Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Revisiting an old feeling


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It's my birthday soon and I am buying myself a skateboard
I'm turning 29 and I would like to skate again.Again, is not completely accurate.
In high school, I had friends who skateboarded and it was something I had an interest in since I was a kid. I first got on a board when I was 7 or 8 but not really having any kind of motor skills to skate like my cousin and his friends stopped that pretty quick.
So, in High School when people are begining to identify with certain cliques, it was brought to my attention by a girl in my grade that hip-hoppers don't skate. She herself, at the time, was part of a group that had some skaters in it, but it was obvious that she knew jackshit about skateboarding. This was back in 96 so she obviously never watched a Muska video part or watched any footage coming out of N.Y or Philly. Anyway, so with a little slight to my ego I latched on to a less judgemental group. I started inline skating but would still pick up a friend's board to try some tricks. But by the time I left high school I had left both behind with my youth.
Throughout University and afterwards I still felt drawn to skateboarding and the cultures surrounding it. I was being drawn by the nothing to prove nothing to lose attitude that is rampant in skateboarding. In high school that was the biggest draw for me. I never felt that way with the inline community. At a time when I felt I had everything to prove and everything to lose it was nice to feel akin to a skateboard culture that was the opposite. It sounds weird but it gave me hope and confidence at times in high school and university when I didn't feel so confident. But all I had to do was pick up an issue of Transworld and get lost in the imagery of this culture that was speaking to me. I never thought I could give back to it by skating so I got into the art and fashion and spectating aspect. Now, after being obsessed with The Berrics and the Skate video games, I was tempted to pick up a board again and revisit a feeling that I haven't had in a while.

I hope to be kick flipping and pulling shuv-its by the time May rolls around.

When I see you.

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