Kickflip to concussion to cerebrospinal fluids out the nose to CAT scan out.

My legs while I wait on a stretcher in the Emergency Room at Cedar Sinai. They wheeled me away for a CAT scan.

Before the fall
I’d already started a different blog entry, with all kinds of updates about a cool new adjustment to the way I  break down tre flip practice, about getting out to skate on Thanksgiving and nailing a solid Practice Set 3.0 and then coming very close to a kickflip into frontside 50-50 and kickflip to manual before I had to go to Thanksgiving dinner. Was also working on manual to no comply out.

It was another longish, geeky entry about being stoked for future skate practice, and the minutia of observations and the battle of desire versus time.

All this gets eclipsed by the bigger, shittier skate news: massive concussion and trip to the Emergency Room.

The trick
As mentioned in my previous few posts, I was working my way up to landing a kickflip to frontside grind on the manual pad. I started landing these backside about a year ago, but never worked on frontside. For this frontside I was trying to go straight into it, from the side of the pad, not angling up. I came super close dozens of times, and felt I just needed more commitment. Below is a video of me coming close, from a few days before the fall, from Thanksgiving. The accident was the same trick attempt, same location.

You’ll see in the vid that I didn’t notch my front truck into the grind and so I slipped out of it fakie (but still rode away). Not beautiful. I wouldn’t be sharing it, but while I sit here 5 days after the concussion, still dizzy with some serious Doctors and Wife’s orders, I don’t think I’ll be getting a better version any time soon.

Above: Attempt at kickflip into 50-50. Didn’t notch the front trucks. It’s the best video I have of the trick that took me down. 

The fall
I was super stoked to skate on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I was torn between practicing my new adjustments for an even more consistent tre flip, practicing backside 180s, frontside popshovit late flips, kicksflip into manual, or trying to get a video of the kickflip into fs 50-50. I was even thinking about working on a 270 fakie big spin into a tail slide, frontside or backside. So much inspiration! And yet, after the fall, I’m now so shaken that I’m not sure about what my future of skating will look like. There is a future…I write about it below, and will certainly keep my readers posted as I figure it out.

I skated from age 7 to 22 without hitting my head, and from 38 to 41 without hitting my head. Sort of ruled it out as an option. The day I was skating I was being super careful to not land on my sprained left wrist, to tuck and roll. Was even holding my hat in my left hand to avoid to reflex to fall on it. Perhaps this lack of brakes is what actually led to hitting my head. Maybe it saved a broken arm. I’ll never know.

It all happened faster than my reflexes. I flipped a perfect kickflip up onto the edge of the manny pad, but I didn’t notch either truck into the grind, and I landed squarely on the board. With no resistance of trucks on concrete, the board shot out from under me and I fell backwards super quickly, whiplashing my head into the pavement.

The other day, also before the fall, while skate commuting through Koreatown, I came across this wall ride spot. Two years ago I was the first one to actually put that little hole in the wall! I love seeing my mark and my skate spots all over town.

Cerebrospinal fluids out my nose
In a daze after the fall I was like, “Fuck!” I just wanted to undo it, like go back in time. I couldn’t believe I’d hit my head. I sat up, grateful that I hadn’t broken my neck, but also aware that a lot of pressure passed through it. I felt my limbs move and turned off the camera. I had been recording. Later, while still in a daze, I deleted footage of the fall. A friend of a friend just died in his sleep last month. He’d hit his head while skating and ignored the pain and while sleeping that night he was killed by internal bleeding. I just didn’t want to die and then have my embarrassing footage seen.

I almost got up and kept trying that trick, then thought about switching it back to tre flip practice instead. But my neck was killing me, my stomach felt sick, my limbs were starting to feel very weak, and I was starting to get tunnel vision. All of a sudden about a pint or more of fluids came pouring out my nose. Scared the shit out of me!

A return to constant stand-up comedy, if I lived, started seeming like a great option right about then. Skating has been my main love (and I’ve stopped earning a living as a professional touring stand-up comic) since I got back into skating a little over two years ago.

Those fluids kept coming and coming. Drenched my shirt and got all over the pavement. It was mostly clear fluid, a little cloudy and upon closer inspection and it seemed to have little crystals in it. My limbs started getting even weaker. Maybe it was adrenaline, I don’t know.

A pole jam! I’d love to skate over one of these! However, all skate spots are bringing up bittersweet sadness since this concussion.

The wife, the emergency room
I have to start abbreviating this story. Any reader of mine knows that my skating is always on the chopping block from my wife. I’ve had way too many injuries. A couple broken fingers, a broken toe, a fractured heal, a little broken bone in my foot, torn ligaments in my wrist. I’d already had 4 other ER visits and numerous other hospital follow-ups, in only 2 years. I didn’t want to tell my wife, but it would be obvious if I tried to cover it up, especially if I died. Spinal fluid out the nose is never a good thing.

So of course she was mad, but held most of her anger until about 10 hours later after the doctors released me.

They ruled out a skull fracture, though they weren’t sure why those fluids came out. It scared them, and so they kept me around for a bunch of other tests, and want me to go back in for a follow-up. They say I have a concussion.

The fallout
So now, like 5 days later, at least it’s been raining almost this whole time. Takes the pressure off my wanting to skate. I wouldn’t be able to skate anyway.

