffy).

Truffy dropped the first bingo with teasing, playing the t off the of, then a couple turns later slapped down ironies. I made a game of it by throwing down beginner, while at the same time forming three other words: li,in, and ne. Our combined scores was 822, which the pros make.

The next day I wanted a rematch. Truffy got stuck with some bad letters, and I just pounced.

I opened with jiber for 44 points. There were no bingoes, but aquae scored 72 points, with the q on the double letter while the e landed on the triple word.

Well, now I'm going to make some flash cards in order to memorize all the words that can be formed when you have the letters easter + a blank.

Answer: aerates, beaters, berates, rebates, cerates, creates, ecartes, dearest, redates, sedater, afreets, feaster, ergates, restage, aethers, heaters, reheats, aeriest, seriate, retakes, elaters, realest, relates, reslate, stealer, remates, reteams, steamer, earnest, eastern, nearest, roseate, repeats, retapes, retears, serrate, tearers, easters, reseats, searest, seaters, teasers, tessera, estreat, restate, retaste, austere, sweater, retaxes.

Nerd Hobbies: Part 2

I thought you might want an update to the progress of my new nerd hobbies: Internet Scrabble and birdwatching.

Scrabble: The Internet Scrabble Club is full of pretty nice people. Whenever I play them, I affectionately refer to them as chumps, especially when they are winning.

I have the two letter words down pat. My favorite library themed two letter word is SH.

Now I'm working on memorizing all three letter words that are two letter words plus one letter. For example, SH + H = SHH.

I also take pictures of games in which I score a bonus for using all seven letters.

In this one I scored two bonuses or "bingoes" for entitle and baiters. I came from way behind to win this game. I was pretty mad at myself for not playing an a on jot to make jota (a type of Spanish dance). Notice that my Scrabble name is Fuzzgig.

Birdwatching: Last week I visited my brother on his birthday up in Columbus, Ohio. After checking out the main branch of the Columbus Public Library we visited the arboretum that's behind it.

It's supposed to be like some famous painting that I forget now. Anyway, my brother showed me the difference between house sparrows and starlings, which seemed to be the only birds in Ohio.

Upon my return to Baton Rouge, I bought Sibley's Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, (which I highly recommend)borrowed some binoculars and took a walk around the LSU lakes. I saw several Great Egrets, a Great Blue Heron, and several ducks and geese that I couldn't identify. The Great Blue Heron is a cool bird--fun to watch.

So thanks to my brother, now I know that some house sparrows are living in my front porch. But I'm still a beginner because I haven't even positively identified any American Robins, and they are supposed to be everywhere.

I am getting better. I think I saw a Red-headed Woodpecker in my front yard today pecking on an electric pole, but it flew away before I could get the binoculars. And I'm pretty sure that I've been seeing Mockingbirds all over the place. It's pretty tricky starting from scratch like I am.

Lately, my dream--what I fantasize about when I drift into sleep--is of a moment when both of my nerd hobbies will coincide, come together, intermingle, become one. That moment is when I play the word quetzal in a Scrabble game.