December 99 December 98 December 97 _________________ Friday 17 December 99 9 06 pm pst   [ slopes await me ] I am going skiing with Matthew.   More specifically, we are a chaperoning a high school ski trip to Park City, Utah.   The kids don't frighten me but the mountain does.   M is an expert skier, so I have added pressure, but deep down inside I know he will take good care of me.   I haven't been skiing in nearly a decade. I am waffling between being very brave and being a little skittish at having an experience where I don't know what to expect.   It is unlink me to be so apprehensive.   But what can I do?   I have had no luck in mastering my emotions. I am taking my lovely machine but not my camera.   I will no longer fight with my drive to do this every day. I did manage to postpone my subscription to the diary-l mailing list.   It came at a fortuitous time -- in the middle of an exceptionally mean spirited fight.   Thankfully I am not having to tear myself away from an endlessly fascinating discussion. There are, in my opinion, an disproportionately high number of rude people on the list (or perhaps the rude ones are simply disproportionately vocal).   I never cease to be baffled by how discourteous people seem to go out of their way to be. I wonder if the distance from the list will illustrate that the bad has outweighed the fun.   I may never go back... ^ views from the airplane ^