I am one of a few participants in a certain celebrity dead pool who did not select someone under the age of 50. That's not hurting me yet, but if Lindsay Lohan and Dick Cheney die this year I certainly shall have strong competition. So next year I will have maybe a bell curve assortment of nonagenarians, octogenarians, septuagenarians, sexuagenarians, 50+ yos. So my total potential point total exceeds 250.

I will also encrypt the dead pool lists of other entrants. I didn't even mention Robin Gibb dying to my family, although he was my fourth strike of the year. My husband did, and my child asked who on the dead pool had zero points. I named one, he prompted "who else?" until I went through all the names and when I mentioned the last name he said "serves that person right." Seems the dear tot is in high dudgeon over two picks on that person's list. Yes you read that correctly, my kid is upset that someone he doesn't know put two people he admires on a dead pool list. He's memorized the names of the offenders AND their entries.