Hot Summer Nights

Ugh.  Well, I’m sick again.  Somehow I caught a cold last week.  Wednesday was about when I started feeling it.  I’m pretty bummed - I really think that since Nov. 1 I have spent more time sick than healthy.  It’s so frustrating because I keep trying to get into a schedule of running and surfing because I want to get into better shape.  I know I’m in relatively good shape but I just like knowing that I’m being active.  I like feeling super in-shape rather than just passably in-shape.

Bear Mountain, CA

I went snowboarding with Val and Alexis on Saturday.  I had a lot of fun but unfortunately I was a bit in a daze the whole time since the cold was just taking it out of me.  I also couldn’t talk!  I sounded like a strung-out sorority girl who had too much Vodka the night before.  However I think I boarded pretty well, and it was my first time at Bear Mountain here in California.  Val was able to get us free lift tickets too, which was awesome!  Even though it was crowded and the snow quality was so-so, I really liked Bear.  I think it’s because it has a lot of smaller jumps that I can go off without being too scared.  I really want to get better at going off jumps - it’s really exhilarating!

Last night a bunch of us watched the Oscars at Megan’s house in Solana Beach.  It was fun to actually do that - I love watching the Oscars but it’s so hard to find people who also like to watch them!  So we had dinner, wine and cheese, and commented on the show.  I really had a good time.  I love movies and the film industry, so that’s my thing.  I also saw quite a few of the movies that were nominated so I felt like I had a better feel for who should have won.  I was psyched that Katherine Bigelow won for best director - the first woman to win a best director nod.  Has it really taken that long?  I’m not an ultra feminist or anything, but seriously.  Also, the fact that she directed the war movie “The Hurt Locker” is awesome.  Just goes to show that us girls actually CAN direct a serious action movie, not just romantic fluff.  Bigelow also directed Point Break and K-19 The Widowmaker.

Grumpy Clooney

I didn’t think that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were that funny though.  And what was up with George Clooney!??  He looked like he had a stick up his rear end every time they showed him on camera.  After doing some research it was supposed to be part of the gag, but I totally did NOT get it.  I really thought Mr. Clooney was angry, and it was kind of uncomfortable.  Lots of other people had no idea what was going on either.  Check this link for more info.

In other news I’ve been reading a book called “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.”  I really like it so far.   I’m about 130 pages in, and it’s a mystery/suspense/political intrigue kind of book.  I’m not quite sure how to describe it.  It takes place in Sweden, which is a really neat setting.  I’ve always been interested in places like Sweden and Finland and Norway.  You just don’t hear about them that often and I’m curious about their culture.  I think they’re pretty modern and Westernized.  I’d love to go travel there someday.

Also, I changed the theme back for you, mom.  For now. 

Tags: being sick is awful, directors, good books, hollywood
Posted in Random Thoughts, Stuff I've Been Doing, snowboarding | No Comments »

I’m looking to purchase a new computer.  First I was looking to get a new laptop, but since the one I wanted to get would take over 2 months to get from Lenovo (which is absurd), I am looking into just getting a souped up desktop instead, and either sticking with my current laptop a little longer or just getting a much cheaper laptop.

I can’t just go to the store and buy a computer; I’m extremely picky and I need to know the specs of every component and whether or not its the best for my needs.  I want to make sure I’m getting the best bang for my buck, and in the world of computers it can take some time to research everything if you haven’t been keeping up with it.  The last time I felt like I kind of knew what was going on with computers was about 5 years ago.  That might as well be 5 million years in computer terms.  Technology has been increasing at an exponential rate since then.

