Lucy’s lopsided laundry line was
loaded with long and loopy letters.
                  from Ellsworth’s Extraordinary Electric Ears
​                        and other Amazing Alphabetic Anecdotes
                         written and illustrated by Valorie Fisher
                     Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003

    My dad was a good speller. He said he knew when his spelling was correct because it “looked right.” He claimed to be a good speller because he studied Latin in high school. I think he was just smart. He might have been able to win the National Spelling Bee. I think he never had the chance.
    One hundred years ago today, nine spellers did participate in the first National Spelling Bee. That year, 1925, Frank Neuhauser (1913-2011) of Kentucky won the Bee by correctly spelling gladiolus. He was 11 years old when he won his $500 prize.
    While millions of students qualified and participated, elimination rounds left a final pool of nine spellers, one for each participating sponsoring newspaper.
    The contest has grown to include millions and millions of students from thousands of schools. This year, all fifty states are represented as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools in Europe. It is rare for spellers from outside the U.S. to compete. They respond to a special invitation or partnership. This year, students from the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Kuwait, and Nigeria will compete.
    A Google search on “the best ways to study for a spelling test” showed guidelines, activities, and resources. I saw workbooks, worksheets of tricky words to memorize, word searches, homophones, vowel sounds, silent letters, alliteration (like Ellsworth Ears in today’s quote), and hundreds more.
    After perusing several lists from Reading Rockets, YourDictionary, and TCKPublishing, I discovered no surprise. Success demands practice. That old adage, “practice makes perfect,” is about the most effective way to learn to spell.
    Reading helps, too. I suspect that’s another reason why Dad’s words “looked right” to him. He saw them written correctly over and over.
    Mneumonics are helpful. Jimminy Cricket sang E-N-C-Y-C-L-O-P-E-D-I-A. I only get that spelling right when I sing it like I just did. At school we learned “A rat in the house might eat the ice cream” (Arithmetic) and “There’s a-rat in separate.” Accommodate is large enough for two sets of double letters.
    According to Google’s own AI, the most often misspelled word in English is definitely. There is a finite way to spell definitely.
    The word list to study for the Bee, arranged in several alphabetical lists from easiest to hardest, is right here. But word lists can get tedious.
    Long words are fun. When we were young, we learned the word antidisestablishmentarianism. It’s a political position originated in 19th-century Britain opposing the disestablishment of the Church of England.
    Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is a made-up word popularized by Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews in Disney’s Mary Poppins. But the word is older than that. Oxford English Dictionary claims Helen Herman recorded its first use in her March 10, 1931, column “A-muse-ings” in the Syracuse University Daily Orange. Ms. Herman says the word “implies all that is grand, great, glorious, splendid, superb, [and] wonderful.”
    But the longest English word, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolanoconiosis, is the medical name for a disease caused by breathing in quartz dust.
    The longest place name in the US, Lake Chaubunagungamaug, is sometimes called Webster Lake. That’s what I’d call it. The native name is derived from a Nipmuc language and translates to “fishing place at the boundaries, neutral meeting grounds.” 
    Lots of interesting words are short, too. Agog, gizmo, idiom, loofah, muumuu, quirky, ruckus, syzygy, uvula, wonky, zephyr come to mind.
    Spelling can be tricky. Most languages include homophones, homographs, and homonyms. These, themselves, are tricky, too. Here’s how to keep them straight.
    Homo- is a prefix that means same, alike, similar. So a homophone, like a telephone, are words that sound the same but are not spelled the same. My favorite homophones are in a tie: discussed/disgust and gorgeous/gorges. I don’t have a favorite homograph. They are words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently. Bow (and arrow) and bow (after a spectacular performance), for example.
    Homonyms refer to homophones or homographs, or both. 
    Still with me?     
    I keep a list of interesting words on my desktop. It’s not easy to work most of them into a sentence, but that’s not what the list is for. Actually, I’m not sure it’s for anything. It just is. My list includes favorites like crepuscular and petrechor.
    I guess I’m a little bit of a word nerd. I keep a list of opposites and a list of unusual phrases, too. 
    My favorite pair of opposites is dearth/plethora. 
    Here’s my post about unusual phrases from December 2023, "It's Idiomatic."
    This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee will be its 97th. The Bee was canceled from 1943 to 1945 because of WWII and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The champion will be the 110th due to several two-way ties and an eight-way tie in 2019.
    Find directions for tuning in (beginning today from 8 am to 4:40 pm EDT) at www.spellingbee.com. It used to be carried on ESPN. Like a real sporting event, but not since 2017.
    Why do they call it a Bee, anyway? According to SpellingBee.com, etymology of the word bee is unclear. Until recently, people thought it was the same word as the insect. It had something to do with the similar industriousness of bees working together in a social gathering.
    After further study, the word bee, used this way, is thought to come from a completely different word. A word in the dialect of Middle English, been or bean, means "voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task" (Webster's Third New International Dictionary).
    Seems to me the result is the same.
    Bee and bee are not homophones. They're not spelled differently.. They’re not homographs either because they don't sound different.. 
   Since homonyms refer to both homophones and homographs, that's what they are. I wonder if there are others?
One of my book clubs is reading The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri (Catapult, 2019). From the publisher: “…Nayeri defies stereotypes and raises surprising questions about the immigrant experience. Here are the real human stories of what it is like to journey across borders in the hope of starting afresh.”
                            Be curious! (and play with your words)    

