ReSession

Up here in Sonoma County, we think about wine a lot. When asked about the impending recession, a local grower told me not to worry. "When the economy is bad, people want to have a drink," he said. "When the economy is good, people want to have a drink." He was old and wearing the crustiest Wranglers I'd ever seen, so I took his word for it. This was not the first time I'd heard this argument.
Some of us spend a lot of time up here thinking about surfing, and a similar logic can be applied: we surf to heal, to mourn, to express frustration or anger or fear or love or joy, we surf to celebrate, and we surf to feel connected to something greater than ourselves. A lot of people surf because they want to, but most surfers surf because they have to. It is how we make sense, and it can't be slowed by lagging economies, or falling housing markets, or births or deaths or aging bodies.
So, as another recession gathers energy and surges up behind us, it's our responsibility to put our heads down and paddle, drop in, and point it to the shoulder. And, as we paddle back out for more, it's our responsibility to hoot for the next guy or gal dropping in. What else are we going to do?
Of course, the best way to do this would be on some fresh foam, like this sugary little 5'11" diamond tail. New boards pump money into local economies, support American businesses, and rejuvenate life-giving stoke. The American businesses at work here are Ice9 Blanks, which offers, in my opinion, the best foam available today. They're a sugar-based MDI foam (no petroleum), so their carbon footprint is better than traditional polyurethane foams. They're strong and light and snappy and a pleasure to shape. This board will be glassed with Resin Research epoxy resin, eliminating VOCs, and producing a much 'greener' board than is being mass produced at the moment.
Of course, Leslie will do the glassing. Her labor charges are mostly divided up between her lizards, snakes, cats, chickens, dogs, Bob, and carnivorous plants, so you'll be hooking them up, too. Keep it local!
On a less triumphant note, my lovely wife is suffering from a cold right now. This is the sad shopping list tacked to the fridge that greeted me this morning...

The Surf Shop

The appropriately named Surf Shop in downtown Ft. Bragg is run by some of the nicest folks around. It recently swapped ownership, but the small-town, local feel hasn't changed. They stock a solid selection of boards for the varied North Coast conditions, including a few of mine from time to time. Here were some goodies available for purchase as of last week:
5'9" double-winged quad fish. The design that knows no bounds. 21" wide with a single concave bottom, double 6oz glass on the deck and single on the bottom. Beautiful opaque 'merlot' resin work by Leslie (though I think it looks more 'beaujolais'). Lokbox fiberglass removable quad fins and, because I hate the look of plastic on my surfboards, a matching merlot (beaujolais) fiberglass leash loop. Bitchin.
7'0" roundtail egg. 2+1 fin setup, buttery full-board resin tint by Leslie. This egg has a bit more entry rocker than some of its small-wave brethren. Good for the steeper beachbreak we see up here at waist high and up.
Give them a call if you're in the area, or you're interested in having them box something up and ship it out: (707) 961-0889.
The buoy's reading 12.8' at 17 seconds, so I'm going to go now.

Twin Fin Cruncheez

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't post baby pictures on my blog. I also made promises to myself that I would get a Camaro (fourth grade), 'do the reading' (high school), and never wear underwear again (college), so clearly my self-pledges are a bit flimsy.
Since my Neil Diamond recipe entry was a huge hit* (see The Perfect Sandwich entry from December 9th, 2007), I've decided to include another recipe. Enjoy.
Twin Fin Cruncheez:
1. One pair freshly foiled twin fins (alliteration not necessary).
2. One eleven-month-old (girl pictured, though boys can be substituted. Thruster fins may be used for triplets, quads for quadruplets, Bonzer for quintuplets and so on).
3. Six teeth.
Mix together in sturdy, child-proofed room.
Prep time about an hour (per fin). Best served before fins are glassed onto bottom of surfboard.

*It wasn't.

Electric Smoke

El Porto enthusuast Ben starts 2008 off right with a spiffy new 6'10" egg.
Subtle purple pinline on the deck.
When my wife saw the bottom swirl, she said it looked like "electric smoke." I prefer a classic tint to a resin swirl, but I think this looks bitchin. Spiral vee bottom for speed and control.
Here's a closeup. If you stare long, you might experience vertigo or the pressing need to order more surfboards.

