This Is A Skate Blog

5/4/09

2009-05-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Went to Fairmont tonight at around 9pm. There were only a few other people there.

I warmed up pretty quickly, and started small just doing boardslides, popshuvs, kickflips and manuals around the park. Then I found a metal chair sitting on the ground by the hubba, so I set it up (on its side) at the top of the small ramp to try to jump over it. I botched the first try because I had set it too close, but after I moved it back I was getting it every time. Then I put it at the top of the big ramp, right side up. Simply pushing from the opposite end didn't get me going fast enough to clear it, but doing the whole running start thing worked. I was clearing it easy, but not landing it. Finally I got it, and it felt so good. Just floating over it busting a huge ollie and landing solid, rolling away clean.

That was really the highlight of the evening--I'd never gotten my ollies that high before. After that I was doing some grabs out of the quarter pipe, and I got a solid nosegrab that seemed to go in slow motion and felt amazing.

I left the park feeling really satisfied with how my skating is progressing. I have to make sure that I skate every day until Saturday, so that maybe I have a shot at placing in the (Volcom) contest this year. My neck is hella sore from sleeping on it wrong, and I'm super tired from the three hours of landscaping I did today. The yard is definitely coming along though. Night, y'all.

5/1/09

2009-05-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Street skating!

Went street skating with my roommate. Yesterday we skated down to have sushi, and today we skated down to the bank. Hit a few spots along the way. There's this great spot going down Main Street where you can hit a 3-stair without ever pausing...like the rollup is integrated from the rest of the sidewalk, so you can just keep going, ollie the 3, and continue on your way.

Next Saturday is the Volcom Wild In The Parks contest at American Fork park. I already registered...I know there's no chance of winning a spot, but I just wanted to be a part of it anyway. Maybe if girls show up often enough they will do a special girls' division or something eventually. At the very least, maybe some other girls will see me skate and want to start skating themselves.

I've been getting kickflips pretty much on command lately, so I've started trying them off of ledges & stairs now. I've gotten close, but it's going to take some getting used to.

I'm trying to figure out what I'll do for the contest. Naturally I'll do whatever I can do, but I kind of wanted to get a new trick that's a little more flashy so that maybe I could actually place this year. I think if I can get that boardslide on the hubba, that might be good. I also need to really work on my speed ollies...I tend to throw my weight wrong and land crooked while I'm rolling, which usually isn't too much of a problem but it could end up being bad one of these times.

It'd be really great if I could get a kickflip to manual on the euro, since I've already got the manuals down. I think I really just need to get the timing right, and figure out how to add height to my kickflips. Figuring out how to land varial flips consistently would be good, too. Maybe I'll try a boneless to manual on the euro...yeah right. Also that's only one section of the park...there are two other sections, I believe, and one of them is a stair set. I can't do 8 stairs yet, and I can't do handrails...I'm a little concerned about that...but maybe I can learn how to firecracker down them & that could be my trick on that obstacle.

Last year, Brodie Penrod won, and Aaron Lopez didn't even place, which was BS. Well, it wasn't BS that Brodie won, because he's so good. But Aaron was on the same level & didn't even place second or third...so it was kind of ridiculous. A lot of people left that contest hating Volcom...I was one of them. And yet I'm entering again this year. Whatever, skateboarding is skateboarding.

4/28/09

2009-04-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Did the most ridiculous thing today. On my way out to my car, getting ready to go skate American Fork, I tripped & fell in the road, sprawling & falling right on my hand. It bent in half, backwards...soooo painful. I was like...ARRRRGH! And wiggled my fingers through the pain to see if I broke anything...at this point I'm still not sure. It's kinda swollen but it doesn't hurt so much anymore, it's just real stiff. But right after I fell, I got a text from this Japanese language Twitter I'm subscribed to, and it said "Chikusho: Damn". Haha needless to say I used that one immediately.

So off I went to American Fork to meet Jenn. (No way was I going to the hospital, I didn't think it was broken & I've been waiting way too long to skate there.) About 3/4 of the way there, the sky before me suddenly turned dark as sin. I was like "oh, great--it's going to start raining before I even get there." Luckily, it didn't! The only real problem was the wind, which was blowing so hard by the time we left that it shifted a porta-john sideways.

Warming up didn't take too long. I got mad kickflips & I hit the euro a few times, successfully manualling across the entire thing. Almost got a bs crooks on a high ledge, and re-attempted the boardslide on the big ledge. Busted a few insanely high ollies (insanely high for me,) & ollied the wide 3 1st try with little trouble. Hella.

