I was born too early...

...to enjoy the spotlight spelling bees are enjoying these days. Granted, I don't think I was on track for the National Championship, but I did fairly well in my day. In second grade, I lost on "lightning," spelling "lighting" instead. In fourth grade, I got second place by spelling "awkard" instead of "awkward." A silly mistake, yes, but I was actually one of the last three contestants, and the girl who spelled awkward after me also spelled it incorrectly -- the SAME WAY -- so we tied for second. At the end of the year, we had the finals, and I lost on "officer" because I was spelling the word in my head first and for no reason, I said the "i" out loud, so right off the bat I was out. By the time I was in middle school, we lived in Princeton, where every child is so much above average that they do not encourage competition in any way, shape or form, including organized spelling bees. So I never had my chance at the nationals, but that's OK, because I am more than happy for the attention spelling is getting now. Plus, I've had my time in the spotlight -- even if no one else noticed, much less appreciated it -- as a copy editor.

First, there was the 2002 movie Spellbound. A hilarious documentary; I highly recommend it if you want to watch nervous, maladjusted adolescents compete against each other and you like to imagine how on earth they fit in at school (answer: they don't). Netflix it today! It was nominated for an Oscar, also.

This year, the movie Akeelah and the Bee hit theaters. I haven't seen it, but it's gotten fairly good reviews as a family-friendly, feel-good flick.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has had a successful run on Broadway for the last year, and I am excited to see it next year when it comes to Louisville (we're getting season tickets to the Louisville Broadway Across America season; we get to see All Shook Up, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Twelve Angry Men, Putnam Co., Spamalot, AND The Lion King!). It's gotten great reviews and won two Tonys last year.

And, most recently, this year's National Spelling Bee finals were televised in primetime, on ABC. Yes, I watched it. I have to say, I was impressed with the overall normalness of most of the contestants, especially the girls. Girls are more mature at that age, for sure. This is the first time the spelling bee finals have been televised on network TV during prime time; they've been shown on ESPN since 1994. My hearty congratulations go to this year's winner, Katharine Close, a cute and very normal-looking 13-year-old from Spring Lake, NJ. She was sponsored by the Asbury Park Press, Eric's old newspaper. Go Jersey shore! I have to give a nod to the runner-up, Finola Mei Hwa Hackett, a cute half-Asian (her middle name is Chinese, but she might be Inuit, too) girl from Canada. She was very calm and composed throughout the finals, acing all of the French words but finally stumbling on a German one.

I see this trend of increased spelling exposure as a nod toward the ever-increasing coolness of smart kids. It's about time, dammit. (We just need to make sure that our kids don't go to the other extreme and focus TOO much on the books -- I wasn't aware of the increased usage of prescription drugs as study aids, but this article enlightened me. Scary.)

Lisa Simpson once said, "Perhaps one day, people who spell correctly will replace athletes at the top of our national pantheon." That day may very well have arrived.