Regnant

Last Wednesday I participated in the Kirkland Adult Spelling Bee. Unlike the traditional 'individual' bees that you may remember from middle school, this bee was played in teams of three, and you could confer on the spelling of the words with your team members. My teammates were Brian (a Googler) and Gretta (girlfriend of a Googler). Both were way better spellers than I; we quickly came to the end of the words I recognized (these weren't middle school words!), though I did manage to save us on fetial.

We ended up getting spelled out in the first half on the word regnant (French origin! Shame on me for not knowing that!), but the whole evening was a lot of fun. The team play and the generally laid-back atmosphere of the event made it a lot more relaxed and fun than the middle school bees I remember. And it turns out there's a monthly bee in a Seattle bar... Maybe this is my new subculture. :-)