Little kids are funny. I always, always hear them say something about "whoa, I've never seen a girl skater before!" to their friends, and then later on as I'm passing them again "watch this, guys, watch what she does!" And I get asked if I can drop in/kickflip/ollie. It's kind of flattering but mostly just annoying.

Something else--it feels kind of patronizing when I am trying a trick & don't land it but guys my age who were watching it cheer for me anyway. Something simple like a popshuvs out of a ramp. It's like, no I didn't land it, & even if I did, it's just a popshuvit. It's like they're saying "that was REALLY good for a girl." The bar is set so low in their minds.

I know most other girl skaters can probably relate to that.

Oh, & one last thing, apparently the Volcom WITP contest is coming up again, next month. Probably gonna enter again, even though they still don't have a girl's division. Oh well.

TTYL, BFFs!

4/27/09

2009-04-28T01:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't skate for long today. But I managed to get up the big euro at Fairmont for the first time ever, and nearly got my first kickflip off the manny pad. Mostly today was just spent eating octopus-flavored chips & reading Japanese-related books. Also, Ratatat is an incredible band.

4/24/09

2009-04-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Just a mini update...last night while skating in my room, I landed 3 tricks for the first time ever: (!)

1) Heelflip

2) Oldschool kickflip

3) Varial Flip

So stoked.

4/22/09

2009-04-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I skated yesterday. I went at around 11AM so I basically had the whole park to myself. Even though it was pretty warm, it took me a bit longer than I thought was necessary to warm up. I had a good run, though--despite the fact that I seem to have lost my popshuvs since the last time I skated, I still felt accomplished. Here's why.

On the concrete QP in the northwest corner of the park, I usually air out doing an indy or nosegrab or something. This time, I did the usual indy, but when I landed, I landed in a manual! Naturally I took advantage of that & held it as long as I could. I didn't skate for that long, because the noonday sun was glaring down on my superfair skin, and skating alone gets old fast. I am a social creature.

4/14/09

2009-04-15T01:29:00.001-07:00

Skating in Washington sucked. There were a grand total of two parks in the area we were, and one was really ghetto and the other was crowded and not very well built. Plus it was pretty windy the whole time, so that made it more difficult as well.

The first thing I did when I got into the park was look like a total beginner and fall flat on my face before I even had a chance to warm up. I banged the side of my knee in the process and it ended up crippling me for the next two days. RETARDED.

I'm back in Utah, now. It's raining cats & dogs, and perhaps will snow tomorrow. I wish it would shape up and be spring already. COME ON UTAH YOU CAN DO IT.

Okay there's not really anything more to say. G'night.

4/8/09

2009-04-08T21:25:00.001-07:00

Today I didn't do a whole lot of skating. I just ran up to Indochine to drop off a sandwich for my roommate, then across the street to the 7-11 where I picked up an application and got a couple chocolate bars. Of course I stopped in at Lenitech to say hi and inquire after Rob and Shelby. I skated home after that, sitting down on my board going down the steep hill and using my shoes as brakes. It doesn't seem to matter what I'm doing on my skateboard, it's always fun.

I think I'm getting a lot better at ollie anticipation, and can jump up and down curbs with nearly no problems anymore. My taildrops are improving, too. I made tentative plans with a pal to skate American Fork sometime next week, and I'll be skating the park in Richland, WA this weekend while on a family trip. I think it could be pretty good.

I really need to get new skate shoes & a new deck...I'm going to try to do that before the trip. Yikes. I looked up parks in Idaho, since we're supposed to stop there for lunch on our way through to Washington. The parks are USELESS. All pretty gay. All out of the way. I guess I'll just have to find some street spots wherever we decide to stop. No use wasting time in a desolate state not skating.

4/7/09

2009-04-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

Last night, I decided I wanted to skate around in front of my house for a few minutes to take a break from all the studying/reading I had been doing. Naturally, I got into it and a few minutes stretched into more than that.

At first I was just fooling around, doing kickflips, bonelesses, etc. and seeing how long I could hold a manual down the hill before I started going too fast for comfort. I swear if our hill wasn't so steep I could hold that sucker forever.

After a few minutes of that nonsense, my interest was captured by the tennis courts across the street. They had been abandoned & fenced off long ago, and I was curious about the recent construction they seemed to be conducting over there. I crossed the road & put my board in a tree, walking over to the court and peering through the fence. Surprisingly, they had busted a huge hole in the court, revealing an entire hidden level down below that merited further exploration. Unfortunately, the entire thing was fenced in with barbed wire at the top, and upon investigating the perimeter, I found that the only way into that underground world was through the hole, or through one of several locked doors in the ground on the south side of the courts.

