P.S.

The butter carving was just as amazing as I hoped it would be.

On this day

Four years ago this morning, I called in sick, hopped a plane, and flew to Cleveland to go to a parade.

The Cavs had won the National Championship earlier in the week, the first time a Cleveland team had won since the Indians took the World Series in 1948. The rest of my family was downtown to celebrate that night -- my brother had driven in from D.C. -- and I felt left out. So I bought a plane ticket.

Getting on that plane -- with hundreds of other people who were doing the same thing I was -- was one of the happiest moments I can remember. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you the joy and excitement were palpable. People cut short vacations to be there. They canceled obligations. We just all wanted to share the experience.

It turns out that parades are kind of a mess. Or maybe it had just been so long since we'd had one? There were more than 1 million people (can you imagine that now?) cramming ever closer to see the local stars and dignitaries. People pressed so close they clogged the parade route. It was slow and hot and really kind of ridiculous.

But it was so much fun.

I was back in time to go to work the next morning, no one the wiser. And I can't begin to tell you what a wonderful choice it was. I felt so connected to everyone else on that plane, in the street. It was just straight-up joy, the likes of which I hadn't seen before and haven't seen since.

If the Browns or Indians manage the same feat, I'm sure it'll be just as crazy. But there's something about that first victory in my lifetime -- in the lifetime of so many! -- that will stand out forever.

Panagram

My spelling bee obsession knows no bounds, and even extends into a spelling bee that is not a bee at all. It's a puzzle, published by the New York Times, that derives its name from the fact that letters are in a hive shape. And you have to make words.

A friend and I have been doing them pretty religiously through quarantine (she is better than me). And she's particularly better at finding the long words. My eye tends toward the short.

Every day, there's (at least) one word that uses each of the seven letters -- the panagram. For me, either you see it or you don't. And I usually don't.

But today! Today I saw it! It was my friend's name! And I was so excited to send her the screenshot of her name, using all the letters that were on offer. We're both keeping it for posterity. (No, it wasn't really the panagram. There were no points for it. But it was the best panagram that ever was.)

And, between us, we got all the words today. So we were pretty proud of ourselves.

Abstract Sunday

Hi, Internet.

I make no promises that I will visit with more frequency, though lots of people will be looking for more things that make them happy in the coming weeks and months.

I'm happy to share with you something that pleased and amazed me today, though, as I'm sitting in the office the day before Thanksgiving, waiting for my phone to ring.

I've long been a fan of the artist Christoph Niemann, who I first discovered through his NYT columns. He hasn't published them in a while. But I stumbled across him today somewhere else, and it led me to his Twitter feed, and man, is it a delight.

Click through to see some amazing illustrations, as well as interviews and other fun things. It made me smile. I hope it brings you joy, too.

The left wing of a goose

The Olympics always manage to capture my imagination. I can't help but be fascinated and amazed by the work, the drive, the effort that goes into getting to the games -- regardless of the outcomes.

And while I've been fast-forwarding through a lot of the pre-packaged video pieces, I've been reading a fair bit about the games. (Let's be honest -- I've always liked reading more.) In doing so, I came across this gem related to the creation of badminton shuttlecocks that I just need to share with you:

The shuttles themselves are intricate creations. Yonex orders thousands of goose feathers a year from China. The feathers are then trimmed to size and matched by color, flexibility and other factors. Only feathers from the left wings of geese are used in the tournament shuttles. Satoshi Yuza, a promotion manager at Yonex, chalked that up to aerodynamics.

Can you imagine? Only the feathers from the left wing of a goose go into competition-level shuttlecocks. What a weird, beautiful thing.

Landline

I come to you after months of delinquency because I wanted to jump up and down with excitement at work today, and no one there understood my joy.

There's this super, fantastic, wonderful author (Rainbow Rowell) who I want to be when I grow up, and whose books I adore. (I've read two.)

We have a free book bin at work, and her latest -- which isn't in stores til July 8 -- was there. I snagged it. And now it is mine.

