<== Sonny Fox, host of Wonderama on WNEW out of NYC.

Once upon a time there lived in the Borough of Queens in the City of New York a frizzy/curly-haired kid named Barbara who had a wonderful talent: she was a very good speller. Words like encyclopaedia (and encyclopedia), antidisestablishmentarianism, all sorts of crazy words. She could spell all of them.

But that wasn't what set her apart from the crowd of other frizzy/curly-haired kids who were great spellers: our heroine could spell them backwards. Now no one quite knew where that ability came from. She learned to read and write at a precociously early age (reading at three; writing at four) and seemed normal in all respects until the backwards stuff kicked in and life got interesting.

# # #

Okay, okay. I'll drop the third person nonsense. We all know who our frizzball is, right? And you're probably wondering how spelling backwards ties in with Sonny Fox and Wonderama and knitting so here goes.

Spelling backwards came as easily to me as spelling the normal way. My parents used to create both word and number games for me to play on Saturday morning while they slept in and I guess I took them one step beyond where they were supposed to go and started flipping them. (I see patterns in numbers everywhere I look. Show me a phone number and I'll be linking those digits to other numbers in the blink of an eye.)

I was an only child and only children are endlessly fascinating to their families so my backwards abilities garnered a lot of attention and laughter. My spelling abilities had already landed me in any number of city-wide spelling bees (they hadn't become quite the pressure-cookers they are today) and I'd done pretty well every time.

But what I wanted more than anything was to take part in the Wonderama Spelling Bee.

I wanted to meet Sonny Fox, the sleekly dark and handsome host. I wanted to dazzle everyone with my spelling abilities. And I wanted to win dinner at the Luau 400, a little touch of Hawaii in midtown Manhattan.

Now it wasn't easy to get on Wonderama. Every kid in the early 1960s wanted tickets. And, trust me, a lot of those kids could spell just as well as I did. But could they spell backwards? No! So in the summer of 1961, my mother took me and my friend Dorothy Cullen into Manhattan where we were part of the audience and entrants in the spelling bee.

I'm not going to keep you in suspense. I won! Yes, it was a dream come true. Not only was I on live television, but I won dinner for my parents and me at Luau 400 by winning a spelling bee by spelling backwards. I still smile ear-to-ear thinking about it! So what does all of this have to do with knitting? Up until a few months ago I would have said, "Nothing at all," but it's actually the key to my problems with charts and sewing cuffs on sleeves and the dreaded pattern instructions Reverse Shaping.

A friend and I took dancing lessons once. I absolutely couldn't follow the instructor. I kept reversing everything. I sewed cuffs on a shirt in some crazy upside down way that even I couldn't explain. My husband had to show me how to do it correctly. I can't watch someone demonstrate how to use a spindle and then recreate her actions without great trial, error, and sweat-inducing concentration. And then my mind and muscles forget what I learned within five minutes and I have to struggle all over again.

And then I realized: the same little glitch in my brain that makes it easy for me to see words frontways and backways and sideways makes it very difficult for me to interpret patterns, architectural drawings, or how in the name of all that's holy they managed to stick a new road near the bridge and still keep the same landmarks. What's up with that anyway?

Spatially dyslexic is what I'm calling myself until I come up with a better term and it goes a long way toward explaining so much of the way I relate to the physical world.

Knitting charts? Don't get me started. They were the bane of my existence. They made this grown woman weep with frustration for most of the years of my knitting life. Or at least they did until last year when something in my brain clicked and I grabbed onto them like Velcro and wouldn't let go. (Okay, so maybe I have to keep a ruler underneath the working row but still . . . ) I don't know why or how it happened but it's opened up my knitting to a whole new dimension of possibilities and I'm delighted.

And yes I can still spell backwards! Life is good.

Upgrades

So far, so good with this laptop. We passed our eighth month anniversary and I've encountered the Blue Screen from Hell only three times. I consider myself lucky. Vista and I had a terrible time getting acquainted but we made our peace around December and now I'm amazed to sayI wouldn't go back.

This is usually the time of year where all of my electronic equipment rolls over and plays dead. Last year I believe I lost three laptops in a six week period. (A new high for me.) The year before I took out an answering machine, telephone, television, and two laptops and I swear to you that all I did was press the start buttons.

I had a scare with my Kindle (Amazon's book reader) last week but a reset put it back where it should be.

Mostly this time of year I tread very lightly around anything that uses electricity.

I had to put my knitting aside for awhile this year (it was either write the book or knit; the book won) but now the urge to cast on something wonderful is overwhelming. I'm tempted by an Elizabeth Zimmerman blanket (good way to use up all of my Sirdar Highlander), some spiral socks (a can't-go-wrong gift idea), or maybe the Log Cabin blanket that's been calling to me for over a year. What can I say? I like to knit rectangles and squares, big high-impact items that don't require a whole lot of brain power when I'm working on a book. Hits of color and texture are just what you need when you're adrift in a sea of words.

New Vista(s)

Meet my new Dell Inspiron 1505. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I now have a pink argyle laptop. (Hey, I'm a pink kind of girl who loves to knit.)

Don't worry. Dell hasn't suddenly begun manufacturing argyle laptops. That's a really cool removable laptop skin and I love every single silly inch of it.

Of course the arrival of an innocent new laptop is a bittersweet event. The poor thing doesn't know its days are numbered. I was thinking of hosting a contest (Pick The Day The Laptop Dies! Win Great Prizes!) but I couldn't bring myself to jest about her inevitable demise.

I've decided to keep this one off the internet. It's a dangerous world out there and I want to keep her safe from harm. (I'd better keep her away from parrots too, come to think of it.) (I can't tell you how many parrot-instigated computer disasters I've been through over the years.) (The great tuna salad incident, the time Squirt opened his cage door, flew over to the laptop, and popped off all the keys, iced tea on the keyboard, chewed cords, the list goes on.)

I hereby declare this laptop an Internet Free Zone. It will be used only for writing and other solitary pursuits.

This is my first experience with the Vista OS. It seems pretty good but some things take a little adjustment. I couldn't stand the fact that they hid the RUN feature so I Googled, discovered how to pop it onto the start menu and now I'm a lot happier. Personally I can't see why they abandoned XP. I thought that was pretty close to perfect. God knows it seemed stable, I liked the way it looked, blah blah blah. But for some strange reason Microsoft never pays any attention to my opinion. Go figure.

And don't get me started on the way Microsoft treats you like a common criminal when you foolishly attempt to reinstall Word on a newly installed hard drive and the error messages start popping up. YOU DON'T OWN THIS! YOU CAN'T REGISTER IT! THOSE NUMBERS ARE INVALID! CALL US! BEG FOR FORGIVENESS, LOWLY FOOLISH GIRL WRITER!

I did call. I tried to rein in my testiness but it was there just the same. No, I didn't pirate the software. Yes, it belongs to me. Yes, it's the SAME COMPUTER IT WAS ORIGINALLY ON. The hard drive died, people. I replaced it. Gimme a break, will you? I have the feeling this is a pro forma thing they put you through to put the fear of Bill Gates in you but that's just a guess.

Anyway the Argyle Laptop has come to stay. Here's to a long, happy, and productive life!