I retrieved my board and walked up the hill to University Ave, skating down that way to see what I could see. There was an LDS church building that had a couple of fun looking 3-foot drops on either side of the stairway, with maybe 6 feet of runway. I was kind of sketched out at first because it was starting to get dark and I couldn't see all that well, plus to land I would have to ollie a bit to the right, shortening the runway further. But I wanted to see if I could do it, so I tossed my water bottle aside and hucked myself off the thing. Made the first try and felt silly for thinking it was kind of a big deal. I got my water and continued down the sidewalk until I saw a little alleyway that looked sort of promising.

Turns out there was a little gap-to-bank out back, so I tried that sucker out and then went on down to check out the Wells Fargo area. Hopped the no-runup-2stair there, and tried a few manuals on the various areas conducive to that. Then I continued on down to The Pie, where there was a cute little gap from the picnic tables to the sidewalk that I landed sketchy the first time and clean the second, after one of the employees politely asked me to leave and agreed to "not see" one last trick.

After that, I skated to my friend's house down the road and visited with her for a little while, then skated straight back home in the near-dark. It was pretty fun.

4/3/09

2009-04-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, the sun actually came out and dried things up for a little while. I took the opportunity to run down to Fairmont to break in one of my roommate's boards for her.

(I have two roommates and they each have brand new boards. They are both learning to skate, and one of them said I could break in her board so it wouldn't ride so tight when she got a chance to ride it.)

I went fairly easy on it, only doing light stuff and not taking risks. The wind was pretty strong, so I wasn't really able to go balls out anyway. I only skated for around an hour because it started raining and I didn't want to get the board wet.

Lately, I've been really getting into soccer. I never got a chance to play when I was younger, even though I always wanted to. But I was watching a movie about it today, and watching the teams run drills, etc., and I was picturing myself doing all those things and realized that it would probably hurt pretty bad. I'm still sitting on a possibly broken foot, and my knees are shot, not to mention my weakened ankles. None of which make for a very good physical condition for soccer.

That doesn't stop me from doing it anyway, of course. Today I took one of my footballs out and started kicking it up and down the street, and practicing juggling. It was bitingly cold outside...the wind froze my ears and made my heart pound so hard it made me cough. Hate Winterspring. My best record for keeping the ball in the air (this season) is 15 times in a row...not great but better. I think it would be cool to make a soccer/skate combo vid where it's a bunch of people skating around while kicking balls toward a goal, and/or ollieing the balls. I won't be the one to make it but I'd like to see something like that.

Switching tracks, know what bugs me? People who say they hate skating, and people who quit because it 'got too tough' or they 'just didn't have time for it anymore'. I understand the need to prioritize but srsly, you always have some time you can give. Get off Facebook and skate for that hour and fifteen minutes that you would have been using to update your profile or chat with pals.

I have said "I hate skateboarding!" before. But there is a difference--I don't mean it. I say I 'hate' it in a loving way, kind of like how I would say "I hate my children!" if I had any. So I guess I don't really have a problem with people who say it in a loving way, just the ones who say it because they really are frustrated or something.

3/30/09

2009-03-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up and put on a skate DVD while eating breakfast--the "Tastes Like Awesome" Strange Notes. Certainly not the best, but it was all right. After I finished eating, I took my board out in front of the apartment and skated around a little bit. Made some fun lines, did a nice long manual, scoped out a couple spots. There's a good 6-stair across the 'street' when I'm ready for it.

After the mess around, I called Stefan to see if he wanted to skate. I went down and met him at his apartment, and then we went to the lot across the street and skated there for a while. It was pretty neat--the parking lot was smooth, and there was a nice little 2-stair-up -flat- 2-stair-down in the corner. Plus a gap with a faucet that could be tapped as you aired over it. I didn't land it successfully but there's always next time.

While we were playing a game of S.K.A.T.E. I took a tumble and scraped the side of my hand. It was gushing blood so I was only able to skate for a short while longer before I started worrying about getting the blood on my clothes. We went back to Stefan's apartment and I cleaned up, and then I left and went over to Fairmont to skate for about an hour and a half. It was alright, but this little kid I know from there asked me to play S.K.A.T.E. with him so I did, and it was a drag--he kept changing the rules and also I felt obligated to let him win. I had to hold back and not do the stuff I normally do so we would be more evenly matched. The little maggot got me with a primo anyway.

After Fairmont, I went to Spoon Me and got some frozen yogurt...it was INCREDIBLE. And it cooled me down--I was wearing a long sleeved v-neck and jeans, and it got hot. So after the froyo, I stopped by my parents' house for a minute and then went back home, where I visited with my roomie and then dropped her off for her date at the coffee shop on my way up to Rose Park.