I’m still super light headed, I am dizzy and uncoordinated. I have a hard time sometimes keeping on track with what I’m saying. Forgetful. My neck kills, as does my trachea and skull. I just drove for the first time, only a few blocks, but I probably shouldn’t have driven. I won’t be driving again for awhile. I had a hard time with width perception.

I have a headache, but am not sure if it is from the fall or from my wife. She’s insisting that I stop skating permanently. If I do continue to skate, she’s insisting that I wear a helmet at all times. I am certain that I could ignore her request and just have arguments and be scolded and then she’d ignore and not talk to me for days on end. I’ve already been there before. At the same time, I don’t want to wear a helmet, but am also currently pretty amazed at how easy it was for me to fall like that and how lucky I am to not be paralyzed or worse. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally macho, but there’s an element of fear there right now.

So presently, am not making any specific plans for what I’ll do. I just know that I can’t balance right now anyway, and that I can’t risk any more head trauma whatsoever on top of the current swelling – for supposedly a few months. But I’m sure I’ll skate commute without a helmet starting after I get my balance back.

As far as trick skating and pushing myself to learn: I just can’t imagine skating with a helmet. If I were pool skating that would be different. Yeah this is partially super ego. I’d feel like even more of a leper, and would probably only skate from like 2am to 3am to ensure that I was alone. I wouldn’t film it. I’d almost rather quit than fade away feeling like Corky.

A solution? My wife said she’d settle for me wearing an old fashioned football helmet, and then I could get laid again. Until I agree to wear a helmet skating I’m supposedly, “cut off!”

But then on the other hand, I love skating very much and don’t want to quit. I sort of imagine that I might wear a helmet alone – far far far alone, late late at night – but then I also imagine that I’ll forget the fear of it and I’ll start small again without the helmet. Or maybe I’ll wear the fucking helmet just to perfect tricks and that I’ll still take it off now and then if I want to film it. Like risk it.

Filming a tech trick in a helmet would be like having a raspberry filo dough flakey pastry and then covering it with neon yellow Kraft nacho cheese and spam.

But I don’t know. I just don’t see myself skating with a helmet on. Again, that’s an ego thing. It just seems too…ehhh. At the same time, I was coming very close to getting kickflips to manuals, and I’d like to keep working on that. And I’ve never done a blunt or a bluntslide, or a nollie heelflip. I don’t want to quit skating. So we’ll have to see what time does and how I feel as I move forward.  Maybe I’ll just wear the helmet when I’m pushing myself to learn, and when it is super safesville I won’t wear it.

I can’t even deal with this mental argument right now. I think only a life long skater could relate. Everyone else would say it’s a no brainer, just wear the helmet. But the skater in me would rather not wear the helmet.

To be continued. But there will be a medical hiatus regardless..

Skate Inventory. Loose ends and new beginnings.

Total unplanned flashback. As a kid, long before Sour Patch Kids were sold in packages (they were only penny candy back then), I used to buy about 100 sour patch kids for each skate session. Daily, that is. As an adult I rarely have processed sugar, so it was cool to realize I reenacted my old Sour Patch skate habit on the night of this photo. The other bag contains wax.

This last week or so
Totally sucked. In my previous post I mentioned I got to skate 4 or 5 times that week. But since then I only got to skate once over the course of about 10 days. Everything that got in the way was good (work, stand-up comedy, writing projects, marriage, fucking eating, being of service) but taken as a whole I seriously have the inclination to just run away. Claustrophobia!

The actual session
The one skate oasis in the middle of the desert of adult life went like this: it was awesome. My skate buddy brought out another dude (we’re all adults here), and that dude was an awesome skater and super not pretentious. So the fun vibe was secured.

We skated for about 2 hours. Just grinding, trying new things, playing with manuals and flip tricks.

During that session I began playing with a few things I’d like to learn, and made a little progress. I’m adding these things to the below partial list of “loose ends and new beginnings.”

In the middle of my friggin’ frustrating skate drought, I found myself running errands at the Pavilions parking lot at Melrose and Vine. I used to live right by here, and would practice manuals and also landed some of my first varial flips here. Smoothest fastest blacktop around. Great night skating spot. No bust.

Loose ends
There’s tons of tricks I’ve landed just a few times and then sort of moved on without really getting into my standard repertoire. Part of my frustration with limited skate time is just never having the time to really play with these. These need work. And by work I mean, steady focused play.

• Fakie 180 backside heelflip (halfcab heelflip)
• 180 Frontside kickflip (frontside flip)
• Backside tailslide
• Frontside tailslide
• varial flip to 50-50/axel stall (never did the grind, just the stall)
• Backside flip to 50-50
• 5-0 grind
• 270 no comply to lip slide
• Fakie backside flip to board slide
• No comply to lip slide
• 360 ollies (frontside, fakie and rolling straight)
• Kickflips for height and distance
• Backside flip to tail

New Beginnings
The other night – and in other recent sessions – I started to learn a few brand new things, and I can’t wait to keep going.

