Genius

The word genius is thrown around pretty easily these days, but I get to prove that I’m a genius on a daily basis. I play a game in the New York Times called Spelling Bee, where you make words out of the seven letters they give you and you have to make words with them. As you score points you move up in category (why is “Nice” better than “Solid”?) until you reach the pinnacle, “Genius.” I get to genius on a daily basis. Some days I have to put down the puzzle and come back to it to find easy words that I have forgotten to use. There are some real words that the Times doesn’t recognize (a linnet is a small bird, for example of a word that the Times decided wasn’t a word), but it’s a good exercise for me.

As we get older, we are told that doing some form of brain exercise is important (and not just the “where did I put my glasses?” puzzle that is the norm). Doing the Mini-Crossword, Letter-Boxed, Spelling Bee, Tiles and Sudoku is what I do. Keeps the mind sharp (-ish).

If only I could parlay the Spelling Bee genius into the rest of my life…

This week’s podcast has a bunch of tunes from very recognizable bands, even if it’s more of a “deep cuts” selection of songs. Listen to Paul McCartney, the Beatles, Supertramp, the Electric Light Orchestra, Van Morrison, the Monkees, the Turtles, R.E.M, Guadacanal Diary, Game Theory, the Posies, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, and Joe Cocker.

This podcast is, as always, available to stream or download at brennick.net. There should be more content there, and I will try to put more things up this year. The podcast is also available to download as a podcast at your favorite podcast streamer – iTunes, Stitcher, etc. The podcast is called brennick.net. Check that out sometime. I welcome suggestions and comments, too – leave them as you will. Thanks for everything you do to encourage me.