When I got to rose, there were maybe two skaters there. The rest of the people there (maybe five or six chaps) were bikers. It made it kind of frustrating because they are so unpredictable and get in your way without warning. I did get some good tricks, but I kept jamming my ankle on kickflips in this one spot. I was trying to do 180 bonelesses on a pyramid and then come back and do a manual over the top and a popshuv out the other side, but the bikers made that impossible. I was basically limited to one trick at a time because I had to be constantly watching out for them.

All in all, it was kind of a bummer skate day, because almost everybody I was supposed to skate with bailed on me. And snow is going to happen the rest of the week. I can't WAIT for spring to really get here.

3/27/09 Video

2009-03-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

3/24/09

2009-03-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

I have been neglectful. Really, it's just school and my social life that are kind of dominating things at the moment...not a bad thing.

So today, my right foot is still hurting, from way back at the end of last month when I hurt it skating out in front of my house in green Chuck Taylor high tops. At the time, I suspected I broke it, but then it didn't seem so bad so I just ignored it...it only hurts when I turn my foot a certain way. It doesn't interfere with my skating or wearing of heels at all.

On that 'fateful' day, I had been watching Encino Man (the old one with Branden Frasier as the caveman, Pauly Shore, Sean Astin, etc). There was a bit of skateboarding in that, and for some reason it got me all stoked to go out and skate, but I didn't have a car and I didn't feel like going too far from home, so I got my board and skated around in the back driveway, and in front of my house. I don't remember what I was doing when I hurt my foot, but I think I was trying an old school kickflip or something. I was doing a lot of oldschool stuff.

More recently, I went to Fairmont and forgot to bring my board with me, and I was battling a really bad cough, so I just about canned the whole thing. But I thought, whatever, I'll just sit and watch for a few minutes. I never watch. Of course, after watching for a short time, I started getting 'the itch' and so I scanned the park for anybody who was sitting down that had a skateboard. The first dude I asked was kind of reluctant, and wouldn't let me borrow it until I proved I could drop into the bowl. I dropped in and came out the other side, but then he said I couldn't use his board unless I carved around a little bit. So I did that, and it was pretty darn smooth. Kind of unusual for me, I am predominantly street. But he was sufficiently impressed and I got the go-ahead to skate around the park for a while. I ended up borrowing around 6 different boards, of varying sizes and conditions. One had mad flat spots, one was really narrow, one was super heavy, etc. But I made them all work okay. It was pretty fun, all in all. I don't think I've skated again since then, short of skating in my new apartment and out in front of it and stuff.

2/25/09

2009-02-25T11:13:00.001-08:00

Today is made of dreams.

The weather is incredible. I skated around downtown a bit, and mostly in the plaza behind my school. I found a great little spot with concrete manny pads that have metal edges--they are very low, but fun. All it really needs is some wax on the edge to smooth out the concrete and make the metal slide.

Cruising downtown is by far my favorite thing to do. Skateparks are great and all, but there's nothing like finding something that is meant for decoration and turning it into a skate spot. And going through back alleys can be quite fruitful; I found an old-school bank that way.

The temperature is currently 53 degrees. The sky is cloudy but the sun comes out every now and then. The ground is totally dry. There aren't a ton of people out. It is spring. I know it.

2/23/09

2009-02-23T19:19:00.000-08:00

This is getting posted a little late.

Saturday I skated Rose with a friend from school. It was pretty fun, and I feel like I'm getting closer to getting a boardslide on the hubba. I've pretty much got the euro down, so I was trying to get kickflips over it. I wasn't successful, but there's always next time.

I skated Rose for about two hours, and then went home. Later that same night, at around 8, I went down and skated Fairmont with Jenn. It was really cold but super fun. I nearly got the euro there, which is HUUUUUGGGEEE for me because I haven't been able to get up enough speed to do that one before. I was getting hella close. I got my first nosegrab in a long time, airing out of the qp again. Other than that, I basically just messed around, other than trying to get up on the tabletop a few times. I was getting kind of crazy with silly tricks like a boneless to handplant on a ledge to caveman...or whatever you'd call it.

On Sunday, driving home on my way from church I saw a lot of skaters out all over the city. I wasn't planning to skate on Sunday, but this convinced me. It was pretty overcast and looked like the sky could open up at any minute, so as soon as I got home I changed and grabbed my board and went out to the street. Originally I had intended to just mess around in front of my house, but the open road called to me and I ended up going around to the nearby street spots I could find. There was a pretty good ledge and a couple small stair sets, and a wide open street for carving, which I got a little too excited on...I went into a dogtown-type carve and pulled it too hard, sliding out on my knee. It was no big deal, I only bled a tiny bit.

