True story

I just rode up the elevator with a NURSE whose name badge read "Robert Bonecutter".
Yikes!
Seriously. Not the best name for a nurse. Am I on an island here?
I would find this disquieting.
At least change it to the European spelling or put some dots and apostrophes above some letters. Something. Anything!

What the fuck is he smiling about?

Does he not see that gash on the bottom of his board?!
More importantly, doesn't he see the enormous fucking gash on the bottom of my board!? Geez!
That's it. I need a new stick.
I keep forgetting about the damage until I unwittingly immortalize it by taking a fucking picture of it.
Damaged goods, damaged goods.

Not that it really mattered on Saturday Night at Steven's. No new snow so still fast and hard conditions. You could literally strap on rough two-by-fours and get going faster than you would like.

Bruce was feeling it and we started informally racing. Not really wise but no one got hurt so....
Although I did have a lighting run going off of Hogsback before I blew a turn and cartwheeled. Fortunately, I had had a gin & tonic and a shot of Patron so I was loose.

Mostly rode the lifts with Josh, Bruce, and Steve. But eventually found Nathan and Korac (Nathan's friend visiting from the O.C. (I don't have many opportunities to throw that phrase around.)) Nathan is getting really good, really fast. Now he has his own set-up and he's hooked.
Jenn came up also and took a skiing lesson. She had a good instructor and wasn't too traumatized at dinner so that's a good sign.

Didn't have enough juice to close out the lifts with the boys. Fell asleep and drooled on myself on the way home. Barely remeber going to bed. I'll be glad when our passes are good for daytime riding. It just so much nicer to be able to see where you are going.

Higher Ground

Thursday, me and Steve went to see a new climbing film, "Higher Ground" at UW.
Normally I don't get too excited about climbing films. It's just something to do.
But this one was pretty good. It almost got me excited about climbing season. Which is too say, less suicidal about snowboarding season being over.

Instead of shorts scenes of punk tan kids with no shirts spouting off tired lines about being in spiritual contact with nature or some shit like that between impossible dynos and much chalking; this movie profiled sets of alpinists doing whole climbs. What a concept!

We snuck in $3 falafel from Cedars (what a deal!) and got tahini all over everything.
Spanky won a free pound of coffee cos he knew some trivia question. I guess TMI comes in handy sometimes.

Nathan- Menace in Training

Nathan started learning to snowboard in earnest at Whistler and has progressed quickly. Soon, he will be terrorizing skiiers all over the mountian.

He went up with the crew on our traditional Saturday Night at Steven's ritual. Nathan, Sue, Shelly, Josh, and I all packed into Sue's rig and headed up. (Sadly, Steve had been stricken with pestilence and had to be left behind. On the bright side, he was able to keep Tellie company for a while. Thanks to my fucking sister, I was able to feel slightly guilty about this all evening.)

The conditions were fast and hard. One mistake at speed would leave a mark at least.
I took it easy and did quite a few runs on Daisey and Hogsback with Shelly and Nathan. I tried to practice switch but I fell down and busted my ass trying to keep up with them. Gone are the days when I can leisurely coast down doing 180's waiting for the beginers.

We headed to The Goat for dinner. Five of us scarfed down TWO PIES! It takes alot of grease to soak up Happy Hour alcohol!

Took it to the bell again and made good time home. In bed by midnight.

Ve haf vays uf meking you talk!

Happy Hour.
Friday the 15th, 2008.
The Girls.
Eastlake Grill (aka: Grill of Death (see previous post))

Broke with tradition and had drinks with the girls on Friday.
There were many gin & tonics to drink.
Sue went old school with Vodka Collins.
They had questions. I had evasive answers.
It had to happen eventually.
Sue and Shelly lured me into a false sense of security by talking about cooking and kitchen stuff; but once Casey got there, gloves came off and the inquisition began.

In my own mind, I came off pretty good.
I was mostly frank, direct, and informative. Mostly.
In these difficult transitonary periods, self delusion is your only comfort.
No really, I think it went well.
I just don't get why Spanky gets a pass and I get the flashlight in the eyes.



After that, it was off to Olga's to "babysitt" the little man.
Tonight, this consisted of napping with the chi's.

Teatro Zinzanni

Olga and Marc scored two extra tickets to Teatro Zinzanni (or Teatro Tetrazinni as I like to say) for Wednesday and they asked me if I wanted to go (of course!) and did I know anyone else I would like to bring.
Oh, you mean...like... my secret BF!?
Talking about jumping feet first into the couplehood deep end.
This really should have been our first official date cos it was fancy- we both dug deep and tried to wear something nice. Spanks had a tie and I wore my famous pleather pants/big girl shoes combo. (This was, sadly, the last appearance for the pleather Calvin's cos I damaged them later. Sigh. Oh well, time to move on anyway.)
Marc and Olga looked supercool, as usual.

