I reinjured my arm while wakeboarding last week! Like Phil Mickelson after blowing the US Open “I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m such an idiot.” Despite injuring myself I was under a lot more control than last time and I was even jumping wake!
My elbow now has these two bruised dots the size of nickel’s, they look like my forearm bones wanted to “pop,” right out the back of my elbow. Amanda is a bit worried so I have to humor her by taking it easy.
I’m going to take serious rest and hope that my arm heals right. I had a wrestling coach in junior high with arms shaped like John Wayne Bobbit’s enlarged, post-op penis. Rumor was that he had “taped it up,” and gone back in one too many times. I don’t want that happening to me.
Being of the board is killing me! Not blogging hurts too, but not boarding is the worst! It gives me some time to really concentrate on my “daddying,” skills. Amanda’s mom, Sue, is in town, so today I’m taking the family to the shores of beautiful Lake Arcadia. Amanda’s yelling at me to burn some Zeppelin to listen to at the lake so I better go. It’s a beautiful day, can’t wait to hit the lake! Maybe I’ll blog about that.
I believe my injury is severe bruising of the UCL.
This weekend included multiple sessions and I would have normally blogged about each. However, Friday nights session included two falls which left my wrist and hip badly scraped and bruised. The committed boardrider that I am, these discomforts didn’t keep me from heading back to the garage Sunday afternoon for a couple hours of solo skating. Session in the books, heading to my car, I hit a stupid yellow pole with my front-left-wheel and was violently thrown to the ground.
I’m getting ahead of myself, let me rewind to Friday night and go through all the events that have left me in this sad state.
Rod called to say that he and his dad, Troy, were heading to the garage Friday night to skate. I was really wanting to go with them because Troy is a salty old skater from the 70′s who was an early influence originally pushing Rod, myself and the rest of our crew to begin to skate. I had seen Troy a few weeks ago and he mentioned that he wanted to check out the garage and get back into skating himself-Troy’s a great guy, I can imagine him back in the day skating some G&S toothpick pretending to be Tony Alva.
I called Bill who also said he would be there Friday night and my mind was made up, I had to figure out a way to get there. The problem was that I worked until after 9pm and was supposed to pick up Veronica at mom’s afterward. Mom would normally have no problem watching her a couple extra hours, however getting over the “hand, foot, mouth,” virus, Veronica has been more of a handful than usual. Still I decided to ask mom if she could watch her a bit. ”Oh Matt she’s been soooo fussy tonight, and then I have her in the morning. I don’t know if I can do it.” ”She could just stay the night,” I replied. “So you can skateboard?” Mom is still figuring out how serious I am about skating, can you imagine that she doesn’t always think it’s a good reason for her to watch extend Veronica’s visit! Still she relented and I had a couple of hours to go to the garage.
Racing from work, Tool screeching from the speakers, my pre-skate ritual had begun. Jumping around, singing into mirrors or banging my head to the loudest music I can find, my ritual is very informal. Once complete, I feel juiced as a bucking bull ready to bust from the shoot complete with back sweat and spray coming out of my nose. Nothing, at that point, can keep me from getting on my board.
Exiting from Broadway, Bill called with unsettling news. ”Rod fell and busted his head open. Him and Troy are gone, and its kinda killed the vibe,” Bill was ready to leave too! ”That’s why you and I wear helmet’s and I’m practically here, wait for me.” Bill relented, turns out he was a little dehydrated and a promise to bring water kept him around for a few more runs.
Stepping off the elevator, Bill was waiting for water. He gave me a brief synopsis of Rod’s fall and I made a silent promise to myself to not let the pavement ruin my night. Only one thing left to do…RIDE!
I was really owning it Friday. I had a breakthrough Wednesday in the neighborhood and some old surfing techniques were coming back to me. I finally remembered that you have to steer with your rear foot and to push my legs forward when turning backside. I had also read a great quote from Laird Hamilton about lessons learned from surfing that I was able to apply to my longboarding.
“You can’t kind of catch a wave. You either catch it or you don’t. It’s a commitment. That’s just like anything else-you either go or you don’t. He who hesitates is lost in the end.” USA Weekend, July 4-6, 2008
That advice is great for anyone trying to get better on a board. You have to go for it! If you’re worried about getting hurt you will hesitate and hold something back. Unlike surfing, holding back may not instantly cause you to eat shit, but it will keep you from breaking through to new heights. When I ride, I push the limit and go for broke, I try to commit and leave it all on the, figurative, pavement.