I ended up skulking through a few backyards, climbing up a cement wall and hopping a chain-link fence to get back to the road. That activity coupled with the scraped knee made me feel like a little kid, it was pretty funny. I had a good time, though.

Today I took my dogs for a long walk up to the cemetery, and I kept an eye out for more spots but the Avs are pretty run down so it doesn't make for prime skating. I did see one guy cruising down the street as I was walking back, and I wanted to join him. But I didn't have my board with me and I was walking the dogs...haha.

2/19/09

2009-02-19T14:55:00.001-08:00

Today I skated to math class, nothing fancy on the way down because I was wearing a backpack--just a couple of manuals. It's been super duper nice weather all day long.

After my last class, I stopped by the house to change my shoes and grabbed a spare deck just in case...then drove up to Rose Park. I had my windows down the whole way, and I was listening to a mix cd I made yesterday full of really good stuff--Goldfrapp, Versant, STG, etc.

When I got there, only one guy was skating. I'd say we were pretty close to the same skill level. I warmed up with a boardslide on the ledge, a couple manuals and some ollies. Once I was all warmed up, I started cranking out some good stuff...kickflips, pop shuvits, bonelesses...I almost got a boardslide on the hubba, I just can't seem to push through it. I tried the rail but it was just too risky for me at this point.

I did get something totally new today--I gapped the euro successfully, twice. It's kind of a weird one, the run up is short and abrupt and the gap is fairly wide and high. But I managed to get a couple.

I probably would have stayed longer, but I had to get home in time for a radio interview...I'm a nerd.

2/18/09

2009-02-18T17:43:00.001-08:00

Today was a beautiful day, strangely enough. Any snow that was on the roads/sidewalks melted away, and everything was dry. I skated downtown a little...messed around on the plaza 3 and the walkway 4, and did some random flatland stuff while waiting at traffic lights. My tail split on the 4 stair, that's kind of a bummer but it's not too bad so I'm not totally depressed over it or anything. This one really needs to last me though, because I don't see myself having any money in the near future.

I played some Tony Hawk's American Wasteland this afternoon, but it is so old to me...I ended up riding the BMX bike around Los Angeles the whole time.

Tomorrow is the art show I entered my painted deck in...I am curious to see what people will think of it.

The Changeling came out today, watch it, y'all.

2/17/09 Video

2009-02-17T22:19:00.000-08:00

2/17/09

2009-02-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Today it wouldn't stop snowing, even for a minute.

When I got home from school today, I played some Tony Hawk's American Wasteland...I already beat it once before, but I am getting a little desperate, ya know? Also I watched a few skate videos this evening.

The majority of my exercise today has come from carpet skating. I am gonna bust through my bedroom floor at this rate. I'm getting kickflips easy, but I'm still working on those 360 shuvits. Additionally, I have started working on landing pop shuvits with one foot in the middle of the board. I can do it on carpet, but rolling is a whole other thing.

Varial flips are not going to happen at this point, and neither are heelflips. They are just too difficult for me on a deck with no wheels.

OH but guess what?? I have started getting nollies! Certainly not rolling, but I can get them (sketchy) on carpet on a deck or with wheels, either one! That is huge for me.

Watched the Supergirl Jam 2008 footy today, it's so tight. We seriously need to get cracking on making a full-length all-girl skate video that is mainstream (as in available in all skateshops)! The number of girls out there who skate hard and skate well is staggering, but there are so few in the online communities that it seems like a lot less. COVERAGE.

2/11/09

2009-02-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

I didn't get to skate today or yesterday or...at all...since the last post. The weather has gotten crummy again. Well I kind of skated--from the parking garage to the school--but that doesn't count so much since I was just trying to get to class. And my wheels got all salty.

It's supposed to snow every day until next Friday. BUMMER. I may have to scare up five dollars for the indoor park soon. Thank goodness winter only has a couple more months to go.

I have been trying to give the skate podcasts a break--they get me so stoked and there's nothing I can do about it. I just keep picturing warmer weather and counting down the days until it's here.

Homework time.

2/6/09

2009-02-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

I skated today. The rain had mostly dried at Fairmont, and it was a good session. I tweaked my ankle but good on a heelflip attempt, and it's stiffening up a bit but it's nothing unmanageable.

The weather would seem to suggest a coming of Spring, and I do allow myself to hope that the weather forecasters were wrong, and the nicer weather will persist. I should like to try skating Rose Park tomorrow, if it is clear enough of snow.

Skating with my hair down is something I'd love to do, but it just gets in the way when I'm trying to spot my landings. As such, I always have to have my hair up, or under a hat, or wear a headband of some sort.

