Regular readers know that I’ve had my ups and downs over the years in my dart tossing “career.” Kevin Kim took time out from his massive hiking adventure to share this video of “dart skipping”:

Still, I’ve had some recent success throwing the old fashioned way. One thing I have learned is that darts is a game, and therefore, you ought to keep it fun when you play. I’ve gotten pretty good at avoiding the whole dart drama crap that arises when you combine competition with alcohol consumption. Sometimes that requires biting my tongue until it hurts. Other times you just gotta walk away. I’ve done both recently.

I get along with most people, but there are some that for whatever reason, I just don’t like. The other night as I looked around Alley Cats I discerned that there was only one other participant present that I did not want to draw as a partner. And of course, that’s who I wound up getting. Oh well. I just ignored her bitchy attitude and played my best, while at the same time not giving a shit if we won or lost.

And I threw some of my better darts in quite a while. In the 501 game that is featured at Alley Cats tourneys, hitting the double out at the end is the key to winning. And as they say, I was on my outs that night.

I came back the next night for more darts. While I was warming up, some loud-mouthed, drunk ass Swede came into the bar. I’d never seen him before, but apparently he’s a frequent visitor at Alley Cats whenever he’s in town. After about 15 minutes of his antics, I realized that I was unlikely to have much fun that night. And I also assessed that after a few more beers I might not be able to resist the urge to engage him in a confrontation over his rude behavior. That’s a no-win situation, especially if it results in violence. So I decided I had better things to do and I could do them somewhere else. And that’s just what I did.

Anyway, it’s all good. Darts isn’t the big part of my life it once was, but it is still an enjoyable pastime. At the end of the day, that’s enough.

And oh by the way, on this morning’s dog walking tour, I saw that snake from yesterday again:

And now I must head out for the Hash adventure. Leech My Nuggets is the Hare so I’m expecting a tough trail. We shall see soon enough.