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Whistler recently hosted the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival from April 11th to the 20th. In what has become an annual event for me, I made my usual pilgrimage to Whistler to attend; an attempt to escape the concrete, mortar, metal, and glass wilderness for the snowy peaks of British Columbia.

Upon unloading at the bus loop in the main village, I came to the realisation that my accommodations were actually in the upper village. This meant that all my gear had to be hauled to the proper location. I guess the gods wanted to make sure that I was properly warmed up and exposed to the nature I was so fervently seeking, so I ended up rolling my wheelie locker through Fitzsimmons trail (a failure of my geographic knowledge of the village indeed) to the condo. When I finally got myself and my gear to Glacier Lodge, it was time to ring up the peeps in order to exchange greetings, hugs, hi-fives, and tall tales. I tracked them down at the Longhorn and joined them up for a little après (après bus trip for me, après snowboarding for them).

The amazing thing about the Telus World Ski and Snowboard festival is that, although it only happens once a year, there's a sense of familiarity when you run into friends you haven't seen since the last festival. It was as though last year's festival never ended and everyone just picked up where they left off (with the possible exception of the new faces which were promptly integrated into the group of dirtbags).

Saturday morning finally rolled around and it was time for the long awaited first runs up Blackcomb to hold congress with the mountain. In keeping with my usual modus operandi of deep metaphysical self-discovery on the chairlift (not self-exploration you perverts), I got to thinking about the struggle between the physical and the divine. I was cogitating on the true nature of the connection between the body, soul, and the mountain. The physical connection is obvious (this was on my mind due to a knee injury sustained the week prior in Banff), but the spiritual connection was a bit more difficult to pin down.

I went snowboarding everyday that I was in Whistler resulting in my body being in various states of "ache and pain" throughout, but I felt content. The crew I was riding with was also changing daily from groups as large as twelve to being by myself. The same sense of contentment, however, was always there regardless of how large or small the group was. This led me to remember a quote from a famous Jedi master in the movie "The Empire Strikes Back." When Luke asks Yoda what might be found in the cave, Yoda's answer was "only what you take with you." This is significant in many ways and is especially evident on those solo freshie manoeuvres that I often partake in. It led me to realize that whenever I'm snowboarding, all my loved ones are there with me in their purest essence (without any noise caused by things so caustic as cliques or inter-personal drama). This I believe is where the spiritual comes in. Although Whistler/Blackcomb, the resort, is itself a morass of steel, concrete, cables and glass, when the p-tex hits the snow, none of that really matters, all that's there is what you brought with you. Although the sensations are dramatically physical, the exileration is just as dramatically spiritual and this is what drives me, and I'm sure many others, to pursue this congress with the mountain.

Between the crazy parties, the jokes about shi*t-tickets (toilet paper), the drinking, and the general shenanigans, the occasional runs on mahogany ridge, the important part of Telus seems to have been coming together with people we care about in the nature we all love. To borrow a phrase from a loved one, I left Whistler with my body having that used and abused feeling, however, I also left Whistler feeling enriched from revisiting old friendships and making new ones. With that, I can honestly say that I can't wait until next year's festival. I hope to see you all there. Until then...

Keep Shreddin' the GNAR!

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Breaking News: Rep. Barney Frank and NORML Team Up on Federal Decriminalization Legislation
Posted by Ron Fisher to Legalize It - The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws March 24 10:39pm

US Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) has announced that he will shortly introduce legislation in Congress to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible cannabis consumers. Representative Frank made the announcement Friday on the nationally syndicated television show, "Real Time With Bill Maher."

heres a link:
http://blog.norml.org/2008/03/24/norml-partners-with-rep-barney-frank-d-ma-to-introduce-federal-decriminalization-legislation/

“It's time for the politicians to catch up with the public on this [issue],” Frank said. "The notion that you lock people up for smoking marijuana is pretty silly."

Frank's pending bill seeks to eliminate all federal penalties prohibiting the personal use and possession of up to 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of marijuana. Under this measure, adults who consume cannabis would no longer face arrest, prison, or even the threat of a civil fine. The bill also eliminates all penalties prohibiting the not-for-profit transfers of up to one ounce of pot.

NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup, who worked closely with Frank's staff to draft this legislation, said, "If passed by Congress, this legislation would legalize the possession, use, and non-profit transfer of marijuana by adults for the first time since 1937." The bill incorporates the basic recommendation of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (also known as the Shafer Commission).

Currently, 12 states have enacted various versions of marijuana decriminalization, eliminating criminal penalties for minor pot violations. Passage of these laws has not led to increased marijuana use.

In fact, the only U.S. government study ever commissioned to assess whether the enforcement of strict legal penalties positively impacts marijuana use found, "Overall, the preponderance of the evidence which we have gathered and examined points to the conclusion that decriminalization has had virtually no effect either on the marijuana use or on related attitudes and beliefs about marijuana use among American young people."

Similar statewide legislation is pending in New Hampshire and Vermont. Additionally, Massachusetts voters will decide on a statewide decriminalization measure this November.

According to a nationwide CNN/Time Magazine poll, more than three-quarters of American adults favor decriminalizing marijuana.

Alerts will be posted to this page and www.norml.org once this bill is assigned a bill # and committee so that folks can contact their representative urging support of this bill.

For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel, at (202) 483-5500.

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7561

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What is Love?
Current mood: distressed

Love...is it overrated? or is it underrated?

i believe that most people find that it is overrated, but let me speak! I found love, in the eyes and arms of my husband. Even after a painful heart break or two, he came to me in the mists of dispair and misery. He lifted me above the dark abyss and led me to safety when i would have jumped. Death was so welcoming, as I groped for a chance to stay alive. Half of me was torn down into deep hate and regret, and everyother bad feeling ever known to man, while the other half was fighting for air, trying not to drown in the loss and the hurt. Nothing hurts like a lost love, but at least I had that short time with him. Even if I was to lose my husband tonight, I would survive with the hope of finding another love, another to care, and with the love of my family and my friends. I have faith that they and God will not let me down. I wasted so much of my life in depression, that I missed out on many happy moments and happy memories...I was too wrapped up in my sorrow to care about others' joy. I was too blind to notice that my aloofness was hurting the one's I held closest and dearest to my heart. For this I would like to say..."Mom, Dad, Daniel, and all the many others that I have hurt, I am eternally sorry for the misery I so unknowingly put you through. It was unnecessary pain and unneeded worrying. As you can see, I am better now. Thank you for your support through those times that only you will know about. Please forgive me."

Now that I have released that burden, let me continue by saying that love is not only something found once. I found love in the welcoming arms of two men. For the sake of my marriage, I will not say who the first and only other true love I found, but I will say that I will not forget what he meant to me and how he led me to become the woman that I have become and that I am still growing into. Only a select few will know of whom I speak...and I hope that I have not already said too much to let him know who he is. But I thank him everyday that I remember what he has contributed to my life.

Sure, the pain is horrendous, but, well, better to have loved and lost right? After all, the pain is a growth, the shaping of who we have been and who we will be. All of those we have lost will never be forgotton, but even still, we need to move on, if not for our health's sake. Dwelling on the past will bring pain, unnecessary hurt that can be forgotton. I don't want to forget the boyfriends and the hurt and the depression, but I also don't want to live on a dream that I think might come true. Every princess dreams of her prince, and believe it or not, every prince dreams of his princess, but few realize that the one they dream about may be the girl/boy next door. I have known my husband for over fourteen years, and I am only eighteen now. And I never lost sight of Tyler from the moment I realized that I liked him. I'm not sure when that like progressed into love, and who knows...maybe it hasn't. Maybe, I made a misake in getting married. I often feel that I threw myself into something I really didn't want to do. Howver, that may just be the negativity of my family, telling me that I only got married to get out of my parent's house. To an extent, that is true, but I have always loved my mom, my dad, and espcially my brother. I regret daily not getting to watch him bring his first girlfriend home, letting him cry on my shoulders when it ended badly, and getting  to stand up for him in high school. That is one thing I have dreamed about since I was little. I love my brother, and I want the best for him. And if someone hurts him unduly, then I will jump in the car, drive to Perryton, and stand up for him just like any other loving older sibling would. I am one of the few lucky ones in this circumstance, but that is a different story.

