10.27.08
Scrabulous!
A venerated childhood amusement well-nigh forgotten has been recently revived in our family. Scrabble.
It enhanced TV-less nights during my tender age, led to the discovery of peculiar and funny vocabulary, increased addition skills for whoever was totaling points, and produced essential family time most importantly. Misha was not born then, so four family members were Scrabble-perfect. I recall Dandi and Mama being the steadfast highest scorers while I maintained the lowest rank unwaveringly and consoled myself with a phrase taken out of context; “the first will be last and the last will be first.” C’mon, at least I did not resort to “grant me serenity to accept the words I cannot change, the courage to play the tiles I can, and the wisdom to use the triple word score.” Every time we assembled for a game, I knew I would always finish with the least worthy words to my name, but would end up having the grandest time nonetheless. Mama held the banner for the most complicated terms, while Dandi followed with long words that usually managed to stretch towards Double and Triple Word Scores. Papa’s style was interesting seeing that he was able to weave words, and score greatly with a minimal use of letters. He remains artistic even in Scrabble. As for myself? I had no strategies and panicked at the sight of a “Q” without a “U” along my seven tiles.
The reawakening of Scrabble in our home brings back happy memories and gathering for another game is more enjoyable than ever. Moreover, this time gives me the chance to score better due to my age, and it is now Misha at the bottom rank. This won’t be for long, however. At eight years of age, Misha is catching up with the adults. He even gave me a start when he struck a pose at the dinner table a la Rodin’s The Thinker and asked me, “Ate, what is philosophy?” I never asked questions like that when I was eight! I have accepted my lot – and with cheerfulness – that I will always be the sub(4x)ordinate brain of the family. But! Scrabble has taught me more than triple word scores could offer.
In Scrabble, we are given an opportunity to create, we are endowed with this expanse of a board, occasional big-scoring tiles, a bombardment of less-scoring tiles, pure vowels or unmixed consonants at intervals, but we are required to use whatever we have. The challenge lies in how we do that. Otherwise, we end up wasting the valuable tiles on trivial spots and arsy versy, the insignificant tiles on important places, or worse, make the tiles provided of non effect by allowing its value to be subtracted from our tabulation due to neglect and non-use. Yet, the challenge does not end there. We must choose the best of companions. Life is a scrabble. A challenge, a struggle – but it is wonderful. Ain’t it scrabulous to be alive?!
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Scrabble-aficionado t-shirt idea: “I panic without U.” =P
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"twinnie" said,
October 27, 2008 at 9:13 am
“In Scrabble, we are given an opportunity to create, we are endowed with this expanse of a board….. but we are required to use whatever we have. The challenge lies in how we do that.”
indeed. and in the scrabble of life, our task is to form out of those tiles -easy or hard- beautiful words or maybe extend what the other players have already formed beautifully…
i love scrabble! thanks mir!!!
Miracle ♪♫ said,
October 27, 2008 at 9:32 am
Twin! =) Thanks for visiting my humble blog and adding your thoughts . Let’s play scrabble next time we get together: You, Franz, Reji, and I. Love you and miss you to bits!