first love.

i came across this website today called skateboardgraphics.com. wow. one of the best online collections of old skateboard graphics i have seen around. all the classics from h-street, birdhouse, blind, plan b, powell, santa cruz, world industries and more. so much good stuff. below is my very first skateboard. world industries. mike vallely barnyard deck. i traded some kid in my neighborhood some stuff for it. it was so sick. had blue grip tape with a hole cut out for the top graphic, independent trucks and gigantic OJ2 wheels. i really wish i still had that thing.





basically, my life changed when i first stepped foot on a skateboard. i immediately began to ride that thing everywhere and got heavily into skateboarding. i can easily say that skateboarding is the single biggest influence on the person that i am today. well that and LSD. but in all seriousness, watching the videos, meeting kids at the skate spots and just living in that culture exposed me to so much different music and so many different artists. it introduced me to the best people that i have ever met in my life. people who are still my best friends today.

i skated every single day for about 7 years, but it began to eventually get replaced by things like college, work and getting fucked up. plus i knew that i just didn't have the raw, natural talent that is required to really do something with it. and that's all fine and good. some people have it and some people don't. i have plenty of scars and i always gave it my heart, but it just wasn't what i was meant to do.

i haven't stepped on a skateboard in years, but that spirit will always be in me. to this day, i can be driving somewhere and see something and say to myself, 'that'd be a pretty sick spot to skate'. and until the day i die, i will always carry the influences in music, art, culture and style that i gained from skateboarding. i feel truly blessed to be a part of that scene as a youngster, and i am still involved in the scene today, doing design work for division east.

people always think i'm way younger than i am, and when they find out how old i am, they wanna know my secret. honestly, i truly believe its that fact that skateboarding, directly or indirectly, has been a part of my life since i'm 13 years old. and that's pushing almost two decades. having that constant in my life for such a long time has really kept me in touch with my youth, and i wouldn't have it any other way.