113 and 130

The sidewalks around Cupertino are pristine. The concrete is barely scuffed, there's not a crack in the surface. I think it's because no one uses them.

I walked to Cupertino Village today from my aunt's house. It's a little over a mile. I didn't see another soul walking. I passed a bowling alley on the corner of Homestead and Stelling and called my cousin to see if she'd be interested in a few frames later. She said yes.

In the village, I had tea with B. We had emailed a few times, but had never met. We first were introduced on Orkut through a China or a Shanghai message board. Coincidentally, she had recently returned from a short vacation there. We had talked about various places of interest and itineraries and I was curious to hear what she thought and to see her pictures. She told me her photos were all digital and that she kept them on her laptop, which she neglected to bring.

We sat for an hour asking each other about our recent trips and talking about the future. She's moving to Boston soon, and I told her I was thinking of moving to the west coast. We'd be switching sides. She would rather stay in California, but school is stealing her away. She had spent four years in Boston in college, and she tells herself that she will only be there for another two. It's the winters that bring her down.

She drank her tea and I a mango slush. I was afraid I wouldn't recognize her from her picture, but she had recognized me in line. She was taller than her photo had let on. After an hour or so she had to leave. She had work to finish and was hoping to visit her parents. She offered to drive me home and I accepted; the trip home took significantly less time.

After dinner and walking the dog I met my cousin on the corner and we walked to the bowling alley. In college I had friends who owned their own bowling balls. My cousin told me she once had had her own shoes. I was convinced she was an excellent bowler, but she disavowed me of the notion. She told me she had to purchase the shoes since she was unwilling to wear those for rent. The alley was in Taiwan and the shoes were only $10.

The last time I bowled was at Bowlmor lanes on University. It was TuLi's brother's birthday. I couldn't break 100. Tonight I did much better, bowling a strike on each of my first frames. Subsequent frames were less impressive, though at the end of each game I saw my score hit triple digits. My cousin broke 100 for the first time in her second game, scoring a 104. Posted by eku at June 12, 2004 5:52 AM