Spelling Bee!

I’m a geek, yes I admit it! Yesterday I was watching the Scripps Spelling Bee finals.

 

Saw this on their website, the winners and the winning words. Notice how the words became exponentially more difficult in the recent years compared to when they started.

 

YEAR	WORD	CHAMPION	SPONSOR
1925	gladiolus	Frank Neuhauser	Louisville Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky
1926	cerise	Pauline Bell	Louisville Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky
1927	luxuriance	Dean Lucas	Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio
1928	albumen	Betty Robinson	South Bend News-Tribune, South Bend, Indiana
1929	asceticism	Virginia Hogan	The Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska
1930	fracas	Helen Jensen	Des Moines Register & Tribune, Des Moines, Iowa
1931	foulard	Ward Randall	White Hall Register-Republican, White Hall, Illinois
1932	knack	Dorothy Greenwald	Des Moines Register & Tribune, Des Moines, Iowa
1933	torsion	Alma Roach	Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio
1934	deteriorating	Sarah Wilson	Portland Evening Express, Portland, Maine
1935	intelligible	Clara Mohler	Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio
1936	interning	Jean Trowbridge	Des Moines Register & Tribune, Des Moines, Iowa
1937	promiscuous	Waneeta Beckley	Louisville Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky
1938	sanitarium	Marian Richardson	Louisville Times, Louisville, Kentucky
1939	canonical	Elizabeth Ann Rice	Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, Massachusetts
1940	therapy	Laurel Kuykendall	The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Knoxville, Tennessee
1941	initials	Louis Edward Sissman	Detroit News, Detroit, Michigan
1942	sacrilegious	Richard Earnhart	El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso, Texas
1946	semaphore	John McKinney	Des Moines Register & Tribune, Des Moines, Iowa
1947	chlorophyll	Mattie Lou Pollard	Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia
1948	psychiatry	Jean Chappelear	Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio
1949	dulcimer	Kim Calvin	Canton Repository, Canton, Ohio
1950	meticulosity	Diana Reynard and Colquitt Dean	Cleveland Press, Cleveland, Ohio, and Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia
1951	insouciant	Irving Belz	Memphis Press Scimitar, Memphis, Tennessee
1952	vignette	Doris Ann Hall	Winston-Salem Journal, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1953	soubrette	Elizabeth Hess	Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona
1954	transept	William Cashore	Norristown Times Herald, Norristown, Pennsylvania
1955	crustaceology	Sandra Sloss	St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, Missouri
1956	condominium	Melody Sachko	The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1957	schappe	Sandra Owen and Dana Bennett	Canton Repository, Canton, Ohio, and Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado
1958	syllepsis	Jolitta Schlehuber	Topeka Daily Capital, Topeka, Kansas
1959	catamaran	Joel Montgomery	Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado
1960	eudaemonic	Henry Feldman	The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Knoxville, Tennessee
1961	smaragdine	John Capehart	Tulsa Tribune, Tulsa, Oklahoma
1962	esquamulose	Nettie Crawford¹ and Michael Day	El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso, Texas, and St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, Missouri
1963	equipage	Glen Van Slyke III	The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Knoxville, Tennessee
1964	sycophant	William Kerek	Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio
1965	eczema	Michael Kerpan Jr.	Tulsa Tribune, Tulsa, Oklahoma
1966	ratoon	Robert A. Wake	Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas
1967	Chihuahua	Jennifer Reinke	The Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska
1968	abalone	Robert L. Walters	The Topeka Daily Capital, Topeka, Kansas
1969	interlocutory	Susan Yoachum	Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas
1970	croissant	Libby Childress	Winston-Salem Journal & Sentinel, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1971	shalloon	Jonathan Knisely	Philadelphia Bulletin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1972	macerate	Robin Kral	Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Lubbock, Texas
1973	vouchsafe	Barrie Trinkle	Fort Worth Press, Fort Worth, Texas
1974	hydrophyte	Julie Ann Junkin	Birmingham Post-Herald, Birmingham, Alabama
1975	incisor	Hugh Tosteson	San Juan Star, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1976	narcolepsy	Tim Kneale	Syracuse Herald Journal-American, Syracuse, New York
1977	cambist	John Paola	The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1978	deification	Peg McCarthy	The Topeka Capital-Journal, Topeka, Kansas
1979	maculature	Katie Kerwin	Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado
1980	elucubrate	Jacques Bailly	Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado
1981	sarcophagus	Paige Pipkin	El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso, Texas
1982	psoriasis	Molly Dieveney	Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado
1983	Purim	Blake Giddens²	El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso, Texas
1984	luge	Daniel Greenblatt	Loudoun Times-Mirror, Leesburg, Virginia
1985	milieu	Balu Natarajan	Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
1986	odontalgia	Jon Pennington	The Patriot News, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
1987	staphylococci	Stephanie Petit	The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1988	elegiacal	Rageshree Ramachandran	The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California
1989	spoliator	Scott Isaacs	Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado
1990	fibranne	Amy Marie Dimak	The Seattle Times, Seattle, Washington
1991	antipyretic	Joanne Lagatta	The Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wisconsin
1992	lyceum	Amanda Goad	The Richmond News Leader, Richmond, Virginia
1993	kamikaze	Geoff Hooper	The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee
1994	antediluvian	Ned G. Andrews	The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Knoxville, Tennessee
1995	xanthosis	Justin Tyler Carroll³	The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee
1996	vivisepulture	Wendy Guey	The Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach, Florida
1997	euonym	Rebecca Sealfon	Daily News, New York, New York
1998	chiaroscurist	Jody-Anne Maxwell	Phillips & Phillips Stationery Suppliers, Ltd., Kingston, Jamaica
1999	logorrhea	Nupur Lala	The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida
2000	demarche	George Abraham Thampy	St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri
2001	succedaneum	Sean Conley	Aitkin Independent Age, Aitkin, Minnesota
2002	prospicience	Pratyush Buddiga	Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado
2003	pococurante	Sai R. Gunturi	The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas
2004	autochthonous	David Scott Pilarski Tidmarsh	South Bend Tribune, South Bend, Indiana
2005	appoggiatura	Anurag Kashyap	San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego, California
2006	Ursprache	Kerry Close	Asbury Park Press/Home News Tribune, Asbury Park, New Jersey
2007	serrefine	Evan M. O'Dorney	Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, California
2008	guerdon	Sameer Mishra	Journal and Courier, Lafayette, Indiana
2009	Laodicean	Kavya Shivashankar	Olathe News, Olathe, Kansas
2010	stromuhr	Anamika Veeramani	The Plain Dealer Cleveland, Ohio