The show was fun. I had really been looking forward to seeing El Vez but the best part of the show was Christine Deaver. A big woman who liked to pick men out of the audience and embarass them. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. I empathize but still think it's funny.
The acrobatic acts weren't quite as polished as the Cirque de Soliel but more intense cos it was right next to the damn table. One slip up and there goes my steak.

El Vez came out one time in a glittery wife beater and gold lame hot pants.
If anyone sees a glittery wife beater and/or gold lame hot pants, please just buy them and I will pay you back!

I have E.S.P.

Some of you may already know this.
I can't control it.
But it just comes over me at unexpected moments.
Most recently, when we were driving home from Mission Ridge and talking about movies, I happened to say that I thought that the Cinerama should stop showing so many crappy movies and play old movies that look best on the big screen....like, for instance, 2001: A Space Odessey.

Fast forward to Monday. Spanky emails me a link to the Cinerama. Fucking 2001: A Space Odessey is playing on Tuesday do I want to go. Fuck Yeah.
I swear to you, I had no prior knowledge.

“Look, Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission and I want to help you.”

It's a weirder movie than I remembered. The ape scene couldn't end soon enough. But the end is fantastic if bewildering. I was a little disappointed though cos I was waiting for him to say, "My God, it's full of stars."
But he didn't. That's in 2010. A truely forgetable movie.

Aside #1: Spell check isn't working for some reason.
Aside #2: This was Spanky and me's first date.

Superbowl 2008

The Commish organized a LOIN superbowl party at Gordy's this year.
Maggie(the Champ) and her hubby Jeff didn't make it but everyone else was there.
Victoria (one of Shelly's oldest friends from ID) and her husband joined us for a while.

We got bumped from the front table by mistake but all got Jagermiester T-shirts to make up for it. Mine will look great... when I really do get cancer and lose a hundred pounds.
It was a festive atmosphere. Everyone was hoping the Patriots would lose but not quite believing it could happen.
"Maybe if we drink more it will help!?"
That seemed to be the strategy... and it worked!
Easily the best game all season. Great end to a great football year.

Fuckers got me another cake, though. The bigger deal I make about how I don't want people to make a big deal for my birthday, the more they make a big deal about my birthday.
It was real good, though. Chocolate with chocolate icing. My favorite.

Birthday Week 2008- Part 3

It's finally my Birthday. Groundhog's Day.
I didn't even remember until Steve said, "Happy Birthday."
This was after the first cup of coffee, BTW.
Officially 37.
Had a great breakfast at the hotel. Which is bizarre.... again.
Hotels never have a good breakfast. They had biscuits and gravy and omlettes for chissake! And a machine where you could make your own waffle.... which I did.

Back to Mission. Another fantastic day! More corduroy and less powder. A little faster, which I like.

Steve and Bruce bought me lunch. Big burger and a Mike's.
Also some Don Julio, of course.

Went back out until night skiing started then took a break for some cake.
The night skiing was a little low rent but fun. Only one lift open and that one overheated after about two hours. We took it as a sign and headed home.

It was a struggle to stay awake and keep Spanky company for the ride home.

Another great Birthday. I am very fortunate.

Birthday Week 2008 - Part 2

Me and Steve and Bruce went over to Mission Ridge for a few days of skiing for my B-day.
We left Friday around five....in the morning.
The Governer said don't go.
Some random guy at the Sultan Chevron said you're crazy don't go.
We went.
The last few miles to the pass was spent weaving in and around jackknifed trucks and yet, Steve pressed on. It was snowing the entire way. We finally arrived around 9:15 and Steve looked like he was gonna pass out.

Will you look at that corduroy in the picture. And where there wasn't corduroy there was a foot of powder. Fucking stellar. A bit windy on top but the wind just filled in your tracks so you didn't mind. We we're riding powder practically the whole day.
My new googles were awesome.

Got back to our hotel room and it was pretty sweet. Everyone in Wenatchee is alarmingly nice. It's cool, I guess, but it makes me wonder what they're hiding.
Bruce made some of his special recipe Margaritas and we debated over where to eat.
Couldn't decide so we took some gin & tonics down to the tepid tub and thought somemore.
Finally decided on Visconti's (they have one in Wenatchee, too!)
Wow. Cheese. Sausage. More cheese. Wine. Mmmm.

Nearly perfect day. And still not my Birthday.

Two low points:
1- I scratched the shit out of my board highmarking too close to the rocks.
2- Witness to the worst segue I can ever remember hearing.

My Birthday Presents

Pimp!
My people got me some sweet new googles with Mirrored lenses.
Nothing says Parking Lot Pimpin' like mirrored lenses.
Supposed to help you see better in flat light. I don't really give a damn though cos I look badass and that's all that matters.

My fucking sister got me some "line treatment" cream.
Ha ha. Real funny, bitch!
Would be funnier if you weren't already FORTY!

My mom got me some cool pants. One pair kind of has these funky strips so they look a little pimp also... but more "acceptable at work" pimp.

Olga and the gang at work got me a cake and ice cream and chips on Thursday. That's cool. Must have cake on Birthday or it's not really a birthday. Olga and I have and understanding.