"Engaging kids who make funny kid decisions, like ordering the official polo shirt five sizes too big..."

"... or confounding Dr. Bailly with impromptu Napoleon Dynamite impressions."



"In a way, I think it’s that these kids are not just good – they are so much better than I am at something that I have done almost every day since I learned to write. Part of my job – a vanishingly small but nonetheless nonzero part – is spelling things correctly. I do it boringly, perfunctorily, and once a year it’s fun to see people do it daringly, with panache and joy and wispy mustaches."

It's National Spelling Bee time again and that's just part of one post at Throwing Things, where — like every year — there will be many, many posts.