• Kickflip to frontside 50-50 (I tried this for about an hour accumulatively the other night. Came very close.
• Manual to 180 no comply out
• 5-0 grind
• Frontside popshov to late flip (one of my buddies says it’s backside, bt the other agrees with me that it is frontside).
• Fakie backside no comply big spin

On top of all that
There are lots of other things that don’t make it to either list, which are still only dreams I’ve yet to begin. These all exist on the wish list of tricks page. While I just updated that page, there’s more to add to it. I’d now like to do a fakie 270 big spin to tail slide. I’d love to learn an ollie impossible, and a hardflip, and a 360 backside ollie, and a fakie tre flip.

What am I getting at with this inventory of desires? 
I’m overly excited to skate and play and learn, but I’m writing all of these lists now, at a time when time is tight, as a way to actually bitch about it. If unfulfilled desire leads to suffering, I am one hell of a suffering dude right now!

On the other hand, looking back to last summer, I was burnt out from pushing myself to learn, and felt like skating was becoming yet another thing I do militantly. I was like, “Fucking tre flips!” I was also very busy, but even during down time I mellowed out. So, looking at this state of unfulfilled skate desire suffering right now, I’m at least very grateful to even have the burn to learn.

Sprained wrist
I only briefly even mentioned this here. About a month ago I took a couple nasty falls. Even with the wrist guards I messed up my left wrist. Then I kept falling, over and over even afterward. So, at the moment, even a month later, my left wrist is still very sore and painful depending on the motion. It’s a work in progress. I can tell it isn’t broken though, so am not worried about it.

First Fakie Frontside and Backside Big Spins!

A still frame of a fakie ollie big spin! Fairfax High. 11.13.14

Skate steady
On my last post I wrote that I landed my first fakie no comply big spin. It was an accidental discovery, and I went with it, and then I did it over and over. That was from a 2+ hour solo skate session last Monday. I didn’t get it on video though, that night. I got it filmed on Tuesday night though (six days ago. Been waaaay too busy to blog, but skated almost every other night since, at least 75 minutes each time). 

Tuesday night
Contrary to sanity, fueled by tunnel skate vision, I went out again for a solo session on Tuesday night.
Location: Fairfax High
Duration: About 2 hours.
Practice Set: I practiced a complete Game Set 3.0, stoked to land the tre flips (though they were again, pretty shaky). And then I also practiced a round of Tre Flip Component Practice. This essential manner of keeping it proactive is evolving. I’ll elaborate in another post about it later.

After the above mentioned thorough warm-up, I landed a few kickflips over a 10″ board on its side. That’s the result of a bunch of practice. Still only about a 10% make rate.

I landed more fakie no comply big spins (frontside), and got it on vid. I also practiced something I’d only landed once or twice ever (and only about 2 weeks ago): 270 frontside no comply to backside tailslide. I got video of that too. Below!

Above: The video from the session I was JUST writing about even further above!

Thursday night: First Fakie Frontside Ollie Big Spin
Wednesday night was all busy, but I got out for another 1.75 hours on Thursday.
Location: Fairfax High, but I got kicked out. Went to Bank of America and warmed up with a Practice Set 3.0. Again I included the Tre Flip component practice. Essential! Tres are at once so simple, but yet so complex. Especially if you are like me, an overthinking, overanalyzing ancient skater.
Duration: About 90 minutes.

After I warmed up at the Bank, I snuck back into my previous location (after the guy who kicked me out had left). On this night, based on my accomplishment of the fakie frontside no comply big spin, I decided to try doing it as an ollie instead of a no comply. I landed about 10 of them. Once I got the camera rolling though, it started to rain! Very rare for Los Angeles.

Friday night
I didn’t get to skate. Was super bummed about that. Am addicted. However, I was talking with a 14 year old son of an acquaintance, he saw my cruiser board (because I did skate a few miles during commute), asked if I skated. I showed him my vid of frontside fakie no comply big spins, and told him I’d just landed my first fakie frontside big spins. He was impressed and said he can only do them backside. It never occurred to me to try them backside until after I finished the natural progression of learning them from my accidental over rotation of a fakie 180 frontside no comply last Monday. He was like, “No way man, backside is way easier!

So I was jonesing to learn.

Small but tempting. It’s a high ollie for me to do into a controlled 5-0 moment, or rear truck stall, but I want this shot!

Frontside popshovit late flip
While doing the practice set on Thursday I floated a nice and high frontside popshovit. I got into landing position so early, it was like time slowed down for a long moment. I realized then that if I were to practice this height and timing it would be very possible for me to kick the deck out and down into a late kickflip. I even theorized that I should be able to do a late heel flip this way too. So I decided to try to do it the next time I went skating.

Saturday night
Location: Fairfax High
Duration: About 75 minutes.

Warmed up with the main stuff of a Practice set 3.0. I left out the 360 ollies and the no complies and didn’t obsess on landing a tre (I’d landed a few each time all week). But I did get in an abbreviated Tre Flip component practice, just to keep those neurons firing.

I tried a few frontside popshovit late flips, and they were way, WAY harder than they appeared in my selective idealization memory. However, at one point I did it except my front foot landed too soon. That’ll be a battle for later.

Then I went on to film the below. I landed some fakie frontside ollie big spins, backside half cab kickflips and fakie varial flips. With only about 10 minutes left to skate, I tried fakie backside ollie big spins, and they were ridiculously easy after first learning them frontside. I landed a bunch of them after only 3 attempts. Good times.