Eventually Amanda called saying she was off work and I invited her to head to the garage to see what I’m always off doing. Upon her arrival she utters “I’m only watching one run and heading home.” After a long shift, Amanda bordering on starvation, she was more interested in eating than watching me skate. Finally I knew her priorities!
After enjoying herself more than expected Amanda stayed for several runs. On about the 5th or 6th that she watched I tried a particularly hard slide and went headfirst into the ground, my helmet and wrist guards breaking my fall. Unfazed I continued to skate several more runs. On about run 9, I was carving and tail-sliding particularly hard, showing off basically. For the second time in 5 minutes I again fly headfirst over my board, sliding on my wrist guards right at Amanda and Bill (he had stopped for a breather near where Amanda sat). I popped up and relatively unscathed I hollered “Now that’s what pads are for!” And it was! Having fallen twice, my wrist was a little bruised and my hip skinned, but other than flesh wounds was completely fine. I left the garage thoroughly satisfied with my session and quite proud of my skating. I even enjoyed the falls!
Fast forward to Sunday.
Sitting at the house, trying to bug John into taking out the boat; I decided screw it, I’m heading by myself to the garage to get some exercise. I had resolved to get on my board at least 5 days a week, and having nothing else to do, why not go by myself? I would stay within my limits to assure I didn’t fall again on my heavily bruised palm and wrist.
Skating for almost two hours, I was thoroughly exercised and felt I had continued to improve on my Friday night session. Turning towards my car I tried to skate out a very narrow space between a pole and a curb, and dammit if I didn’t clip that curb with my wheel! The board creeping like molasses, it was still enough that I went flying to the pavement. Immediately, feeling faint and lightheaded, I knew I had hurt myself. Sweat pouring out, my entire arm numb, I struggled to remove my pads and get into the car.
Arriving home, Amanda and I assessed the damage. I had shooting pains down from my elbow, my lower arm had a spot of black and blue, and my elbow was a mess- a swollen piece of meat and bone. I could already hear the “I told you so’s,” and resolved early to avoid the doctor. However, after consulting my old friend Michael, now a NYC-ER doctor, we decided to head to OU Med Center to be assessed.
I waited like 4 hours in serious pain! Finally I told Amanda that if the triage nurses didn’t think it was an emergency, why did I! ”Let’s avoid the co-pay and call it a night. See how it is tomorrow. If they tell me to go home and ice it I’ll be really pissed.” And with that we left.
It’s now Tuesday night and my arm continues to improve. I think I badly bruised my UCL and jammed my arm from wrist to shoulder. No more shooting pain, but it does continue to ache. No matter, I fully plan on boarding this weekend!
My conclusion…injuries are temporary. So is adrenaline, but the rush keeps you high for a lifetime. When boardriding or doing anything else, commit to it, go for it and don’t be defeated by a little pain or fear. Life is short, live it to the fullest!
In town for the 4th of July holiday, Jiz and I wanted to check out hills around the ‘Quah and see what we could find. We headed over to the high school to see a hill that two months ago I pronounced “unrideable,” not because of it’s height, but because I had no fucking idea how I would ever stop! The solution of course is to carve to slow down and it really was quite easy. The video does the hill no justice, it is long and steep, following in the car Jiz clocked me at about 34 mph.
Compared to the parking garage the Tahlequah hill is extremely competitive. It’s nice to have a long straight ride and really be able to pick up speed. With the exception of having to walk 5 minutes back uphill without the convenience of an elevator, hill skating is just as cool as parking garages. Nice to be able to work on my tan too!
I’m trying to work on translating my surfing skills to my longboarding and you see some of that in these videos. Sliding the tail, long sloping turns. However, I hope to put on a real display of surf skills in the future during my family trip to San Diego! Stoked! That isn’t until September so in the meantime, longboarding and wakeboarding will have to do. Speaking of wakeboarding, I hope to have video of my first day ever up on a wakeboard very soon. The video exists, Jiz needs to cut it and send it to me. It should be entertaining as it includes some wipeouts.
By the way, while in Tahlequah I was lucky enough to help welcome little Destiny Marie Baron into the world. Yes, Baron and Nicki are now parents!