If I sound different in this post, it's because I've been listening to Wuthering Heights on audiobook for the past 45 minutes, and the language tends to get injected into my subconscious so that I start thinking in that way.

I did some carpet skating earlier as well, although my trick bag is significantly smaller with that--I'm limited to kickflips and shuvits alone. 360 shuvits seem to be within my grasp, though--something I haven't attained on a board with wheels yet. Maybe I'll get tres eventually.

If the weather keeps up, I like the idea of going for a skate downtown. If I do that, I'm going to try and recruit as many friends as I can to come with me. That's all for now, I'm going to go finish watching the Girl podcast of their European tour, "I'm OK, Eurok".

2/5/09

2009-02-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

Today was another beautiful day. The temperature was still pretty cold, but the sun was shining through the clouds and there was a light breeze that made it look like spring when I was indoors.

I didn't skate today. I thought about it all day, but I didn't do it because I am too sore from skating and falling last night. And too tired.

But as I was sitting in the cafe at school staring out at the perfect brick courtyard that I've skated many times before, I got a stroke of inspiration. I love to skate down South Temple, but I hate how it's uphill all the way home. HOWEVER, I have an hour between my 2nd and 3rd class every day...and I can take the train up to Main Street at the beginning of the break and then skate all the way back down to school before my 3rd class starts. I love skating Downtown SLC.

I watched some sweet skate videos today, one of which I re-watched because it's so fabulous. It's a game of carpet S.K.A.T.E. between two of the guys that work at Black Box. It made me want to play carpet S.K.A.T.E. with someone. I have the deck for it, now I just need a buddy who's game!

2/4/09

2009-02-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

Last night I switched out my deck while watching the Volcom "Let's Live" DVD. I had forgotten what a good video it is.

This morning after my first two classes, I went out to the amphitheater behind the school and skated around, and skated the 4-stair. Not so good this time, I only landed a few tries. I was pretty out of it today. I did manage to boneless down it, though. A group of people were nearby and started cheering me on, and one of the guys came over and skated my board for a minute. He said he needed to get a new board, and he hadn't skated in four months.

After I had been skating for a good while, I went back into the building to freshen up before class. One of the guys in my BOM class said he saw me skating from his classroom, and asked me what kind of deck I had. That makes 3 people I know of that skate at my school now. Cool.

In BOM class, I played with my fingerboard for a bit because I wanted to still be skating. After school, I skated back to my car and drove home, where I watched a few skate video podcasts.

Tonight, I went to Ashley's ramp and skated that for an hour. It took me a while to get warmed up, and I still did terribly. I really don't like not skating street. On the upside, I am starting to get heelflips down. And I successfully got a few ollies on the transition, a first for me. I fell pretty hard when I tried to 180 boneless on the tranny, though. My knee is worked, and I'm starting to feel it in my back and elbow now, too. I think I tweaked my ankle a little as well. Ah, the joys of getting older.

Tomorrow is supposed to rain, and same for the day after that. The rain will turn to snow on Saturday and last for a long while. Frickin' winter...

Oh. I need new skate shoes. These DC's I have are too big, and they do not let my feet breathe at all. I really want another pair of Globes, even though they wear out really fast--they were good looking shoes, really comfortable, and very breatheable. Or a pair of Vans would do. Vans look pretty good. Maybe I will be able to afford it come Spring.

2/3/09

2009-02-03T19:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't skate today, but I wanted to. The weather was sunny today, and even though it was a bit cold, (okay a lot cold) it would have been good for skating. There's still a lot of snow on the ground, and the roads and sidewalks are pretty dirty and salty--I haven't checked out any parks recently, but I assume they are mostly iced over.

The reason I didn't skate was multifold. First and most important--my bearings are shot. I mean they have maybe a couple skates left in them, but they're pretty busted and I don't trust them. Secondly, I was in school until 1:30. Finally, I am really tired as a result of being a chronic insomniac, and just didn't have the energy. I mean fuck, I wore sunglasses inside the school all day because my eyes were burning.

I thought about skating a lot though. Mainly, I pictured myself skating Rose Park, which I seriously doubt is melted. I plan to check on it tomorrow though. I also wanted to skate the 4-stair behind my school--it's perfect, and I skated it once before. I think I'll be able to kickflip it or 180 it or something before Spring is over. There's a big empty plaza back there, too, and I wanted to skate that as well, even though it's basically just a lot of flat ground.

Last time I skated, I skated after it had freshly rained, out behind the Student Lounge. I was doing nose stalls, acid drops, kickflips and 180s in puddles. It was pretty fun, but really really slippery. I ate it hard on a couple of long powerslides--I got soaked. That session was the ruin of my bearings.

