Reading/Listening, Bowling, No Poker

Reading: I did it! I finished Barthelme! I don't even want to go back and see when I started, but I'm guessing it was about two months ago. Maybe more. Regardless, I'm done now, and I'm going to dust off a couple of poetry books this week to make me feel like I'm accomplishing something again. First up will be And Her Soul Out of Nothing by Olena Kalytiak Davis. I've skimmed this for a poetry class before, but I'm going to take some time to read it and let it marinade this time. After I finish it, I'm going to dust off a collection of Wallace Stevens poems. When those two are finished, I'm going to tackle The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. Throughout all of my recreational reading, I'm working on reading a real estate book to hopefully get licensed in the next month or so. It's something that I've wanted to do for awhile, and something that my parents have been hounding me to do for even longer. The book is brutal, however, as it goes overboard explaining everything. For instance, there were three pages dedicated to teaching me the difference between the feudal system of land ownership and the allodial system. A couple of things: 1) I don't really need to know this for any reason 2) This is covered in most elementary school history classes 3) This could be explained in a paragraph. Fortunately, I only have to read selections of this 400+ page snoozefest.

Listening: 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up by Gift of Gab. This is the first solo release by the MC for Blackalicious. If you've kept up with the blog, you know that I LOVE Blackalicious. 4DRGU has the same feel of a Blackalicious release even though Chief Xcel doesn't produce the entire album. Gift of Gab has a cool voice and relentless speed reminiscent of Busta Rhymes on Extinction Level Event. My favorite tracks are Rat Race and The Writz because of their unique musicality and solid lyrics. Tracks like Way of the Light and Moonshine show the artistry and intelligence that all of the Quannum Projects artists have dedicated themselves to (Quannum Projects is the larger collective that Blackalicious belongs to/associates with). As I've said before, if you don't like rap and hip-hop, you should check this album out. It may just change your mind.

I went bowling today. I used to be a serious competitive bowler in high school and then I just quit. UNL offered me a small scholarship to bowl there, but I just wanted to get away from it. It wasn't a conscious decision that I made, because I simply stopped bowling. Looking back though, I think that I didn't want to associate with the typical bowling types. Yeah, I'm a prick, but I wanted to start college with a slate free of stereotypes. Anyway, I have my own bowling balls (three of them) and my own shoes, but they've been at the bottom of a closet collecting dust for the past eightish years. Today I busted them out. The bowling went about as I expected. When I quit bowling regularly, I carried a 177 average with a high game of 244. Today, not so much. I bowled four games before I threw in the towel. I actually had to quit because my forearm and left ring finger were killing me. I throw a hook, which means that I cup my wrist when I throw the ball. My ball weighs sixteen pounds. If you do the math on this, it equals my left forearm being useless until Thursday. Further, my ball is drilled in such a way that my two fingers only go in up to the first knuckle. Or they're supposed to, anyway. Apparently my fingers have also gained weight since I graduated high school because I could only cram my sausage fingers into the holes just past the cuticle. Both of my cuticles were bleeding when I quit. As for the actual bowling: I bowled 165, 128, 161, and 135. I was as inconsistent as a Presidential candidate's platform. I didn't expect to be as good as I used to be, but I couldn't throw the ball the same way twice. The game that I was most proud of was the 161. Even though it wasn't my best score, I hit the pocket* with regularity, and several times was denied a strike by a stubborn ten pin. I think I'll go again on my day off next week (if I get one), because I'd really like to see if I could get back to where I was. I'll keep you updated.
*Go HERE and search the page for "Pocket". It's near the bottom.