Musical Nicotine

Alright I am proclaiming to the world, when I hear Ke$ha I like the songs. At least that is what it seems like. Her songs are addicting. But then I step back, and listen to them. The words are stupid, the message is demeaning and corrupting. In truth it doesn't even take in to account that musically it isn't really music. It's sorta talk singing, and not the Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan kind either. They got away with it because they wrote songs about something. Ke$ha on the other hand, it's like marketed idiocy. For awhile I thought that she might be a very clever person who just knows how to entertain, like Zach Galifinakas (his last name doesn't need to be spelled correctly because most people can't pronounce it anyway). But I think I was disproven today. I was looking on my ping! account and saw her video announcement about the new album. It was awkward and a dumb, clever entertainers will do the same thing but it lacked that element where you knew it was pretend dumb. As I watched I thought "dumber than Jessica Simpson." Harsh I know but the music industry is finally getting to white kids, 'make them dumb enough to buy whatever fodder we give them.'

It's like nicotine, I know cigarettes are bad for me but oh man I like it so there!

Warning: Sweatpants

It is a well known scientific fact that sweatpants will cause any individual to become fat. And by well known I mean made up. But consider this. When wearing sweats for long periods of time, say weeks or months. One does not take notice of their ever expanding waistline. The traditional non elastic waistband reminds victims of the gain they are experiencing as the buttons scream under the mounting strain. But each day of the sweats is like a day with no means of measurement. the response is "they are so comfy" which is true and they continue to become more comfortable as individuals are less and less capable of fitting in their old pants. When it is all said and done tragedy has struck, and figures have been destroyed.

Save yourself and your friends! Friends don't let friends wear sweats.

Skill vs. Specialized knowledge

There was plenty of down time in class today. There was a test last class and therefore our teacher was attempting to give tests back and dive into new material, we only got half our tests back and the material we covered in class was from the section we were just tested on. I took this time to jot down a few notes on something I had been thinking about, and to doodle extensively.

The idea was thus, something like teaching is unique. Impressive so far! There are really two elements to this uniqueness. Teaching is first a skill but also requires amounts of what I will call specialized knowledge. I want to talk a bit about both.

Exceptional teaching is not often encountered. It is a skill, an art, and possibly a science. No matter what the subject matter a good teacher is a good teacher. They all have in common a profound ability to convey knowledge. They are able to pass on knowledge with seeming ease and inspire their pupils. Taking raw information and funneling it into orderly decipherable brain food. It goes further when their student continues to be reminded of their teachers lessons on subjects or life. They calm the nerves and bring out the best. But it does not matter what the subject is, the best share this trait. It is hard learned.

The second part is specialized knowledge. This is the subject matter of any teacher. It is what most people would consider makes them smart and other people dumb. Which is frankly a false assumption. Doctors and fishermen both have this, and switch the fields on them and they will both seem as though they are imbeciles. It is why real fans of baseball get excited when it seems that no one has even gotten on base all game, there isn't even a score in the eighth inning but they jump all over the room and shout at the screen! It doesn't actually mark intelligence but only familiarity with a given subject. This is however the broad base of knowledge that teachers decipher from to inform their eager students.

This may seem obvious to some, but how obvious is it really? This past spring I substitute taught two history classes for the remainder of the year, I even wrote their exams! But what are my qualifications? Well… I have taught Sunday School for a number of years, I also have received my AASI level II certification, and I have taken many history classes which I generally ace. But no Associates or Bachelors in either discipline! Yet it seems that we dove deeply into the material and opened discussions, encouraged the use of critical thinking, and have had a somewhat lasting impression on the students. I am not trying to pat myself on the back, I am just trying to express a love of teaching and also to dash the idea of superior 'smarts' based on ones extensive 'studying' of any particular subject.

Bad taste

I have realized after some testing that I have terrible taste. Maybe it isn't terrible, but it is very tolerable. Except for Lima beans, I hate those. I have a few things this week that will make most sensible people scrunch up their noses.

