Monday, July 29, 2019

Bowling for the Zoo

I got to go bowling Saturday night!

The LA Zoo was having some kind of fundraiser.  I’m not completely sure what it was raising funds for since it wasn’t Bowling for Rhinos this time, but it didn’t matter to me too much.  Angelique was getting the same group together that had bowled together last year for Bowling for Rhinos at the last minute and asked me if I wanted to join.  Naturally, I said yes.

This was the first time I’d bowled in over a year, and it was nice to get to use my bowling ball and shoes again.

There were five of us bowling on two lanes.  I was on the lane with two people, which meant we got a lot of games in, especially since the three on the other lane were taking things a little slower.

We bowled for an hour and a half, and we got four games in on my lane.  My scores were 115, 122, 150, and 139.  What was amazing was I had more strikes in that final game than any of the other games.  Obviously, spares are important for high scores as well if you aren’t going to strike.

Anyway, it was fun to hang out with everyone.  And great to be bowling again.

Things weren’t as crowded as they were for the Bowling for Rhinos event.  I get why that is disappointing from a fundraising point of view, I was thankful because last time it was just too crowded and it was hard to move when you weren’t at your alley, which was no fun at all.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Another Week, Another Summer League Game

There are only so many ways to say we lost, so titling my blog posts is becoming hard.  But yes, we lost again.

Our game this week was Wednesday night.  Fortunately, it was close, so I didn’t have to fight traffic.  We had 9 people show up, a 10th showed up for the last point – that’s as soon as he could get there after working late.

We started out behind, down 4-8 at half, and that was after scoring a couple in a row at the end.  We came back in the second half.  While the final score was 11-15, we tied it up, and we were at 11-12 before they went on the final run to win.

What is frustrating is this is the one team we have beat all season.  On the other hand, when we beat them, they only had 8 people show up to our 9.

And they were fast.  I played the fewest points I had been all season because there was only one person I had a hope of staying with on defense.  I played most offensive points, and I would play on defense in he was on the field.  I got scored on twice in the first half.  Fortunately, I didn’t in the second half because I was playing fewer points.  I didn’t have any turn overs on offense, and I might have helped force a turn on defense in the second half.  Definitely was key in getting a reset on one of the points we scored in the second half, which made me happy.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Meeting JMS

Last night, I had the chance of a lifetime.

I have been a fan of the TV show Babylon 5 since I was introduced to it by a couple of friends in college.  I discovered earlier this year that J. Michael Straczynski (dubbed JMS by us fans), the show’s creator, was releasing an autobiography.  Naturally, I started watching to see if he was doing any signings.

I’m not sure how I discovered he was doing one signing in the Los Angeles area since he has mainly been promoting his convention appearances.  But there was indeed one signing at Book Soup down in West Hollywood last night.  Naturally, as soon as I found out about it, I decided I was going to go.

I’d never been to the bookstore before, and I’m sure I would have enjoyed it had I taken a little more time to explore.  However, I didn’t have that much time before the signing started by the time I got down there and parked.  It really doesn’t have much parking, and it is in a busy neighborhood, so that was trickier than I thought it would be.

But it was well worth it.  There wasn’t as much of a crowd as I feared there would be, but I’m not sure the shop would have survived if there had been a giant crowd.  JMS was funny, yet the bits he teased from his personal life are heartbreaking.  I suspect that I’m going to find the book heartbreaking reading.

I didn’t have long to chat with him since there were people waiting in line behind me waiting to get things signed, but I was able to thank him for the countless friends I have made while watching the show.  And I’m not talking about characters (although I love them), but the friends I have watched the show with who have become some of my closest friends.  Yes, I got the booked signed as well as the DVD booklet for season 4 of Babylon 5.  I don’t think I came across as a blathering fan.  At least I hope I didn’t.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Lost Again

Wednesday was my summer league ultimate Frisbee game this week.  Yep, we lost again.  The final score was 10-15.  The cool thing is, this is the team we played the first week of the summer, and we did better.  That was a very good feeling.

We had 8 guys show up.  Seriously, why can’t we get more guys to show up at games?  That would make a huge difference for us.

I had a few drops, but the discs were rising as I tried to get them, so they were hard catches.  I also had some successful catches and throws, so I felt good about that.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Another Mud Run Canceled

I was supposed to have another mud run this last weekend.  Once again, it was canceled on me.

