SallyCat

My high school students seem to mostly agree. I did a sort of informal survey for a conference paper a while back and the results were surprising. You can see some of the graphed data here if you scroll down a bit past the initial text: https://facultyjacobin.com/2016/11/24/think-you-know-how-your-students-feel-about-technology-in-school/ As far as Chaucer, Salinger, et al. I will say that just because you don't like a book (or didn't like it as a 15-year-old) doesn't make it a bad book. I do think that the way reading is assigned in school often takes the fun out of it. Shakespeare, for example, I love reading now in a way that i just didn't "get" in HS, partly because I was young and callow, and partly because we read it in such small chunks instead of all the way through the way it was meant for.

This sounds like a terrible deal ($50 in store credit) unless you're trading in some beater former-rental skis that you got real cheap. Sure, you can always sell something (car, mountain bike) for more than the trade-in value, but fifty bucks? Sheesh.

I like it because it's about where I grew up. I'm not particularly smart. Just educated to a limited extent.

No, sorry, I was unclear: the mounting includes adjustment and testing. But I also had skis that just needed an adjustment because the bindings were set for a different pair of boots, so that's the $25. Yeah, they needed to be tightened down b/c they weren't mounted properly the first time. I should have just bought myself a pozi screwdriver I guess.

I took mine to the Loft near CBK. I had one full binding mount and two adjustments. They told me Nov. 12. $38.99 for a full tune, btw, and $55 for a binding mount. $25 for an adjustment and release test.

Reading a lot: it's why I have such amazing social skills.

Yes. It's not the best line, which is the last one. Or I just like it because I'm a historian: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Got that right. I took a mid-week personal day last year and went to Blue. From 8 to about 3 it was a magical land full of nothing but old people who were great skiers and incredibly nice and fun to talk to. It was like an elderly Narnia.

Ohmygod, I grew up on the Port Washington line. What does it mean to say the route is "bombed"? I couldn't romanticize the LIRR; it lacks charm. But it was reliable and ran almost 'round the clock as I recall, and it was amazing to have such easy access to NYC. As for the lack of charm, here's F. Scott Fitzgerald on Flushing: "About half way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air."

Well, dang. Now who am I going to talk to about shoes, feelings, and how hard math is?

True; I got a brand new pair last year that turned out to have really concave bases and skied like shit. Quick base grind on the Montana fixed them right up. Then I got to wax them a bunch, which is Zen-like except better because it involves beer and podcasts, so win-win-win.

Thanks but he's not interested. Still cute, though.

https://www.liftopia.com/plattekill/plattekill-mountain-1-day-lift-tickets?type=1&start_date=2018-01-06 You do have to select a specific date to buy.

Just fyi, Liftopia has some screaming deals right now if you know your travel dates. I picked up a Saturday ticket to Plattekill for $26.

Roger that. I'm broke, so everything seems like a lot lately.

It looks like Blue charges $50 for a stone grind? That still seems like a lot. But the manager is super cute, so that's added value imho.

The store manager there, JD, is a really good bootfitter. They can do heat-molding and adjustments and stuff, even if you didn't buy your boots there.

Stumbled on this trebuchet next to a pile of pumpkins on an evening bike ride. Nobody around. Man I could have had hours of fun if I hadn't been so sober. EDIT: No idea why my pics are always sideways.

Don't run her off you goons! This place needs more women! I imagine the PASR part of the Blue Mtn. lot is just guys drinking beer, eating meat, and not talking about their feelings. :-)

I almost left once, but it was because I thought I was coming across as an annoying asshole. I'm still pretty sure I am, but anyway MoGoul talked me down. I think I was Googling around trying to find a good local shop to do some binding work and a search term led me here. I'm a sucker for wasting time on forums.

Yes, please!

Sweet! Those burgers were awesome!

I can't live that sort of late-night rock & roll lifestyle, but I did compete in the Trexxx Fest Enduro in costume on Sunday (Mardi Gras Tourist). The logistics of racing in a feather boa were daunting, but I'm pretty proud of my beer-helmet.

Teenagers are amazing bullshit detectors, Our most recent speaker was a raging narcissist alumna of our school, going on and on about how much money she makes, how people say she looks good for her age, how many LinkedIn followers (!) she has, blah, blah. The entire student body despised her three minutes into her talk, and the rest of the day was a big "Fuuuuuuuuuuck NO, whose idea was THAT?" The geologist was charming, smart, and genuinely passionate about her work. Most kids would rather you just be yourself instead of trying to impress or pander to them. If you seem genuinely interesting, they'll meet you more than halfway. If you try to pose you may as well fuck off on your own time.