Tonight was AOL League Bowling Night, and I whooped butt! I had the best scoring game I’ve had since my toe was amputated and caused all those problems. The first two games were pretty dismal, though, but I made a few spectacular individual shots. The first two games I scored a 64, then a 48. In the first game, in the very last frame, I threw a pretty decent first ball. But the remaining four pins were somewhat split. Brandon, one of the guys on my team, said, “You could do it, come on. If you get just one of those pins to flip it’ll hit that one pin in the corner.” I just laughed and said, “Yeah, right.” But I did it!! I hit it just right, at just the right speed, and down they went. The cheer from the rest of the team was hilarious, and that got me all psyched up. That, however, was quickly quashed when I did horribly on the second game. Turns out though that I was just saving myself – I kicked almost everyone’s butts in the final game!! I was leading until the tenth frame when Mark, a substitute player, got two strikes in a row! I was so close. I beat Brandon like crazy and it was hilarious. We kept going back and forth saying, “You’re goin’ doooown!” He was acting all upset that he was losing to a girl, but I don’t think it bothered him too much – he bowled a 165 the game before. But, I broke 100!! I’m so proud of myself! I finally found my goove and once I got that I was much more consistent than I usually am. I can’t wait until next week! Now that I have it I hope I don’t lose it. I crouch to the point where Kevin says I look almost like a sprinter waiting to start a race. So I crouch, breathe in, threaten the ball, pull it back gently, then throw it with a bit of a lunge. In the last game, the first time I lunged (by accident) I threw a perfect strike! It was a great way to end the night.
After that I had to take a shower because the smell of smoke just reeked after spending so long in the bowling alley. Once that was done, I grabbed a quick snack and crashed in front of my computer. I just finished watching ‘Is It Fall Yet?’ (a Daria movie). The DSL is hooked up to my computer now. 🙂 I downloaded it this afternoon. I just love DSL. I’ve added to my music collection, getting things I’d normally never invest the time downloading stuck on dialup.
Now I can’t sleep, and after watching that Daria movie a thought hit me. Part of the film features Daria’s younger sister Quinn, who’s a bit of a shallow, uneducated person. She has to get a tutor, and it just made me realize something. I’ve been out of school for about three years now and I’m really feeling rusty. I don’t think I’ve missed out on anything, far from it. But I graduated from high school when I was 12, so of course I’m not going to remember every little detail about some foreign war. I feel stupid, even though I know I’m not, just because I can’t pull a date out of nowhere anymore. I’m just out of practice, and I’m okay with that because it wasn’t my fault I had to stop serious schooling three years ago. I was sick, it was unavoidable. Brain infections have that impact. But there’s nothing stopping me from trying to pick it up again. There are certain subjects that I feel I’m lacking in, and a few others I don’t know if I ever really covered thoroughly. Enter the internet and DSL! The internet has a wealth of information on it that I can get for free. I’ve already bookmarked a few websites and when I have a few extra minutes, I’ll cram in a little bit of study. I’ve decided to start with just two subjects for now, and oddly enough I just noticed they both feature the word “mechanics.” I wonder if there’s any correlation there… anyway. 🙂 I’ll be studying Quantum Mechanics and Automotive Mechanics. They may sound pretty random, but there are reasons for both.
I love science, I just never felt like I got a good science book. I love watching television shows about science, I love watching those geeky specials about the scientific theories put into practice on sci-fi shows, I remember watching a Steven Hawkings special on New Years Eve one year. I love it, I eat it up, and that’s one of the few subjects where I actually seem to remember specifics. But I don’t think I got too exposed to much of it. I’ve decided that being afraid of the big bad term “Quantum Mechanics” is just self-limiting. It’s not scary, I already know a good bit about it, I just didn’t realize it. Thankfully, Omar Fawzy, one of the other kids who won the ArsDigita prize with me last year, runs a website called Quantum Mechanics Made Simple. I’m going to use that as a general overview to see what areas of QM that I need to focus on; what I know, what I don’t, what intrigues me. I’m excited about it!
As for Automotive Mechanics, I haven’t forgotten any of that because I’ve never studied it. I love cars, I frequently oogle over them. My list of dream cars is longer than my list of dream houses (but they’re neck-and-neck in the race.) If I’m ever going to have a garage as extensive as I hope for I need to know how to take care of them all. I’ll quit being worried about breaking things, I’m going to get in there and learn everything I can about it.
I can’t wait. I’m going to spend my insomniac-troubled nights learning about new things and I think it’ll definitely be worth it. These things won’t necessarily make me an expert, that’s not my goal. I just want to understand a few more things, and be able to remember a few more dates in history. But, I’ll get to history after I tackle QM and Auto Mechanics. I have to lead up to that one. 🙂
Tomorrow I have a ton of stuff to do. Mail a few things, run a few errands, and then that event. (Or, actually, I suppose that’s today since it’s past midnight.) And on Wednesday – I’m thrilled about this – I get to go to Sweetwater Tavern, then I’m off to buy a bowling ball. I don’t know exactly what I’d want it to look like if I had my choice. Kevin said I should get a bowling ball in Tiffany blue, and I think that’s a really funny idea. If they have that option and it’s not too expensive, I may just get it. (Of course, I doubt they’ll refer to it as Tiffany blue.)
Hoorah! A productive day and I’m feeling better too. This cold seems to be letting up again, and this time I hope it stays gone. I’m off to read about engines and schrodinger equations. Good night!