Now of course, I want to learn the fakie tre flip and then do a combination of fakie backside big spin plus tre flip.

Video of Saturday’s session below:

Above: Video of backside halfcab kickflip; fakie varial flip; 2 versions of fakie backside ollie big spin; fakie frontside ollie big spin. 

Sunday and Monday
Alas, the factors of adulthood are working against me. And then, because I’ve been so busy with no wife activities, I’ll most likely need to devote my Tuesday to a little householder catch-up. Then fucking Wednesday will also be busy. Shit! I just want to skate!!!!! There is a small chance I’ll sneak something in on Tuesday.

 

New trick: Fakie no comply big spin

This is from last week. Got my gear in the back of the rental car, ready to hit a meeting and then hit the manual pad!

Conciliatory session
Between work, more work, writing, wife-mandated church, friggin’ grocery shopping, me-mandated meditation, didn’t look like a skate session was happening. But then my wife took FOREVER to get ready for the food mission, and I skated in the alley by the rental car for almost a half hour.

I have a rental car because my transmission recently died. Great luck though, it shit the bed literally four hours before my 4 year extended warranty expired! Everything was covered. Back to the skate update…

These canvas Vans were given to me by my skate bro. He wore holes in the right shoe, and for me that is not my main ollie foot. He’s goofy, I’m regular. Same shoe size. Wonderful!

Fakie no comply big spin
I was just goofing around with fakie 180 frontside no complies. Have had these for awhile. I’ve noticed that when I hit the tail with more of a vertical angle, the no comply pops higher. When I do it with more of a lateral motion, it tends to want to spin more than 180 degrees. Of course various combinations of the two can lead to nice height with nice spin. Sometimes my intended 180s spin almost 270, and still with control. So I decided to try to spin it 360 and do a 180 body varial (as I normally would do in the “fakie” 180 no comply. They could probably be called Frontside halfcab no complies).

Within a few tries I landed the first 360 with the 180 body varial. That’s also the definition of a big spin, whether it is fakie, nollie, straightforward. It felt great. I tried about 20 more times and didn’t land another one, but there were many “almosts”.

The above mentioned gifted skate shoes have now worn out on both sides. Shoe goo to the rescue!

Redacted
In my previous blog post I mentioned how I’ve been practicing kickflipping over another board on its side. I wrote that I’ve felt progress, and they are coming more easily. My first session trying this, I landed 1 out of 50. Six sessions later, as mentioned in my previous post, I landed 1 out of 10, and almost landed an additional 3 or 4.

Yes indeed, my timing was better than it was before, so there is still progress. Yet am feeling like subtracting from any boast about great progress. I was getting the board up and over the target without smacking it, more than I used to. I was getting the cleaner flip too. And more almosts. However, I tried about 35 times and didn’t land any. Mostly, I was getting a clean flip over the target board, but landing with my front foot near the middle of the deck, and my back foot on the pavement.

Commitment problem? Maybe. Flicking too hard with the front foot? Maybe. Am I a 41-year old dude relearning how to skate? Definitely.

Tonight
Oh man I’m hoping I don’t get suckered into the “let’s do laundry together, ” and then the old bait and switch, “Let’s get mexican food and watch a movie, we’ll do laundry tomorrow night.” I have clearly earmarked the evening to skate! Yet I’m trying to be a more physically present husband nonetheless.

These are just some of the challenge of an adult relearning to skateboard. It isn’t just all about the hardness of the pavement or the timing of the front foot.

Updated Wishlist of Tricks; Bondo Elves.

This thing is waxed! I want to try ollieing up onto it and grinding up it, and then I’ll just drop off the other side into the lot.

Updated Wishlist Page
I hadn’t updated that page in about a year, and I’d accomplished about half of the old listing. Some of the tricks on that page are already works-in-progress. Some are just dim hopes for the future. Here’s the link!

Still have never done a boardslide on a rail. As I kid I kind a few, but it was a concrete, low rail (and I broke my wrist at that spot). This looks doable. It’s at a residence on a side-street.

Skate update
This has been a good week of skating. Any time this is the case, I have to admit it has been a bad week in the old domestic wife-life. Skating is only one of my extra-curricular activities that doesn’t bring in money, yet like all my extra-curricular activities it is healthy and gets me very excited about life in general. One of the biggest challenges for this adult relearning to skate, is dealing with the reality of having lots of potential to earn more money and have a more comfortable home life while having an awesome wife whose patience with the current situation has run short.

For every time I mentally repeat, “I must learn to consistently land tre flips” I hear at home, “When are you going to sell your screenplay?”

The sessions
This last week I got in 3 sessions. Two were at Bank of America, and one was at an undisclosed location east of Koreatown. I was alone.
Duration: 75 minutes, each time.
In each session I completed a Practice Set 3.0. They weren’t easy. The no-comply impossible and the fakie heelflips were troublesome. On one of the nights, the tre flip was like, “what the fuck?”.

However, on another night, I landed 5 tre flips easily, and almost landed another 15. Tre flips continue to be my total nemesis. It was very frustrating to have such a strong Tre night, and then the following night struggle for 30 minutes (half the session!) to land two of the shittiest tres in the world.

