Forget Land

The drive home through traffic here in LA is a daily insult. It's so easy to lose your stoke by the time you walk through the door. Oh well.

As I was mired in traffic I heard a great old school jam and it really mellowed me out. Enjoy.

Real Surfers Ding Their Boards

I was talking to Ripper on the way home, admitting how I kooked out and dinged the hell out of my rail. I wish I had some great story to go along with the ding. Sadly, I punctured the rail by knocking it over and watching it slam into my desk in our home office. Dammit!

Ripper made me feel better, though. His theory - and I think it's a good one - is that most surfers pick up more dings on land than in the water. Boards get dropped in the parking lot, smashed on stairs, clipped when putting them into the car, etc. Also, the more you surf, the more dings you'll have because your board gets more exposure.

It makes sense to me. All those pressure dings, mangled fins, cracks and rough patches speak to a board that has been well-loved. A dinged board is a good board.

Man, thanks!

After two weeks of slop, it was such a treat to have some swell today. The wind wasn't a factor, there was only a small crowd and everyone in the water was cool. We talked, traded waves and had a great time. While waiting for a set, a guy I know paddled up to me and said, "Christian, I have to compliment you on your commitment. I drive past here on flat-as-shit, windy days, but I see you out all the time."

That made me feel really good.

I'm not a particularly skilled surfer, but it's nice to know that my tenacity is well-regarded.

I hope you get after it this weekend. It could be fun.

Peace.

It Was Flat

It was flat, but it was still better than anything that happened on land today.

Foggy and Cold

It was such a nice afternoon. It was cold, foggy and glassy. No one was out. There are some people who've told me that they don't appreciate the way I rag on Beer Can Beach. One person even said, "Don't shit where you surf." Oh, okay.

But where are those people on days like this? Where are they when it's 1' and cold? I never, ever see them, those self-proclaimed defenders of BCB.

Whatever. I sat out there, caught a few waves and watched the fish drift through the water beneath my feet.

Rare Glass

It was small, so small, but the air was warm, the water crisp and there was no wind. Sadly, I couldn't stay long. Too much work to finish, too many things to deal with.

I haven't ridden my log in 3 months, but I think I'll take it out tomorrow. My knees are pretty thrashed, so I don't think I'll be doing much knee-paddling. I hope it's glassy again.

I hope I surf more in November than I did last month. I just wasn't into it. It seemed that every day after work it was either windy, flat or both. I don't know about surfing sometimes. I look at what I do in the 2' wind slop and wonder if I am actually "surfing." When I flip through Surfing mag, well, that is clearly surfing done by skilled athletes. Flailing through Santa Monica Bay is nothing like that. It's like playing drunken wiffleball in the backyard and calling it game 7 of the World Series.

Eh, it's all good. We'll soon have waves, prosperity will return and all will be good.

Victory At Sea

It was a sloppy nightmare out there, but it was still better than work.

And now there is hockey. Go, Kings.