Tomorrow, I plan to skate whatever park has the least amount of ice/snow in it, or if they're all bad, I will just do some street skating. Tomorrow is the last day before more rain and snow come.

I watched a few skate videos today, mostly on podcasts but a few on YouTube. They always get me so hyped to skate. I hate winter.

1/08/09 Video

2009-01-08T12:46:00.000-08:00

10/27/08

2008-10-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Here is what I'm working on and almost have:

Shuvit-tailgrab

BS crooks

Boneless to manual

These are recent developments, my friends.

Here is what I'd like to try: (with a helmet and kneepads)

FS 5-0 from qp to ramp

180 melon out of the qp

10/13/08

2008-10-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

I had a manual contest with a blader and tried out this dude's scooter...it was interesting. Apparently scooters are a lot harder than they look...and I'm pretty sure they're bad for your back. Jumping is so hard...you gotta make sure your wheel is pointing straight and your body stays straight! Scooters are still gay though. The people that ride them are cool I guess, just not when they're riding them.

I was trying something new today--a boneless to fs tailslide. That crap is HARD. I can get in and out of it, but getting it to slide when you have one foot in the process of coming back onto the board is really tricky. So basically I'm doing a boneless to tailstall. I got it to slide a couple times but never satisfyingly enough. I suppose it would work better on a downward slide, like on a hubba or something.

Extreme health training/intensive Japanese tutoring begins tomorrow. Get ready.

5/12/08

2008-05-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

What's better than skateboarding? Nothing.

First order of business: I thought I'd been skating since I was 12...but I recently found a paper I wrote for school back in the day that says I started when I was 15, but didn't really get into it until I was 16. So I haven't actually been skating for more than 7 years. That's okay with me though, 7 is a lucky number!

Today I skated American Fork with Jenn, and it was super productive. I almost got a kickflip up the Euro, and I sort of got an ollie to manual on it, and I successfully got a few boardslides on the curved manual pad. Then I ollied the wide three-stair on both sides of the box, and got a buttload of kickflips, both on flat and at the top of ramps. It all sounds so trite written out here, but these are pretty major accomplishments for me.

Skating with the likes of Warren, Brodie, Aaron, and the other kids I skate with is really great. Just seeing the caliber of tricks these guys can throw down makes me want to be there, at their level, as soon as possible.

I wanted to try the six-stair today, but I thought it was probably safer to wait on that until some of my bruises are healed up, since the jolts from hard landings kind of kills right now. Not to mention my disgusting sunburn.

I am starting to get the street itch again...I want to skate downtown SLC soon, but I don't want to have to do it alone...but I think I'm the only one who still likes skating down there at this point. Ah well. If I got my iPod working again it wouldn't be so much of a problem!

I want to meet more people who can put their money where their mouth is. I'm tired of talkers. I wanna see more doers. And if I see one more person quit skating I'm going to steal all the flowers from Temple Square and burn them. Haha that sounded so blasphemous! Even though they're just freakin' flowers! That would be sad though. They're really pretty.

Cheers, blowfish. Get laid and get paid.

2/9/08

2008-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

Skating In The Springtime

This is fictional, but based off of past experiences of skating downtown...GOOD GRIEF I am so ready for warm weather!!