Across the street from that rail picture. I’m thinking ollie to tree ride, frontside air off. I’d need to use my board with the big soft cruiser wheels.

Something old, something new
The old thing is that I’ve once again began to practice Tre Flips using the very Talent Code (book) influenced Tre Component Practice. Cuz I’ve been struggling. It totally helps, both with the practical baby-steps, but also with the patience and sense of value. So this way, “makes” come more regularly, but even if they don’t, I feel satisfied knowing that I’ve successfully accomplished an aspect of the multi-faceted trick.

The new thing is that I’ve been practicing kickflipping for more control and height. Each time I skate I’ve been setting my 8″ deck with cruiser wheels on its side and attempting to kickflip it at least 10 times. I’ve done this for maybe 6 sessions. The first night I tried like 50 times and landed only one. Last night I landed my second attempt, and almost landed 3 or 4 of the other 9. Progress!

Bondo
I’m not taking credit for someone putting bondo on my favorite skate spot. There were some cracks and gouges in the otherwise perfect old-man skate spot. 11.5 foot long manual pad with a waxed low curb, perfect for safe, fun learning. Allegedly, and apparently someone took the game to a whole new level by filling in those cracks with bondo. Looks like this person might need to return to touch up a couple areas.

Allegedly, someone put bondo on the cracks in this manual pad.

Pipe Dream
There’s a 17 foot ledge over a gap, which starts mellow and then would end up being like a 5 foot drop off to land. Perfect for a regular-footed guy to land a frontside 50-50 grind. Long. It’s made more difficult by the fence in front of it, which constricts knee-bending action. At the moment it is a far-off pipe dream to make this trick. I’m not even that great at grinding the 11.5 foot low manual pad. All the same, I’m thinking about it and will work my way up to it. Here’s the picture:

17 foot grind over dirt gap to drop off. Would have to ollie the curb at the top to start (next to the barely visible black bag). Would have to be done in the day when the lot is closed and the fence gate at the top is closed. I saw kids trying it once. It was newly waxed!

Updated Milestones Page; First Skate Lines

Old fashion over-the-parking-block-no-comply

Updated Milestones Page
There’s a timeline page here on this blog where I’ve added bullet points for my different major skate phases, dark ages and accomplishments. Until this week I hadn’t updated it in almost a year. This entire blog is a real-time journey of relearning to skate, but this here updated Milestones Page displays it in a succinct list.

For the new reader, keep in mind that when I began relearning to skate, almost exactly 2 years ago, I could hardly even ollie straight, and had zero board control.

Above: A medley from skating with my only adult friend who actually shows up to skate! Yeah that fall was painful, and it wasn’t even the worse one. Until I get better at doing back-to-back tricks, I’m just doing the easier tricks. Or I’d never get in a decent line. 

Learning how to time tricks while skating lines
This is a new skill. Over my time relearning to skate, I’ve rolled around slowly, completely focused on landing any given individual trick, with nobody watching. Have managed proficiency with most of the tricks in the Practice Set 3.0. Yet when it comes to rolling around with a buddy while he’s filming, trying to land consecutive tricks, my timing naturally changes, I get more in my head, and I rush everything. Everything is harder to land. And if I DO land the first trick, I seem not to land the second or third one.

Yet no worries, oh faithful adult skateboarding enthusiasts! I now have a new special magic ingredient which is helping me to transcend all potentially frustrating aspects of relearning to skate: It’s my new skate bro. We all remember this from childhood: There is nothing quite so cool in it’s unique way as skating with a buddy (or multiple buddies). It might be a dim memory for many of us, but I guarantee it is one of our favorite memories.

When I was a kid we would have skated at a place like this all day! Even with it’s shitty surface. I’m from a small town. Banks and curbs, stairs, marble and ledges are everywhere in Los Angeles! Year round!

I have many blog readers who are not ancient, adult skaters. So this message goes out to you kids: Enjoy skating every moment you can with your crew. As you age your options to find someone with whom to skate become increasingly rare, and even extinct depending on where you live. Unless you are totally weird in an unsavory way, you probably won’t be 35 years old and look forward to skate with the young kids in your neighborhood. Cherish your skate bros and your more abundant free time, and your fast healing age, and skate every damn day!

A visit from my sister!
Last week my 38 year old sister was in town, visiting Hollywood from the east coast. She still skates, and is pretty good at it! This next video isn’t really much to look at, it is all blurry. Yet is was a moment. Her and I went and skated Venice Skate park, we bombed hills, and one night we skated down the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. I was unaware she was filming me as I was doing manuals across that smooth marble.

Above: More of a moment to cherish with my sister, and a slice of life, than a great visual display. 

Upcoming
Now that I’ve updated my Timeline and Milestones page, my next trick will be to update my Wishlist of Tricks. It keeps changing. I’m actually going to re-do the format of that page. You’ll see!

I cannot believe I just spent a few hours on this blog. It actually takes away from time when I could be skating, and also, tonight when I get home I still have other shit to do, which I’ll do, and that will take away from time with my wife, and sleep. However, instead of getting back to life, I’m about to sneak into a closed, empty school parking lot and practice kickflipping for height. And those fucking tre flips. And grinds. I’d also love to work on a varial flip to board slide on a parking block.

