New Semester, New Year?

First day of school was yesterday, and for only the fourth time in my __ years of college I actually was enrolled in the class rather than waiting to crash and add. That makes it a little bit easier for me. I'm still kinda tired but alright.

I got my last trip to the snow in before the semester started on Tuesday. Me, my two brothers and another friend played hooky from real life and went over to Bear Valley, which is straight in the cuts. It's on highway 4 all the way past Stockton. The last real city you go through is a place called Angel Camp.

Anyway, Bear Valley sponsors 2-for-1 Tuesdays/Wednesdays, so we decided to take advantage of it. The slopes were clear [it was a weekday] and so we got a full days worth of boarding for the mere price of $22. And for that amount, the resort was well worth it. The runs are a little bit shorter in length than the bigger resorts, so I would probably stay away from Bear Valley on a weekend or something, unless you have a cabin nearby. But because of the storm, there was fresh powder everywhere. Only drawback was that I hate goggles and was wearing the $10 gas station specials so there wasn't much protection for my eyes or face. On top of that I bit it hard and sank into about 4 inches of powder once I stopped sliding down the hill.

We were tired but overall it was cool.

Now I need to go spend $300 on books.

Pea South

~No Tations~

Resolved...

I've noticed in the past that New Year's resolutions are always hard to stick with [drink/smoke less, save money, get laid...shut up] and so this year when my boss asked us to write our New Year's resolutions on the board all I could think of was, "Be a better person."

This is something that I've always tried to do but I also felt I could do some things better than I did the year before. I could eat better. I could work out more consistently. I could study better. I could practice more. I could focus better. Etc, etc.

I also took a hint from a friend who decided that once a week he was going to randomly pick one of his 'friendsters' and send them a message. This is because so many people were on his friends list but he knew that he didn't talk to more than 3/4 of them. I was looking through the phone book on my cell the other day and I realized the same thing. I hardly call 3/4 of the people on my phone, yet whenever I see someone I haven't seen in awhile, I'm always trading numbers with them. So I've decided that I'm going to call a person every week.

I mean, what's the point of saving their number if you're never going to use it?

So look out, you may be my next victim!

Get-a-way

I got back earlier tonight from my first Tahoe weekend getaway in about 2 years. It used to be an annual thing, but schedules, jobs and lifestyles change and the it's hard to get everyone together like before.

We boarded at Sierra the next day. Four in our group were beginners [and girls] so they gave my brother and I leave to roam free on the slopes until lunch. Which means that since we didn't have to babysit we could go buck wild. It was pretty hot out there, so I stowed my jacket in the car and boarded with just a thermal top and my Filipino Strength T-shirt. I had my new Salomon bindings, new Vans boots, my board newly NOTwaxed and edges sharpened. I was ready. I even stayed upright the first time off the lift!

My brother and I hit the backside and ended up meeting three friends from school. We hit the slopes for the next half hour and then split up to have lunch. After lunch we met back up with our beginner ladies, who insisted that we accompany them on the slopes. So my brother suggested Sugar n' Spice, which, though quite long, and having a few narrow parts, is generally a good ride for beginners. Unfortunately, I lost him because he was babysitting a little too much. I made it back down and one of the other guys staying in the cabin suggested one more ride.

He's got skills so I found it quite cool to keep up with him. I even ended up landing a drop of about 8 feet [though it was quite unintentional -- my knees were aching last night]. Since it was late in the afternoon I had no use for my $16 gas station sunglasses, but as I was coming around a turn all of a sudden the sun was glaring off the snow. Thinking I was a bad@ss, I smoothly grabbed the glasses off my face and flicked the ear out. I proceeded to put the glasses on my face and...

BOOM! My toe catches on the snow and I go flying. Don't worry though. Although a pretty spectacular spill, my pride was hurt more than my body. That's what I get for thinking I'm cool.

Overall, I spent too much money, but I still have it. Thank god my parents signed us up for sports when we were little. Boarding can be learned but having prior athletic experience sure does help.

Maybe I'll go back up again Tuesday. I need to start getting my brain back into school mode again too. *sigh*

Hope you had a nice weekend.

The Blues

A family member was arrested Tuesday afternoon on some pretty serious charges, so the whole family is in a shock/awe state right now.

I'm still going to Tahoe as per previous plans but it's gonna take some really good times to take my mind off what's goin' on.

How would you like your drink?

I've been in a Bond -- James Bond -- fix for the past few weeks. It started with the Spike TV marathon and continued on through Dr. No and From Russia With Love on American Movie Classics.

Before that it was Indiana Jones.

One thing that's struck me about movies is that a lot of the famous ones are known for their soundtracks. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Bond movies, they all have themes that can be easily recognized. Some so much that even people who aren't fans or haven't seen the movies recognize them.

I'll bet that come thirty years from now, those themes will still be remembered, although their composers probably a little less so. That seems a fair trade for me.

Vodka Martini. Shaken not stirred. But aren't all martinis shaken now?

HA!

I met my first blog stalker today.

But she's actually pretty cool, a friend of Voodoo's.

2004 so far...

• My new started out with a sorta clean room. I finally got to most of it. This meant folding/putting away clothes and going through all the junk that I've been saving. Just need to get some shoji screens to partition off my closet space. But I got the radio and new TV so I have my own haven now.
  
• I've been addicted to the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. So far, I've read 5 of them and almost done with number 6. Luckily for me, there's ten so far, plus a prequel so I'll have a little more reading to do.
  
• Since the Hillsdale store closed, our owner decided to let go of two employees, plus he cut our hours so that he can work in the store again [you know, saves payroll stuff] I had planned to cut my hours back once school started, but that's not till the 28th. Damn, now I'm only part time when I could be making full time pay.
  
• So far, after almost 2 months of the season being open, I've been to Tahoe a grand total of 0 days. But that will be remedied MLK weekend when I shall return to the slopes and proceed to rip up.
  
• I did something yesterday, that I haven't done in ages. I played playstation for almost 9 hours straight yesterday! That had to be a new modern record for me. The culprit: Dynasty Warriors 4 Extreme Legends. I needs to get me a PS2 now.

So now I need to find stuff for me to do. It's weird having all this free time when you're not used to it.