I can tell myself:
I am enough.
In this world, I matter.
                             from Who I Am: Words I Tell Myself
                                            written by Susan Verde
                                           art by Peter H. Reynolds
                        Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2023

    I talk to myself. A lot. Mostly not out loud, but when I’m alone, I do. Some researchers tell us all healthy people have an inner monologue. Some say between 30 and 50% do. And some say it’s possible that a person might not have an inner monologue at all. 
    Most discussions conclude that more research needs to be done, and researchers need to standardize their research methods.
    If you’re looking for your own inner monologue, or if you even have one, Psychology Today suggests that you listen in while you meditate. Do you hear intrusive thoughts? Are words or images floating to your mind’s surface? How often do they occur?
    Just a note, I’m using ‘inner monologue’ and ‘self-talk’ interchangeably to avoid monotony.
    Inner monologue is useful for several reasons. Very young children use it to develop their language skills. We continue to use it to reinforce our working memory and organize our thoughts. Reciting a list of grocery items to pick up, repeating (over and over) the name of a new acquaintance, mentally rehearsing the points for a presentation, all these are examples of self-talk. 
    Very Well Mind discusses three aspects of our inner monologues. 
    The first, condensation, is a continuum that places whole paragraphs at one end and one word or image at the other.
    Dialogality describes whether we are using one voice or more than one, like if we imagine a future conversation where we may want to convince someone of something controversial or a different point of view.
    Lastly, intentionality refers to whether we are mentally rehearsing something or if our mind wanders and we may or may not even pay attention.
    While most of us use verbal language to communicate (with ourselves and others), not everyone does. But research shows that even those without verbal language may still engage in self-talk. It is how we “hear” ourselves think.
    Some people say they do not engage in self-talk. They might use imagery to visualize their to-do list or their friend’s phone number (before typing it into their contact list). Or maybe just one word can conjure up a whole memory. 
    Sometimes a love song pops into my head as I reflect on one or another of my grandkids. Sometimes a song reminds me of how I am feeling.
    As I’m writing this, I’m paying attention to my thoughts. The process is necessarily going a little slower than usual. 
    A bird just landed on my birdfeeder. I noticed it, but I did not tell myself, “Oh, look, there’s another sparrow. I wish I’d see that cardinal family again. Or Mr. and Mrs. Nuthatch, or the chickadees,” although I think sometimes I do. 
    And just now, I told myself to stop laughing!
    Research shows that people think in five different ways. Only one of them uses inner monologue. 
    So, besides inner monologue and inner visualization, sometimes we use muscle memory, like when I’m typing as I think, or when I brush my teeth. 
    Sometimes we name our emotions to ourselves. 
    Sometimes a sensation can drown out other thoughts. Like when it’s past lunchtime and I’m still in the middle of writing. I tend to find myself thinking more about lunch than how the next idea will appear. Or “I’m cold” dominates my self-talk if I should have worn a heavier jacket before I left the house. Self-criticism sneaks in, too. “Why didn’t you check the weather?” I ask myself. And then I forget to enjoy Nature. 
    Self-talk can help us make decisions. We consciously weigh pros and cons in our head.  Or conversely, stress might override our conscious thoughts, and we engage in trying to calm ourselves, or resort to negativity (like I did when I forgot my jacket).
    Studying inner monologues and why we do or don’t experience them is difficult. Often, the chatter is subconscious. It’s that “little voice in our heads” that we might not tune in to. It’s there, like dreaming, but we’re unaware of it.
    If your thoughts are telling you to harm yourself or someone else, seek medical help right now. Call 988. It is available 24/7.  Or text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line, a global non-profit also available 24/7. Both calls are free.
     HowStuffWorks lists several ways to manage your inner monologue if your thoughts are intrusive..