Just now I went into the pantry and grabbed a bag of tortilla chips for my queso dip. I also grabbed a giant Marshmellow. I looked at it and decided it would be delicious covered in cheese sauce. I was not wrong. But I was certainly not right either. It was not delicious but it wasn't repulsive either. I tried olives yesterday, that was not much better.

I may have the strange cravings of a pregnant women, but unless this is that movie with Arnold I don't think I can be.

What's new?

Not much is happening. Which is the problem.

I've had a wonderful winter. Qualified for nationals in boardercross and got my level 2 as well as took a few trips north. It was good and I trained hard. My quads are still reaping the benefits of my hard work. They are like rocks still!

Work has not worked out since the end of my favorite time of year.

Did some white water guide training and it was fun but I just can't get up there. I wanna take some classes this summer but they start awfully soon and I barely have any money. Doing a lot of planning for camp this summer. I need something to do. I've had a few job offers that haven't panned out and a few that are unappetizing.

I am however not pulling my hair out at all! I feel like this situation would breakdown other folk. I got just enough. I got mana and thats it.

...

Life is good with friends.

Early morning musing.

As I flick the ladybug off the counter I've been thinking about the winter. It's a great time for me. Something I'd like to do more of. Perhaps even all year. But as I've been trying to pursue a gig in New Zealand and getting more and more info. I get more and more freaked out by it. 1. not much money 2. no housing. That tends to freak me out. I'm at the tipping point right now. Should I go or should I stay. If I don't I'll regret it forever.

Antsy in my Pantsy

I'm feeling all shook up. Like a bottle of soda ready to pop, and spray everyone with High Fructose Corn Syrup goodness. Or at least to slingshot myself around the world. I love Mass but I wanna see what people are like in other parts.

I've been in Vegas and when I look out my window I see 6000' of Mountains. It dwarfs WaWa, but the people there are undeniably good. I think I just wanna see what else is out there so I can go back to WaWa and be pleased with what I've got.

We walked all over Vegas yesterday and now I got a sweet blister on my foot that is totally gonna impede me walking. So i'll either limp or pop it. Either way I gotta keep that foot clean.

Clearing..

So I'm in Vegas and I'm clearing my head. I finally have time to relax and not work. The view from Vegas is beautiful, the view of Vegas.... eh. So what I've been thinking of lately is clearing. Clearing my mind, clearing my life, and clearing the stuff.

I just moved out of Worcester, and I realized I have way to much stuff. I wanna give it away, and thin it out. Because all it did was slow me down. I didn't need all of it. I like living with no frills. If I have my computer and some clothes I'm set.

Life is cluttered or stagnant I'm not sure which. There are two parts that I love. Youth Ministry and Snowboarding. But I've been in Mass for way to long, I wanna travel but I feel like not finishing college has held me back. But why? I have no debt and thats what really holds people back. I wanna travel. I wanna go and work in New Zealand. But I also got offered a job at a boy scout camp in NH. They have sailing. Which is one of my goals for the summer but I wonder if that can't be done in NZ.

Also my new place in Rutland is soooo nice

Viva Las Vegas

It is a crazy month. Snow has been incredible and I've rockin' and rollin' at Wachusett. Two star employee passes in one day and then the next day I was in the telegram & gazette for national learn a snow sport month. It was a pretty cool even after someone drew the fated mustache on my picture. I need to pick up the pace for lessons though. Perhaps even a little more precise and harsh for my M.A. feedback.

By this time last month I was approaching 50 days on snow! A late start but incredible conditions the whole time. I've barely been on any ice so far. I think I'm looking to see how I can possibly extend my season this year.

