Crowned by Music
Jan. 12th, 2017 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
todayiamadaisyI was looking for a book this afternoon and had to move my good dictionary out of the way. It fell open to the bookplate. It has a bookplate because I won it as a prize. And this is what I won it for:
When I was in the early years of secondary school, I won my school's spelling bee. I was the year level champion; I may have also defeated the champion from another year. I don't remember. At any rate, mother and I drove two hours to a school in Geelong for the regional spelling bee finals.
Every finalist received a dictionary with a personalised bookplate. They were given out as we lined up waiting to go on stage. My heart fell when I opened it: they had spelt my name wrong. The dictionary was awarded to Alicia Daisynhame. Of course it was.
It was a double blow. The cursed H, of course. It's the bane of my life, that H. I sometimes think of changing my name to Alicia Daisyname-no-H, because that's how I say it.
The other blow was that I'd have to tell someone. I'd have to speak. I hated causing scenes or being the centre of attention or having anyone look at me. It was bad enough that I was going to have to stand on a stage and spell out loud. It had been bad enough doing that in my own class, let alone here in a big school with strangers. I started to worry. Who could I tell? None of the organisers seemed to be all that interested in one unhappy, fretful student. Before I could work out what to do, they had us file on stage in rows.
Once we were on stage, the announcer, a man with a moustache and an American accent, told the audience that we'd all been given our dictionaries. "Were there any mistakes on them?" he said to us. "Raise your hand."
I had to complain in public. Could things get worse?
I raised my hand. "We have a mistake!" He picked up a pen from his stand and stood ready to write. "Stand up, stand up. What's your name?"
"Alicia Daisyname."
"What part of your name is wrong in the dictionary, first name or surname?"
"My surname."
"Spell how it should be."
"Daisyname. D-A-I-S-Y-N-A-M-E."
(My mother told me on the way home that when I said that, the woman in front of her turned to her neighbour and said, "That's a new one on me," so she accidentally-on-purpose kicked the back of the woman's chair and said an insincere "oh, sorry".)
The man read back to me what he'd written. "D-A-I-S-Y-N-H-A-M-E, is that right?"
"No, it shouldn't have H in it. D-A-I-S-Y-N-A-M-E."
The man was flummoxed. "D-A-I-S-Y-N-no H-A-M-E?"
"Yes, that's right."
"We'll organise a replacement to be sent. Now, let's get on with the spelling."
I was an anxious kid and that completely threw me. I made it through the first couple of rounds, but I was rattled. I went out in seventeenth place after misspelling siege. Siege! I think of that humiliation every time I hear the word. It was particularly galling because I could spell all the words in the final spell-off between the top two. On the other hand, it was a relief because I could sit down.
They didn't want the dictionary with the incorrect name plate back, so I took it home. A month later the replacement dictionary arrived in the mail. Awarded to Alisia Daisyname. And that's the story of how the spelling bee awarded me two dictionaries with incorrect spelling.
When I was in the early years of secondary school, I won my school's spelling bee. I was the year level champion; I may have also defeated the champion from another year. I don't remember. At any rate, mother and I drove two hours to a school in Geelong for the regional spelling bee finals.
Every finalist received a dictionary with a personalised bookplate. They were given out as we lined up waiting to go on stage. My heart fell when I opened it: they had spelt my name wrong. The dictionary was awarded to Alicia Daisynhame. Of course it was.
It was a double blow. The cursed H, of course. It's the bane of my life, that H. I sometimes think of changing my name to Alicia Daisyname-no-H, because that's how I say it.
The other blow was that I'd have to tell someone. I'd have to speak. I hated causing scenes or being the centre of attention or having anyone look at me. It was bad enough that I was going to have to stand on a stage and spell out loud. It had been bad enough doing that in my own class, let alone here in a big school with strangers. I started to worry. Who could I tell? None of the organisers seemed to be all that interested in one unhappy, fretful student. Before I could work out what to do, they had us file on stage in rows.
Once we were on stage, the announcer, a man with a moustache and an American accent, told the audience that we'd all been given our dictionaries. "Were there any mistakes on them?" he said to us. "Raise your hand."
I had to complain in public. Could things get worse?
I raised my hand. "We have a mistake!" He picked up a pen from his stand and stood ready to write. "Stand up, stand up. What's your name?"
"Alicia Daisyname."
"What part of your name is wrong in the dictionary, first name or surname?"
"My surname."
"Spell how it should be."
"Daisyname. D-A-I-S-Y-N-A-M-E."
(My mother told me on the way home that when I said that, the woman in front of her turned to her neighbour and said, "That's a new one on me," so she accidentally-on-purpose kicked the back of the woman's chair and said an insincere "oh, sorry".)
The man read back to me what he'd written. "D-A-I-S-Y-N-H-A-M-E, is that right?"
"No, it shouldn't have H in it. D-A-I-S-Y-N-A-M-E."
The man was flummoxed. "D-A-I-S-Y-N-no H-A-M-E?"
"Yes, that's right."
"We'll organise a replacement to be sent. Now, let's get on with the spelling."
I was an anxious kid and that completely threw me. I made it through the first couple of rounds, but I was rattled. I went out in seventeenth place after misspelling siege. Siege! I think of that humiliation every time I hear the word. It was particularly galling because I could spell all the words in the final spell-off between the top two. On the other hand, it was a relief because I could sit down.
They didn't want the dictionary with the incorrect name plate back, so I took it home. A month later the replacement dictionary arrived in the mail. Awarded to Alisia Daisyname. And that's the story of how the spelling bee awarded me two dictionaries with incorrect spelling.