My glossies

Yesterday I met Joe Royer down at the marina so he could take some pictures of me paddling my boat.  He plans to use them as part of the promotional materials for the classes I'm teaching this summer and the Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race this June 14.

He e-mailed me a few of the best ones, and I will post them here in small doses--Semele was killed when she laid eyes on Zeus in his full glory, after all, and I wouldn't want that to happen to my readers.  This one shows me looking particularly focused:

Compare it with this photo of Greg Barton, the U.S. kayaker whose career highlights include two Olympic gold medals, two Olympic bronze medals, and four world championships:

I dare anybody to say that Greg looks any more awesome than I do.  Yes, I know that in reality Greg is more awesome than I, but since when does reality matter more than appearance?