Day 58: Why I chose a condor for my first tattoo

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 58: Why I chose a condor for my first tattoo

Yesterday I mentioned that I would explain why a chose a condor for my first tattoo as a condor is not an obvious choice. Let’s face it, a condor is an ugly bird, and if young girls are compared to pretty birds than older women are ugly birds. As such, I’m an ugly bird.

But there is another reason why I chose a condor tattoo.

Many years ago, I started playing ten-pin bowling tournaments. I was not exactly champion material, but I wasn’t a bad player either. My average was 175 with an occasional 200+ and a top score of 257.  

In tournaments, however, I went to pieces. All my opponent had to do was give me a dirty look, ignore me, or say “You’re gonna lose” and my confidence went from 100 to zero in two seconds flat.

How it happened exactly I can’t remember, but I came across a picture of a condor. As mentioned earlier not exactly a pretty bird, but definitely a bird to be feared. And for some reason, I started to identify with this bird.

From then on, whenever I stood on the approach, I was no longer Conny, I was ... the condor. Now, at the start of a tournament, or even just a practice game, I imagined the condor, waiting to take flight. 

As the condor, I might not be the most beautiful bowler, but I would soar to new heights and I was to be feared. 

And it worked. A few years ago, Dieter (a.k.a. Raven) and I took first place at a Halloween tournament and we took first place in the league.

Dieter and I no longer play league or tournaments, but we do bowl every Saturday morning. We have a mini-competition going, just for the fun of it. Do I beat him? ... hardly, he’s way better than me. He’s got a 200 average while I only have a 175 average. But occasionally, I do manage to snatch a game from him or manage to come close.

To learn more about the condor and see some great photos.

https://www.chimuadventures.com/blog/2016/07/andean-condor/

http://justfunfacts.com/interesting-facts-about-california-condors/

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Looking for a unique gift?

http://connymanero.weebly.com/store.html 

Bowling, bowling, bowling

I’m starting the New Year in the best possible way … bowling, bowling and more bowling. 

The short version:

·       A bowling party at New Year’s Eve

·       A tournament on New Year’s Day

·       League bowling the day after. 

If this isn’t THE WAY to start a year, what is …

The long version:

On New Year’s Eve Kennedy Bowl is organizing a bowling party, starting at 10:00 p.m.  The atmosphere will be cosmic bowling.

While cosmic bowling is a lot of fun, it also presents a few problems.  The alley is lit up only by black lights and strategically placed spots, aimed at a glitter ball.  So, not only is lane visibility limited, every now and then colourful images (projected from the glitter ball) glide and sweep across the lane.

I find cosmic bowling particularly challenging as I rely on the target arrows on the lane to direct my ball.  In the darkness, I can't see those arrows until I’m right by the foul line.  Then again, we’ll be bowling for the fun of it, so I shouldn’t care (too much) about my score.

On New Year’s Day I’ll be taking part in a bowling tournament.  While this will be fun too, it will also be very serious business.  I don’t think I stand much of a chance, competing against men and women far better than I am, but … one never knows, right?  

January 1^st might just be my lucky day.  I’ve won tournaments before, on my own and with Dieter, so I know I can do it.  The main thing will be to keep my cool and not be too impressed by my competition.

Then on Wednesday it will be business as usual with league bowling.  It’s a very serious league, with very serious bowlers.  We’re doing well though.  We, “The Expendables”, were at one time in last place, but by winning a few points here and a few points there, we’ve managed to scramble into 10^th position.

Anyway, I’m planning to have fun in the next three days and continue to do so in the year that follows.

Does bowling with music makes for better bowling?

It just occurred to me that I neglected to report on last Wednesday night’s bowling league.  Yeah well, let’s just say that you didn’t miss much.  Let’s talk about today’s practice session instead.

I always do better during practice than during league, but apparently I’m not the only one.  When I spoke to a seasoned bowler today, whom I thought always kept his cool, he admitted that he does better when it’s just for fun too. 

