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tried curling, today, for the first time

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2011.03.11

Having just reached the tender age of forty, I'm delighted to have just knocked off a long-standing to-do item: try curling.

It was fun. I went with the gang from work on the instigation of the boss man, Leigh. He's been a member at the Royal Canadian Curling Club for a decade or more, and brought out another experienced player to help introduce us to the game. I was fairly lousy at the game, though I did manage to score a point by not getting one of my rocks right through the uh concentric circles that define the scoring area (the game's like shuffleboard except that you step away from the board to drink). It was also fun trying to help the foreigners get the knack even as I taught myself.

falling on the ice while curling
Brian shows us how it's done

On the way home I saw a fearsome guard dog hounding passers-by from behind his chain link fence. Not sure why someone would select a pug for that duty, but the little fellow was giving it everything he had.

rand()m quote

Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces.

—Sigmund Freud