i believe in christmas

i'm sure i mentioned it way back when (while i was researching a seminar paper), but as soon as i read the sermon on the mount i thought "wait a minute... i must be a christian!". to be fair, i said the same thing when i read the communist manifesto, the fascist manifesto, and the futurist manifesto. the fact that i'm an ordained minister of the church of the flying spaghetti monster (in good standing, i might add) and am a non-practising jew who fully ascribes to jewish philosophy prior to the great rabbis (i'm like a jewish hipster) factors in there somewhere. anyway, all of this just to say that while i might not be a christian, and i certainly don't believe in a christian god (or trinity), i can now say that i do believe in christmas. mine was a wonderful, wonderful day, and a large part of it was being surrounded by the infectious goodwill and cheer that those who do believe adopt.

if they would be this merry all year around, the world would be a little better for it.

---christmas:

the other major factor in tuesday being as wonderful as it was was that i had a great day on the slopes and all the glories of saint sauveur were exposed when the sun came out. it's the first time i've been there without complete cloud cover, and words fail me in describing its beauty. from the icy tips of the trees with the sunlight behind them to the fresh snow contrasted against the varied soft blues of the sky, to the view of distant villages nestled in the mountains made possible by the intensely sharp clarity of the day's air, the experience was one of a seemingly endless series of moments caught in an artist's renderings of a dream of being on the slopes. it was fantastic and stupefying, and a little frustrating because i wanted to share the experience and capture the memories on camera but that would have put my camera at risk (most of the *really* crazy shots were from the ski lifts) or force me to remove my gloves (which wouldn't have been a good idea at a windy -10 celsius).

not that i didn't get any photos at all, but they're certainly not representative of what i could see. funnily enough, most of the time i was enjoying the views through my orange goggles and when i did compare, the tint experience was different but neither better nor worse. ah, and the hour or so that i had my ipod playing psychedelic rock from my jacket pocket might have added to the surreal nature of the day.

my new boots are definitely more responsive, and that made my performance improve dramatically. however, i learned the hard way that they're actually a little bit too small (meaning my shoe size is 10.75 US, and the quarter size in either direction isn't good), so if i tightened the laces properly my left foot would begin to hurt. a lot. like enough to pass out from the pain.

i discovered this because i was totally jamming when the pain started, and was so excited and was so thoroughly enjoying myself that i couldn't bring myself to take break until i absolutely had to. i didn't pass out, but i recognize when i'm on the verge. also an indication that they're too small: i landed off a small jump later on and stubbed my big toe :(

the good and bad that came out of needing to take breaks (fortunately i only got the lacing wrong twice) was that i stopped at avila for a beer and by the time i was finished and had heard enough christmas song covers by artists like enya and bon jovi the lift was closed and the whole place was being shut down. on the one hand, that meant that i had to grab my bag and boots from my locker and walk along the road until i got to one of the two saint sauveur lifts still operational. this was arduous and it was very uncomfortable to snowboard down a black diamond with boots in hand. on the other hand, if i hadn't taken that break i might have continued with my plan to return to avila just before the bus was scheduled to arrive, and by then i would have had a nasty surprise because there wouldn't have been any quick way to get back. and it would have been in complete darkness.

my last runs were excellent, and the walk to the village was pleasant. it was very, very cold, though, and the bus was quite late. the well-dressed local woman waiting with me kept complaining about the cold in french (in both senses), and i kept myself warm by dancing on the spot to dark psytrance.

but the bus did arrive, and we boarded. there weren't many seats available, and a girl towards the back of the bus removed her backpack from the seat for me. i sat down, and she asked me where the bus had stopped, and i told her. she began to talk, kind of arbitrarily, and at some point she said something that made me ask her where she was from.

well, if i didn't immediately switch to hebrew there and then! it took her a slow moment to realize what had happened, and we laughed and spent the rest of the ride talking non-stop. her fellow exchange student (ben gurion / mcgill) woke up after twenty minutes and sleepily asked if she was really hearing a conversation in hebrew; the chances of meeting an israeli on a night bus in quebec are probably pretty damn small. never mind that, she's studying computer science and philosophy, and has a friend who's studying computer science and literature who she can now tell isn't alone.

it was fun, and strange, and very interesting.

---boxing day:

in order to leave my aunt's house early with yang, i'd showered, dressed and picked up a toothbrush when i got home and then went to sleep over there. i was up at the time he'd told me to be, but he wasn't and his parents insisted that i not wake him. eventually, three hours later, yin woke up, woke him up, and he made a big noise about how i should've woken him up :/

we hit the salomon store first, and the purchase was pretty quick. i'm not sure who did a better job of selling me the boots, yang or the salesman, but they look good, they're super-comfortable and i'm assured that they'll keep my feet warm and dry and will last me enough years that the splurge will be worth it.

the rest of the day was spent discovering that yang is a serious shopper. although between stores was fun, when he wasn't chain-smoking, the shops themselves were a drag. and the people! it was nuts. we ran into a classmate of his with agoraphobia, who comes outside once a year on boxing day in an effort to exorcise it because the crowds freak him out more than his phobia so his related panic attacks are easier to control.

seems legit. those crowds and queues and that level of pushy-and-shoviness on the metro were something else...

we got back to my aunt's where my boots received approval, played guitar hero and rockstar table tennis until dinner, and afterwards yang dropped me and my gear back at home.

where i've eaten and done internet things. and prepared emotionally for getting up early again tomorrow.

---something positive in the news: in california, at least, the stigma attached to marijuana use appears to be fading. the war on drugs is more destructive and costly than any drug use ever was - ever - and this gives me hope.

speaking of crowd-funding: stick 'n find is a brilliant idea, but i wonder if some of their raging success can be attributed to reading "clean your mess" as "kick your lover out the side-door".

raspberry pi replacing expensive stuff: good for them! it's a noble goal.