The main gripe I have right now is deciding on a resolution and a monitor.   I don’t understand why there are so many 16:9 monitors.  That means the monitor is like a widescreen high def TV.  That’s a ratio for watching MOVIES, not for doing work on a computer.  If you’re looking for a higher resolution it’s hard to find a 16:10 monitor, which is much more reasonable.  My dad says that widescreens are like looking at “band aids,” which is true.  I love widescreens for movies and TV, but for the computer it’s complete garbage and unnecessary.  Does the average consumer milling around in Best Buy think he or she is getting a high end advanced monitor just because it’s 16:9 and looks like a strip?  Strips are for steaks, not monitors.  I guess some people like it, but from what I’m reading most people looking for a computer monitor would rather have a 16:10 ratio.

Well, I’m at an impasse and I just need to pull the trigger and get something.  I just want to make sure it’s the right choice.

Tags: 16:10, 16:9, computer monitors, widescreen
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I was just talking about my blog with my friend this morning and it made me want to write an entry.  I feel like my writing style has deteriorated a little bit recently, and I think there are a few reasons for that.  First of all, I’m not spending enough time reading.  Secondly, what I do read is junk on the internet like forum posts on discussion boards.  The internet is like the black hole of quality writing.  Sure you can find some good nuggets of writing here and there, but the predominant writing style on the internet goes sort of like this:

OMG, so I just wanted 2 post about my latest shopping trip.  My friends n I went to Charlotte Ruse and got some AMAZING jeans.  They were sriously like only 20 bucks and fit me so good.  After we went shopping we met up with the boyzzz and even though I really wanted Jimmy 2 ask me out he was just kinda like whatevers.  There all so full of themselves and my friend agreed.   so I am just trying to keep my mind off him for now.  Later were gona go see a movie!!1  I cant wait!!

That’s what I’m up against.  Actually, I really think that if I start reading books again it will help quite a bit.  I am reading a little but it’s not enough.  I’m happiest when I’m spending about an hour a day just reading for pleasure, and I definitely notice that my writing style cleans up when I do that.  Since I write a lot for my marketing business I suppose reading should be part of my job.  I have to get my flow back - it’s gone missing somewhere.

I think writing more on this blog will definitely help - but to be honest I don’t usually proofread these posts or pay all that much attention to the grammar.  I think from now on I will make an effort to fully concentrate on my writing style here.  I still want to have fun with it though, so conversational style is still going to be the norm.

I didn’t know what to write about here at first, but as soon as I went to go get my coffee here at Panera I got my inspiration.  It’s the Law of the Coffee Station.

I go to Panera most mornings to get some work done - it’s a way to get out of my apartment and gives me an incentive to get rolling in the morning.  They have free wireless internet and it’s generally not too crowded (unless it’s raining outside - then the San Diegans don’t know what to do with themselves and tend to huddle in coffee shops reading the paper and talking about the economy).

Anyway, back to the main topic:  at Panera when you order coffee you have to go to a self serve coffee bar where the coffee is kept in warming dispensers.  It’s nice since I can mix and match; usually I fill my cup two thirds of the way with decaf and then top it off with some regular coffee.  That gives me just enough of a caffeine boost without giving me palpitations.

The coffee station is generally empty — until I want to go get some.  It seems like whenever I go up there there are 5 people crowding it and standing there forever mixing in Sweet N’Lows and pouring cream while having a conversation about their boss.  I can pretty much count on the fact that even if there’s only 3 or 4 customers in the store they are ALL going to mysteriously appear at the coffee bar when I go there.  That is the Law of the Coffee Station.  I’m so positive, right?  I blame my pessimistic streak on my dad, since my mom apparently doesn’t know what pessimism is ;)  Hi mom!

Related to this is the Law Of La Costa.   La Costa Ave is the exit that I take to get to my apartment from Interstate 5.  This only happens when I’m coming from the south.  I’ll be cruising up the 5 and traffic will usually be relatively clear, but as soon as I get withing 1-2 miles of the La Costa Ave exit there will always be like 3 semi trucks going 45 miles an hour.  I’ll be too close to the exit to go around them and they’re so BIG that you can’t cut over, so I have to slam on the brakes and get behind them.  45 miles an hour is torture when you’ve been driving 70.  It basically feels like you’re going backwards.

