These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Almost every one of these blogspot things has a listing of favorite sites and other blogs that people can visit with one click of the mouse. This one is no exception. I also have a short (and really, you’ve gotta keep it short) list of 12 places that I’ve found to be meaningful in some way on this blog. Believe me, I’d like to have more but nobody wants to sift through pages of stuff. I’ve broken things up into three categories: Bowling (naturally), Music & Entertainment, and Miscellaneous Blogs and Sites.

Taking it from the top, in the Bowling category are the standings for my Thursday Scratch Trios league. It’s been a regular Thursday event for me from fall through spring each of the last 11 years. I’ve met a lot of good people in this league and have made friendships that will last a lifetime. Scoring-wise, the high point was a couple of years ago when I achieved a goal of averaging at least 210 over the course of a season with a nice 213 posting. The biggest downer was this year in which I could only bring home a 192 average. There’s always next year, though.

Next is the Professional Bowlers Association website. Anything a bowling geek such as me wants to know about the PBA can be found there.

In bowling's last entry is Missy Parkin’s blog (formerly known as Missy Bellinder). Not only is she the first woman to have joined the PBA, she’s a good writer and keeps her blog current. She also throws the maximum 16 pound ball even though she’s not big and strong. It proves how important the use of gravity is in bowling. Missy just won the prestigious Queens event which was nice to see.

In the next category, leading off is Dancing About Architecture. I became acquainted with David through BowlingWidow’s work at the library system. He’s a library manager who is a lexicon of all things music. He’ll throw out interesting posts on a musical topic whenever he feels like it. They’re always straight to the point and he uses words about as efficiently as I’ve seen.

Ken Levine is an Emmy award winning comedy writer (M*A*S*H, The Simpsons, etc.) among other things, including Major League Baseball announcer. He was with the Seattle Mariners in the 1980s when they were awful. And he’s back with them again this year on a part-time basis (and once again, they’re awful). I’ll always remember Levine’s Law: when you walk the leadoff batter he comes around to score 100% of the time, unless he doesn’t. He blogs at least once a day. Some are funnier than others but now and then he hits one out of the park.

I’ve been listening to the music of Al Stewart since 1977 when I first put the needle on the vinyl and listened to “Lord Grenville” on the Year of the Cat album. I haven’t looked back. I think I must have seen him live more than 15 times over the years, rarely missing a Seattle-area stop. Al basically invented a music genre: historical folk rock. Back in the days before the internet, I’d go to the library to research the names and places that he was singing about. He continues to make relevant and interesting music to this day.

Al’s touring guitarist is Dave Nachmanoff. I’ve known Dave for several years now and am happy to say that he’s become a friend and has in fact played a couple of concerts at our house for small audiences. He’s the best of Al’s past guitarists over the years wrapped up into one outstanding performer. But as good as he is at music, he’s an even better fellow human being. And he’s got a great manager who will do a search on recent references to his name and pull up this blog post. (Hi, Jared!). I’ll be seeing Al and Dave perform this Saturday and also helping Dave sell (hopefully) tons of his CDs at the merchandise table at intermission and after the show.

Moving in to the miscellaneous category we have The Plummeting Tortoises website. That would be my book group which meets monthly. I’ve often said that I’m the only member of the US Bowling Congress who belongs to a reading club. That may not be far from the truth. The group, which I’ve blogged about in the past, consists of three high-achieving academic types….and me. The fact is, I replaced a dead guy in 2004, and they invited me to stay. I’m not sure how much I really contribute to discussions but I speculate that they keep me around because I bring good food to the meetings every now and again.

My newest link is to Snide Remarks. This is an interesting story of a guy who goes by TSnide. Unknown to me, TSnide had been following my blog (and here I thought that only family members and a couple of friends did). As it turns out, TSnide recognized the name Bill “Minnesota Mauler” Kuhn, a Boeing/bowling friend who moved back to Minnesota a few years ago, from a post I made recently.

I’ve never met TSnide in person and may never. But I think we’re quite a bit alike: we both obviously enjoy writing. He’s an experienced scratch bowler and bowling purist who is in the minority of those who get excited about televised bowling. Me too. He has a past in radio and follows the business. I do too (well, sort of……I had a weekly show in college but never really did anything after that like he did other than losing a bet and interning for a day). He generally avoids politics and religion on his blog but has described himself a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. Check. He drives slow and walks fast. That’s me. There are differences as well though, in fairness. For example, he’s a golfer and has five kids. Sorry, TSnide. I can understand your love of the links but I’ll never understand the five kids thing. One’s enough for us. Anyway, check out his blog. He has some good stuff to say.

Catherine has been my group fitness instructor at Boeing for nearly a couple of years now. She was key in helping me lose 30 pounds (well, I’ve kept most of it off anyway) and attaining much improved strength and cardiovascular health. On the flip side I’m also blaming her for messing up my center of gravity and sending my bowling scores plunging. But seriously folks….I can’t imagine that there’s anyone who is better as a fitness coach then she is. I secretly worry that she’s going to get too big for her Boeing gig and move away to make big bucks as someone who trains the rich and famous. Click here for an interview I did featuring her a while back.

CrazyMermaid is an old acquaintance who I knew when our families lived in Hawaii for a construction project in 1974-75. We were 13 or 14. (That year is a horrible saga for a future blog post). She had (and still may be fighting) a serious bout with mental illness that cost her a career as a project manager and landed her in a hospital for an extended period of time. It’s an interesting, well written series of blogs. A compelling read and it’s all true.

Finally, Butterfly in Norway was a co-worker of mine for several years. She retired from Boeing and trekked off to Norway to a new job and a new adventure. Since it’ll probably be a while before we make it to Scandinavia, I always look forward to her brilliant pictures and descriptions of everything from the mountains to the open markets. Recently, her husband of 39 years passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Fortunately, she’s got an outstanding support system of friends and family. She’ll be alright.

So that’s what’s currently on the right margin of this page. As always, subject to change and updates.