True Confessions

I love words beyond what is considered acceptable in mixed company. And I have no idea what that last sentence means, nor do I care, as long as it expresses the fact that I'm so much in love with words that it is an obsession. Tabitha hates the vocabulary part of English--something I cannot even begin to understand. I adored learning vocabulary--not the stupid workbooky things, but just finding more words one could use to express different things. One of my teachers taught us Latin roots and then we'd find related words and guess their meanings based on the origin. I was in heaven.

For awhile I tried actually using my new words in common conversation. Most of my responses ran along the lines of, "Huh?" or "What did you say?" or "Is that even a word?" So, naturally, I gave up. The purpose of talking is, of course, to aid in communication and if the person with whom one is trying to communicate is not a logophile, well, it's best to stick with the basics. But while I curtailed my urge to share my love of words, I continued to avidly seek out new and unusual letter combinations which made me swoon. And, yes, I still do.

In tandem with this love of words has come the love of word games--all of them. I adore them. But the problem is finding someone who wishes to play with me. I've cajoled several friends into playing Scrabble and Boggle (under their real and fake names) with me online, but they lose interest after awhile. Only Edgy voluntarily continues our perpetual Scrabble game, with an occasional Boggle. Original Mohomie will humor me occasionally, but I believe AtP just rolls his eyes when I suggest we play. He's even allowed one of our games to DIE!!! I seriously considered cutting off all contact with him when that happened. Jason plays with me occasionally, but admits that he cheats (I still don't see how that can be fun--come on!!--we're talking about WORDS here!).

Scrabble presents the element of chance to our games, so it's highly possible that I will lose. Regardless of how many words I know, if my letters don't cooperate, or my opponent is able to use those cute colored squares to add bonus points to the words played, well, knowledge can't trump luck, can it? Boggle, however, presents everyone with a level playing field. All the letters are of equal value and you earn points simply by finding the words. I love it. I've been slacking off on my Boggle games lately, though, because I've been playing while I chat with clients at work. This is a bad idea. The game is timed, and often I forget I'm playing if my client is sufficiently distracting. Result = loss. Which also messes with my rating.

So last weekend I devoted all my attention to my online Boggle games. This has brought about a couple of results.
1. My online rating has increased dramatically as I've consistently racked up high scores.
2. No one wants to play with me anymore. My customary thirteen games, which normally move smoothly from turn to turn, have been stalled for about two days. This is not good.

So, today I returned once again to playing while I chat with customers, because, let's face it, it's sort of impossible to play without an opponent. Even the live games with strangers aren't as fun, because I like playing with friends.

And just because I want people to come back and take their turns, I'll give you a hint. Look for these words:
ootid
ulu
aerobe
teazle
acquaintance

Okay, fine, I know that won't help because the board is different every time, but really, don't let our games die!! I appeal to your finer sensitivities...Do I have to make you cookies?