Word Verification and Heat

Okay, okay. Hope and J.A. you guys win. I turned my word verification off. I didn't even know it was on. Sorry.

If you're reading this, and not sure if your own blog has it on or not, I'd check J.A.'s post HERE just to make sure. It turns out there are a lot of us who are out there who hate it. I mean, I knew I hated it. Mainly because I was always afraid of mixing a letter up since they're all gross and diagonal, and...well...gross. I was unaware I was putting you guys through the torture.

In unrelated news, it's shorts weather where I'm at in Maine. Which sucks because all of the snow on the mountain is melting.

During this run, my partner in crime and I had to hike, for a long, long time to get to snow. ..

Riding has become an epic game of, AVOID-THAT-HUGE-DIRT-PATCH:

Partner In Crime

But...because the snow is melting, I've developed some bravery. I've been able to ollie over THAT-HUGE-DIRT-PATCH, I've landed more and more 180's off jumps, AND managed to do a grab (without slicing my hand off!). Plus, on a daily basis I've been riding the half pipe, which I've affectionately dubbed; The Slush Pipe.

Dropping into the Slush Pipe..I should be more forward than I am...shh...

The good news is, I haven't bashed in my knees recently. I haven't obtained another concussion (notice, my helmet is on. Thanks, Patrick!). The season is starting to come to a close.

Do you know what that means?

Oh yes. It's almost time to break this bad boy out:

Think I can add a side car for Baxter? :)

Words And Spelling

When I was young, the first word I learned to spell was S-H-I-T. Maybe it was because my last name is Schmidt, and if you cross out every other letter it spells S-H-I-T (I'm not kidding here), and someone taught me such things. Maybe because I was a bit of a rebel growing up *see: bad kid*. Or maybe because my sisters were bad influences on me, and wanted to get me in trouble. Who knows? But the first word I remember being able to spell is the word shit.

I remember being so proud of the fact I could spell this word:
"Jim, Jim!" I yelled through the house. "I can spell a word!"
The man who was the closest thing to a father I had, looked at me with pride, "Oh? What word?"
"Shit!" I exclaimed, and with my youthful ignorance, began, "S-H-I-T."
I remember him struggling for a second while I just wanted a pat on the back, or a cookie, or something. Instead, he said, "Do you want to learn a new word?"
I shrugged, I was still stoked about my SHIT.
"Rather than S-H-I-T, put an R between the I and T," he told me.
I looked at him, "S-H-I-R-T." I allowed the letters to roll over in my head for a few minutes, "SHIRT!" I exclaimed, "I'm spelling the word shirt!"
He smiled, "I think that's a little more acceptable than the first word you spelled, no?"

Now, a million years later, sometimes when I get bored, I pick three basic words, words like THE CAT SAT, and see how many words I can spell using only those letters: THECATSAT:
The
Cat
Sat
At
Seat
Heat
Hat
etc

It's a good exercise when you get bored. I also have an affinity toward word games; scrabble, banana-grams, scrabble slam, words with friends, etc. I completely blame Jim for this affliction and my obsession with words.

I think a lot about this moment, the moment I learned how to turn shit into shirt and consider that maybe...just maybe my writing is like that. That that's what editing does for me; turns my shit into shirt, because it's much more acceptable, no?

:)