• Try mindfulness meditation. Sit quietly and listen. Set a timer for one minute and gradually increase the time. The key here is to listen, without judgment.
• If you “hear” negative thoughts, challenge them, especially with kindness.
• Use positive affirmations to remind yourself of your self-worth.
• Try visualization. If you can dream it, you can be it.
• Try writing your thoughts and feelings in a journal.
• Find support in a trusted friend, relative, or professional therapist.
• Practice gratitude.
• Limit your exposure to negativity, whether it’s coming from the news or from other people.
• Give yourself achievable goals.
• Try to stay focused on the present. It’s hard, but even a little mindfulness meditation helps.

     I just wrote down my do-list. Now that it is out of my head and on a piece of paper, I can concentrate on the really important parts of my day, listening to birdsongs and visiting my houseplants on their outdoor summer stay-cation.
I’m reading When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (Knopf/Doubleday, 2022). I put it down last March but picked it up again recently. In a time when women are expected to suppress their emotions, especially anger, a mass Dragoning event occurred, but was covered up in the news. Young Alex is left to make sense of her world for herself and her young cousin. Interesting venture into speculative fiction. 
                   Be curious! (and listen for your inner voice)

    The last time I was about to use the computer, I had searched for tips about how to become a good YouTuber, and one of the top suggestions was to write out what you wanted to film before you got started. There was even a template that showed me how to do it.
                              from: J. D. and the Family Business
                                                written by J. Dillard
                                  illustrated by Akeem S. Roberts
                                                          Kokila, 2021

    About ten years ago, I got my first smartphone. I made the change because, as texting became more popular and convenient, I found the cumbersome method I was forced to use with my flip phone was anything but convenient. It took 14 clicks just to sign my name!
    I like to be organized and found out that I could put the apps on my phone in folders. My phone’s help screens were not helpful. Google’s directions were too complicated. 
    A few days later, I was visiting with my ten-year-old grandson and showed him my new phone. We played around with Garage Band, played a little solitaire, and Angry Birds.
    When he said how cool my phone was, I told him that I learned there was a way to collect the same kinds of apps into folders. I told him I wanted to do that, but was having trouble. Did he know how? 
    “Did you try YouTube?” he asked.
    I handed over my phone, and a few minutes later, I was all set.
    
    YouTube is 20 years old. Here’s a short timeline and a few facts from a YouTube video. 
2005 April:     Jawed Aarim, one of the founders of YouTube, recorded and uploaded the first video, “me at the Zoo” 

2006 April:     YouTube is acquired by Google from founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed

​2008 January:  YouTube adapted itself to be accessible on mobile devices

2009 April:      YouTuber, Fred, reached 1,000,000 subscribers. He sold t-shirts and Hot Topic began carrying them. Because he was so popular, he was invited to appear on an episode of  iCarly.”

