FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015"'Testing, a one two. Check, check. Testing, one two, check.' I tap the top of the microphone. I twist a couple of knobs on the amplifier, adding a little bass to the sound. Standing on the stage of an old school gymnasium, my voice echoes along the empty glossy cement walls. I press my little CD player that is connected to the old guitar amplifier that I use to use
[sic] while in my Jr. high rock band. The music blasts from the hearty little speaker. I click stop. Behind me are two tables filled with magazines I've been in, a handful of my pro skateboard decks, my signature wheels, my first skateboard trophy, the X-Air deodorant that I graced the cover of and a slew of odds and ends from my eventful career. Two banners dress the tables. One is of my latest skateboard sponsors that has my face on it looking back at me. The other is a yellow and black banner the reads
[sic],
Doug Brown's Skate Straight. A little self pride and nervousness comes from the pit of my stomach. It's the exact feeling I used to get while in theater as a child, moments before I was to meet my audience." p.92,
Looking Glass Self: Hope, Optimism and the Journey Within; Doug Brown