I'm super thrilled. So is my sister, who has devoured the two I've read and will be taking this one from me as soon as she can get her hands on it.

New friends

My grandfather's a pretty tech-savvy dude. He knew what Skype was before the rest of us did, and was sending me text-to-voicemail messages before I even knew it was possible. I still don't know how to do it.

But he never thought there was any reason to join Facebook, calling it a waste of time.

This weekend, I got a friend request from my grandfather -- who turns 90 this summer. I haven't talked to him yet to find out what changed his mind, but there's something so wonderful about seeing a 1922 birthday on a profile page. So I had to share.

I can only hope when I'm going-on-90, I'm as on top of the latest technology and happenings and whatnot as he is. Wicked cool.

Compliments

I worked on a breaking news story yesterday that was unlike what I usually cover, and ended up being on the front page of today's paper. (Woohoo!) That's fun in and of itself -- it's always nice to make A1 -- but the coolest part was when one of the editors came by today to praise the authority with which I wrote and tell me the story worked perfectly for the front. And we have some exacting standards.

On top of that, my immediate editor told me last night that my batting average has been great -- that I come up with good ideas and write interesting things. And that, too, is nice to hear.

And while it's not a compliment per se, I received a really interesting opportunity that I'm taking as one. It's wicked cool. Y'all'll surely hear more about it if it comes to fruition. But for now, I'll just tell you that it made me smile.

F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C

As those of you who know me know, I'm a gigantic fan of spelling bees. Gigantic. Like, I host a spelling bee viewing party every year. They are so much fun. (Don't believe me? Watch this, one of my favorite-ever spelling bee moments.)

So when my sister texted me to ask if I had any questions for the director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, I said yes. (Actually, I said, "OMG probably," but is now really the time to split hairs?)

Moments later, my phone rang. Soon, I was on speaker phone, talking to Paige Kimble.

The first thing I asked her? Her favorite word, of course. And if she could spell it.

For the record, it's Ouaniche, and she can. It's a kind of salmon. She always wanted to get it in a spelling bee, but never did.

We talked a little bit longer about why the bee's on ESPN instead of ABC (I shouldn't hold out hope of it going back on network TV), what she likes about the bee (keeping an old-fashioned skill and experience relevant to the modern world) and how the bee is becoming more popular internationally, and at viewing parties like mine. Before I let her go, she asked me what organization I was with, telling me I sounded very professional. (As a question-asker, I should hope so -- that's what I get paid to do!)

And then I squeed a little to my sister, who pretty much knew this would make my day.

Thanks, darling. And thanks, Paige, for keeping spelling bees alive.

In the news

Two things to share with you, both from New York Times stories this week.

This, from a story about the new Olympic sport ski cross and its competitors, had me laughing loudly: "Others included Richard Spalinger of Switzerland, whose hobbies were announced as football, anger management and bowling."

And this, sweeter, is from an obituary of a guy who created a number of magazines. The quote is from his wife: “Would you say he was a strong outdoorsman? No, but he tried everything,” Mrs. Welsh said. “His whole motto was, ‘Life should be lived like a cavalry charge.’ ”

Text message from my brother

You should start wearing a wwjd bracelet and whenever you look at it think, what would Jared do? :)

Balloon magic

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last week about -- of all things -- the increasing artistry of balloon twisting. As in, the clowns (usually) who make hats or dogs or swords (and I thought a rocking horse was the epitome of cool).

Now, they're way beyond that. And way into installment art. And amazingness.

Check out the slide show. For real.

And it feels just as hot, too.

As I was driving to Peoples State Forest this evening (which is a story that most definitely does NOT make me smile...... at all), I passed the most awesomest thing ever: Satan's Kingdom Road. And then, as if things couldn't get better, I passed Satan's Kingdom Recreation Area!! And you can go tubing there as well!
I squealed gleefully in my car. Multiple times. I think Connecticut just clawed its way into the top 5 of the "Best States Ever" list.