A very nice day

Yeah, it's true. I had a very nice day today. I played a little hooky from work and went skiing at Deer Valley. I have a friend who has a friend who got two lift tickets to Deer Valley from his work then got in a car wreck and busted a couple of ribs and gave my friend the tickets. My friend invited me along and it was fantastic. They've got 120" base of snow, plus they had a few inches of fresh snow. This wouldn't be a huge deal, but it's April 10th. Come on! Great day. So I got really sunburned if you can't tell from this hideous picture I've included. And even though I've increased my chances at getting a potentially life-threatening case of skin cancer, I would say it was worth it. So picture this: the sun shining, no wind, absolutely no crowds (the longest we had to wait in line was when there were 2 that's right, dos people in front of us. The rest of the time we skied right to the lift.), at Deer Valley for free(lift ticket price: $86), and finally, me skiing whilst listening to the playlist I put together last night for the occasion. How do you top that? It was phenomenal. My friend and I estimate that we made between 40 and 50 runs. We skied really hard with no breaks, and I am sure I will not be able to walk tomorrow. What's more, I was fully planning on telling my work tomorrow that I was at a conference. Yeah, I'm sure they'll buy that story as I walk in with a tomato-red face, ice packs ace-bandaged to my knees, and on crutches. "It was a violence conference--yeah, a conference on gang violence...hands on training. I took on this crazy O.G. who had a knife and a gun. You should see him, he looks way worse than me. Oh, the sunburn? It was at a tanning salon under a heat lamp and I had on goggles to protect my eyes, that's why I look like a raccoon. They broke in. It was all staged, though. It was a really good experience...learned a lot." I think they'll buy it.

So anyway, I'm skiing to this sweet playlist and at the moment when we were making one of the best runs in virgin powder (do I need to remind you that it's April 10th today?) and tonight's featured song comes on. It was so great. "Great" is the only word my below-average vocabulary is supplying me with right now. But it was better than that. I would say that it was awesome, but I can't say that it was literally awe-inspiring. But it was good...great.

I feel like I need a disclaimer because this is another bitter love song. But it's so good. I heard this for the first time on a live album, performed alone by the front man of the band, Jeff Tweedy. It's fantastic live and solo, but then I heard the version of the full band doing it on a Volkswagen commercial several months ago and was able to find the song. So, though difficult to find, I supply you with "The Thanks I Get" by Wilco. Imagine yourself shredding some powder (or looking like an uncoordinated fool on the hill, and do people use the phrase "shredding" in relation to skiing or anything besides confidential documents anymore?). Anyway, it's one of those songs that will have you at "hello". I guarantee you'll love it. Just, sorry it's another bitter love song. It just came on at a good time today. Enjoy.