Ski holiday this weekend! I am struggling to make progress as a skiier–but it’s hard work for this old b!tch to learn new tricks! I’m hoping that my ultra-stylish apres-skiwear will compensate for my clinging to the green dots and blue squares on the slopes. “NO JIB ZONE” = just my style!
I’ve found that it’s a good thing, if frustrating and a little scary at times, NOT to be good at something. It’s been a long time since I felt completely incompetent and outclassed by everyone around me, including in most cases the preschoolers who don’t even have poles yet. . . but, I had a powder day a few weeks ago at Winter Park, and that was lots of fun! So I will work harder to have more fun.
Meanwhile, for those of you stuck indoors at your computers or in front of classrooms, check out Bardiac’s response to yesterday’s post about entertaining candidates originally inspired by her post earlier this week. She and her colleagues have to pay their own way, plus cover the candidate’s dinner, which certainly calls into question whether or not their candidates’ dinners are in fact business dinners at all. While there is no excuse for conversational rudeness, this fact makes me feel a little more sympathetic to her colleagues.
Would that we all had Comrade PhysioProf‘s awesome budget for entertaining candidates!
Historiann 
Have a great time!
And: I completely understand the appeal of being a novice at something. I cherished that feeling when I first began performing. Enjoy the learning curve!
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En-joy! I’m snowed IN, but not near anything you could actually ski on. The latest storms back here in the east have been pretty slushy. Powder? That’s totally late 2010!!
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Whatte the fucken fucke is a “NO JIB ZONE”?
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@Comrade: Check out “shayboarder.com” (Steamboat Springs)
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(1) I looked around on that Web site and didn’t find out what a NO JIB ZONE is.
(2) Who the fucke is telling people that a white-on-blacke theme is anything other than an unreadable abomination?
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Assuming that it didn’t mean no headsail, I querried the Wikipedia. Jib is slang for grind in snowboarding. Grinding, as I understand it, is sliding along the top of something on your skateboard.
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Here’s what I found:
“To Jib: The act of maneuvering a snowboard or skis in tricky manner on top of and around a structure (man made or otherwise) such as a stump, lift tower, stairs, rails, jumps, etc. When you are playing around, showing off, jumping, flipping, hopping, etc you are jibbing.”
http://www.jhskiclub.org/pageview.aspx?id=35738
I can’t imagine myself ever wanting to learn how to ski, but three cheers for learning something new and not being very good at it! (My knitting lessons begin next week….)
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So Historiann is totally gonna be JIBBING and SHREDDING!
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No, it means she wants to stay away from those crazzies (as she might phrase it). Just guessing.
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No jibbing pretty much means slow down and don’t be a jerk to the toddlers and middle-aged beginning skiiers. I did really well today, but it’s easy to have fun when it’s 34 degrees under a turquoise sky. Pretty much all blue squares for me this morning, and I’m looking forward to skiing again tomorrow.
There is a Shreddy Betty in the family, but it ain’t me. Fratguy was born on boards, so I’m staying back after lunch to get some work done and let him have fun.
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You totally sucke if you don’t JIBBE and SHREDDE!
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I know I totally suck! But at least I knew what they meant before this afternoon. . .
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I may not have known what they mean, but I totally fucken JIBBE and SHREDDE!!!!111!!!!ELEBENTY!!11!!!1!!
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I think all faculty should be required to learn something new after they get tenure. Taking pottery classes was very humbling, and I got good enough, but never as good as I wanted to be.
Have fun skiing!
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Susan–that’s really it, isn’t it? Tenure can lead to complacency, and taking on new challenges in other realms may lead to more intellectual and professional risk-taking. At least, that’s what I’m thinking now. And I really love the bowl you gave me a few years ago–we have it on our counter all the time with fruit in it!
Yesterday’s skiing was great–I did mostly intermediate runs (blue squares) and only fell a few times. It helps that the weather here is so gorgeous–riding on the chair lifts is actually a pleasant, relaxing break when it’s in the 30s, sunny, and no wind! (As opposed to 10 degrees and blowing. . . )
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