December 07, 2004 - 5:00 p.m.

Hey! Hi! How are you? You might remember me as the person who used to write on this site. Remember that? Wasn�t it fun? Well, for me, anyway?

I know it�s been awhile. In fact, Diaryland tells me � a bit officiously, I might add � that it�s been 53 days since I last updated. Huh. I guess I�ve been busy.

Luckily, Jette and Chip have set up the Holidailies site again this year, and in a fit of madness, I signed myself up. So now I�ve got to update, or, well, I�d just be a cad, wouldn�t I?

So, what�s new? Well, for one thing, I�ve decided to become a professional snowboarder. It�s true that I�ve only been snowboarding once, and that I�ve yet to make it down even the bunny run without falling. But the way I see it is this � there are people out there who make their livings as bad lawyers, bad accountants, and bad doctors. Surely there�s a market out there somewhere for bad snowboarders. Every profession needs its dead weight, right?

Over Thanksgiving weekend, JP, his brother, his cousin (from Australia!), and I went up to Tahoe. Believe it or not, it was my first trip up there, despite having lived in SF for seven years. (When I tell people that, they�re always surprised and a little uncomfortable, as if I�ve just described a passion for spitting at babies or collecting Hummels or something.)

When we drove up Friday, things were looking grim, conditions-wise. But Saturday morning, I threw back the tacky curtain of our cheap motel room and was greeted with the glorious sight of a snow-covered parking lot, with more snow falling from the sky.

It reminded me a lot of growing up back east (not that I was raised in a cheap motel, or that my parents had tacky curtains or anything), that waking up and being excited to see that a ton of snow had fallen overnight. I hadn�t even realized that I kind of miss that experience.

We made our way to the mountain, and JP and his brother took off, while I signed up for the beginner lesson (JP�s cousin, upon finding out that he couldn�t rent pants, headed back to the casino, not wanting to spend $125 on snow clothing that would do him very little good in London, where he lives (unless snow pants suddenly become trendy club wear, which � I wouldn�t put it past those wacky club kids)).

It turns out that I was lucky on two counts. First off, only one other person signed up for my lesson, so I ended up getting lots of individual help (and also, for some reason, celery) from my instructor. Secondly, all that lovely snow that had fallen from the sky? Made a delightfully powdery blanket for the cushioning of my ass.

Even with the powder, I still had some falls that were real brain-rattlers. But all in all, I had a great day. I had been warned how much I would hate my first day of snowboarding, but they have much better equipment for beginners now, and my instructor was great, and I am totally ready to embark on my career as a bad snowboarder.

Eventually, if I work hard enough, I hope to become mediocre. But first, I should probably get some health insurance.

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