On that same tip, I would also like to welcome Preston Scott into the world. I regret I have not had a chance to see him yet because Veronica was sick last week, but I will very soon. Congratulations to Joe and Gina!
Before and after sessions, the crew and I have taken to a new Midtown OKC hotspot, McNellie’s.
Imported from Tulsa, McNellie’s features many import and domestic beers. I highly recommend Anchor Steam, however for in-depth beer descriptions visit http://theviceblog.wordpress.com.
McNellie’s opens up as does any classy-yet-dressed-down pub, with a borderline-hippie host leading you into a cavernous, yet cozy three-story bar. The scene is set with wall sized windows viewing the far west side of downtown OKC; we can actually take a shot and visualize the next run at the parking garage. The first and third floors are bars with a restaurant sandwiched on the second. Upstairs is the smoking bar, downstairs non. The view upstairs is pretty spectacular, midtown is quite the vantage point.
I love Midtown, I predict it will become the new place to see and be seen; coffee shops, trendy retail stores and overpriced restaurants are bound to spring up, especially with the Sonics coming to town! There can never be too much to do or too many places to hangout near downtown.
I give McNellie’s a rousing 4 out of 5 boards! I have eaten and had drinks and can certainly attest to its “merriness!”
In the past few weeks my skating has achieved new heights. Thanks to more activity, mainly more skating , but also a few power cleans from time to time, I’m carving tighter and skating longer.
My buddy Dave scooped a longboard and it’s healthy to have a new person in the crew. Dave was always an accomplished shortboarder, as I presumed he picked it up well. Last Saturday afternoon he, Bill and I all rode the parking garage downtown. Dave picked up the nuances well, however that only led to Dave becoming dangerous. Over 75 runs under my belt at the time and not a fall yet…then came Dave. Dude was trying to squeeze both of us through the tighter turns at the same time, usually without me being aware he was right on my ass! On level 4 he forces me to go too wide and I basically ran between two poles! The worst injury was to the camera I was filming with, but I did stub the hell out of my toe and it bled! Dave ended up doing it again later, which caused me to fall-but not as bad as the first. Dave is smart but when it comes to having that “Hey I actually give a shit” type of attitude, Dave doesn’t. He has no regard to safety or any other crap he thinks is lame. He was apologetic though, through his laughter. He finally calmed a bit and we ended up staying for 3+ hours, a ripping session and a great workout!
When you’re skating you’re not sore, but when you hop off the board to walk you notice how tight you’ve gotten. Riding and carving is taxing work, don’t kid yourself! Combine that activity with my power cleans I’ll be putting people in their places in no time!
Since that day I’ve decided that I’m not falling enough. If I’m going that many runs with no falls I should try to add some new difficulty? I love just cruising down the garage, it’s fun even when your not trying difficult maneuvers, however I’m in this for the pleasure and the pain so I should be tasting slightly more pavement.
So last night, after a rousing day on the lake with my buddies John and Reed, John and I had gone to get a few beers and hang out. I’ll spare all the details, but phone calls were made, decisions executed and next thing I knew John, Bill and I were in Bill’s truck headed to the garage at around midnight.
John has a boarding background but this was his first time on a longboard. The three of us split time riding the two boards we had among us and went about it. John was impressive for his first time at the garage and being at night. Several floors are almost pitch black! You really have to have a feel for the place and I was surprised that John held it together…especially considering the alcohol! Actually, he mostly held it together. He did take a bad spill on the top floor and skinned his palms and knees; he also t-boned me on the 3rd floor but miraculously we both were able to run it off with no fall, so oh well!
Skating the garage at night is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life! Standing up on the top floor waiting my turn to go again, I was mesmerized by all the buildings surrounding me. They were shining and lit-up and some were so close I wanted to reach out and touch them. I don’t know if I enjoyed the skating, the scenery, or the homeless lady sleeping in the elevator the most? Staying until after two o’clock, this was truly an epic session. I cannot wait to go back at night again… I’m hooked!
We now have four of us in the OKC group and we seem to be growing weekly. All it takes is one visit and anybody who can ride a board is hooked! Coolest thing going on in Oklahoma right now…period!
We also have representation in Eastern Oklahoma now, with Jiz picking up his very own longboard. Talk about a big fish in a small pond…he skates alone while people follow him in vehicles…filming! That’s cool, hopefully he can get to OKC and the parking garage soon. We’ll try to head that way as well.