X-mas in Conn-X-ticut

(The above picture was not taken with black and white film. New England really looks like this.)
The old lady and I just got back from New England, and I feel I owe the entire region an apology. In the past, I'd refer to New Englanders as grumpy. Or worse. I was convinced that an unfortunate stew of adverse weather conditions, lingering Puritan ideologies, and a lack of good Mexican food produced bad attitudes.
During our visit we didn't see anything even resembling the sun for ten days. At one point, it was raining, snowing, and ice was falling from the sky. It was as if some monster-god was fishing around in a bucket of Hate, then hurling its contents by the fistful toward the helpless earth below.
During this time I wore a hat indoors and took two showers a day just to warm up. I went outside exactly one time, and that was to snap the above picture of a neighbor's house because I was convinced this was a bad dream and I wanted proof. Grumpy.
Yet the New Englanders marched toward their appalling fates with glee. They stuffed plastic bags into their boots, grabbed shovels, and went to work--mid storm--before the falling temps turned their driveways into luge runs.
My four-year-old niece woke up early (snowing. Raining. Hailing) every morning, ventured outside in the dark in an oversized snowsuit, then reappeared several hours later soaking wet, a giant grin stretched across her chapped, blue lips.
Respect.
Now we're back and north swells are stacking up for what looks like weeks of fun. Happy New Year!

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Single, Santa)

I get bored looking at shaping room pictures. Everything looks great in a shaping room picture. Something about the side lighting, the foam dust settling onto your lungs, the a.m. radio crackling out classic Merle Haggard tunes...
A few weeks ago, I tried to sell an old couch on craigslist. Granted, it was not a pretty couch. It was not not a new couch. It was not a couch free of dog hair.
No takers.
An idea struck: I'll prop that couch up on my shaping racks, as everything looks great in a shaping room picture.
I posted the new pics, then sat back and waited.
The couch was picked up less than thirty minutes later by a stoked Sonoma State student who not only gave me the asking price in cash, but threw in a forty of MGD. Now that's business!
Since then, I've taken to propping up all sorts of things on the shaping room racks in order to enhance their aesthetics, if only for a moment. Taking my new discovery to its logical extensions, I began to photograph some elements in my life that need a bit of sprucing up, via the shaping room. Here are a few examples with their results:
1. My mom. She looked great, though a little dandruffy after a few minutes. Christmas card quality.
2. The interior of my wife's minivan. This made us both feel better. The sidelights obscured the Cheerio army camped under the baby seat, and brought a pleasing glow to the Diet Pepsi can pile.
3. My abs. Things haven't been going well for my abs lately. Propped up on the shaping racks, though, everything looked different. Recommended.
Soon, however, boredom set in, so here are some shots from the kitchen. If all goes well, I might shoot some new board pictures in other rooms. Perhaps I could feature boards in various states of repose on furniture, preparing a delicious meal, or even a few tasteful boudoir shots...
In the meantime, here's a 6'6 single fin for my buddy Tripp. Sleek as a tuna, fully modernized bottom contours, tuned-in rails and rocker, a single wing pulling in to a pin tail--this Flying Saucer has Clean Ocean Beach written all over it.

The Rusty Flex fin is the icing on this Christmassy cake. It heads up to the Fattyshack next week for a full spa treatment--all-over board tint, racing stripe, and gloss-and-polish finish.
Happy Holidays.

The Perfect Sandwich

Start with one newly-polished slice of coke-bottle tinted longboard deck.
Slowly add (might want to ask the kids to leave the room at this point) Neil Diamond's 1973 Hot August Nights album cover. It won a Grammy, so you know it's good.
Do not substitute other celebrated 1973 albums, such as Carly Simon's No Secrets or David Cassidy's ironically titled, Rock Me Baby.
In a pinch, The Who's Quadraphenia or Stevie Wonder's Innervisions will do.
Top with another slice of coke-bottle longboard deck from a different angle, this one highlighting what appears to be a dirty tailblock. I don't know what's on the floor of Fatty's shop, but I suggest wearing shoes.