My scores of today say it all:

191 – 164 – 222 – 226 – 166

That is an average of 193.8

Dieter did even better.  He scores were:

174 – 224 – 209 – 157 – 235

That is an average of 199.8

If only I could bowl like this during league.

Then again, the conditions were ideal today.  The oil pattern on the lanes was perfect and the atmosphere was relaxed and happy due to up-beat music piped through the speakers.  I always do better with music.

I’ve asked numerous times for music during the league, but so far this has not been approved because music messes with the serious bowler’s concentration.  Serious about bowling as I am, I guess that makes me a non-serious bowler.

The loudness also plays a part.  Soft music does nothing for me, but turn up the volume and my spirits lift while my bowling scores rise. 

In the absence of bowling alley music, I could listen to music privately through headphones, but this seems so anti-social. 

Before next week’s Wednesday night league, we’ll have another practice session tomorrow night.  Let’s see if I can do well two night in a row.

I need all the practice I can get for the upcoming Halloween tournament.  Last year Dieter and I won the competition.  Can we do it again?

Weekly bowling update - by an inch or a mile, winning is winning

I’m a little late with my weekly bowling blog update, aren’t I.  To tell you the truth, I would just as soon forget the whole thing, but I’ve promised an update every week, so here it is.

The whole of Wednesday I was in good spirits.  Everything is better and brighter when bowling is on the agenda that same day.  I felt so optimistic that I made the Facebook entry “I ho, I ho, it’s off to bowls we go.  Strike or spare, we don’t care, I ho, I ho, I ho, I ho.”

You should have seen me 30 minutes later.  At first I wasn’t worried when meeting the competition.  I recognized Maria and Louis from previous encounters and from tournaments.  We played them before and we had beaten them before.

My confidence evaporated when I saw the score sheet listing the players and I noticed Maria and Louis’ average and handicap.  Holy cow ... their worst player was better than our team’s best player.  We were in trouble, serious trouble.

Without confidence, a game is as good as lost.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post, bowling games are won and lost in a bowler’s mind.  If he doesn’t think he has a chance, he won’t stand a chance. 

As it turned out, we really didn’t stand a chance.  Maria blasted off with a 200+ game and I couldn’t do anything right.  My ball went to the left, my ball went to the right, he went everywhere except where he was supposed to go ... in the pocket of the pin deck.

The second game was worse.  Maria made 11 strikes and ended up with a score of 289.  I won’t even tell you my score, it’s too embarrassing.

After a smoke break between the second and third game I came back and prepared for another round of punishment.  My game improved though and ... hello, I was catching up with Maria.  She made a strike, I made a strike, she picked up a spare, I picked up a spare.  We were like two bulls locking horns. 

When the score was tallied up with handicap I held my breath.  We had both bowled our hearts out.  Would I have enough for a win?  As it turned out, we drew with an equal score.  On the one hand this was kind of depressing, all that work for ½ a point, but on the other hand ... hello, if I could equal her, I could beat her.

Which is exactly what I did in the fourth and final game.  Admittedly, I only won by 3 pins, but as Vin Diesel said in The Fast and the Furious ... “Whether you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning.”

I really must practise positive thinking more often. 

Angry Birds

A word of advice … now that Angry Birds is on Facebook, don’t start playing it.  Once you start, you cannot stop.

Even though Angry Birds has been around for a long time, I wasn’t remotely interested.  Dieter played it, but I thought it was just a stupid game.

When Angry Birds came on Facebook, I had to check it out, see what all the fuss was about.  I firmly believe that one should at least try something before forming an opinion.  BIG MISTAKE!

All it took was one game and I was hooked.

Those cute birds, the different challenges they face, not to mention the hilarious sound effects of the game make for a winning combination.

This afternoon I was an angry bird.  Kennedy Bowl organized a doubles tournament and of course Dieter and I were there.  We’re both diehard bowlers and cannot resist an opportunity to measure ourselves with other bowlers.

One look at who was there and we both raised our eyebrows … not only had other bowlers come out in full force, quite a few of them were of a considerable calibre.  We would have our hands full keeping up with them, never mind beating them.

