Archive for the ‘life’ Category
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what really matters.
Posted: December 20, 2011 in life, loveTags: calvary cemetery, life, love, ny, queens
stuff…things, doodads, careers, beers, booze & the daily news really are of no consequence. the world so wrapped up in all this filler, making it hard to not always feel like we’re missing out on something. in the end it’s the people that you love and the laughs along the way that truly matter. it’s impossible to fill that kind of gaping hole with all other things so trivial.
no easy way down.
Posted: March 3, 2011 in life, spirit, travelTags: backcountry, donner summit, kt 22, lake runs, lake tahoe, squallywood, squaw valley, truckee
8 feet. 10 feet. 12 feet. KT. red dog. experts only. shredding mountains. steep & deep. too deep. burgers. hot dogging. hot tub poaching. lake runs. train tressels. granite peak. squallywood. dave’s deli. skier boys. sushi. reno runs. jaliscos. good friends. old friends. new friends. truckee love. snow lagoons. stoking fires. broken arrows. bike lanes. bluebird & blowers….
it all started with a pierogi.
Posted: January 16, 2011 in life, thingsTags: los angeles, pierogi party, pierogies, sunsets, venice beach
come on over for a bbq she said…pierogi party madness that is…4 frying pans, 3 sheet pans and 10 sticks of butter flying through the air, all manned by the multi-tasking, multi-talented pierogi king himself. oh what a party. pierogies, kielbasa, whiskey and ale. did i mention butter. it was all so goooood!
everyone took a time out to sing ‘take a load off anny’, southern man and some other nostalgic classics with all the heart and soul they could muster. it was a comforting moment…a warming feeling really. it sucked you into its’ warm belly of togetherness, making one never want to be spit out into the cold brutal air again. follow it up with multiple days of sunshine, eternal sunsets, hilly hikes, boardwalk skates and one tall glass of killepitsch on ice and it amounts to another week of winter ventures. somehow i made it through the wilderness. like a virgin. touched for the very first time.
the fresh start of 2011. or so the psyche thinks. san francisco is still a beautiful place.
2010 was the year of gnomes. greetings in gardens, on doorsteps and around various corners of shrubbery…little smiling men in pointy hats with rosy cheeks, saucy jokes & superstitious beliefs. oh how i’ve come to love these little men. wishing i could rub noses. gnome is where the heart is.
illest thing ever. PARTS.
Posted: October 29, 2010 in inspiration, life, people, skateboardingTags: al partanen, creature, hesh crew, milwaukee, nike sb, sam hitz, save the turf, the turf
Back in the day my friend Jen and I haunted this place called The Turf…now framed in history as the mecca of early Midwestern skateboarding. All I knew then was that instead of being one of the girls gripping the chain link fence from the outside, I wanted to be on the inside where the boys were, ripping lines through the Cloverleaf bowl at a frenetic pace. My mind blown by loud grinds and high hip airs. At best I cheered them on while jukebox favorites like Iron Man blared through the speakers or I played pinball…Earthshaker! Afterward we’d all pile in the car 8 or 9 deep, head to The Cliffs and create chaos around the bonfire. Oh the days of youth.
Luckily I was able to realize the lasting inspiration from being exposed to this unbelievably talented crew, who shredded with fury, marched to the beat of their own drum and looked at the world differently than all other ho-dunks around us in that town. They just had this unique vision of how life could be. I was definitely on the same train. Ultimately I harnessed this inspiring energy and vision into snowboarding, where I was able to shred mountain ranges around the world, and in the process brought it full circle by learning to skate a few years later. Now if only I could skate that Cloverleaf once damnit…Save the Turf!
Deep love and respect for these roots and the Mil-town hesh crew: Sam Hitz (lil’ Sammy Slasher), Al Partanen, Jay Iding, Rob Owen, Pete Burnside (Robot), Shawn Keeling, Charlie Brown, Christian Brox and The Beaudoin Brothers (RIP Zill) among others. 20 years later and these boys are still making miracles happen.
Peep Al’s new Creature board and Nike SB signature shoe combo. So ill. BELIEVE IT!
putting on a brave face since..
Posted: October 14, 2010 in life, spirit, travelTags: heartbreak, puerto rico, rincon, stolen dreams
somebody rode off into the sunset with all my dreams.™
Rincon, Puerto Rico 2009
these have been rough, tough, dark, dark days. what do you do when you’ve lost all your hopes and dreams? the only rock you ever knew? when the love of your life left you for dead and negates your entire existence? when grief pushes you further and further away from everything and everyone? when you only make it out of bed one or two days a week? when you’ve done all you can do? when nothing you do is good enough? when noone can understand what the hell is the matter with you? when you can’t even figure it out yourself? when there is no more hope and you have become a walking zombie?
my intention was to create this cool photo blog of sorts and this just doesn’t fit into the equation…my apologies. at best, the only thing i can seem to relate to right now is the reality of a widow.
