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Are you good at it? I am. Good at spelling that is; I’m compulsive about it actually.

You may recall my personal experience in the preliminaries of the National Spelling Bee — a long time ago, in an auditorium far, far away. It did not end well. I still can’t talk about it.

It broke my heart, left me with a terrible stutter, blurred vision, night sweats, hair loss, a permanent numbness in my left arm and then some bad stuff happened.

But there is a 13-year-old girl from Kansas who did much, much better than I did. She did it just this week in Washington, D.C., at the 2009 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. Her name is Kavya Shivashankar, and she’s from Olanthe, Kan.

I’m guessing Kavya Shivashankar is not that common a name in Olanthe, but then, Kavya is a very uncommon girl. Her official Bee Bio says she likes cycling, swimming, practicing the violin and wants to be a neurosurgeon. Kids. It’s so hard to keep them focused.

This was Kavya’s fourth trip to the national finals, which is about right these days. Nobody wins the Big Bee on their first try anymore.

On Thursday night, with the other 292 participants in this year’s national spell-off already gonzo, Kavya was the last girl standing when the moderator went into his wind up and hurled a 98 mile-an-hour fastball of a word at her.

The pride of Olanthe swung as hard as she could and ripped it, deep, deep, to the track, to the wall — gone — an etymological walk-off home run.

The packed house exploded, and Bee fans across the country went bonkers as Kavya staggered over to her family for hugs all around.

The winning word? “Laodicean.” It means a gambler from Laos. No, it doesn’t. I made that up. I have no idea what it means.

Think this is your grandmother’s spelling bee? Think again. This year’s winner walks away with $40,000 in cash, which is very easy to spell, and the National Spelling Bee trophy, which is about six inches shorter than Kavya.

Like most super spellers these days, Kavya traced out each word on her palm before she answered. She may be the best speller in the land, but she would be the worst poker player in the world. When she was done tracing, as soon as she knew she had the word nailed, Kavya broke out in a smile that could power a small city.

Want to go diphthong to diphthong with Kavya Shivashankar? I wouldn’t recommend it. Here is the list of words that Kavya stunned, got in a headlock and wrestled to the ground: disciples, mesophilic, ergasia, kurta, escritoire, hydragyrum, baignoire, huisache, ecossaise, diacoele, bouquiniste, isagoge, phoresy, Laodicean. If it wasn’t for bouquiniste (one who makes tiny bouquets) and phoresy (expressing beliefs contrary to the number four) I would have been back in my seat early and often.

And let us not forget the also-rans, who missed by that much.

Second place went to 12-year-old Tim Ruiter of Centreville, Va., this year’s youngest super speller. He heard the dreaded “ding” when he misspelled “Maecenas.” Can you believe that? Like someone wouldn’t know how to spell Maecenas. And, no, don’t ask me what it means.

Third place went to another hyper-animated 13-year-old girl, Aishwarya Pastapur from Springfield, Ill. Pastapur accompanied every correct answer with a wild fist pump and a shouted “Yes!” that brought the crowd to its feet.

At the end of the day, does spelling really matter? I think so, especially if you do it wrong. I can’t tell you the number of misspellings I see in all sorts of places, some low, some very high, from all sorts of people who should know better, much better.

All the power ties and reserved parking spaces in the world cannot save a senior vice president who can’t spell from looking like a dummy.

Very few of us can keep up with the whiz kid/super spellers who gather in Washington every year, but anything that heightens interest in spelling is a good thing.

And I’ve warned you about this before — “spell check” is not your friend. That’s because you can’t depend on Spell Czech to tell ewe the write whey to spell a word oar rite a sentence.

And don’t forget all those reminders from the fourth grade. They’re corny but they work — “i” before “e” except after “c” or when sounded like “a” in neighbor and weigh.

When do you use “desert” and when do you use “dessert?” The one you eat has a double “s” because you always want two helpings.

Is it school principal or school principle? It’s principal, because the principal is your pal. Do you know why you can never starve in the desert? Because of all the sand which is there. Get it? It’s like a joke.

I don’t think there is a sappy reminder for Laodicean, but just ask Kavya Shivashankar. She knows this stuff. Really. I gotta go.

PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs Sundays. He may be reached at ptrb4@aol.com.