My point is, there are times that I want to take it all back and move back into my father's house. I'll take all of the yelling, the punishment and the emotional abuse and live with it like I should have. I grew up way too fast, and I don't recommend it. It truely sux. I hate having bills, house payments, loan payments, repairs, and everything that I have to watch for...seeing as I am now a "house" wife. Love is not only an emotional feeling, but a bond between two people, and this is what so many do not understand. It's not sexual attraction, it's not that feeling you get when you think of a person, but it is the great vastness of your feelings for a person, usually of the opposite sex. These feelings go beyond a quickening of the heart, clammy hands, shaky knees. It is the greatest gift that God could give to two people. It is not Lust, it is not Sex; it is simply what God says it is...it is loving, kind, and every word.(i can't think of them all right now) It is the feeling you get when he/she smiles, laughs, kisses you, hugs you, and even the way they get mad at you. Lucky for me, I have experienced this great feeling twice, and lost once, but I did not give up...I found another.

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It's the first few chapters of my life story. It'll be ongoing and eventually added to. Anyways, for a lot of reading and a whole lot more about "me" you can go to
http://idahokat.blogspot.com/
This blog is my old one. I'm moving over to wordpress. More user friendly for a dummy like me
It's pretty much life story that I've been writing. I've got more writings that I've will publish after editing them.

Perhaps I'll start updating this more with day to day life, though currently you'd all be bored to tears with my saying "went to work today and worked all day." So while stoked for winter approaching, I'll be getting things ready for the holidays, etc.  I read several blogs regularly, so perhaps my turn to start writing again

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Wanna contact me off of the site here? I have a gmail.com account which in plain text l(and not like below meant to thwart off web spiders that gather email addys to send spam to) is:

of note, this above email is one I set up specifically for using here and forwarded to my real email that I never give out. Abuse such as signing it up for spam lists would accomplish nothing more than me unforwarding and abandoning the email account, so please, don't waste bandwidth - spam hurts everyone.

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So yet again last night My friends and I were at the bar drinking and this was a conversation I had with a great friend of mine that spawned this next drunken rant...... Enjoy!

Ah the One Night Stand. The Hump and Dump. Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em. Stick it in her Without the Dinner. Once the past time of slimeballs and a**holes, this hobby has been experiencing a new wave of participation. But not, as you may think, by men. Women are now taking control of this once all male sport.

Example- A few months ago I met a guy who moistened my interest. He was strutting around acting like he was all that and had a bag of Doritos in his back pocket. Now if there is one thing I can’t stand it’s a guy who talks the talk, but his cock goes limp at the thought of a little slap and tickle. So I dared him to put his cock where his eyes kept looking. And like any dog you put a little meat in front of his face and he starts humping your leg like he owns you and starts talkin' about feelings and forever and blah, blah, blah. Apparently he just didn’t understand that all I was interested in was getting his cock in my mouth for a little bit, and that was it.

So we went to my place and after one hour and three orgasms (all his) I was done. I got out of bed, got dressed and told him to get out. I will never forget the look of wide-eyed surprise on his face and the words he so tenderly mumbled "Huh…what? I thought we could talk."

After repeating myself several times and throwing his clothes at him, I finally got his ass out of my bed. The whole time I’m walkin’ his butt out my door he keeps askin’ for my phone number and when he’s gonna see me again. As far as I’m concerned he should have been thanking god that he just got the blowjob of a lifetime and didn’t even have to "cuddle". I hate cuddling.

When a man initiates a one-night stand with a woman he’s a stud. When a woman does it, she’s a slut. Look around you, there are a lot more sluts these days. Why? Because in this day and age nobody has time for the rest of the shi*t that usually comes with the opposite sex. All this talking and getting in touch with each other’s feelings just doesn’t hold a candle to a paycheck or a stiff drink, and those are the things to take time getting.

Now if you’re smart, you can turn this to your advantage. Just think of it, you get suckin' and f*ckin', and don’t have to ever meet her mother. What could be better than that? If your really looking for a relationship with a girl, you know that the woman you just bought four tequila shooters for and already her panties are lying in the bed of your truck, is not Ms Right. But if you’re man enough she sure as hell is ready to be Ms Right now. So buck up big boy and let that little lady use and abuse you then throw your ass out of her house. And in the morning mix that Bloody Mary and thank god for the emancipation of women.

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