The Mother of All Blog Posts

Oh my GOODNESS - after almost a month, my first chance at some quality time with functional internet. Hallelujah! There is much to write about, so without further adieu...

*
Recent Great Quotes:

"Hey, señor!" - some lady to my (Asian) friend DW (who is from Australia)
"John McCain's a nice guy - he just needs his heart fixed." - a 5-year-old in my ski school class

"Hey, let's do something totally out of character and ski really slowly and in control for a change." - RS (granted, it was 11pm and we were skiing in the dark)

"Robbie, the faster you ski, the more you ski like a Canadian!" - JM

"My mom said if I didn't add her as a Facebook friend, she'd sell my chainsaw." - MT
*
Lately I have become positively OBSESSED with the song "Time to Pretend" by MGMT. It's my ringtone, and I listen to it compulsively whenever I go anywhere. I think these lyrics are really cool:

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone

Those words hit close to home right before I left for Aspen, which is why I like the song so much. MGMT also sings about doing heroin and dying young; that part I really can't relate to, though.

*
As I mentioned, my internet hasn't worked in ages, and that means I haven't gotten to check my email, change my Facebook status or upload pictures, and/or write in my blog. I hate - HATE! - how much that agitates me. I live in such a pretty place and my online addiction isn't waning. Blast.
*
A recent Facebook chat:
Courtney: "How are you?"
Kelsey: "Fine."
Courtney: "So you're freaked out, insecure, narcotic and emotional?"
Kelsey: "Hah, yes, but shouldn't it be 'neurotic'?"
Courtney: "Oh...yeah. Spell check didn't catch that one."
*
It was two weeks ago now, but President Obama's inauguration is still on my mind. I think it was one of the happiest days of my life. I "luckfully" (as Courto would say) had the chance to watch most of the proceedings on TV even though I was working (thank you, beautifully liberal Aspen Ski Co.) and I made a short list of the things I'll tell my grandkids about some day:
-the musical arrangement just before the swearing-in was composed by John Williams and included a song that I'm familiar with as "Lord of the Dance"
-the incredible benediction by Reverend Lowry, the entirety of which I'll post in a separate blog
-bunches of foreign teenagers were hanging out around me saying things along the lines of "meh, we're foreigners, we don't care," and all of their instructors would just say "well you're in America now, so pay attention!"
-crying the most refreshing tears of joy and peace, knowing that our country is once again headed in a positive direction

AB, myself and LH celebrating on Inauguration night:

*
A few weeks ago I watched "Wall-E" with my good buddy RS. We both teach little kids, so we hear about this movie on a regular basis. OH MY GOSH, it's so cute! There are a couple of strong undertones about the state of our world (the movie is about a trash compactor that cleans up the world after humans create too much garbage to live here), but my favorite part was the love story between two robots that taught people how to feel again. SO cute, I'm telling you.
I could take or leave the commentary in this little clip, but it has most of my favorite little Wall-E scenes, so I'll post it anyway:

*
I can't really sum up the last month properly. I'm struggling to identify the important things.

Downtown Aspen at night

*
When I was a kid, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was never a real holiday in our house, in that Mom always had big plans for us. While all of my friends were sleeping in or skiing, we marched the streets of Fort Collins and listened to speakers or attended rallies and talked about ways we were promoting peace and justice in our own lives. At the time I honestly hated it. I was kind of bitter that I had to spend my day off in some sort of alternate school. Looking back now, though, I am so appreciative for those extra lessons. MLK Day is so important; how great is it to really celebrate the man and the cause?
*
RS, AB and I skied Snowmass as free skiers (we weren't working) for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Hooray sunshine!
*
During a clinic back in early January, RS, DR, DW and I started talking about how fun it would be to hike Buttermilk some night under the full moon. We kicked it around for a few nights but kept having to put it off - RS went to Steamboat with his parents, I went home for a few days, DR's family flew in - until one night about three weeks later when we pulled the trigger. We decided at the last minute to hike Snowmass instead, and it was a fabulous, fabulous evening. The hike itself was totally ethereal - just the five of us hiking in silence under the brightest blanket of stars - and we giggled the entire time skiing down, headlamps blazing. DR even went into the terrain park, which was really freakin' stupid if you ask me. We hopped in the hot tub after we got home and decided to night hike all 4 mountains before the end of the season.
*
This is "National Brotherhood of Skiers" week at Snowmass, which means that - eureka! - for the first time ever, I'm in a racial minority. The Brotherhood is an organization of African-Americans from around the country and they have descended upon this (very white) ski town in a big way. I love it. In all seriousness, when I look across the hill, it takes a while to find another Caucasian.
*
Superbowl Sunday was a blast. We had a big party at CK, AL & JF's (palatial) house with more food and drink than could feed even two dozen hungry twentysomethings, which is a marvel. After the game, we fit 16 of us into one teensy hot tub, and of course all of us ended up crashing in various places around the house. The night was further evidence that this ski bum year is all of the best parts of college, minus the work. Who knew?
*
The Winter X Games were held here last week, and they were FUN.

AB & I at the bottom of the Superpipe

My friends and I went to the events when we weren't working; frankly, it was hard to watch much action because it was so damn slippery at the bottom of the courses. It was worth it to be there, though; I got THISCLOSE to Shawn White as he walked to the podium on the last night:I think they should be called the "Shawn White Games" instead.
*
I hiked Highlands Bowl today. It was AWESOME.