Patience, Grasshopper

Lately I've been waking up and hobbling around on my sore knees thinking how I don't have to go out skating if I don't want to; I can just let it go, ease myself into middle age and try to regenerate some cartelidge where it counts. Then ol' Kill-Joy will send me an inspirational message and I'll think, "Dang, he's right! Skating isn't just a way to make yourself unfit for military duty, it's a whole way of life, a spiritual survival mechanism and sacred brother/sisterhood; a disorganized religion for the undogmatically minded; a rolling life preserver for the soul." And then I flip through an issue of Slap magazine that I keep which features Og DeSousa, a Brazilian shredder who kicks ass despite the fact that he can't use his legs. The artical has several photospreads of Og doing noseblunts, bs tails, kick(palm)flips, and a 13 stair railgrind -all of which he does by grabbing the tail and nose and holding himself on the board with his big, burly arms. He says, near the end of the article:

"Skate na veia! 'Skateboarding in your veins.' Think about feeling good, try to do what you like. That's the real pleasure -to do what you like, do it good, try to improve yourself. Never quit and be patient. Skateboard because you like it and not because you have to make money."

There's never been much danger of me making money at skateboarding, but the rest of the advice seems pretty good. Especially the part about being patient. How long does it take to master a trick? I've been trying caspars for years and I still don't have them wired. What I have now in troubled middle age, though, more than in my troubled youth is patience and that has improved my technique considerably.

peace out!