bowling update

Well, the new orb is going to take some time to get used to. I bowled absolutely gash. My first game throwing a hook was a whopping 71 points. I threw more gutters than I had since highschool. My straight game was a respectable 148. The holes are spread differently than I'm used to, so it was difficult to adjust my throw. Also, the pin reaction was much different than a house ball. With the straight throw, the ball would just go right through the pins, rather than making them bounce around. I had a harder time than usual getting strikes. The pin patterns that were left for spares were also completely different than the ones I usually leave. My third game I went back to a hook. I rolled around 100 that game. So, much practice is needed. On a positive note, when I actually threw a decent hook, the pins just laid down for me. It looked like they were hit with a small wave of water is the best explanation for how it looked. My ball seems to be very forgiving in pocket accuracy. I got a couple of solid looking strikes when I really didn't hit the pocket very well.

I am free

Finally,

Friday was my last day working at the University Hospital. I start Monday at the College Ave. office. I'm not going to miss that place one damn bit. I won't have to do weekday call anymore, and will only help on weekend call once every 5 weeks. My new job will be more like most any other orthotic office in the country. The patient's will actually come to the office and I won't have to travel much at all, if any. No more walking up and down the halls of that hospital. No more bloody car crash victims. No more Cerebral-spinal fluid leaking out of people's noses and ears. No more gaping holes from self inflicted gunshot wounds. No more collapsed skulls where you can see the brain pulse directly under the skin. No more shit covered hospital beds.

Wow,

I can't believe I actually stayed at that job over 2 years.

Here's to new beginnings.

test

The orb doth rise like a golden phoenix

Behold, your downfall!!!!!

This is my new orb, forged in the fire of hades and cooled to a perfectly round shape in the river Styx.

ok, maybe not, but it was a modestly priced ball that I liked the look of. It was more difficult picking out this ball than I thought it would be. For one, I have no idea what the numerical values mean when they speak of hook potential, back end, etc. I basically tried to find a ball that had a moderate hook potential and that was suited to medium dry to medium oily lanes. I figured that way it would kind of be an all situations ball. Right now I'm a moderate bowler at best. I had it drilled for throwing a straight ball, but I figure I can use it for the hook as well. Although, the guys at the bowling alley sounded like they would drill it differently for a hook ball. I don't understand what they would do differently, maybe placement of the holes so as not to mess with "the core". Anyway, the guy also said that by drilling it this way, it would hook more....which doesn't make any sense to me at all. I was also surpised at how many measurements they took to use in the drilling process. I figured it would be just small, med, or large based on the sample ball they have on the counter. Apparently not. The guy put several marks on my hand and used a couple of different devices for measurements. He also slid cylinders on my fingers to check the diameter size. I went with ones a little large so my fingers wouldn't stick. It's kinda like an eye test when they ask what is better, 1 or 2. Hopefully I didn't mess it up too bad, but I know what I like in a hole ;) I declined to have the plugs put in the holes, mostly because I'm a girly man that doesn't have the finger strength to grip with just my fingertips. They said it will be ready tomorrow, and league is Friday, so I will post the results this weekend. Hopefully it improves my game, god knows it couldn't possibly get worse.
As to you Aaron.....prepare you're ice ball to get melted!

Memories, like fingerprints, are slowly raising

Memories, in the corner of my mind
Misty, water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures....

Anyway,
The last time I was in Kansas City I brought home what I lovingly refer to as my "box of stuff". It's basically all the junk I decided to keep throughout the years. It started out as a shoe box and has grown to fill about half of a foot-locker (my old boy scout foot locker, surprisingly, is still around). I have been on vacation since Friday, so today I decided to take a trip down memory lane. The thing about going through a box of old stuff is that you are never sure what you will run into. Some things brought a smile to my face. Some things brought up old bad memories. Some things made me yearn for days gone by and the excitement of youth. Some things made me chuckle at the naivete and earnestness of my earlier days. Some things made me realize that memory is fleeting in a very concrete sense. Some things made me think, I can't believe I actually kept that!

