On Fri, 29 May 2009 10:47:16 -0400, HK wrote:


Kavya Shivashankar, a beautiful young lady, won the Scripps spelling bee
yesterday.

From the AP:

WASHINGTON - Cool and collected, Kavya Shivashankar wrote out every word
on her palm and always ended with a smile. The 13-year-old Kansas girl
saved the biggest smile for last, when she rattled off the letters to
"Laodicean" to become the nation's spelling champion.

The budding neurosurgeon from Olathe, Kan., outlasted 11 finalists
Thursday night to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, taking home
more than $40,000 in cash and prizes and, of course, the huge champion's
trophy.

After spelling the winning word, which means lukewarm or indifferent in
religion or politics, Kavya got huge hugs from her father, mother and
little sister.

Wife and I were watching last night. Pretty amazing how dedicated
these kids are to rising to the level of competition. Very cool.

Happy she won, she's got a great attitude and a lovely demeanor.