cruel, insensitive, harsh, steely, spiritless, affectless, case-hardened, cold, cold-blooded, cold of heart, compassionless, desensitized, hard-boiled, hard-hearted, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, ironhearted, merciless, obdurate, pachydermatous, pitiless, ruthless, slash-and-burn, soulless, stony, stonyhearted, take-no-prisoners, thick-skinned, uncharitable, unfeeling, unmerciful, unsparing, unsympathetic, brutal, coldhearted, hard of heart, hardened, hardhearted, impassive, impenetrable, impenitent, imperturbable, impervious, implacable, inclement, indifferent, indurate, inexcitable, inexorable, infrangible, insensible, insensitive, intolerant, persecuting, relentless, remorseless, rigorous, seared, severe, shock-proof, stubborn, tearless, thick-skinned, unbending, unblushing, uncaring, uncompassionate, uncondoling, unforgiving, unimpressed, unimpressible, unmelting, unmoved, unpardoning, unrelenting, unruffled, unstirred, unyielding
i envy those that are indifferent to suffering.
summer recess. how many years ago was it since you truly had one? i’m talking about the days before your first job in high school…when you were on summer ‘break’, free to do what you wanted, when you wanted, where you wanted. well my new rule is it’s a requirement at least every 10 years, if not sooner, despite being a grown up now. it’s just so necessary. it was the summer of 2000 that i moved to whistler and ran free like a child for 3 months, doing me a world of good. somewhat instinctively, i must have known it was time, as it just hit that ten year mark and my unplanned summer in new york is giving me that same awesome feeling. i highly recommend it.
keep bringing on the lazy lemonade days. carefree and lackadaisical, full of spontaneous and unknown adventures and no joke, FREE EVERYTHING!!! outdoor shows, parties, premieres, movies, museums, workshops, festivals, fireworks, parks, tee shirts, coozies, posters, drinks, pilates, sights, sounds and smells. bands like band of horses, the strange boys, she & him, lucero, metric, cut copy, !!!, d.o.a., ted leo & the pharmacists, murder city devils, the xx, chromeo, delorean, neon indian, ninjasonik, future islands, and lee (funk-n-soul) fields ! honestly, ridiculously amazing. ridiculously free.
magical, mystical michigan trip.
Posted: August 5, 2010 in life, travelTags: magic, michigan, summer, traverse city
i’d been telling my dear friend doug that i was going to make it to michigan someday. one way or another i usually pull through and surprise people with something they maybe never thought was going to happen. i like to do what i say i’m going to do. the thing about dougie is we bring out the kid in each other, so it’s lots of fun making noises and monster faces, dancin, spazzin, gigglin & chillin. on a serious note, he’s also amazing at body healing, helping me break down life, see deeper insights and focus on the things that matter. we also ate amazing root veggie wraps, drank healing chaga mushroom tea cut from the bark of a tree and fresh water from an underground spring. add a bonus day trip to gorgeous lake leeanau on an antique wooden boat with jeff jackson and the sum equals a magical, mystical, much needed michigan trip! love you guys.
we all need angels.
Posted: July 18, 2010 in inspiration, life, photographyTags: calvary cemetery, queens, the godfather, vito corleone
funny that one of the most magical places in the world is where vito corleone was buried in the ‘the godfather’. i never would have been the wiser if it hadn’t been for an aimless biking adventure to queens that ran me smack dab into the calvary cemetery. at a time when i could really use some angel love, i couldn’t help but revel in the serendipitous fortune of finding a whole sea of oversized perched angels surrounding me in every direction, as if they had been calling me to them. give me hope.
like all of the sacred souls who had met their fate, i couldn’t help but be captivated by the awe and beauty of the place. i ended up lollygagging in the endless field of late 1800’s tombstones and headstones, with the panoramic manhattan skyline as a backdrop and the tippy top of the empire state building jutting up in the sky, as if it was planted there in the ground. such an overwhelming sense of history and peace, while the craziness of new york carries on just outside the gates…the hustle, hustle bustle in contrast to the dead calm.
‘old habits die hard when you got a sentimental heart’
Posted: July 5, 2010 in lifeTags: 4th of july, bed-stuy, governor's island, jammi york, new york, she and him, shows
i was so excited to go see the free she & him show, but who spends 4th of july alone?? ME. that’s who. loneliest lonebird on the lone planet™. but i made the best of it and biked over to the governor’s island ferry. thank god i was a biker because there was a line longer than the great wall of china for the walking folk. and thank god too, for zooey deschanel…whose voice gave shivers on a scorching day. and yea, she is one hot piece of babe.
up next was a bed-stuy BBQ where full beers were being hucked at the metal band playing on the roof. in true hesh form, they apparently loved and encouraged this kind of thing. keep it dirty, keep it hesh. all in all, a day long shred and bmx session on the ramp, hot coals and fire breathers = fun times. thanks to matt lilly and jammi york for hosting us peeps. you saved my 4th of july. <3
so my dear friend derek invited me to indulge in a few days of beach bliss on the jersey shore. thanks to his family for taking in a complete stranger and making me kiss a lobster. we spent alot of time on the beach house rooftop…talking, chilling, dancing, singing and drinking. basically i never wanted to leave that rooftop and slept on the lawn chair for 3 nights under the gorgeous moon. seriously, the ocean air was like honeydew. some of the best nights of the summer.
Land of Pop 
