spelling with herring (courtesy forkthis.blogspot.com)
On Wednesday night, I competed in the Eighth Meeting of the World Record Appreciation Society. I was there to set a record. My task: to spell “I ♥ PICKLED HERRING,” in pickled herring, and then eat it, faster than anyone had ever done it before. For a thorough survey of the evening’s events, please see the excellent Fork This. What follows, rather, will be a highly personal, perhaps even ego-centric account. My sense of wonder, of new vistas in spelling and herring, stands between me and my scant objectivity. I still kind of can’t believe I did this. I find it hard to write about. Not traumatic. Just… different. More like writing about the first time I had sex than the first time I climbed a mountain. It wasn’t especially heroic, and it didn’t last very long. The buildup was pure anxiety; the aftermath, strangely peaceful, in a suddenly well-nourished way.
