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Yesterday I went to Tempe Marketplace with no clear goal in mind. Traffic was horrendous. I thought I'd been to malls during December, but I'd never seen rent-a-cops directing traffic before. But then, Metrocenter had wider streets winding through its parking lots. In any case, I should have rode my bike, but instead I was on the Earth circulator, stuck in a left-turn lane for about 20 minutes as a fat guy snored at random volumes.
The Dave & Busters has a Pac-Man Battle Royale machine, but it's one of those deals where all the players sit down in a row, as though a crowd should be permitted to gather behind them. A crowd never did; the place is too full of big flashy distractions already. The atmosphere wasn't like at Ground Kontrol in Portland, where there was always someone playing, and any stranger could feel comfortable in joining with other strangers. But then, the players were all adults at Ground Kontrol. By contrast, if three kids are playing, and some lone adult in a hat sits at the fourth controller, they finish their turn and leave. I did run into a friend from reddit that was leaving D&B's and he gave me his card.
To avoid this on the way out, I walked to the nearest stop outside the marketplace. Unfortunately, this was two miles away, after I'd been on my feet for six hours. I left empty-handed except for some leftover chips from Chipotle, after six hours. Didn't even see a movie. I did get a haircut though, and hit the Fry's for some milk on the way home.
that night, if I weren't so tired, I would have biked around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. I've been doing all my running during the day, and haven't seen most of them. I won't get a chance tonight, since I'm likely to be staying at my parents' house. and tomorrow night may be dodgy, since I plan to be watching Doctor Who somewhere else on my way home.
The Dave & Busters has a Pac-Man Battle Royale machine, but it's one of those deals where all the players sit down in a row, as though a crowd should be permitted to gather behind them. A crowd never did; the place is too full of big flashy distractions already. The atmosphere wasn't like at Ground Kontrol in Portland, where there was always someone playing, and any stranger could feel comfortable in joining with other strangers. But then, the players were all adults at Ground Kontrol. By contrast, if three kids are playing, and some lone adult in a hat sits at the fourth controller, they finish their turn and leave. I did run into a friend from reddit that was leaving D&B's and he gave me his card.
To avoid this on the way out, I walked to the nearest stop outside the marketplace. Unfortunately, this was two miles away, after I'd been on my feet for six hours. I left empty-handed except for some leftover chips from Chipotle, after six hours. Didn't even see a movie. I did get a haircut though, and hit the Fry's for some milk on the way home.
that night, if I weren't so tired, I would have biked around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. I've been doing all my running during the day, and haven't seen most of them. I won't get a chance tonight, since I'm likely to be staying at my parents' house. and tomorrow night may be dodgy, since I plan to be watching Doctor Who somewhere else on my way home.
