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You'd better if you want to win the 1st annual Green Mountain Challenge SCRABBLE Tournament. It's happening at the Inn at Essex November 10-12. I'm hoping to enter, though I haven't dusted off my tile rack in over a year. My poor flashcards are mouldering in their file drawers. Sigh.

I used to play SCRABBLE all the time, but my life's a little more hectic these days, and I rarely have a chance to play. I can't even remember all the 2 letter words, much less the 3s.

I still remember my U-dump song, though. Those are three and four letter words that use two Us. Sing to the tune from "Gilligan's Island":  "Ulu fugu guru juju kudu kuru luau, lulu mumu sulu tutu ulus unau urus."

Anybody else planning to register for the tournament? Deadline's Nov. 1. And you've gotta be a member of the  National SCRABBLE Association. It's some good, nerdy fun, believe you me.

*To "bingo" in SCRABBLE, you need to use all 7 of the tiles on your rack in one turn. Doing that gives you the points from the word or words that you create, as well as a 50-point bonus. Good tournament players average 2-4 of these turns per game.

Went for coffee this morning to the Alley, a new coffeehouse in Milton. They've got free wi-fi, though I didn't know that in time to include them in my wi-fi guide, alas. But they've got it. It works. No password. Free.

Don't be deterred by the Alley's odd facade, and location behind the McDonald's on Rt. 7. It's actually a pretty cozy place inside. I paid $3 for my single 12 oz. mocha and sat for an hour or so checking email and web stuff.

The place wasn't mobbed, but it wasn't dead, either. There's a group of women gathered in the back. The events calendar on the dry erase board lists a few singer-songwriters, and meetings for an artist guild, a business association, and a girl scout leadership group. So I guess the coffeehouse in Milton is doing ok.

There's also a drive-through. And they have breakfast and lunch. And jigsaw puzzles.

I was in Eastpointe, Michigan this weekend, saying goodbye to the house where I grew up. My parents are moving to Thomasville, North Carolina, to be with the rest of my family. It's not earthshattering news, but it was important to me, so I thought I'd share it.

I had a bunch of other stuff I thought I'd write this morning, but all of it seems a little silly at the moment, while we're all remembering the events of five years ago.

On my drive to work this morning, I was reminded of the NY Times Portraits of Grief series. Garrison Keillor talked about it on the Writer's Almanac. Hearing him remember them reminded me of those short pieces about the people who died on 9/11. I read them every time I picked up the paper. That was some great journalism, in my opinion, and so I'm passing on that link this morning, and letting them speak for themselves.

This week in the oft-overlooked non-political Vermont blogosphere:

• Confessions of a QVC soap fondler, via Deadbeat Club.

• Bitchin' fingerless gloves, via Now Norma Knits 2.

• Invasion of the hipsters at the OP. Via Gadabout.

• Creepy internet sleuthing, via Undead Molly. Molly finds a lost cat, and searches the phone number on its nametag on Google. She found the cat's home online and drove by, but no one was home. She took the cat in, and then...

   So now it's been almost five hours since Maggie trotted into our livesand still no word from her owners.  I decided to be a creepy internetlookyloo and find out more about these people.  It was disturbinglyeasy.  In only ten minutes I was able to find out not just where theylive, but their professions, level of education, and where they went tocollege.  I know that he speaks German as a second language.  I knowher maiden name.  I know all kinds of crap.

Freaky. But she doesn't mention if the cat made it home...

• Make a mixtape and send it to Esther, via False 45th.

• Andre Agassi Vermont connection, via Weekly Hum.

• What Caleb Daniloff saw on September 5. For some reason, I can't link directly to the post, so I'm reprinting it in full below. Click the link for more insights like this one:

Footsteps above my head

On Spear Street in South Burlington, it’s not sneakers or hightops thatdangle from a set of powerlines, but a pair of men's dress shoes. Ipicture a businessman – tie-knot loosened, shirt untucked, barefoot –shedding himself of office desks and meetings and impatient clients.Tossing it all away to chase the dreams of his youth. Further south inPittsford, a pair of white baby shoes dangles from a phone wirestretched across Route 7. I imagine a little arm heaving the smallankleboots toward the sky, chubby feet clad now in sneakers with goodtraction, eager to start chasing the dreams of his future. Both sets ofshoes have been hanging undisturbed for several years. I wonder if thatformer businessman and that child are still on the move, heading forthe same airy place, and whether they'll recognize each other when theyget there.

All Aboard the Cluetrain:
New Media & Web 2.0 For Artists and Businesses

Gahlord DeWald and Bill Simmon introduce newcomers to the world of blogging, podcasting and other forms of online self-expression and market-building. 

The world is getting very small. Our culture is experiencing a change no less significant than the Industrial Revolution. Through the internet, people are interacting with each other in totally new and exciting ways. The fields of economics, journalism, publishing and politics have all been fundamentally changed by people’s newfound ability to easily and cheaply reach large audiences through blogs, podcasts, Google, tagging, YouTube, eBay, Amazon, and countless other powerful online tools. Whether you are an artist, a business owner, an activist or just someone with something to say, understanding these “new media” is crucial to your message.

Graphic designer and animator Gahlord DeWald and award-winning blogger and filmmaker Bill Simmon will lead a discussion about web culture and the new media revolution, with an emphasis on specific ways you can use the net to build relationships with your audience or clientele. 

The workshop will be at Gahlord's studio (Thoughtfaucet) in the building on the corner of Howard and Pine streets (4 Howard St. -- Art Hop location #12).

Cool. Too bad I won't be there. My parents are closing on their house on Friday, and I'm headed home to Michigan to say goodbye to the house where I grew up. But maybe we can repeat or continue this discussion at the blogger meetup next month?

Got back from camping yesterday afternoon. Spent the weekend deep in the woods, eating junk food and listening to loons.

On Sunday, my friend Jaime and I ventured into Marshfield to pick up some necessities at the Marshfield Village Store. Saw the Sunday Rutland Herald with this story on the cover, about Vermont politicians using the Internet. It starts out with the story of how Washington County State Senate candidate Donny Osman is using MySpace.

For some strange reason, the Herald does not link to Osman's MySpace profile, so here he is, Donny Osman (really his name!).

In somewhat related news, you will surely be delighted to learn that Seven Days is also now on MySpace. Come, be our friends. We are 26 years old, female and identify as a "swinger." Whatever. Somehow we've already got, like, 92 friends. Who are these people?

Ok, I haven't actually gone yet, but I'm heading out the door the second I finish my stories for this week, and will not have another chance to post until Tuesday.

Just a note to let you know I really wish they had wi-fi in Groton State Forest, so I could blog from my campsite.

Haha. I lie.