As far as reliability, you can put the Laws of The Coffee Bar and La Costa right up there with Gravity, Thermodynamics, the Strong and Weak Forces, and Time.

Tags: I'm pessimistic, law of la costa ave, law of the coffee station, writing
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No, not Jew.  Yew!  This is the new word to express exuberance amongst surfers.  I like it.  It’s more of a whoop than a word.  So sometimes it’s more like YEWWWWWWWW!

Anyway, the weather and waves in San Diego have been magnificent.  Today it seriously felt like summer outside.  It was great for the people who had Presidents day off.  Yesterday I went surfing with Beth at a break called Terramar (or Terra Mar, not sure if it’s one word or two).  We were trying to find a spot that was a bit sheltered from the brunt of the sizable WNW-NW swell that’s hitting the coast.  If you went to a spot that was facing the swell the waves were hitting double overhead.  At Terramar the waves were only about a foot overhead - 6′ or so.  I think maybe one or two 7′ waves might have rolled through as well.  It was fun to push my limits, and it felt good to have a friend out there with me.  I caught a bunch of waves, and my last wave was just perfect — except that I had to drop in on a longboarder to get it.  For you non-surfers, dropping in is not very nice.  It goes against surfing etiquette.  Basically dropping in means that someone else is already riding the wave and you take off in front of them, effectively cutting them off.  Well, I don’t think I exactly cut off this longboarder.  All I remember is looking over my shoulder and seeing him there, and I thought to myself, “well he’s just standing there cruising, so I’m just gonna go and ride in front of him.”  I don’t usually do this, but this particular wave was just so perfect and I was in the absolute perfect spot to catch it.  I couldn’t let it pass.  Somtimes you just have to break a rule now and then…

For more details on this situation and more surfing etiquette rules, check out my article on the subject at my website:

http://www.surfinghandbook.com/knowledge/surfing-etiquette/

Today was another beautiful day, and in between doing some work and going to a chiropractor (more on that in a second), I had just enough time for a mini session.  I knew Grandview was going to be big, but I only had time to go there since it’s the closest spot.  I saw that there were some pretty sizable sets coming through, but it was SO clean and organized I just had to paddle out.  I can definitely handle the conditions, it’s just a bit of a mental challenge against the fear of bigger waves.

I paddled out and had no trouble, but once I was out there I was a bit nervous.  I had to concentrate on just staying calm and reminding myself that I could handle it.  The average sets were running about a foot overhead, which doesn’t really sound like much, but it’s BIG when you’re out there.  The only fear I have of big waves is getting caught inside - this means being in front of them when they break.  Sometimes you really get caught and you end up right in the impact zone where the lip comes down.  That’s the worst place to be, and in cases like that I tend to jump off my board and dive.  Otherwise you risk getting a broken nose or a board to the face.

Anyway, I told myself I’d just catch one wave and ride it in to shore, especially since I had to go to this chiropractor appointment.  Well, I got lucky and after about 15 minutes a really nice one came to me and I caught it perfectly.  Even though the session was really short it was a great confidence builder.  I’m slowly working my way up and able to handle myself confidently in larger waves.  Larger waves are definitely more fun if you can handle them - you go faster and it’s just an awesome feeling when you’re flying down the line with the lip feathering above your head.

After my session I went to a chiropractor in San Diego because I’ve been having a very annoying neck issue for the past year and a half.  It started as a crick in my neck one morning when I woke up and lifted my head off the pillow, and it just keeps coming back.  Eventually it became a chronic low grade pain that flares up every once in a while.  I can’t really turn my head to the right without a sharp pain, and looking over my shoulder in the car is kind of hard.  I was just ignoring it for a while, but my friend Lori works at this chiropractors office as a massage therapist and she recommended him.  He actually works with a lot of professional and olympic athletes, and his prices are extremely reasonable for those without insurance.