I’ll keep you all posted within a couple weeks!

Old school Per Welinder Boneless. Still from the Vid above.

270 no comply to back board; Fakie backside flip to front board

Backside flip to board slide.

Skate update
Alright so it’s been a couple weeks since I last posted. Good news is I’ve been skating for a couple hours, 2 or 3 times per week, plus daily commute skating and the occasional manual and grind along the way.

Before my last post I managed to learn a couple new tricks (no comply to lip slide; fakie halfcap heelflip). A couple days later I landed other firsts: 270 no comply lipslide and fakie backside flip to board slide.

They weren’t easy, and I haven’t landed the halfcab heelflip since. Not worried about it though, as I’ve been mostly just playing around in my sessions with my new skate bro. We goof around trying stuff, and trying to film stuff too. So those sessions are key to keeping it fun, but aren’t technical or practice oriented.

That said, in most sessions over the last couple weeks, before I began skating with my bro, I managed to complete a Practice Set 3.0 (including the tre flip!).

Above: A little video of the two new tricks which make up the title of this post.

Skate Lines
A new skill I am working on with my skate bro is putting together a “skate line” (sequence of 3 or 4 consecutive tricks in a row). This is very much harder than I would have thought. These are tricks I’ve done over and over, and even while playing my FAM Game, I often make on the first attempt. But there’s something about the camera rolling, buddy joining in, and the quickness needed to reset for the next trick. I have managed to string together a few lines, but they ended up being the easier tricks I know. Very anti-climactic once I looked at them. But is was super fun.

Waxed low ledge outside Hollywood High. It actually goes for the entire block. It’s the longest waxed ledge I’ve ever seen.

Other skate news
My sister was here from the east coast last week. She’s like 38 years old, and she still is an awesome skater, mother of three, showboarder. Mostly cruising, power slides, ollies. We went to Venice Skate Park, carved around. Also we got to skate the entire length of Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame. It is all marble and smooth and fast. Both of us busting out manuals, seeing how many stars we could traverse. Huge fun.

Had to do another round of shoe goo on my old vans. And then my goofy footed skate bro ended up giving me a slightly used pair of Bones Brigade Vans. Just a couple little holes on the right shoe. Doesn’t affect me, as I’m regular footed. I’ll goo that up anyway and get lots of life out of them. Wonderful while budget skating.

Also, not skate news, but my friggin’ transmission went out in my car, setting me back a few thousand dollars, which I don’t have. The car will have to remain parked for at least a month while my wife and I hustle together some extra jobs. Bla bla. It relates to skating in that whenever money is tight I feel more pressure as a husband and adult to become less of a skater and more of a provider. Good times.

Adding another few layers of shoe goo to my black vans! That’s Melrose Ave in the background.

Tonight
I have plans to skate tonight with my skate buddy. Definitely going to keep practicing the faster moving tre flip and the skate lines, trying to get a sequence. Mostly working on the 360 no comply, the fakie kickflip, fakie varial, regular varial and then kickflipping a board. That’s my line. We also were filming a line on the manual pad – it was a nose slide into a 360 shovit, into a 50-50. Was more fun than cool looking.

Next time I get to skate alone for a few  hours I’m going to go back to those long parking blocks on work on a 90 degree varial into board slide. Awkward so far, but I’m feeling it.

 

New trick: fakie backside 180 heelflip

A new skate spot, surrounded by small manny pads, painted curbs and ledges. A buddy of mine was arrested here for skating though.

Skate update
Now that I have a new skate buddy, I’ve been extra stoked to get out and skate more. Yeah I’ve skated every day even in my long absence of blogging about it. But now I’m more excited to get out and really skate, actually push to learn more new stuff, keep the old stuff dusted off and most importantly to just play around with it a ton more and HAVE FUN.

Fun has always been the nuclei, but as I mentioned before, for awhile there I got so obsessed with tre flips and my militant counting drills and games, I spent every second of my precious skate time analyzing, counting and perfecting. And then I burnt out on it (fueled also by the previously broken foot, the wife problem and the long work days, I just didn’t need skating to turn into a job), and over the summer I mostly just did grinds, ollies and manuals (and visited for a week skate parks while back east with my family and that was different because I learned more transition than ever, and was the exception to my otherwise simpler summer).

My new formula: 1 night a week of having fun alone, practicing every trick I’ve learned before and methodically working on new tricks while occasionally grinding and doing manuals. The other night I managed another Complete Practice Set 3.0 (which includes a Tre Flip. I can usually land a tre flip within 10 attempts now. The entire history of this blog has worked up to that, and was inspired by that goal).

Formula continued: And then one session per week with my new skate buddy, just playing around, trying stuff.

Sure, it’s anti-climatic compared to just over a year ago when I was skating an hour daily. That phase was unsustainable though, as I wasn’t really working then.

I know, I KNOW, you’ve seen it a hundred times on this blog. To me though, it is even more beautiful than the first time, especially with all the new wax.

 

New trick
It has been a long time since I’ve update my timeline of milestones on this site. I’ll do that soooooon!

I’ll mention here though: Two weeks ago I learned no-comply to 5-0s on a parking block.

Last week I tried learning no-comply to backside lipslide. No luck yet, but I came close.