Personally I am one of those bowlers who does well when it doesn’t matter.  Meaning, during social bowling I maintain quite a decent average.

When it does matter, during league bowling, my games tend to go up and down.  Sometimes I start off low and manage to increase my game score as I go along; sometimes I start off bang, only to go to pieces later on.  

 

During a tournament … well, I never know what’s going to happen.  I’ve had good games and I’ve had bad games.  I make stupid mistakes, leave pins standing and make one split after another.  The way I see it, it’s not my fault.  It’s the fault of my ball who develops a mind of his own.  

When he has to go left, he veers to the right; when he’s supposed to go to the right, he swings to the left, and then there are times that he goes dead straight when he’s not supposed to.

As for the pins … I swear those things move on their own accord or have something on the bottom that enables them to remain standing … glue, or Velcro or something.  

Anyway, in today’s tournament we muddled along until Dieter shot a 255 in the last game, catapulting us in 4^th position in the qualifying.  Our victory was short lived though.  To cut a long story short … we didn’t win.  Not even close.

Not surprising when I checked out the competition.  One of the men has no less than ten 300’s in his bowling career!!! 

We didn’t stick around to find out who ultimately won.  We left with our tails between our legs and went to drawn our sorrows in a large Hawaiian pizza. 

Does this loss teach us the lesson not to compete again … neigh, as I said, we’re diehard bowlers.  We may have lost a fight, but we will persevere until we win the war.

A bit of this and a bit of that

Those of you who have been reading this blog from the beginning might remember that some three and a half months ago I was bitching and whining about the heat.
The air-conditioning in our condo building had giving up and in a temperature of between 38 and 45 degrees C (100 - 113 degrees F), we were boiling in our units.

I remember sitting in front of a fan, my feet in a bucket of cold water, with a wet towel draped around my neck. All in an attempt to stay cool. The only time and place where it was sort of bearable was at night on the balcony, which is where I wrote some of these blog entries.

Now it’s a different story. Toronto got its first touch of frost last night and this morning it was bitterly cold. It warmed up a little during the day, but not much, the temperature was maybe 5 degrees C (41 degrees F). In the sun it was kind of nice, but the wind ruined every chance of warmth.

I don’t know which is worse, the heat or the cold. I suppose the heat. At least to protect oneself against the cold one can put on multiple layers of clothing, while with the heat there is only so much one can take off.

Still, I’m not looking forward to winter. From now until the end of March we’re gonna have to bundle up in sweaters and coats, scarves and gloves and shiver until our teeth rattle.

While it’s dry it’s not so bad, but oh dear, soon we might get ice and snow and that’s gonna make everything even worse. I like falling snow as much as the next person, and the white blanket does make everything look beautiful, but unfortunately that kind of beauty is fleeting. Soon the white snow turns into a gray mess, starts melting and creates ice patches. Uuuh, I can’t even think about it without shivering.

On a different subject ... as of October 29th we’re home owners. Yep, we bought the condo we’ve been living in for the past six years. During the whole of September we went condo shopping but didn’t see anything we liked. It was basically a case of, what we liked we couldn’t afford and what we could afford we didn’t like. So we decided to stay where we are.

On a different note still ... last weekend Dieter and I played in a ten-pin bowling tournament. We weren’t going to play at first, seeing the entry fee was $50 per person, but in the end we couldn’t stop ourselves. I noticed how much Dieter wanted to play, wanted to test his skills against other bowlers and truth be told I like a bit of competition too. So we entered.

Two squads were to play, the first squad at 12:00 and the second at 2:00 p.m. We played in the 2:00 p.m. time slot. We played four games qualifying and at the end of that round we were in first place.
Next came the finals which were three games round robin.
And we nailed it. We beat our opponents one after another and with only two teams remaining (we and another team) it was time for the slaughter.
Dieter played an amazing game and scored 246, beating the pants off the competition. I didn’t do too bad either and so together we took first place!
Prize money ... (drum roll) $800.
We floated home on Cloud 9.

Is this the beginning of good times to come?