Words With Friends

So. I have a confession to make…

My name is Tara, and I’m addicted to my iPhone.

Yes, it’s a shameful admission, but I don’t think I’m alone in this, and I definitely don’t think it’s going away anytime soon. I have family staying with me this week, and I think my mother is now concerned about the household her grandchild is growing up in because on more than one occasion, she has looked at me, shaken her head, and asked ‘What are you doing on your phone now?’ And I’ve usually answered with a noncommittal (and slightly defensive) 'stuff'.

Because that’s what you do on an iPhone, right? Stuff. I check Twitter and Facebook and my email accounts. I check the blogs that I follow. I feed my pet fish, and I play solitaire and boggle and mahjong. I track my grocery list and my budget and the traffic and the weather. I follow the news, and I shop. And as of last night? I started playing Words With Friends.

Oh boy.

For those of you who haven’t given in to the siren song of Apple (Or maybe it’s also available online and not just through the iPhone app? I don’t know the specifics.), WWF is basically an online version of Scrabble. But it’s better than Scrabble, because you can just make up words, and the game will tell you whether they’re real or not. It’s actually kind of educational. For example, did you know japed is a real word? I do now. And all because I had a ‘J’ tile worth 10pts that I wanted to use on an extra point square. When the game accepted the word, I was intrigued enough to go to the Dictionary.com application (also on my phone) to find out what it meant. Apparently, it is of Japanese origin and can be used as a verb or a noun:

Japed: To jest, joke, gibe. To mock or make fun of. A jest, trick, or practical joke.

And there is your fun fact of the day. Courtesy of me and my iPhone.

Anyway, I think my mother is now even more worried about my state of mind because last night, while watching American Idol with the fam, Steve and I were playing WWF against each other. That’s right. Instead of actually talking to my husband, he was firmly trouncing me in an online vocabulary game from the other couch. Him and his stupid 75pt word. And every once in awhile, one of us would just randomly start laughing. I think I would be concerned about us, too, if I didn’t know what was going on. Heck, I do know what’s going on, and I’m still concerned.

But not enough to stop playing, of course.


**I currently have games going with Steve, his brother, and his sister, because they are all awesome people and also because those are the only people I know who are playing. If you’re playing, too, let me know! My screen name is Tara100, and I’m actually pretty easy to beat. Just ask Steve, who just dropped a 61pt word on me to basically double my score. Bastard.