One last thing. I traded boards with Dave and I now ride a 43.5 ” Arbor Koa Pintail. I love the pin shape, it really is the best for carving hard and maintaining speed.
Folks, I’m worried. There is a dangerous scepter on the horizon, which unchecked could be the biggest danger to rock ‘n roll since Scott Stapp. So bad is this scourge that speaking the name makes my buttcheeks squeeze tight. Yes, you’ve probably guessed it by now, I’m talking about The Jonas Brothers! (SQUEEZE!)
Until recently, I’ve had the great pleasure of having never seen any of these guys or heard their music. My ignorance sweet, but shortlasting, my musical palette has forever been tainted by America’s newest, most favoritist boy-band. (Is boy band hyphenated? The word shouldn’t exist.)
There is a loop at my work that plays their music video “Look Me In the Eyes,” often enough to make me so unhinged that I feel the need to rant about it here…on my longboarding blog!
The “and,” is followed by the words, “The Cheetah Girls!” AAAARGH!
So that’s kinda who these guys are, I could get more detailed by saying that the main attraction, youngest Jonas Nick, cut his chops on Broadway. I think that having been on Broadway at any age is a hell of an accomplishment, but it certainly doesn’t qualify you to be a rock ‘n roll star! In addition to having been on Broadway Nick’s first album was…you guessed it…Christian rock! “Calling all children of the 80′s, we’ve got a Stryper situation!”
So, it was one thing when this Nick Jonas was acting on Broadway, and I wouldn’t have a problem with his parent’s packaging his two obviously less-talented brothers with him and getting him onto the Disney Channel, touring with Miley Cyrus, if it stopped there. But no! Now, these Jonas parents (imagine the worst stage-parent possible and multiply by a million) have sold children across the USA their sons as rock stars!
The video, “Look Me In the Eye,” is the classic rock montage of live concerts mixed with backstage and tour-bus-type footage. About 3 seconds in, the rock ‘n roll cliched stage moves begin. The lead singer jumps around like David Lee Roth, dancing with the mic-stand as if he were Axl Rose or Steven Tyler. The guitarists one-legging across the stage pretending to be Angus Young, later spinning and spread-leg in a shameless Jimmy Page mockery! The culmination of the disgraceful concert footage is the lead guitar and singer, leaning back-to-back, a carbon-copy of the famous Jeff Ament/Eddie Vedder poster.
Obviously, these kids were put through rock ‘n roll school and packaged together as the next big thing! Forced to watch hours of video of yesterdays rockers, most likely shocked at the things they were witnessing. “Mom, dad, were those girls showing their breasts?,” asks youngest Nick. “Why yes, son, the display of breasts is common at a rock ‘n roll show, the objectification of women is something we hope to change about rock concerts.” These kids have no idea what rock ‘n roll is all about! Correct me if I’m wrong, but rock is about pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, cutting your teeth in dive and strip bars, hassling with some ass-hole manager about revenue. After shows, a real rocker has a threesome with strippers, drinking Jack Daniels until sunup. As far as I’m concerned these brats are doing it backwards. They can be role-model Christian dudes after their big post-rehab comeback when their 45-years-old. In their teens and twenties, they need to wreck cars, destroy hotel rooms and generally be a menace to society. I have utter contempt for this squeaky-clean image being sold as rock ‘n roll. Rock ‘n roll by definition is the rejection of establishment; it’s about getting your first tattoo or venerial disease. Rock ‘n roll love songs are best embodied by the Guns ‘n Roses favorite “I Used to Love Her,”(…but I had to kill her!) When I hear this 18 year-old singing “tell me that you love me,” it literally makes my body heave. Kids don’t know anything about love! A rock ‘n roll band’s early albums have to be about hating your parents, losing your virginity or “smokin’ in the boy’s room.” The only silver-spoon a rock star should have any knowledge of is the one he cooks his heroin in! And as a rule, you can’t have a ballad until you are at least 25 and been divorced from a minimum of 2 super-models.
