An Open Letter to Myself

Dear Eric,

How are you? Is everything okay? I haven’t heard from you in a while. Did I do something to upset you? Are you mad at me? I feel like you’ve been ignoring me lately and I don’t know why. If I did something to hurt you then I’m sorry.

I mean, we seemed to be getting along really well and I always had fun when we were together. I really felt like we connected. It’s like you always know exactly how I’m feeling and you really get me. I thought, you know, maybe this could be something special. It just feels right, at least to me anyway.

I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe I’m being unrealistic. If you need some space or time to think about things then I understand. Take all the time you need, just don’t cut me off completely. I just think you should give us another chance. I’m not sure what I’ll do without you. Please call me, or at least let me know that we’re okay. I’d really like to see you or hear from you.

Love,

Your Social Life

You're Never Too Young

This past weekend I went to my parents’ house to meet up with some of my family for a weekend at the local ski hill. The plan was to take my niece and nephew (my sister’s kids) out for a day on the slopes. My niece is five and my nephew is three. Since this was their first time on skis I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was fairly certain they wouldn’t be hucking off the kickers in the terrain park. The shorties had a lesson scheduled for the afternoon so my brother-in-law and I decided to go out early to get in a few turns before my sister showed up with the kids.

I have to admit, the conditions were better than I expected. The sun was out which softened up the snow and warmed things up enough to make it a good day all around. After my brother-in-law and I did a few laps we met up with my sister and the kids. They had just finished their lesson and wanted to keep skiing. Fortunately the beginner slope was shallow and short so I decided to ditch the board and chase the kids around on foot.

I think it would be an understatement to say that my niece and nephew were having fun. They would start at the top, point elevens down the hill and laugh the whole way to the bottom. I ran along beside them in case they started getting off track or fell. When they got to the bottom I would scoop them up, carry them back to the top, and let them do it again. While it would have been nice to continue digging trenches with my board, it was much more fun watching my niece and nephew experience the excitement of sliding down a hill on planks attached to their feet. Their smiles were all I needed to see. Now I just need to figure out how to get them on snowboards.

That's Just Stupid

Lately I’ve been working a lot and spending a lot of time on the slopes slaying the sickity pow. This combination has left me feeling very worn down and sleepy. Getting out of bed in the morning has become more and more difficult. After one particularly long day I was talking with a friend of mine and said that I was going to go home and “sleep like a baby.” After a brief moment I realized this is a ridiculous saying.

While I don’t have any kids of my own (that I know of, ZING) I do have seven nieces and nephews. I’ve watched them all grow up and some are still young enough to be considered babies. Although seven occurrences might not be enough for a true scientific sample, I think it’s a sufficient group to quantify the fact that the saying “sleeping like a baby” (or to sleep like a baby) is probably one of the dumbest phrases I’ve ever heard, at least in the context it’s commonly used.

From my (limited) experience, babies usually only sleep for a few hours at a time and then they wake up crying. This typically means one of two things: they’re either hungry and want to eat or they’ve just pooped in their pants and need to be changed. Nothing about this sounds like the type of sleep I’m interested in. I just want to get a solid eight hours (but I’d settle for six) and feel refreshed when I wake up in the morning. Maybe they should change it to “sleep like a newly retired person with no cares or responsibilities anymore and the resources to do as they please” but I guess that doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well.

What Does That Mean?

I think it’s safe to say that State College is a pretty smart town and I don’t mean classy (however it definitely has some panache), I’m talking intelligence. People in this town are very academic but that stands to reason as Penn State University is located here. As with most major university towns there are a lot of people that don’t want to give up the college lifestyles they’ve grown accustom to and therefore try for a PhD (or post-doc for those who really can’t handle joining the workforce).

Based on this, I think it’s safe to say all my friends are smarter than I am. Granted, I possess a boatload of useless knowledge that comes in handy from time to time but book learning is not my bailiwick. I figure if I surround myself with big brains than maybe some of their intelligence will rub off on me. It’s like smartening up by osmosis.

One of the down sides to having smart friends is the vocabularical barrier that exists. I noticed this recently when I was talking with my friend Ieva. She started throwing out multi-syllable words that I didn’t understand. This made for an awkward exchange because I had to keep interrupting to have her define terms or dumb them down a bit.

It’s amazing how a seemingly innocuous discussion can be dragged out when you have to stop for definitions. I could have just ignored the fact that I didn’t know what the hell she was saying and let the conversation flow, but I thought it would be better to point out the chasm that exists between our levels of word comprehension. Someday I might catch on and become a more active participant in these conversations, but for now I’ll stick to head nods and blank stares.

Is One Really Better Than Two?

I had a good weekend. After getting through the fun and excitement of starting a brand new year, I spent an entire day (open to close) at the local ski hill where I was on patrol. Fortunately the weather cooperated to the point where it was nice and sunny during the day but it was still cold enough to keep some (albeit not a lot) snow on the slopes. The sunshine helped soften things up providing decent conditions but it also provided some great views of the surrounding landscapes.

Even with the great weather and the respectable conditions there weren’t many people on the slopes. When the crowds are small, the number of dumb fashion trends is reduced limiting my material. Fortunately, just as I thought I would get through an entire day on the slopes without seeing something obnoxious to make me reevaluate my definition of stupidity I was handed a gift on a silver platter.

Center punching the main slope was a fantastic one piece pastel ski suit that must have fallen right out of sweet eighties Warren Miller Film (220 straight skis not included). I have to admit, I didn’t really have a problem with this article of clothing so much as I had to wonder how it could possibly be comfortable let alone functional. I figured this guy would have been better off wearing jeans and a cotton hooded sweatshirt, but I’m guessing he was using his uni-suit to protect his jeans and hoody. While I realize new gear can be expensive, sometimes it’s not a bad idea to put the twenty year old relic to rest and pick up a new jacket and pants.

Party Like It's 2009

Well it’s official; another year has started, but I guess you already knew that. In order to start my year off on the right foot I decided it would be appropriate to include a “beginning-of-the-year” post. Don’t worry, I’m not going to drone on about all the good times and low points from the past year (mainly because I can’t remember all of them). Similarly, I’m not going to tell you about the resolutions I’ve made like getting in shape (the specific shape will be determined at a later date) or being more assertive in my personal life or saving more money or blah blah blah (okay, the second one is something I want to do but you get the idea).

I will say this: I have several goals identified for the coming year, but I’ll be okay if they don’t come to fruition as some are quite lofty. My plan for 2009 is to have fun, laugh, play, reflect, change, stay the same, get a haircut, learn new things, read, spend as much time outdoors as possible (with friends), take time for myself, travel, and do whatever else I can to make the most of the 363 days ahead. Yesterday I went for a hike with Cathy and then had some friends over to the house to watch football and eat dinner. I’d say I’m off to a pretty good start.