Puppies, Bowling and Dinner

L. and C. got a puppy! Meet Cowboy. This was the first time I met him and it was only for a short time, but I can tell you he's a cutie, and his back end wiggles and wags to its own drum.

When L. and C. came to the Barbeque of the Broken Glass there was talk of going bowling and even fake days and times discussed, but neither party got around to really acting on the idea until earlier this month. When L. and I went to dinner the idea of bowling came back up and, basically, it was decided that we were going bowling...even though L. isn't that big a fan of bowling. When we arrived at the alley I think she said that the last time she had bowled was in 1998.
We played three games and drank beer and ate tater tots. I bowled really poorly. I think I was overconfident as a result to my work bowling experience. I get better with practice. I think.

This is us bowling. Or that was what I believe we were pretending to do. Maybe? I don't think either of us look like that when we're actually bowling.
Also recreating moves from bowling, without the ball. And random guy with his own ball and shoes giving L. bunny ears.

After bowling (L. got better, C. was good, I disappointed myself and didn't break 100...or even hit it at all. Sad face.) we had dinner at North Third. I should have had a burger as C. and L. recommended, but after Village Whiskey I just knew it would disappoint. So I went down an even harder road and ordered the soft shell crab sandwich. I shouldn't have. Most all crab-related things, I just have to accept that I do them better. I am boasting. I am really only saying that I like the way I fry softshell crabs better. The crab itself was so breaded that you had a good half a thumb nail or more worth of batter before you hit crab, and then the thick bread. In some ways it was more like a bread sandwich. I just ate the crab and left the bread. I liked the pickle though. That was a damn good pickle.

Bowling with the Workforce

After beer and food, we traipsed over to North Bowl in order to further build our team spirit. We were divided into two groups, the rap group and the heavy metal group. I was Metalicca. We played two games. The first time I broke 100, but not by much. My boss, G., took to heckling me, which led to my heckling him. And then this series of photographs happened.
Me and my two bosses, hip hop style.
Me and my two bosses, hard rock style.

I fared far better in the second game. Note! Note my score!!! 154! That is respectable. Ish. In my circles, at least.

North Bowl League Party: Hole in One Comes in Third!

Last Wednesday Ak and A. and I met up at North Bowl Lanes for our league's awards party. There was really awful food, I took photographs of it, but, really, it isn't worth showing. There were also hula hoopers, a lot of them. And, in one corner of the upstairs space, you could get your Tarot cards read...kind of. She told me to pick three cards out of the pile and then she proceeded to, without really looking at or considering the cards, tell me that I'd be married by 29, that I'd maybe only have one child, that I shouldn't be surprised if I get pregnant at any time, I also wasn't going to win the lottery. That what I did for my job and what my education was wouldn't necessarily synch, but that I would be okay with this. She seemed to tell a lot of women that they'd be married within two years of their current age. Hmmm.


These were representatives from the winning team in our league...they were good, F., the girl on the left, was a consistent striker and another one of their teammates could do that magical thing where it looked like the ball was going into the gutter and then it would curve and strike.
Their trophy had a little more flair.
We were part of the Sunday league, which consisted of four teams. We came in third, and won a trophy and some cashola. The money and the trophy were kind of a surprise. There was a lot of shock.

At one point I felt an itch in one of my boots, and I wondered what it might be.
Turned out to be a pile of money!
The money was so great we thought we should show it around the space a little more.
I found that when confronted with a crisp $50, I have an unsatiable need to pretend to eat it.
At one point money fell from the ceiling!

Chicken Fingers c/o North Bowl

This past Sunday's league bowling was late but, in the end, whirlwind. The woman who ran the league had her last day about two weeks ago and since then there have been some issues. The main issue being that the lanes we bowl on are still being used when we're supposed to start, thus we have to wait half an hour or more...which just isn't right. Though, to be fair, another one of the teams (Chix 'n Stix...they're really good, they can spin the ball and get strike like nobody's business) pointed this out to the management and they bought us each one beer while we waited. One of the teams seems to have ceased showing up, which isn't really that much of a loss--they were annoying. Anyways, we were supposed to play this no-longer-showing-up-team, which meant that we didn't have to wait for the other team to switch lanes, which meant that we could just bowl non-stop. We played three games in an hour instead of the usual 2-3. I ordered chicken fingers and they were slightly better than everything else I've ordered from the North Bowl kitchen.
Ak and I really hit our strides in this round of games. My first game score was 134, which made me happy. But look at the off-the-hook score of 152 that Ak got. Count them. Count the four strikes! I won't lie that I was pretty happy with the four spares I got in a row in this round as well.
I have found that if I extend the ball back a little sooner and then do my funny little skip step hop thing I have a better chance of the ball going where I want it to. All three scores, above 100...I have improved.

Another Bowl Bites the Lane

After such a great second game on Friday, I expected to be an awesome bowling machine the following Sunday. This expectation, however, got the best of me, as you can see by my score of 65 in the first game. Ak suggested it was a matter of my crossing my body with my arm as I released the ball. I attributed the failures to my own confidence. Basically, if I think something is going well/that I am good at something, I am destined to give myself my own comeuppance. I did improve in the next two games, but never hit a 130 or 140, which had been my goal. Goals. Sigh.

Bowling c/o North Bowl, Part II

As I said, there were more photographs. We played two games, the first of which didn't go as well as the second (in terms of my score). Here, I am saying something and demonstrating something, I am sure.

I look like just a head!
This is my bowling face, I look like this all the time. All the time that I bowl, that is.





A score of 130 wasn't so bad on my part. We all did pretty well.

Bowling c/o North Bowl

The original plan for this company outing was to go play mini-golf and then eat dinner...but the rain was crazy rain, so the idea of golfing went down the hole. North Bowl is very nearby Dos Segundos and became our backup activity. The only real problem with this was that it was Friday night and by the time we thought to put our names on a list, the wait was over an hour. We soldiered through the wait with pitchers of beer, games of Pacman and the occasional stray tater tot.
And then it was time to bowl. My name was Calamity C.








I have many more photographs of this evening that I will put up later.