This week I decided to try to learn fakie 180 backside heelflips. A look through this blog will reveal that I super over-the-top struggled with heelflips for a good 10 months, and then fakie heelflips. Now I have them. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to start landing these half-cab backside heelflips within 30 minutes of trying. Here’s a little vid.

New skate buddy; New Trick; New Stoke

New Trick: No Comply to 5-0 grind. After I learned it, I caught a short one on vid. This is a still from that. Can’t wait to film a nice long one.

New Skate Buddy
Any one keeping tabs on this site knows I am almost exclusively a solo skater. The few times I’ve met other skaters has always been an absolute joy, but we never exchanged contact info, or if we did, never followed up. I always skate alone. This is because, a) I almost never can plan my sessions. My spare time arises usually late at night with no warning. To call someone doesn’t work. By the time they’d show up, it would be time to go; b) Especially as an adult relearning to skate, I need every second I can get to work on the “muscle memory” (though it is really neural pathways). I love to patiently, persistently analyze my motions and hone in on the correct dynamic, until I get it. Then, each time I skate, lest I lose what precious skills I’ve gained, I always want to take about 45 minutes to do at least one of every trick I’ve learned. Since my sessions are usually only 75 to 90 minutes, skating with a buddy doesn’t work with this kind of Rodney Mullen-style intense skate-lab like approach; c) I suppose I get self-critical and maybe even a bit shy or sensitive about my art in motion, and since this is supposed to be a fun endeavor, I just don’t want to deal with attitude.

However, my new skate bro totally fits this ancient skater’s needs. In fact, despite my militant discipline – or maybe because of it- I burnt out a bit on always pushing myself and some of the fun had left. I still loved it, but then it was becoming exactly what I didn’t want it to become. I had eased back on all the constant stand-up comedy and got back into skating specifically to give myself a healthy outlet to create and grow. Comedy – a huge love – had become too destination oriented. Skating literally saved my life at that point. But then, about a year into relearning to skate, I got on this mad fixation to land more and more tre flips. Later, coming back from a broken foot I got bummed out on the subtle dynamics of the tre (see my post Fucking Tre Flips), and got too destination oriented.

My new skate buddy is super chill and is the perfect antidote to my pushing it. He’s just out to have fun, and doesn’t give a shit about an of the militant perfectionism. So that’s a perfect fit. Plus, he’s about 6 years younger than me (so, about his mid-30s), and exibits none of the douchey age-ism that comes with lots of skaters. Perfect fit. Also, he’s involved in the comedic arts too, so there’s that comaraderie to speak of while we skate. I’ll say again, he’s chill, but gets super stoked when things are landed. Very enthusiastic.

Having a skate bro has helped to renew my skate stoke. We’ve got loose plans to get together once per week. Coming out of a summer/early fall with tons of outside busy-ness, though I’ve been on a board almost every day, I didn’t really work at any tricks, or just stop at cool spots and play around. My new skate bro is inspirational to both of these. Also, it has inspired me to go out on my own at least once between sessions with my friend, and this is when I get all technical and practice my craft a la Mullen style.

Coolest thing about my friend, is he’s actually a friend of my family. My aunt has been telling me for literally 25 years that we need to meet. When I realized he lives like 3 blocks from me, I gave him a call.

The boards change, but the spot remains the same!

Drill Set 3.0
Last night while out alone, I feel like I finally got used to my Cliche Deck. The tail is a little steeper, which makes for higher ollies, but makes me need to adjust my timing. I now love it.

Both of the last two times I’ve skated I landed Tre Flips again. There is something awesome about this.

Last night, alone at the Fairfax Manual Pad (before going to the Bank of America lot and learning a new trick), I worked my way through a Complete Practice Set 3.0. I was banging these out before my tech/militant style burn out. Yet I loved doing this last night. I want it more! Last night was easily the best flat ground frontside 360 ollie I’ve ever landed. In addition to the 3.0, I also landed the new tricks from just before my more relaxed cruise and manual-based summer. (Note, I also got better at transition and half-pipes over the summer). These new tricks are the fakie frontside pop shove and the fakie backside pop shov.

Although I linked it above, I just want to paste here what all is included in that Practice Set 3.0.

Regular Ollies
1
Frontside 180 Ollies
1
Backside 180 Ollies
1
Nollies
1
Fakie Ollies
1
Backside Half-cabs
1
Frontside Half-cabs
1
Backside Popshovits
1
Frontside Popshovits
1
Kickflips
1
Heelflips
1
Backside Varial Flips
1
Fakie Kickflips
1
Fakie Heelflips
1
Fakie Varial Flips
1
Half-cab Kickflips
1
Backside 180 Kickflips
1
Frontside 180 No Complies
1
No Comply Impossibles
1
Frontside 360 Ollies
1
Fakie Frontside 180 No Complies
1
Frontside 360 No Complies
1
Fakie Frontside 360 Ollies
1
360 Backside shovit
1
Backside Nollie Popshovit
1
Tre Flip
1

Found and old photo of myself from a newspaper. That’s an Old School Caballero, and it must have been about 1986. Skate contest, hence the pads.

