Art Show in the Morrow...

So, in lieu of frisky first-graders, delightful and dangerous all, I will be grabbing hold the creative rope and swinging wildly about my school's cognitive canyons. I am going to be working as an arts teacher helping link content-area instruction with the arts. Jack of all trades, me. Master of one, joy.


With the arts in mind I present to you a show to be attended, considered, celebrated, and perhaps hooted for. Enjoy Wavelength La Jolla at the La Jolla Library Gallery- a fine venue. Beautiful works and beautiful people are a guarantee.

Oh, and there will be a selection of Bird's Boards.

Speak, Memory...

Image Heist from Ryan Field Photography (Kllr Px)

1995. The Jewel,CA.

My daily fun was headfirst, with an eye for an almond-exit. Lounge, VJourneys, GoodLuck Reef, and Retirement Heaven were my favorite haunts. Sea grass on the knees and finless tunnel hunting was the norm.

Low tide Little Left, adjacent to Hydrodynamic Innovator Reef. I'm done with my fun but see a nice right over yonder. I kick my boogie over to the racy little reef and meet a nice barrel as a welcome gift. Then the fun really begins.

I paddle back out and am greeted by two JewelBox Locals. Apparently I am at a place I shouldn't be. Apparently this spot is Kalifornia Kapu. I inquire a bit and am taught about the eponymous reef's history. In a none-so-friendly manner I am asked to leave. I believe the exact words were, "You're going to get a surfboard up your..."

Of course I stayed for one more wave. Of course I did.

I'm so thankful to my boogie years. The time spent in the heart of the beasts taught me a love for the ocean more intimate than breathing. As soon as you stand on your feet there is a separation, a loss.

I'm 90% standup today, but I enjoy the other 10% immensely.

Funnin'...

DDunfee

CSutton

RBurch

To make myself clear. There are no rules about how you can surf, just as there are no rules as to how you can paint. There are only techniques, tools, canvases all for the purpose that you choose.

Enjoy!

Photos via BA---->

Let it be...

Enjoying my new Lis. Many more of these little pocket rides this year...I hope. Oh, and maybe I can learn to bend my knees. Pic via BA

I love resolutions but hate New Year's Eve.

1. Create more/Consume less. A holdover from last year. I was pretty successful with this goal. This goal is empowering in its overarching breadth. In every moment to ask what can be created rather than consumed is a perspective altering behavior. Think broadly on this one, not simply book>TV.

2. Be present. I feel the pull of competing concerns almost constantly. Particularly troubling are the ubiquitous screens which offer a two dimensional mirage of a three dimensional world. I am here and with those around me. I am in this ocean, on this wave, on these feet, in this turn, in this tube, in this water.

3. Develop a sense of complete health- Physical and beyond. This resolution grows from a couple of conversations with interesting peripheral characters in my life partnered with the exhortation (and warning) offered through the story of Dorian Paskowitz and his family.

And, of course, Surf More!

Best wishes to all for Two Thousand and Ten.

Ofishially...

A little clarification was shared via Sin Diego surf matriarch and artist divine, Cher Pendarvis. Educate the educator...

Hey Andrew, hope that you are enjoying a nice weekend! I enjoyed your post about the Larmo stories and the fish on Born to Lose.

Actually RK first rode Mikko's fish in 2003, and got stoked and inspired by the fun little board! The fish resurgence started earlier (as confirmed by Hanky Warner) when his friend Derek Hynd came to San Diego (1995-1996) and visited with Skip and Hanky when they had Harry's Surf Shop in PB. As Hanky remembers, Derek was looking through Skip's quiver and discovered a small old keel fin fish that Skip had in a bag, and asked what it was. Derek was stoked to have a fish, so Skip shaped him one. The next year, Derek came back and asked for Skip to shape him another one, with a slightly narrower tail. Derek ended up taking it to J-Bay and rode it there. Tom Curren rode Derek's fishes as well, at J-Bay, and inspired folks with his amazing surfing. Some of their rides were filmed by Andrew Kidman and can be seen in his movie, Litmus.

Aside from this story, some of us never stopped riding fish, and have kept them in our quiver since the early fish days. FYI: the fish is my favorite design of all time! I'm stoked that Hanky helped clarify some of the dates as to when Derek first saw Skip's fish. We look forward to talking with you, soon!

Aloha, Cher
Is there a more consequential modern surf film than Litmus? Not to me.