But today I'm not on snow for once. I am taking (or being forced) some rest from the mountain. My brother got orders to deploy on March 1st so now instead of a wedding at the end of that month he is having one tomorrow in Vegas. I'm sitting in an airport terminal tapping away thinking about how many times I can possibly read through sky mall in 6 hours. And what the hobo power(metric value of stink) of my gas is gonna be. I'm hoping it won't be to crowded. But I truly wish my friend Katie could come down from Tahoe to see me. Hope the flight goes well. I wish I didn't leave my camera on the bed this morning. Oh well I'll just have to use my words to describe all the crazy in vegas.

Goals

So basically this winter is going great even though I've had less days on snow for this time of the season. I'm coaching the dev team and got a bunch of school groups. The coaching thing is something I wanted to do more of this year. Because seeing the progress and affecting the change is what really gets me hyped up.

But even so I find myself lazy in the lodge. I get in and just sit around. I need to make some goals for myself so I have something to work on. I wanna get into low-edge world and some more pressure tricks, 5's, bumps, pow, a bigger bag of tricks, and more comfortable on features, as well as lvl 2 and british invasion at Sunday River. This is just the short list for my own riding. But for teaching I wanna see me coach more directly with immediate feedback, and teach smoother. Get rid of all the useless stuff for teaching and keep what makes the lesson most efficient. Lots to work on and plenty of time to do it.

Energy

Somehow I find energy later in the day that I just didn't realize I had. I'm not sure where it all comes from because I don't drink soda much anymore. Oh yah I'm kicking High Fructose Corn Syrup (I hear it's bad). I got two sprites left and then no more soda. I'm sure there will be an occasional Dr. Pepper but I'm not going back to it much.

Yesterday I worked all day with a good 5 hours of teaching. Then I found the energy to Telemark afterwards until like 9. Tonight I worked and taught 22 students. Then cliniced till 9 30. I love investing all this time because work is play at this point. As long as I save some money.

Also I came up with a possibly good lesson plan/game. So I'm gonna test it out on one of my school groups. (the hint is s n o w)

so tired..

I learned something this weekend. Tired is a bad place for me to be. I didn't get to bed till 3 am this saturday and instead of sleeping in I somehow got up at 9. Before I knew it I was up to WaWa by 1.

Being tired is one thing but yesterday it was a little beyond being tired. I was cranky and snappy. I didn't have my usual store of patience either. I enjoyed a little riding but the clinic got annoying quick.

I wanted... it is unusual for me.

I guess I just need to be a little more intentional about things.

my wayward life

"This is Will, he has good hair."

That was probably one of my favorite ways to be introduced. It was not my idea but I found it hilarious. But life has been interesting recently. Between resigning from my job as a youth pastor, which is my dream job. Explaining over and over why I did. My brother getting engaged and then promptly moving up the date to accommodate the Corps. needs. In all of this I've been looking and praying for housing. I think I finally found it.

The snow sports scene, at least for me is such a family. Every year it just seems like the instructors are getting closer, and more dependable. There is for the most part more trust and honesty. But along with that I every year come more into my own there. Every year I feel like I'm more towards the top of the tier. Which is a great feeling for me. I've never been this good at anything and I don't want to walk away from something that comes so naturally to me.

But housing just came through! I had mentioned it in the locker room and someone had said yah we got a place. I just went over last night to check it out.

It is amazing.

I feel like at least for a bit life will be fun. And for the first time in 2 years I'll have a really cool place to live.

Of course school still looms like a specter over my shoulder. I just want to finish and be done with the nagging unspoken words I hear.

News isn't good or bad it just is

It has been an interesting holiday season full of ups and downs. As much as I wanted to avoid drama it seems to be all around me and somehow involve me. Although I am tending to stay on the peripheral these days.

One way or another I'm moving soon.

At first my brother was getting married in march, then he was getting deployed in march, now he is getting married in Vegas this month.

I've realized that I don't so much flirt anymore as I just throw out 'awkwards'. It seems to work just as well.

Still single though.

Winter time is most definitely my favorite time of year. If I could find church people as good as the folks in ski school, the world would be taken care of.