2010 May:        YouTube added a “Like/Dislike” ranking system

2011 July:          Introduced movie feature where users could pay to watch movies
     December:  Added live-stream feature and streamed exclusive live events like the Ultima Fighting Championship (UFC)

2013 March:      YouTube changed its entire layout

2014 February:  Added Spotlight feature to easily find what was trending on the platform 

2017 December:  YouTube changed its logo and added YouTube Red, a paid subscription service. Now it’s called YouTube Premium

2019 March:       Billie Eilish published “Bad Guy”

2021 May:          YouTube created YouTube Shorts, 60-second videos, to compete with TikTok

2021 May:          Time stamps were added allowing users to jump to certain sections or topics

2021 November:   Removed the “dislike” button to protect smaller content creators from bullying

    Worldwide, more than 400 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube each minute and one billion hours of content are watched every day. YouTube is the second most popular website in the world, right behind Google.
    It was designed to provide an easy way for new, inexperienced computer users to upload content and share it over the Internet. In 2005, YouTube’s slogan was “Broadcast yourself. Watch and share your videos worldwide!” quickly shortened to “Broadcast yourself.”
    YouTube is a multi-billion-dollar business. It has captured more viewers than most TV stations and other media markets. It was Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2006, and featured YouTube’s three creators.
    The average person spends almost 50 minutes a day watching YouTube content. And with 348 million views, “Baby Shark” is still the most popular video.
    What has all this watching and data collection about all this watching told us about ourselves? Along with funny cats and cute babies and sharks, YouTube has launched Joe Rogan through his right-wing podcast, Sean Evans, host of Hot Ones, and does anyone besides me NOT know Mr. Beast? 
    Of course, lots of nefarious topics are available for the taking, too. Disinformation about medical issues, crime, and politics comes immediately to mind.
    Last month, on YouTube’s 20th anniversary, Doug Most reported on the opinions of several faculty experts from Boston University regarding YouTube’s impact on society.  
    According to some studies, misinformation spreads up to six times faster than evidence-based content. This is a real problem. “The way our information landscape has evolved reveals a critical truth: sharing accurate information is necessary, but not sufficient…[W]e must also focus on making evidence-based content engaging, accessible, and relevant to a wide variety of audiences.” 
    That’s a tough nut to crack.
    Because it is so easy to access, YouTube has revolutionized how people receive and use online information. Streaming videos is ubiquitous. Searching for content is simple. What is not so simple or ubiquitous is discerning which information is not only useful, but accurate. 
    Anyone can post content and sometimes make it go viral. But the content is not vetted.
    What YouTube’s algorithm chooses for you to watch next is dependent on what you have already watched, leading you into a consistent and unvarying silo.
    On the upside, technical knowledge is accessible to anyone who wants to learn how to do a project or maybe just needs a brush-up. Some YouTubers are better than others, but so many people are experts in so many areas. 
    When I forgot how to turn the corners on the binding I needed to attach to the baby quilts I made about every two years, a particular YouTuber was on my subscription list.
    If I can’t get to the library, or if the book I want is not available nearby, I can usually find my blog quote on a read aloud on YouTube.
    And just yesterday, a friend sent me a link to a recipe site with a YouTube video on cooking for company embedded right in it.
    YouTube is available in 76 languages and most countries. Whether you’re looking for quilting techniques or what to plan for brunch, recipes included, or how to change your car’s battery, you might want to start with YouTube.  

​One of my book clubs is reading The Institute by Stephen King (Scribner, 2019). It’s a contemporary story about a group of kids sent to the Institute, where their telekinetic and telepathic abilities are exploited. It’s creepy, but not terrifying. It’s also absorbing, engaging, and thought-provoking. Typical Stephen King, if there is such a thing. Recommended.
                            Be curious! (and learn from YouTube)

Do you know what
the best sound in the world is?
The best sound in the world is
by far
…the sound of your laughter.
          from If You Laugh, I’m Starting This Book Over
                                      written by Chris Harris
                                   illustrated by Serge Bloch
                           Little, Brown and Company, 2022
                             (accessed on YouTube 5/5/25)