New Trick; No-Comply to 5-0 grind
Going to the Bank of America, I was just practicing front and backside boardslides and hope-I-don’t-snap-my-deck lipslides on the parking blocks. That’s when I was just goofing around and discovered I could do no-comply to 5-0 on those parking blocks. I landed a few relatively long ones (like a couple of feet, long for me, for a new trick). Just before I had to go, I decided to put my camera down and I got one of film. It was a shorter make of it, but I was stoked. I’ll get a longer one on film later. For now, I’m embedding it below, so for a visual. Yeah this isn’t too spectacular, but whatever, it was fun and I had just learned it like 10 minutes earlier.

Coming up
I update the timeline and milestones as well as my wishlist of tricks. Long overdue.

Breaking the ice, breaking decks. Daily skating. No blogging.

This was way too fun. Launching up and off the side of a quarter pipe. Not quite old-school jump ramp action, but still was nice to float through the air.

Breaking the ice
I received lots of messages from readers wondering, even worrying about me. Thanks for the love. I see the concern, since I was skating almost every day but overwhelmed with responsibilities, and then my last post was called, “Fucking Tre Flips!”
That post was a temporary frustration, but also reflected how I’d gotten hooked on the fast progress, was bothered by the plateau, and then allowed my ego to strip away the pleasure. Considering the increasing pressures of my life, the last thing I needed was another unpaid, love-driven hobby turn into work. I tend to be intense like that, and that’s why I need skating in my life. That’s why I also just need to cruise around, bomb hills and carve it up.

Blogging became too repetitive and time consuming, and so I stopped (also didn’t make sense, as I was blowing off social media for my business). While I’ve been on my skateboard almost every day, I switched focus from the mechanical numbers games and drills and stopped challenging myself to advance every time I skate.

While I’ve gotten sloppier at tech tricks in general, I’ve continued to love each and every moment I’m on my board. There’s none of that, “Here we go, ugh these fucking tres!” I can still land everything, including tre flips. In fact I’ve slowly improved at tres.

Snapped my deck on this one. Rear foot was too far back.

Let’s bullet point some highlights of the summer
· Welsh/Expedition deck . While skating at Fairfax high, practicing tre flips on my beat up Element deck, another dude my age stated skating with me. Impressed enough to overlook the intense fucking dorkiness of my pads, he started talking, and pointed out how shitty my deck had become. Turns out he’s a rep for a bunch of skate products and then hooked me up with a brand new deck.
Second setup! New trucks The Welsh deck was 8.3 inches wide, just a bit too top heavy to really get into doing tricks on my 8″ trucks. However, within a couple weeks I was able to purchase some new 8″ lightweight hollow body Andrew Reynolds Independent trucks, and a new Toy Machine deck. I put those together as my new street setup, and then used my old Indys and big soft Powell bomber wheels with the Walsh deck as my commute board. (The slight top heaviness is a non-issue for just carving, grinding and cruising).

image
Been eyeing this gap for awhile now. Looking forward to doing some kind of flip tricks over it.

·Carving and cruising. Have done a slap-happy ton of this on the Welsh deck. Two or three miles per day, bombing hills, acting like I’m surfing, fearless and fast (not wearing pads or wrist guard just for commuting) over sidewalk cracks. Grinding red curbs, ollies despite the big wheels, and one of my constant new favorites at which I’m improving, Shove its to manuals.

·Skate parks, Vermont and Chicago. Took some road trips and skated a ton with various nephews. In doing so I got to skate way more transition than ever. Getting better at it. Skated a ton in a mini half pipe, and got comfortable enough to do long 50-50s, fakie tail slaps and eventually frontside airs on the mini halfpipe!, grabbing the front of the board with my back hand. Kept coming super close to handless frontside Ollie to tail stall above and onto the coping. Also was busting out rock and rolls and rock and roll to fakie.
As per the pictures, I also had brief fun launching off the side of a quarter pipe. However, I snapped my Toy Machine deck landing a method air with my rear foot too far back on the tail.

 

· Cliche deck. After snapping the Josh Harmony Toy Machine deck, my sister-in-laws gave me the cash for a new deck. In principal I wanted a Girl deck, but couldn’t stand the more bulbous noses. The shops didn’t have any Toy Machine nor Element decks. I was drawn to the price and story behind the Cliche deck. Supposedly it was designed by Mullen, and uses stronger, lighter glue. On top of that, the tail is slightly steeper than anything I’ve ever ridden. In theory, once I get comfortable with it, my ollies will be higher.

A long skatepark in Vermont. It goes on for like 1/4 mile. Odd ramps everywhere.

 

Too much busy-ness
Granted, all of the above, about me switching focus over to just playing around more on the board, all of that is true. I’ve managed to be on my board almost daily. Yet my day-to-day life continues to be dominated by business, side jobs, marriage time-consumption, and  outside projects. If I had more time -and less day-to-day pressures, to mellow into more technical skate practice more often, I certainly would do so.

Oh snap!

 

This new deck is super light, with great pop. Admittedly, I’m a bit thrown off by the steeper tail. Changes the timing of my ollies. Work in progress. Haven’t been able to skate much on it yet. I have a session planned for tomorrow night.

Switching out the Element for the Expedition, losing the flimsy yard sale Creature deck, saving the $10 Indy’s, Powell bombers and Reds.