Anyway he took X-Rays just to make sure my neck wasn’t messed up, and they came out fine.  My spine is actually in great condition, and I actually DON”T have minor scoliosis like the school nurse told me in high school.  I just lean for some reason, so one shoulder is slightly higher than the other.  It just has to do with certain muscles shortening.  Anyway, he gave my neck a minor adjustment and used ultrasound to stimulate the particular muscles in my neck that were shortened as a result of whatever problem or injury first caused my neck to cramp up.

Then the doctor put this tape across my shoulders in the back to help slightly adjust my posture.  I have to wear this tape for 4 days!!  It’s not that uncomfortable, but it’s kind of weird.  My shoulders are so rounded forward from surfing that it’s causing my whole body alignment to go out of whack.  Anyway, it was a good visit and I just want to nip this in the bud before it becomes a chronic or worse problem.

Well, that’s the update!

I didn’t have any pictures from this week to update, so I’ll just post this one.  I just found out that President Obama is going to give the commencement address this spring at the University of Michigan, which is pretty cool.  So, here’s a picture of my friends and I from graduation:

Tags: bigger waves, chiropractors, feels like summer, neck cricks
Posted in Random Thoughts, Stuff I've Been Doing, Surfing | 1 Comment »

I had bought supplies to make quesadillas a while ago, and after getting sick with the flu I never got around to making them.  Well, that was a while ago and some of the stuff went bad.  But the date on the shredded cheese said that it didn’t expire till March something, and I recently got new tortillas.  I had frozen shrimp too, and that doesn’t go back because it’s frozen.  So I made shrimp quesadillas.

When I make quesadillas I dip then in salsa and sour cream, but the sour cream had a sell by date of January 25.  That was about a week ago.  So I looked online to see if it was still edible, and it said that sour cream is already sour, and it’s ok to eat at least 2 weeks beyond the sell by date (which is just the date the store should probably remove it from the shelf so as not to inadvertently startle someone when they open it to find green mold or other interesting organisms).

Well, the sour cream looked like it was separating a little bit….I mean it smelled OK, but I’d rather throw out a $1.49 thing of sour cream than get sick.  Dairy products worry me if they get old.  Along with dinner I had a Michelob Ultra that I bought when I first got to CA.  It has been in the fridge for over 3 months, so I guess it was a little stale.  Beer does kind of go bad after a while.  I don’t think it will hurt you but it’s not top quality.

Needless to say now I feel slightly queasy.  Maybe it was all the salsa I had with the quesadilla.  Maybe it was the stale beer.  Maybe it was the Perrier I drank after the beer.  All I know is that I’m probably going to chuck all the questionable food.  This always happens!  I hate wasting food so sometimes I’ll try to eat it but then I regret it.  Maybe it’s just all in my head and it’s a placebo effect…I only THINK I have a stomach ache.  I can be quite the hypochondriac (just ask my parents) so I know about the power of psychosomatic illness.

So now I’m sipping on a coke to see if it will settle my stomach a bit.

Tags: food, old food, wasting food sucks so I try to eat it sometimes even if I have doubts
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I really don’t like taking antibiotics but I’m so glad they exist.  Unfortunately that cold that I caught while I was in Whistler turned into a sinus infection somehow.  It was going on 10-11 days and I just wasn’t getting any better.  So much congestion, coughing, post nasal drip.  I had to go back do the doctor because I couldn’t take it anymore.  The odd thing was that the doc barely even examined me.  I hate that.  I mean come on I’m paying you like $70, I don’t go just to tell you I think I have a sinus infection and have you agree with me.  He only looked in my throat.  HOW can you diagnose a sinus infection by looking in my throat?  Either way, I told him all my symptoms and he agreed with me and gave me Zithromax.  I love this antibiotic because it’s only 5 days.  I had Cipro for the last infection a month ago and it was awful…had to take it twice a day for 10 days, and you couldn’t eat any sort of dairy or anything that has been fortified with calcium with the antibiotic.  Needless to say it really limited my food choices.  I mean, even eggo waffles are foritifed with calcium.  EVERYTHING seems to be fortified with calcium these days, it’s pretty crazy.  I bet my milk is calcium fortified.  It seems like everything I wanted to eat had some sort of cheese or dairy in it, or else it had calcium.  I got so frustrated!

