After a harsh July I had to take stock of the good things...

I’m coming off the single worst month of my life right now, complete with a death in the family, multiple friends in the hospital, sickness, injuries, lay-offs, work drama, and on-going back problems that have made it hard to sleep let alone even think about skating. I’ve been thrashed without a doubt. Thankfully the deluge of misery seems to have halted for the time being and I’ve had a minute to recoop a bit and catch my breath. In an effort to look on the bright side, I’ve stopped dwelling on the big bummers that came crashing this summer and made a list of 10 stokers from the last month instead...

1. Bonus Round coming out

I still can’t believe how far so many of my friends have gone in skateboarding, be it on board or behind the scenes. Tiltmode videos are just homey videos on a grander scale, and for me it’s beautiful to see so many good friends and good people getting out there in the world and having a positive effect on the mental state of skateboarding. Watching Bonus Round, the B-Sides, Man Down, Memoirs, and Tiltmode is like a slideshow of the last 10 years for me, and brings a huge smile to my face. To all my frieeeeeends!

2. Josh Kalis call
Every now and then I’m reminded of how many cool people there are who I never would have thought I’d come into contact with before I worked here who I’ve actually become friends with over the years. Recently Josh Kalis called me up late at night to get my opinion on something he thought I’d have some good perspective on, and it made me feel good to know that he though enough of me beyond just being a magazine dude to put that trust in me. Thanks Josh!



3. Yosemite trip



After all the craze of the month I needed to step away for a minute, so the fam and I rolled out to Yosemite national park. I hadn’t been in years, and was reminded of how being in the presence of majestic and powerful natural elements can rejuvenate you, no hippie. Swimming in the river, riding around through the trees, hiking out amongst the monster mountains, just taking it all in made my head clear a lot and put a smile on my face.

4. The Meat Puppets “Sewn Together” album



I’ve been a fan of the Meat Puppets for a long time and this new album is really good. I can’t say it’s as good as “Up On The Sun”, but it’s good, and it gives me hope that people can stay creative and interesting and put out good things on a long-term scale. Bizarre, skilled, and funky is a good combo in my book.




5. Night Prowler video



Being surrounded by skateboarding at almost all hours of the day makes you jaded to a lot of ripping after awhile, and being immersed in the business side of skateboarding and having to know all of the marketing strategies and strange intentions and designs for things makes it all seem a little too pre-determined and cold sometimes. The American business of skateboarding can suck the joy out of just skateboarding sometimes, and so seeing this video from Japan that just documents the pure act of skating for fun and being creative and straight ripping made my day. Amazing skaters and totally amazing spots, with parts several great underground rippers, including SLAP Pal Maru and strangely Rich Adler! I love Japan and I think the skaters there have an excellent perspective on the soul and creativity inherent in street skating. Big props on the video!



6. Dragon Fire spark plate



Jon Ehinger is an ex-SLAP art director who has remained of the raddest people I’ve met on the job during my 11 years at the mag. His theory of seeing one thing a day that you note as standing out to make each day special has always stayed with me. He surprises me with weird things in the mail regularly, and last week he sent me a little birthday card and the Dragon Fire spark plate. People can be so horrendous, and so the good ones mean more and more as the years go by. Mad love, Ehinger! I’ll spark a crooks for you!

*Jon sent me this photo the day I originally posted this blog- had to add it in late. Ehingerehinger digging into a mean crooks that only he could dig into.


7. The Mike Blabac photo book and the Disposable Skateboard Bible book
Somehow these two new skate-related books came on the same day and so I think of them in the same thought even though they’re unrelated. Blabac’s collection of favorite skate shots from the last 15 years or so is pretty slamming, and was a big reminder of how many great images he’s made over all those years. Mike might not get all the recognition of some of the media darlings of the media because he’s a quiet guy who stays behind the lens, but his works speaks for itself and makes it obvious that he’s one of the champs. Stellar work Mike, way to put something real nice out there. Congrats!
The new Disposable book by Sean Cliver is an outstanding collection of graphics, boards and memorabilia from the last 30+ years in skateland. It’s probably the definitive published one, honestly. If you’re going to have just one coffee-table-style book of skate art, make it this one. Truly vast and thorough.






8. Completing my own photo book



Maybe two years back or so I made a do-it-yourself book that showed some of my favorite non-action photos that I’ve taken during my time at SLAP- portraits of skaters, artists and musicians, plus lots of travel, behind-the-scenes and snapshots that have meant something to me. A copy made it’s way to Gingko press and earlier this year I got a call from them saying that they wanted to put out an updated version on a mass scale, and so I got to revisit the project, add more photos, do a section of writing in the back about each photo, add lots of little elements, have it laid out by a professional, and got an intro by the one and only Craig Stecyk to kick it off. The project finally wrapped up recently and went off the printer, and the finished version will be out in October- watch for a more in-depth look at it on the site when the book is ready. I’m beyond honored to have it happening!

9. Dogs
I love dogs. Grew up with them from the day I was born, but after moving out when I went to college I only had the family dog when I would come home to visit, and then after college I didn’t have any regular puppy love in my life for a long time. I’ve wanted to get one for my own growing family for a long time but held off until my kids were a little steadier on their feet. Now it’s time to bring one into the mix and I’ve got dog fever- doing research, watching Dogs 101 on Animal Planet, playing with them when I take the kids out to the park etc. Can’t wait to have daily mutt life again! My dream dog is a Newfoundland but my accommodations speak more to Boston Terrier size. Throw some favorite dog breeds my way!




10. SLAP Pals



When we first began getting into the digital era of SLAP, I was worried about getting into the mix with everybody on the boards. The staff here had always watched from afar and not gotten directly involved much because we had wanted it to remain untouched and wild, so the idea of trying to interject myself into the situation sketched me out because I didn’t want to change the dynamic of the boards, and also because I didn’t know how I would be received by the teeming mass of then-perceived lunatics. But I gotta say, the whole direct interaction with the SLAP community online has been the highlight of the whole switch for me- I’ve really gotten to enjoy posting and interacting with everybody, whether it’s getting feedback on editorial stuff we’re doing or just weighing in on whatever subject is at hand as a skater. I look forwards to it every day. It’s been cool getting to know so many different personalities (even though I wish I could meet them in person), so I just wanna take a second to say thanks to everybody out there reading this and taking part in the SLAP experience- I think there’s something really unique, cool and progressive happening here, and nowhere else has it like we do. It’s awesome that it can be a shared experience like it is now. Power to the people! Special shouts to all the Pals who have reached out personally and made the little letters on the screen become real. Thanks for the connection.

Things are looking up for August and beyond, so thanks to all my friends and family for keeping my head up. Everybody out there do the same!