NB :: if you haven’t checked out my new project, the athena exhibit, please do!

“Lindsey is fully clothed from head to toe in competitive skiing attire and in a skiing position. It would be completely different if she was skiing in a bikini or portraying a sexed up snow bunny. Lindsey can’t help it if she’s attractive AND a great athlete.”

the problem with this kind of analysis is that doesn’t take into account the difference, however subtle, between being IN ACTION and being POSED in action.

i found a great comparison picture in this weekend’s new york times’ the magazine. in article about speedskater, shani davis, the picture below

shani davis, as seen in the New York Times Magazine

davis is an attractive guy. he’s wearing a tight uniform, specific to his sport, and yet … the context of the picture is different. i would say it’s absolutely clear that he is in the process of actually, skating, and that is where the cover of lindsey vonn falls short. regardless of whether or not she is in [a tight] uniform, or  whether or not she is pretty or ugly, or smiling or frowning, she is absolutely not in action.

lindsey vonn on the cover of SI

i think many out there are ready to let this argument go – and i agree – that the kind of public discourse that has resulted from this article has been interesting and illuminating, but not very functional, in some respects. it reminds me that in terms of coverage and the interpretation of the coverage of female athletes, we still have a very, very long way to go.

when i opened her slideshow, i started chocking laughing and immediately called t and kristen, and blurted out “you’ve got to see these” and “didn’t we have the best time??”

i am not sure if you can tell from this first round of images how great we were living it up. you can, however, see miami in december, mine and kristen’s second chance to have a 25th birthday, our muster, tiffany on the dance floor, a crossword puzzle moment (herm!) and much much more. enjoy at your own risk.

despite the unseasonably warm weather, the water was … seasonably cold.

that didn’t stop my sister and i from doing our version of a polar plunge. a turkey day dunking. a poultry paddle. call it want you want. i’ll call it like it was. freezing.

i plan on doing my typical thanksgiving itemization of things and people i love later today. it’s not that i need time to think of these thing, but one of things i am thankful for, my mom, is calling my name as is my coffee and another unseasonably warm, but typically happy holiday.

i wasn’t initially inspired by my dad’s sage advice, but the minute rach suggested i could be a gold digger for halloween, i heard, in the back of my head, the hook from kanye’s song she take my money and my dad saying, “austin, you’ve really got to marry up. i did and look how well it turned out!” and i was sold.

pictures from the extravangza are here. i’m not sure if i’d be able to hook anyone very affluent looking like a hooker, but you can be the judge of that. sadly in none of the snapshots can you really see my shovel with money glued all over it.

i’d say more about the party, but i only remember so much and these pictures really are worth 1,000 words. just think of a frat party with a bunch over people over 25 and you’ve got old school (the movie) or how i spent my saturday night.

anyways, can you really even pay attention to my writing over the glare of my outfit?

luckily my phone takes relatively discernible and not totally crappy pictures and we can still have a visual, albeit blurry, record of what was one of the best concerts i’ve seen.

and i am ok with that.

while my parents and their pals are enjoying themselves at their soon to be new home (t-minus two days!) and kristen sits on a porch at the jersey shore surrounded by cocktails and cousins, i have my legs up on our coffee table thinking about showering, unpacking and tossing in my towel.

i’ve made another whirlwind tour over the past few days — this time enjoying a few gorgeously sunny days at the beach — attempting to pack a few more moments of sunshine and leisure in before i resume my regularly scheduled programming.

year two here is about to begin and i’m not quite as gung-ho about the entire sh*tshow as i was last year — my hesitancy coming from understanding exactly what is going to befall me in the upcoming months. last year i said bring it on. this year i say i want these next two months to flit by slowly, languishly until i am desperate for the hustle and bustle that defines, epitomizes the fall.

but, while when i signed on dotted line for part deux, i know i did sign away a little piece of my soul — that part that likes lazy and spontaneous weekends — i did because that not living in lexington, not living this life, not being exactly who i am right this very second in my little living room in this little town was simply not an option.

and i’m ok with that.