Anyway.  I’m on day 4 of Zithromax and my nose is FINALLY not all clogged up and I’ve got my sense of smell back.  My right ear is still making the occasional crackling noise, but I think I’m pretty much getting better.  Finally.  Maybe this will be the last of these stupid sicknesses.  I feel like I’ve been sick 90% of the time since I arrived in California at the end of October, and I’m NOT exaggerating.  I think I’ve only had about 2 weeks of clean health since then.  This is really unlike me - I used to get sick a lot with strep throat/colds/sinus issues when I was a kid, but since college I’ve been pretty healthy.  My friends here must think I’m some sickly person.

In other news, it seems that San Diego (actually all of California) is in the crosshairs of a pretty heavy storm system.  It’s going to deluge rain for the next 5 days, and it’s going to be really windy.  I just hope we don’t get a lot of flooding.  What is annoying is that I won’t be able to surf for at least a week.  After it rains around here you should wait a few days for the runoff to dissipate.  It all runs into the ocean taking all the pollutants and some sewage with it.  That’s all I need - another sinus infection.

The good thing about these storms is that they will hopefully dump a lot of snow in the mountains here in California, and that means some good snowboarding!  Even if my friends can’t go I might make a solo shot to Mountain High or something, especially if I can’t surf for a few days after all this rain.

Tags: being sick is awful, sinus infections, storms a 'brewin, zithromax
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I am a bad bloggist.   Well, I’m back yet again.  The problem was that I was still sick and it really felt like someone had taken my brain out and replaced it with cotton balls.  I’m not kidding - it was really hard to function.  My flu turned into a sinus infection and I couldn’t get rid of the lingering cough.  After first trying to wait it out I finally went to the doc and got some antibiotics.  Basically I was sick for a month!!  :(  I’ve only been in California for about a month and a half, but it really felt like I wasn’t here at all - I couldn’t do my normal stuff and it was really hard to concentrate on things.  I went out with friends when I was feeling a little better, but the fatigue was so bad and I really wasn’t myself.  I even went surfing a few times thinking I was almost over it, and afterwords I couldn’t function at all.  I just wanted to go to sleep.  It was pretty crazy.  Then I read that extreme fatigue like that was actually a pretty big symptom of sinus infections.  I’ve had sinus problems before but never had fatigue like that.  Even now I’m still working on getting my energy levels back to normal - I’m still getting a little more tired than normal.

Either way, I’m finally, finally feeling like myself.  I went surfing today, and it was glorious.  What a great day here in San Diego - warm and sunny, no wind.  I got some great waves.  There’s really no way to describe being out there in the water.  Even just paddling around the lineup and watching others take off on clean blue waves is a rush.  I’m so thankful that I’m able to surf and exercise again.  It’s tough on me when I have to get over injuries and illnesses since I’m such an active person.  I get so antsy.   BUT - I should just concentrate on being thankful that I’m able to heal up and get back out there.

I was in New York visiting home this past weekend, and it was pretty fun.  I took the red eye in, and I swear I will NEVER do it again!  I was pretty much non-functional when I got into town.  I was SO tired.  I took the train out to the East End, which would have been cool if I wasn’t a zombie.

Mom and I went to the city and did the usual Christmas stuff.  Unfortunately we forgot to take into account that it was a Saturday.  It was incredibly crowded around 5th Avenue and stores like Saks 5th Avenue were pretty much being ransacked by overeager holiday goers.  On a sidenote, I think strollers should be illegal in highly congested areas.  When I went to Disneyland with Katrin and Donny I nearly got run over by a mom pushing a stroller at about 73 MPH.  Those things are as big as SUV’s nowadays.  They probably have their own GPS units and Espresso bars.

