The sweet taste of failure

So far, the success in crossing off an item from the list has eluded me. However, I have been VERY close to getting a couple of goals.
This past Thursday I went bowling with Bryan (aka Bubba) in an attempt to try to finish #25. My previous best score was a 163. So, getting a 173 or better may seem like a completely random number, but a 172 is the highest that I have seen anyone that I have played with get. I will have to say that it was the luckiest game of bowling in the history of the world, but that is where i set my goal. So, on the second game of the day -- the best game of bowling to me because I'm warmed up but my arm is not yet jello -- I was down to the final ball on the frame and all i needed was 6 pins to get a 173. I figured that it was a guarantee that I would get it since I was doing pretty good all day. I threw the ball and it looked perfect, so I turned around with the satisfaction that I knew I had completed my first goal... but it was not meant to be. I somehow got only five pins, which had to have been due to some laws of physics being broken when I wasn't looking because I thought I nailed it for sure.
This Saturday I then tried my luck at #24 on my list, which is beating the aforementioned Bryan at "his" sport of tennis. We typically play 3 set matches, and I have lost everytime!! This match was about as close as I could get to beating him though, with him winning 7-6, 7-6 by winning the tiebreaker in both sets.
On a positvie note, I have one movie out of the way of the 150 that I need (#15): Paranormal Activity. This was possibly the scariest movie I have ever seen. I'm glad I was wearing brown shorts to the theater so that it didn't show the fact that I shit myself it was sooo scary... jk. Ok, it wasn't that bad! But I did sleep with a light on the night after seeing it and every little noise freaked me out.
#60 is going well. So far I have cooked American (a burger), Italian (pasta), and Chinese (stir-fry).