The Sap

The dirty looks amuse me. I see more pain and regret in them than ire. An old cumudgeonly neighbor can't help himself - he's always told me surfing is a waste of time, waste of a life. I don't see him when I'm loading the boards at a quarter to five. He's no doubt prone and lifeless, oblivious to the sounds of sets roaring in. But coming home, say around 3, he's there working on his quintessential yard-of-the-month - same khaki coveralls, static scowl. Some leashers are tangible, some are cerebral. I can't imagine a life where all i have is a cubicle and the biggest thrills are turning on a flattened boob tube. No, I don't planme people for not understanding surfing, but as far as judgment goes, it's doubtful there are any of us who should look farther than our own scuffled hands. Granted, we're all allowed a few vices in this life - mine revolve around aged sippin' whiskeys, old guitars, woman, oh sweet woman, and single fins. And yes, my main vice will always be the sea. Better that than iron clubs, or hell, country clubs for that matter. This is borrowed time indeed. I intend to make the most of it. Tide is a hair before 8 and coffee's on.

- Nathaniel Riverhourse Nakadate.

"They'll carve on my tombstone: 'it never got fast enough"

-HST


"Today, a young man on acid, realised that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves... here's Tom with the weather."
Bill hicks - Relentless (stand-up comedy routine)

neat little place for photo play

http://www.photofunia.com/

Prop 8 passed...

I guess people's mental projection of what Marriage is, is more important than the 18,000 people who just lost their union benefits and are back in the legally "them" category.

my condolences to you.

Please!!!

Please! for goodness sakes, register to vote and put more people in the jury duty pool.

(it's on the right side, half way down the page)
http://www.aarp.org/issues/dividedwefail/get_involved/

Surfing the last ride...

I found a dead body in the lineup once. I tried to save him, but I couldn't do it. It was foggy as hell that afternoon, breaking big and way outside. He appeared to be floating on his back, enjoying the glow from a solitary sunbeam cutting through the murk. And then a set wave unloaded right on him. He resurfaced face down, and my old lifeguard training kicked in.
There were only two other guys out. I ordered one to go call 911 while the other guy and I hauled the motionless body onto his attached board and started swimming him towards shore, some 100 yards away. He wasn't breathing, but he wasn't completely blue yet., either. A small laceration on is forehead told the whole story. We yelled and slapped him as we swam, but starting CPR in the impact zone just wasn't an option. Each set turned our whole operation - three boards, two swimmers and one limp body - into a complete yard sale. Through the foam and chaos, I'd clutch his ankle underwater and then haul him back to the surface, smacking the drool from his bloating lips and trying not to glance at the empty whites of his eyes, or at the wedding ring on his finger. Fifteen exhausting minutes later, we crashed through the shorebreak and dragged him up the sand, where I launched into 20 minutes of one-man CPR before firefighters arrived to take over.
I crawled away, curled up against the rocks and stared at the gray sea until the ambulance pulled away. A cop took my statement, and the was it. I started walking alone up the beach back towards my house, seeing nice little peaks still breaking as I went. Feeling numb and distraught, I paddled back out. I sat alone, letting sets drift beneath me and strange tears fall from my eyes, wondering if there was some better way I could have handled the situation. I kept picturing his wedding ring.
Another surfer paddled over to me, and I tried to look like I wasn't crying in the midst of great surf.
"You did a good job there, man," he said. "There was nothing more you could have done."
I stared at him for a moment. "You saw all that?"
"I was the guy swimming in with you," he said. "Dude, that was so heavy, every time a wave hit I thought we were gonna lose him."
I stared some more, not recognizing my partner from the rescue. In the flurry of commotion, I'd barely noticed him. I paddled closer and offered my hand. "Thanks man. Thanks for being there."
"Yeah, bro," he said. "We all gotta look out for each other out here."
I was about to agree, but just then a set came. A choice little A-Frame, straight at both of us. He went left and I went right. And that was the last I ever saw of either of those guys.
-Nathan Myers

Vaclav havel

The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. In other words, I can only recommend perspective and distance. Awareness of all the most dangerous kinds of vanity, both in others and in ourselves. A good mind. A modest certainty about the meaning of things. Gratitude for the gift of life and the courage to take responsibility for it. Vigilance of spirit.
[vaclav havel]