My Space

Here's my situation:
I sit here in this room all day long
with my brand new surfboard
mocking my inability to ride it.

I hear it laughing at me, man.

The mountain range has been too snowy
for early-morning surf missions.
And I took a bunch of writing gigs
to compensate for some upcoming vacations.

I guess things could be worse...
By all accounts I'm not missing epic surf.
And I'm spending this weekend at the beach.
And I do have a few trips to Mexico planned...

Another Roadside Attraction

Whenever I drive by this outcropping, with the single tree leaning over the bay, I immediately think of Ukiyo-e woodcuts. Incidentally Hiroshige, the guy who did the picture above, is the dude who carved that famous cresting wave you see everywhere*, probably the most famous wave in the history of art.

*Correction, it was Hokusai that did the famous wave mentioned above (thanks, Zack). I think I was thrown by the view of Fuji in the background. One more misstep like that and I'll have to turn in my artfag badge!

GOLDEN

GOLDEN
My mind was clear
My body tired
My skin salty and dry
The waves were there
They cleaned my hair
The sun shined in the sky

From low tide pull
To high tide push
Four hours I did play
If you can’t surf every day of the week
Surf a week’s worth in one day.

***

Amazing how a good surf can get everything back in tune again. At least for a week or so...

Sissyfish: The Book

I can't believe I forgot to post this. On my birthday in November my wife presented me with an actual book of my surf drawings that she somehow stealthed from my hard drive. She's a graphic designer so she did an amazing job with layout and picking images to juxtapose on each spread. The book is 30 pages long, paper back, and roughly the dimensions of an LP cover. When I squeezed the info on how much it cost to print, I was kind of shocked: somewhere between $100-$200. Shattered like a potato chip thruster on a Seaside boulder were my dreams of doing a longer version with excerpts from blog posts, incendiary comments, and photos...

But today I just received an email with a link to www.blurb.com, an online company that gives you the tools to make bookstore quality hardcover books for around $30-$50 bucks. No, I'm not getting paid to pimp this website. It's just something I thought my blog buddies should know about, especially those with artistic compulsions or self publishing dreams. In other words, watch this space. I may need to get ten people together to order the second edition of the Sissyfish Book for a 10% discount!