spelling nerds = hipster chic

pants knew small time small town spelling bee fame when he won grammar school top honors and cruised towards jr high hotshot status until carelessness tripped him up on "referee." all those early mornings and late eves square on the kitchen floor memorizing letter combos ill-pronounced by an esl-mom... and for what?!

yesterday the only spelling bee that counts crowned its 2006 queen. leave it to those clever quippers at gawker to sum it up pretty:

"The guts, the glory, the silent consonants: nothing compares to the bloodthirsty competition of a spelling bee. Last night the Scripps National Spelling Bee had its first primetime, live airing on ABC, and New Jersey's 13-year-old Katharine Close took home the dorkily awesome crown. Her winning word was 'ursprache,' beating out 14-year-old Finola Hackett, a Canadian girl who blew it all on 'weltschmerz.' Stupid girl, but that's justice — this is our national spelling bee. Get your own, America Jr.

"While it was hard not to get a little teary when you saw Katharine's face erupt in joy upon her win ('Finally, I can have a real life!'), the real highlight was announcer Chris Connelly, whose gray hair and awkward cadence may not be hip enough for MTV but most certainly qualifies him for spelling bee color commentary. When runner-up Hackett — who 10 minutes earlier had been identified as half Chinese — was on a winning streak, Connelly noted, 'The Tokyo Bride does it again!'

look around kind citizens! its become too clear that the spelling bee is the new darling of the hipster-nerd-chic poseurs. in a short order response, i will unveil a new pop-id feature to designate what is pop and what is cool. i am inspired by our president to designate myself the sole decider in this pursuit. u will lub it. stand by.