For the first time in my many years in Colorado, I had to drop some big loot and actually buy a ski pass this year. Normally, I could buck the system by virtue of my media pass, a super-sweet (and free) perk of journalists who cover the Colorado ski scene. I'm still getting the media pass this year, but Vail resorts has pulled out of the promotion, meaning I'd have to pay out of pocket to visit Keystone, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek or Vail. Of those places, I really dig Keystone and Beaver Creek and could live without Vail and Breck, but if I want to get out with friends I'll need access to those mountains. So low and behold, I went forth and got a pass.

As with any of my photo IDs, the picture quality is feast or famine. On my passport and all my previous driver's licenses, they were great pics. My current license and a few other picture IDs, I look like some kind of grizzled thug who just robbed a liquor store. My ski pass is actually somewhat in the middle. Apparently the photographer used Bigfoot film technology since the picture is blurry but somewhat recognizable. I was a little tired but I'm smiling so it generally looks like me.

I've never been terribly photogenic to begin with and a huge portion of my personal photos are in the outdoors, where I'm likely to be wearing glasses, hats, giant puffy coats, etc. Or else I try to take my glasses off in the bright Colorado sun and look like a squinty Michelin Man. My reaction to actual defined pictures of my face is always a little jarring, kind of like hearing your own voice on an answering machine.

Anyhow, I'll be off snowboarding as much as I can this winter, assuming I don't wreck on my already-damaged shoulder. If you need me, I'll be the guy with the big head and giant black helmet, scratched goggles and semi-British teeth.

Posted by James Dziezynski @ 11:32 AM