The Window Displays at Bergdorf Goodman

Ornament Sculpture - NYC

I’ll be heading to Michigan soon for the holidays, and I’m really looking forward to that.  I’m even looking forward more to downloading a few episodes of Glee and watching them on the plane.  I’m getting strangely intrigued by that show.  It’s not normally a show I’d watch - BUT - the writing and humor is so quirky/funny in a slightly “American Beauty”-esque way that I really like it.  Also, the singing is amazing.

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I was sent an article today regarding the disappearing beaches on Hawaii:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33934617/ns/us_news-environment/

Geologists say more than 70 percent of Kauai’s beaches are eroding while Oahu has lost a quarter of its sandy shoreline. They warn the problem is only likely to get significantly worse in coming decades as global warming causes sea levels to rise more rapidly.

The thing that stuck out to me with this article is that it keeps throwing around the term “rising sea levels” like bad propaganda.  This article is just a fluff piece - the fact is that sea level rise is unproven.  You could probably find a dozen articles supporting sea level rise, but I tend to side with those that take a more balanced look.

I used to think that global warming was a huge problem, but after reading “State of Fear” by Michael Chrichton I have changed my views.  I have a lot more to learn and read on this topic, but it’s something I’m rather interested in.

Beach erosion is a big problem, and is something that I personally care about.  The beaches around my house in Southampton, NY have been getting very small, and with each new Nor’Easter storm that comes through it seems that they get even worse.

This issue was one of the reasons I joined up with Surfrider.  I’m coming to realize that the major problem causing beach erosion is not global warming and sea level rise, but rather the hardened manmade structures that we build along the coast.  It’s these structures that cramp the beach and don’t allow it to move naturally.  Jetties, seawalls, roads, houses, and other similar things don’t allow the beach to move back as storms push back the dunes.  They also starve beaches of natural redistribution of stand from along the shore.

Even if sea level rise was a real threat, I don’t think the miniscule rise would cause such dramatic erosion in certain areas.  Instead, the most dramatic erosion is caused by jetties and seawalls.

Anyway, it’s good that these articles are coming to light, but I’d rather that we focus on the REAL cause of coastal erosion.  If it were up to me I wish we could just remove all the coastal housing and structures.  But that’s nearly impossible right now.  I’m going to personally do more research on this and I’ll post what I find.

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Last night I got to go to the La Paloma theater in Encinitas to attend a showing of Rob Machado’s new movie “The Drifter.”  This was a really, really fun thing for me to do.  Rob Machado is a world champion pro surfer, and probably my favorite pro surfer.  I just love his style and his understated manner.  I had no idea when I came out here, but Rob is from Cardiff, which is right down the road (Cardiff is part of Encinitas).

Anyway, The Drifter is less of a surf movie in the traditional sense and more of an introspective documentary / travelog about his wanderings in Indonesia trying to get away from society as we know it.

Before the screening Rob played with Jon Swift, a great singer/songwriter/guitarist.  This was an amazing treat, since I had been a fan of Jon Swift ever since I saw “Shelter.”

A little bit of background:  Shelter was the first surf movie I ever saw.  I bought it when I just started surfing, when the sport was still this entire unknown world that I was embarking on.  I used to be intimidated going into surf shops because it just seemed like this other culture that I was not a part of.  Shelter is still one of the best surf videos to date.  The music in the video is fantastic, and features Jon Swift playing some great music including “Run, Run River.”

Well, much to my absolute delight, after the screening of The Drifter, Rob and Jon played another acoustic set while they showed bonus surf footage from the movie.  Basically we were watching a surf movie with live music.  The vibe was absolutely amazing.  Well, the last song they played was “Run, Run River” and it just brought back all these cool nostalgic feelings that I still get when I watch Shelter.

Jon Swift, Rob Machado and Friends

I love surf movies, and after following Rob, Jon Swift, and Taylor Steele for years and years from our little outpost on Long Island I was so excited to see them all in person, meet them, and talk to them.