    Euclid Beach was an amusement park in Cleveland when I was growing up. I remember going with our parents in the summer. My favorite part of the park was not the rides, not the cotton candy, or even the beach. I liked all that just fine, but Laffing Sal was the highlight for me. Partly because I thought she was really funny, but more so, I think, because my dad did. 
    She was enormous, way taller than any grown-up I knew. She stood in a glass case in front of the fun house. When I was small, I thought she was real. I think Dad thought that was funnier than Laffing Sal, herself.
    Even though my sister and my mom thought she was creepy, Dad would laugh and laugh and so did I. So did my brother. Laffing Sal bent from her large waist and her arms moved and her head, too. Her laugh was raucous. She stood 6’10” including her 12” pedestal. She was commissioned by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company of Pennsylvania and built in Canton, Ohio by the Old King Cole Papier Mache Company. 
    Many amusement parks hosted Laffing Sals. She was made of seven layers of card stock mounted over steel coils. Her arms and legs were attached with fabric, staples, pins, nuts, and bolts. Her laugh track was hidden in her pedestal on top of a stack of 78 rpm records. After she had laughed through her whole stack, an attendant restacked them, and off she’d go again. 
    And so did we.
    Her laugh was contagious. Sometimes a crowd would gather around, but Dad, my brother, and I would stay there the longest. It was hard to leave her laughing.
    She worked with a push-button. That’s how I finally found out she was not a real person dressed up in her enclosure. I tried to find out about Tanya Garth, the woman who gave her laugh to Sal, but came to a dead end. 
    You can hear her here, though.
    Euclid Beach closed in 1969. In 1997, John Tomaro and John Frato bought Sal at an auction. They took her to events in Northeast Ohio to keep the traditions of Euclid Beach alive. Now she resides in part of the area once occupied by the original Euclid Beach and is run by the Cleveland MetroParks.
    Even though Sal was placed outside the Fun House, she wasn’t spooky. But could she really be good for our health? Is there any truth to the saying laughter is the best medicine?
    Not surprisingly, the simple answer is yes.
    We laugh for different reasons and all of them relate to our need for social connection, says Sophie Scott, one of the world’s leading experts on laughter. “We’re 30 times more likely to laugh if we’re with someone else than if we are alone,” especially if we know and feel comfortable with them. 
    We laugh to mask difficult emotions, too. Think of nervous laughter. Or fear. I used to laugh when Mom yelled at me for not cleaning up my room or not turning in my homework on time. That never went well. For either of us.
    We laugh to feel emotionally connected with a group. The contagious element of laughter is a form of social bonding. We use laughter to demonstrate joy and affection.
    We laugh as a physical response to a joke, as a reaction to our environment, or to being tickled. Even through all the ticklish controversy (which is a subject for a different day).
    Dr. Scott also finds that laughter relieves stress. Levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) go down, and adrenaline and endorphins are released, making us feel happier and more relaxed.
    Some studies say that laughter may relieve pain. Even though the research is in its early stages, finding that endorphins are released when we laugh will probably reinforce the idea.
    Laughter burns calories. A Vanderbilt University study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes burns about 40 calories.
    Research from Loma Linda University shows that laughing improves short-term memory in adults in their 60s and 70s. 
    Laughter is probably good for our hearts, too. That 10 - 15 minute calorie-burn increases our heart rates and oxygen levels.
    From the time we are babies, humans distinguish the difference between a polite titter and a genuine guffaw. People are good at telling the difference between voluntary and involuntary laughter. And we get better and better as we age.
    Faking our laughter shows our ability to adjust to social norms. It is an indication of our emotional intelligence as we “read” the people we are with.
    Fake laughter uses our voluntary muscles. The areas in our brains that light up with our emotional activity are quiet.
    Genuine laughter, though, is a whole body affair. It’s spontaneous. The emotional centers in our brains are lit up and dancing. 
    It’s the difference between jumping for joy and performing a choreographed number. 
    Genuine laughter is a heart-thing, literally.
    But what if you don’t laugh very much any more, or even at all? That can really happen. Susanne White of caregiverwarrior.com lists several suggestions to get your laugh back. 
    Watch funny movies or TV shows. 
    Watch those funny cat videos or listen to YouTube laugh tracks.
    Consciously look for the funny side in a situation. Find the cosmic irony. It’s there.
    Watch yourself laugh in a mirror. Fake it till you make it. A real chortle may escape. Keep practicing.
    Seek out people who make you laugh.
    On March 1, 2022, I wrote this and it’s still true. “The world is not a funny place right now, I know. But laughter is healthy. It is good for our souls. So this week’s challenge is: Find something funny and tell someone close to you what you found.” 

I just finished reading Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Atria Books, 2019). It’s a thought-provoking, truth-seeking, relationship-exploring story of a crime that may never have happened in a place where eight unlikely strangers find understanding. And a father and son do, too. This is one I will read again!
                           Stay curious! (and do something silly)