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Friday night bowling

Usually I play board games in Meriden on Fridays. This past Friday was different in that the men’s ministry at the church had a bowling night. It’s been a while since I’ve bowled, and I was looking forward to it. I bowled 170 the first game, 155 the second game, and 114 the third game. There were two other scores amongst the 16 guys who bowled 3 or 4 games that night: 175 (I think perhaps Jay got that) and Nelson’s crushing 188! The other bowlers kept on speaking about the fluid style I bowled with, occasionally saying it was very “zen” and “smooth”.

I didn’t really tank on the third game. They turned the lights off and the black lights on, and had these runway lights along the bowling lanes. So you pretty much couldn’t see the lane, but the pins were lit up in normal yellow light. With that, I decided to “unzenify” myself and just toss the ball down the lane.

Normally when I bowl, I see and feel the pins and myself in relation to them. I feel the ball. I adjust my placement until it just “feels right”, and then I slowly walk towards the throwing line. I release the ball and send it, not fast, down the lane. I am able to be fairly accurate this way: even to the point of targeting single pins leftover for the second shot.

I’m nearing the end of the second book of “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin. Exactly who was behind the death of Joffrey is a little muddled. I’d like to submit for consideration that Varys and Illyrio Mopatis were the main orchestrators of his downfall.

Consider this: Petyr Baelish returns from courting Lysa Arryn after Stannis’ host is broken outside of King’s Landing. Once Sansa is put aside by Joffrey, she meets up with Ser Dontos in the godswood. It is then that he gives her the hair net of amethysts with at least one stone that is actually the crystallized “Strangler” poison. He tells her that it is “vengeance for her father”, so Dontos knows what he’s giving her, and what it is to be used for.

At this time, house Tyrell has bound itself to house Lannister. Mace has taken a seat on the Small Council. Loras is a new-made member of the Kingsguard. Margaery is betrothed to Joffrey in much the same way that Sansa was; but they have been away from King’s Landing pretty much the whole time Joffrey has been king and don’t know that he’s “a monster”.

So we know that Littlefinger had a hand in the death of Joffrey, and he claims that the Queen of Thorns (Lady Olenna, Mace’s mother) actually did the deed. We saw her mess with Sansa’s hairnet, so that makes sense.