Besides the usual assortment of love letters, matchbooks, birthday cards, concert tickets, and movie stubs I found some interesting keepsakes. Here are some of the more unusual ones:

1. an old, cheap digital watch that I wore in high school....it was still running! (that's at least 13-14 years old!)
2. My fabulous clip on tie that I had to wear at McDonald's
3. Nametags from McD's, QuickTrip, and various other jobs
4. A matchbox car with a key that locks the doors that Sean gave me on my 16th birthday
5. 2 hood ornaments that I ripped off cars in my hoodlum days (one was a buick, the other was a mercury cougar....I know...classy)
6. My favorite watch from when I was 18 (the crystal is completely smashed and I have no recall of how that happened)
7. Numerous names and phone numbers scribbled on bar napkins and paper (I had zero recall of about 80% of these people)......see what I mean about memory being fleeting?
8. My high school class ring
9. A postcard from Sean's vacation to Florida....he was 14 or 15 at the time (point of interest....he saw lots of SKATERZ that were good at ollies but stinky at bonelesses)
10. A letter Aaron sent me when I was at college in Kirksville that should have been confiscated and ended with the arrest of either one or both of us, but didn't.
11. A toy cannon that I bought at Fort Osage I think. That was when I was about 10-12 years old.
12. Another letter from Aaron with autographed pictures from "uate-a-my-poopa" as well as poorly photoshopped pictures of Christina Applegate
13. A tikki necklace my girlfriend bought me in Mexico...I was 17.
14. A ton of lighters, both standard and zippo. I have the lighter that was with me when the phrase "man-camp" first came into inception. It was also the night of the wilderbeast. It's got holographic little circles all over it and is color changing from yellow to orange to blue.
15. I also have many Total lighters, which reminded me of the phat life we lived off an expense card.
16. Aaron's college graduation schedule
17. A fantastic Captain Morgan's keychain
18. Several killer pewter statues of wizards and dragons from high school (I shuddered that I actually valued these things)
19. A piece of paper that I wrote on for a couple of hours while under the influence of a very strong substance circa 1996 (It was complete gibberish, mostly Butthole Surfer lyrics)
20. My rainbow colored rastafarian hat, as well as "the captain's hat"

Wow,
What the hell was I thinking back then?

That was just a small list of the things I came across. The best stuff was letters and old cards that people had given me over the years. I went back and read most of them. The sad part is that I can hardly remember things they mentioned in these letters. It's funny that things that mean so much to you at one point in your life are almost completely erased from memory later on down the road. It was still fun to try to piece together what may have been occuring at that point in history.

So, I took this opportunity to add all the "stuff" over the last two years to the box and tucked it back into the closet, not to be opened for another 5-10 years. Kinda like an ever growing time capsule.

week 2 of league

Well, after last week my average was 158.....better than I thought it would be. This week I managed to drop that by 20-30 points. I bowled god awful. I ended up with a 142, 134, and 102. The old lady that bowls on our team scored a 217 in one game. I just couldn't get into a rythm. I've also decided to finally get a ball, as my bag is basically a 15 pound carrying case for my shoes. I'm ordering it right after I finish this post, which is now. Ciao
-J

Celebrity siting

This one is a little late in coming. Last weekend Jade and I went to the Irish Festivial in Kansas City. There were a lot of good bands to see. As usual, most of the merchandise was shitty Irish knock-offs made in China. I ended up buying a Boulevard rugby shirt because I was cold. It's a nice shirt though. Also, I bought a framed Boulevard Louis and Clark poster, which came with another free poster. As for celebrity sitings, my mom met the lead singer of The Elders, a local Irish band that is pretty big. She got the new cd autographed for Jade. Right before my mom met up with us to give us the cd I saw Chris Porter, the runner up in the most recent Last Comic Standing. He walked right by me. It took me a second to place him, and by the time I realized who it was, he was already past me. That was literally my first encounter with someone famous outside of seeing someone on stage or at a ballgame. Has anyone else every met anybody famous or seen them in public?