Cell phone in my pocket. My iPod in my ears. Skate shoes on my feet and board in my hand. Sun on my face, wind in my hair, but it's so warm already that I'm wearing short sleeves and a pair of holey jeans, and the breeze isn't one bit chilly, just super duper pleasant.
I drop my board to the ground, catching it under my foot immediately. The sky off in the distance is starting to get some clouds in it. We're supposed to get a thunderstorm tonight. Right now, though, I have plenty of time. It's 3 in the afternoon, and I have nowhere I'm supposed to be.
Standing on my board with one foot, I push with the other. The road is relatively deserted at the moment, so I stick to the right lane until the slope starts flattening out a bit, then I move up to the sidewalks where I can keep out of traffic.
I always skate the North side of South Temple, because the sidewalks there are better, and there's that one part that is fun to jump over. I'm mostly in shadows from the trees on this side, too.
I'm loving the sound my wheels are making on the pavement. I'm actually so wrapped up in the sounds of the city that I forget to unpause my iPod right away. The moment I do, my ears are filled with Paul Van Dyk, really the only artist anybody should listen to on a day like this.
I pass the first cathedral, and prepare myself for the upcoming crack I have to ollie. As I reach the second cathedral, it's suddenly there, and luckily I have no problems...my rolling ollies are not exactly pro, and I have had issues with this spot before...
So now I'm sidewalk surfing, just kind of carving the small space I have available to me. An approaching biker forces me to resume my regular pushing, but it's okay because I'm already at the Brigham apartments, and I have to concentrate on going fast over the deeper, wider cracks in the sidewalks here. My little 52mm wheels can't exactly handle them at slower speeds.
As I pass the last Brigham crack and the sidewalk slopes downward, I hunch down like I always do in this spot, because at this point my legs are tired and I pretty much just want to sit. I ride in this position until I start slowing down, and then push my way past the parking lot with the pole at the entrance that I always see in the corner of my eye and mistake for a person.
As I approach the intersection of State Street and South Temple, the crosswalk turns red and I have to wait. I always have to wait! It's okay though, it gives me a chance to catch my breath. I stand with my board under one foot, next to a businessman in a dark suit, and a fat chick in a motorized wheelchair. A passing car honks and someone shouts out their window, "Yeah, skater girl!" The sun is kind of hot on this corner, so the moment the little blue man appears on the crosswalk sign, I'm out of there.
I push hard to make it over the bumpy wheelchair access slope without catching, and then pass the waiting traffic and ride up on the other side. Past the Lion House and the building with the pillars, I weave around people and ride on the far left side of the walk to avoid people coming out of the Joseph Smith Memorial building. As I reach the corner of Temple Square, I see that the crosswalk leading to Main Street favors me for 12 more seconds, so I make a snap decision to make the turn, and I ride across the bricks to the other side. Technically there's no skating allowed on this road, but nobody's ever stopped me before, and the slope on Main Street is so perfect that I don't have to push even once.
The stone tiles make a cool noise under my wheels, and I test out my manuals to see if today is a good day for them. Luckily it's an on-day, and so I manage to hold a manual all the way past the Gallivan Center. There's a news crew filming in front of the news center, so I have to pop over one of their extension cords on my way through. As I finally reach 4th South, I get off my board and wait for the light to change. There's no way I'm gonna skate over all those train tracks.
On the other side of the street, I skate down to the TRAX stop, and wait on the bench there for the next train going North. It's free in this area, and it'll save me some energy if I don't have to ride back uphill. I sit on the bench and tilt my head back, enjoying the breeze with my eyes shut. Paul Van Dyk teams up with my adrenaline and endorphine rush to bring me to a sort of GME, a Good Mood Euphoria. You know what I'm talking about.
The train comes and I hop on, sitting down across from a hot mexican construction worker. I smile at him and then glance around the train to see who else is riding, and see another skater talking on his phone, and a cute old lady who I would probably talk to if the ride weren't so short.
At the top of Main Street, I get off the train and go backto the North side of South Temple, resuming my travels down that way. It's now 4:30 and I'm starting to get hungry.
I ride down past the wall that encircles Temple Square, carving on the currently deserted walk. I carry my board across West Temple because there are a lot of people on the corner there. When I reach the intersection of South Temple and 2nd West, the light changes just in time and I don't have to break my stride to cross it. Then I fit in three more manuals before hitting 3rd West. At this intersection, I wait for the crosswalk to change but then have to wait a little longer because a fire truck is passing through. So I only have 5 seconds to make it to the other side. Not really a problem when you have wheels though.
On the other side, I decide to skate the mini-plaza for a bit, enjoying the sounds of my wheels on the brick. There is a small two-stair gap, and then a larger one down below. I skate there for a couple minutes before a security guard starts heading my way, so I go back up to the fountain and sit down on it, dipping my arms in the water to cool off. It smells all nice and chlorinated. (Or however you spell it.)
After getting fully cooled off, I skate over to the grassy, shady area next to the three-sword-stone, and lay down on the perfectly manicured lawn. The grass is so green that I don't have any qualms about sitting on it, despite the fact that it's in the middle of the city and probably full of tramp piss. Whatever, it's not wet.
After the short break, I follow my grumbling stomach back to the sidewalk and skate down to the Gateway, heading for the food court. It's a short ride and I kind of have to dodge a lot of people, and once I get to the lower part of the Gateway I have to get off my board. The rules are very strict down here...
Once I get my food, I sit down and it occurs to me to check my phone. I've got 3 texts and a couple missed calls, so I take care of that and then after eating I do a little shopping...you can't go down to the Gateway and not shop!
At this point I'm tired and it's been a long time since I last did this, so...I'm just gonna say that I went down to the Southwest corner of the Gateway and skated that little spot by the bank there, landed a few boardslides and ollies down the stairs, and called it a day...

So to sum it up, I am pretty much going crazy not being able to do this!!