 

 

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Got a 101 list of things to do to make this year meaningful from my new planner (Navi 2011, Life Navigator) and picked a couple of things.

 

What I aspire to happen on 2011 (or at least in the near future!)

 

1. live abroad for a year (although I feel like I’m too old to do this)
2. Invest in the stock market (Mutual Funds na lang!)
3. Learn how to meditate (Pranayama Aaaaauuuuummmmm)
4. Plan a one-week vacation (I need some tan)
5. Actually go on that vacation
6. Take my vitamins (already diligently doing this, more like continue…)
7. Become fluent in a foreign language (Crossed Fingers! HSK4 is the target!)
8. Know that I have everything I need (I soooo need this, it’s a journey to contentment)
9. Ride a transcontinental train (Transiberian Luxe!)
10. Find myself (The ultimate goal to enlightenment)
11. See my favorite band play (No concerts lined up just yet)
12. Ride a gondola in Venice (it’s a stretch! I heard it costs an arm and a leg!)
13. Sit up straight
14. Pick a cause to support or volunteer for (already supporting several, want to try volunteering)
15. Help a stranger (felt warm and fuzzy when I did it!)
16. Go back to school and learn something fun (KungFu Class! I hope it pushes through)
17. Become better at small talk (in dire need of this social skill)
18. Win something (I never win at anything, I take this seriously!)
19. Make conversation with my seat mate on the plane (I wish to travel by myself this year, hope I raise enough funds!)
20. Get a pen pal (someone to practice my foreign language skills!)

 

Calling on the forces of the universe, I’m sending this out there based on the law of attraction.

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and may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you
have received it in error, please delete it and advise the sender
immediately. You should not copy or use it for any other purpose,
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