First Punk Rock Show, 16 minutes of Awesomeness, and Throwing Myself at the Ground

Dear Readers,

My First Show:

I went to my first punk rock show in the fall of 1985. I was 14 years old. The show as at the Bacchus Theater at the University. The line up was Phantom Tollbooth, Ant Farm, Marcus Hook, and I believe it was Zen Guerrilla, but my memory may be failing me, it could be have been Caterpillar. Maybe both, maybe it was neither... I saw those two bands a lot, so that adds to the confusion. I'll be honest I wasn't drawn to punk rock music through the music, it was the idea that there was this amazing world that existed that was completely outside the high school hierarchy that I never felt comfortable in. I've always loved sub-cultures and frankly counter cultures. That show opened a new world of possibilities for me. Who cares if some meat-head slammed me into a locker at school, he was just a meat-head: that was just miserable high school. But outside of school, was an entire larger world.  I was angsty, and unconfident, and not all that bright.  I was trying to figure out who the hell I was. That show, I learned there was more out there... School was something to survive until you could get out into a bigger and much different world... I was never a punk rocker, just a kid riding a skateboard... And that, that has made all the difference...

Sixteen Minutes of Awesomeness:

At the advisement of those closest to me, I have been venturing out a bit on the bike again. I love riding my bike. Tuesday my knee was okay, but not great. I still wanted to get out. I was pressed for time so couldn't get to the flats so I went out the front door and over to Fairhill. I was lucky to catch on with one of the Tuesday Night Rides. I was scared to go too deep into the park, I just didn't trust my knee enough to not hurt myself climbing back out. So I stayed with the group around the upper edges. Sharon, the ride leader noticed I was there, and she kindly checked on me. She drifted back in the group to keep an eye on me. That was appreciated.  I sat in the group for 16 awesome minutes. It was pretty amazing. The group dynamic was different from what I am used to, but familiar in that it was a little dicey, but really friendly. Between my lack of fitness and fears of knee setback, I used a lot of deception and guile to stay in my place. I'd try to move up in the group in open areas, so I'd have room to drop back and not be dropped.  I chatted  with my buddy  Dave, who I know through skateboarding 20 years ago. It felt great to be apart of that moving, flowing living organism known as mountain-bike group ride. I was really stoked to be riding fairhill again. I truly miss riding those trails. As the group turned towards the heart of the park and the valley below, I cut off the path and spun home with a huge smile on my face. Baby Steps...

Throwing Myself on the Ground:

My confidence on the skateboard has grown in the past few weeks. I still can't really do anything other than carve. I have, however slowly tried to expand what exactly carving means. I inhabit two skateparks: Handloff (Barksdale) and Phillips. Handloff is much more fun. Phillips I don't really like. However, Phillips has a nice little quarter-pipe and I've been able to learn things and transfer them at speed back to Handloff.  So last night, I went back to Phillips with a small list of things I wanted to learn:

frontside carve
rock and roll
frontside 50/50

I was not having a good night. I would be very cautious to ever call my skating flowy, but last night it was really bad. My foot placement felt funny on the board. I couldn't relax or get comfortable. I did accomplish 2/3 of the moves I wanted to learn, but in the process I also threw myself on the ground more than I have during this little skate renaissance.

Diane pulled me aside, and commented, " I'm not happy with the velocity or severity that you are throwing yourself at the ground tonight. You don't bounce."

I replied, "I'm not happy with that either, I've never bounced..."

I did one more shaky-ass-sketchy-but-I-made-it rock and roll on the quarter-pipe, and we headed off to half priced nacho night.

I am convinced that skateboarding has helped my knee. The lateral applied movements have been better than any stretching or strengthening exercise I have been doing. It goes without saying that mentally it's kept me sane. That said, I'm not 19 anymore, I can't throttle myself again like I did last night. If I break my ankle, I won't be back on the bike anytime sooner...

Oh, yeah- the nachos were delicious.

respect
vanderbacon