What made this one even worse was that it was canceled on me at the last minute.  As in, some of the earlier waves had already run, and I had arrived at the location (an hour and a half away) before they canceled it.

I’d arrived over in San Bernardino plenty early, but then I got stuck in traffic for the final mile and a half.  After going maybe a tenth of a mile, I learned that the parking and the overflow parking was all full, so I parked in a lot nearby and started hoofing it toward the venue.  That’s when I started hearing from people that they had closed the mud run.  I decided it wasn’t worth walking all the way up there to find out officially.  When I was almost back to my car, I heard someone using a bullhorn to call it out behind me.  And then later, I got e-mail confirmation.

I still haven’t heard officially why it was canceled.  They said the heat, but they planned to have Sunday’s race go on as scheduled, and it was going to be just as hot.  They were going to let people race in whatever wave, but that would just create nightmares at the obstacles.  Needless to say, I didn’t go back.  Anyway, they also warned us about the heat in e-mails this week, so clearly it wasn’t a surprise.  I suspect something must have happened that caused them to close it, but I don’t know what.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a wasted drive.  I had planned to meet a friend for lunch, and she was free two hours early, so we meet up earlier than originally planned.  We wound up talking for 4 hours, so the drive time was definitely well worth it.

Friday, July 12, 2019

Losses Continue

This last Monday was my latest summer league ultimate Frisbee game.  And it was another loss.

We actually had 10 people show up, although two of them were subs and not regular members of our team.  Still, it was a welcome change from the week before to not have to play every single point. 

The other team had several friends of mine out it, so it was nice to see them.  But it wasn’t at all a close game.

We were tied at 1-1, I think, but we weren’t close much after that.  We finished at 7-15.  They threw zone at us early, and we just couldn’t counter it.

I did feel like I was doing well in the game.  I can’t remember any turn overs I was involved in period.  And yes, I was thrown to several times.

Our game finished so fast, that I hung out afterwards.  Threw the disc around a bit and chatted with friends.  Watched the final point of the final game.  Then I went out to the bar afterwards, where I talked until late.  I should have gone to bed much earlier than I did, but that’s the story of my life these days, it seems.

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Parents in Town for the 4th

My parents came to town for the 4th of July.  I had to work on Friday (no vacation time since I’ve started a new job), but they knew this before they came down.  They still figured this gave us more time together than if they came for a regular weekend.

We stayed fairly close to home for most of the visit.  Played lots of games, including a new one that I won all but one game of.  I love that game!

We did go out to see the fireworks on Thursday night, or at least try to.  I was scared of how crowded I figured things would be at the mall, so I took us to a park a little ways away.  Unfortunately, the fireworks were so low that the trees hid most of them.  However, we did get to enjoy some illegal fireworks that were much closer and very impressive.

Sunday, we headed down to the other end of Los Angeles to a baby shower for some family friends from home.  We were the only friends at the friends and family shower, but that was fine because it gave us lots of time to catch up with everyone who was there.  Don’t get to spend enough time with them all.

They stayed with me again, which is working well.  It is convenient that we are all in the same place, although I would usually spend some time with them in their trailer.  And, it’s cheaper for them, obviously.  An added benefit of not having a roommate.  Plus is gives me motivation to clean the place occasionally.

Monday, they went home while I was at work.  It was a great visit.

Tuesday, July 02, 2019

Summer League Game 4

You never quite know how many people are going to show up the week of the 4th of July.  There are holiday plays plus there’s a big ultimate tournament in Seattle every year.  (Or at least there used to be.  I haven’t heard anything about it this year.  Not that I ever tried to go.)

Last night, we had…7.  And we play with 7 on the field.  You can see what that means – lots of playing time.  We were on the field the entire time.

I was actually very impressed with how we did considering we were savage.  We took half at 8-6.  Sadly, the fact that they had 3 subs and we didn’t have any wore on us in the second half and we lost.  I thought the score was 10-15 at the end, but it got officially reported at 12-15.  I’ll take it!  Especially since that three point loss is equal to the three extra people they had.  Imagine if they had been savage as well.

I score one of our goals, too!  They were poaching like crazy, and I was able to take advantage of that at one point to score.  Unfortunately, I made up for it by dropping a pull (a bad turnover) and dropping another couple of throws.  Plus a few throws to me were too low or just out of reach and I missed them, too.  Still, I scored a goal!  I’m going to focus on that.