given how warm it had been up until the last week or so, ihad beenmildly concerned that this might be a pathetic and wussy winter. happily, though, there's a kickass storm going on now. and of course, i was compelled to go out skiing. people look at you very funny, of course, when you get on the T with cross-country skis. but despite my typical misanthropy, its quite amazing how friendly people become when there's snow falling. everybody says hello, people frolic randomly in the plow-drifts, and the usual psychosis that besets most people this time of year is gone for a while. there was a group of brazilians that actually wanted to pose for a picture with me in the public garden (i was confused by this, to say the least). shiny happy people everywhere. but anyway, it's always fun to go out exploring, and it's especially nice to ski around downtown in the snow, especially when it's snowing hard. because that way, freshly plowed streets get the perfect covering of snow to make for an excellent skiing surface. all you have to do is put the ipod on shuffle and swish your way down the street. 'course, not everything was perfect. the snow was too deep along the river to make good progress, and it was blowing so hard off the charles as to cover the entire left side of my face in ice. i kinda felt like han solo's tauntaun. i was picking ice out of my hair two hours later. always have a beard when you're going out in the snow for a while. good stuff.
anyway, my camera cheated death again today (it was making really cool grinding noises when extending and retracting the lens for a while), so i took pictures.