I bet some people would argue that a clean image is a good thing and that rock gods as role models is okay…IT ISN’T! I’m with the stereotypical 1950′s Baptist preacher when I say, rock ‘n roll is a bad influence on kids! It is supposed to be. Parent’s, do not, I repeat, do not allow your children to be exposed to rock ‘n roll until they are old enough to handle it and realize that all the excess and decadence, while cool, would most-likely ruin their life and may someday ruin that of the rock star they idolize. If your kid can’t handle that, let them listen to Taylor Swift and High School Musical tunes, they aren’t ready for rock ‘n roll. Don’t lie to your child and tell them that the Jonas Brother are rockers…they’re not. They’re a glorified boy-band that has no idea about the immoral responsibility that comes with being a rock star! Rock ‘n roll isn’t for 10-year old girls, it’s for 10 girls at the same time!
So that’s how I really feel about the Jonas Brothers. I know most of you are shocked to hear this from a parent, but like I said, rock ‘n roll ain’t for kids. My daughter will be eased into rock by her loving father; the trials and tribulations of a rock star such as the Stone Temple Pilot’s, Scott Weiland, will make a great bed time story. If you want to keep your kids clean, slowly expose them to the stories of great men ruined by the rock star lifestyle, not to a boy-band of Poseurific proportions! Once you’ve lost your credibility with your kids, you’ve lost it for good.
Reminiscing on 4th’s gone-by, many things come to mind. Of course, fireworks, but going with that would be as redundant as saying gonorrhea makes it hurt when I pee. Nope, for me the 4th brings to mind drunken fistfights, unprotected sex and bodies (of water).
In my youth, the 4th was about going to the country club with my family. Always a great fireworks display over the driving range. We’d soak ourselves in OFF! and relax on a picnic blanket, enjoying the show.
As I got older, the 4th evolved into its present form, a drunk fest of reprehensible debauchery.
When I turned 9, started drinking and chasing women, the 4th took new meaning. It became about making memories I wouldn’t remember! If it weren’t for cameras I wouldn’t even know I’d been awake on a 4th of July for the past 15 years or so! Who am I kidding? I lost those cameras in a condition many experts refer to as a “blackout.”
Some of my best 4th of July’s as an adult have been spent at the beach in Del Mar, California. If you have the means, I highly recommend checking this out. Three miles packed toe-to-toe with people from all over Southern California and Arizona. The crowds are so thick we would park at my dad’s apartment or Pizza Port and carrying bags, towels and coolers of beer walk about 3 miles to get to the beach in Del Mar. So much insane behavior goes on all over the place that it’s tough to wrap your head around it all. Usually companies like DC, Vans or Rusty have tents set up with DJ’s, chicks getting naked, the works. On a typical 4th, by the time 7pm rolled around, you’d have a small-scale riot on your hands complete with pepper spray and police helicopters hovering over the surf. People hadn’t even eaten their mushrooms yet! I’ve never seen a more diverse gathering spot than Del Mar at the 4th. Talk about the “have’s” and the “have not’s.” But, you find that everywhere in Southern California. However, Del Mar on the 4th is the epitome. CEO’s, dirty-hippies, soccer mom’s and drug-dealers all call Del Mar home on the 4th! And sometimes they arrive in the same hybrid vehicles.
Lake Texoma is kind of like the Del Mar of the Red River on the 4th of July. Every douschebag with a tribal tattoo from Texas heads North, while Oklahoma tards waving the horns down sign drive South for one big blackout along the beaches of such cleverly named hotspots as “Party Island,” and “Big Island.” Thank god for all the hard-bodied women there or some of these meatheads might decide to wage a tug-of-war.
Texoma is the shit, plenty of girl-on-girl action, if that’s your thing, which it is mine! However, look out for drunks driving boats. Especially the one’s who’ve been eating Oxycontin.
I hope that everybody gets piss-ass drunk and enjoys their 4th of July. Cops get a real hard-on for DUI’s around drunk-fest type holidays, so don’t let ‘em get ya’.
I began earning my boardriding stripes shortly after graduating high school in Oklahoma City. Circa 1999 four buddies and myself moved from our parents homes in OKC to Grandview Apartments in Encinitas, CA. By summer we learned to surf and had lots of adventures that I will someday chronicle on this very blog. I attended Mira Costa College in Cardiff-by-the-Sea from 2000-2001, then returned to Oklahoma City to regain residency and finish school in Oklahoma. Enrolling at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK in January 2003, I graduated in May 2006 with a degree in Mass Communications. Highlights of NSU were my term working for the college newspaper and my star turn as “Rocky,” in the Rocky Horror Show circa October 2005. I am currently living in sin in OKC with my girlfriend Amanda and our beautiful daughter, 10-month-old Veronica.