Taylor Steele is really cool.  He is the creative mind behind a lot of groundbreaking surf movies.  Rob is very quiet and shy, and Jon Swift was easy to talk to and very friendly.  I was thankful my friend Lori was there - she’s not shy at all it seems, and she was more than willing to chat everyone up.  I probably would not have even attempted to get an autograph.  Instead it turns out that Lori went to High School with one of the musicians in Jon Swift’s band.  (You can’t walk 2 feet in this area without bumping into someone who has a connection with Lori, haha.)

Taylor Steele and Rob Machado do a QandA Session After The Film

Anyway, it was a really great night.  I got my DVD copy of The Drifter signed by Taylor Steele and Rob Machado, and I’ll probably put it in a frame.   I also got a few Jon Swift CD’s and he signed them as well.  It’s crazy - just a few years ago I was searching all over for Jon Swift’s music and couldn’t find it.  Now I have his CD’s, met him, and got him to sign them.  It’s funny how life works.  If you had told me back then I’d be actually meeting these guys I’d have been utterly amazed.

Rob, Lori, and I

I guess it seems silly that I’m getting all amped up about meeting a few minor surf industry celebrities, but it’s just that when something becomes a big part of your life like surfing did, and you build up all these nostalgic memories, it’s kind of a big deal.  I think coming from New York it’s even moreso since you never see any pros or famous surf people, and California and Hawaii and all those other exotic and famous surf locales seem a world away.  As I travel around and meet more people through surfing it seems the world gets smaller by the day, but I hope it never loses its lustre for me.  I never want to lose that excited, daring feeling of breaking into a secret clubhouse that I had when I first started surfing.

Here’s video I took of the end of the song “Run Run River”:

Tags: Jon Swift, Rob Machado, Surf Movies Are Sick, Taylor Steele, The Drifter
Posted in Random Thoughts, Surfing | No Comments »

Beacon's Beach Sunset

Well I arrived back in Encinitas on Tuesday.  It’s been a whirlwind of unpacking and getting myself back into the mode of being here.  It was kind of hard for me to leave home and get on that plane to come here.  People couldn’t understand why I wasn’t ecstatic to be leaving for CA, but the truth is that it has always been very hard for me to make big changes like that, especially total changes of scenery.  I hate leaving people.  It was extremely hard to leave CA and come to NY in the summer, even though I’m glad now that I did.  My plan is to do summer in NY again next year, and I’m sure it will be very difficult to leave.  Only one person really understood where I was coming from, and I was glad to have her empathy.

Anyway, enough about my moping around.  It’s really nice to be leaving the NY weather and getting some sun here in CA.  The palm trees never cease to amaze me, and I’ve already seen a few dolphins out in the lineup at Grandview.

I surfed for a few hours today and the waves were beautiful, clear, and blue.  They weren’t big, but that’s ok.  I had some fun rides.  I rode my Merrick Flyer because during my last session I somehow collided with some donkey and the nose of his board punched a hole in the bottom of mine.  Now it has to dry out before I can take it to Ding King for repair.  When that happened yesterday it took all my willpower not to get REALLY mad.  I mean, I was pretty upset, but I could tell that I was about to spiral down into being really angry and in a bad mood.  I mean, that can happen when your pristine, new board gets a hole put in it.

I’m getting ready for Halloween.  I’m going to be a flapper.  Let me tell you - the scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to go to Party City the day before Halloween.  It is like a ZOO, with kids running around throwing plastic scythes, begging their parent’s for candy, and shrieking like banshees.

Meanwhile, it was interesting to be checked out by a banana at the supermarket and have my purchases bagged by a bottle of ketchup.

And in case you were curious, those aren’t my groceries on the belt.  I don’t normally buy 5 bottles of wine and a box of cheerios.

Well that’s it for now.  I really want to turn this more into a photo blog, so look for that in the near future!

Tags: Back in California, Leaving Home
Posted in Random Thoughts, Travels | No Comments »