Giving Up Would Be Too Easy

click on map for larger view. labels not super accurate...big deal.

Finding gems.
When I turned 18 my good friend Mcgee gave me a cd of Frank Black; The Cult of Ray. I never opened it because well, I thought I lost it. That was in 1996 if I'm not mistaken. Well, the story goes...
The move to VA had quite the build up...it was months and months of planning and preparation... finally get up there and it was a bit of a drag. I remember I was going to Buckroe Beach to skate the blocks but before I left the apt I was going through one of my bags and found said cd. Stoked! Once I get to the beach I unwrap the disk and put it in my 5lb discman. I start to push off and the first track starts and it immediatly reminds me of Bowie. The first lines Mr. Black says is...
"If you wanted to get somewhere and it took you a long time to get there, would you want to rush back here? I didn't think so."
I remember the sun was very bright that day and I was looking at my front foot on my board as the sidewalk moved below. I made little money and couldn't afford to buy music and this was such a breath of fresh air. It was my audio bible. Every so often you find something like that that you really need.
I like distortion...when I bar chord.

Buckroe Beach was rad. I was always leary of a storm.


At the time of the move (to VA) I was riding a Chris Pastras /stereo sounds deck. I unwillingly snapped it (bs kickflip to snap a roo) on the brick banks at Langley Air Force Base. The next day I drove to Williamsburg, VA. to a skateshop...it was far from home and I got kind of lost. Well i got to the shop and totally was not prepared for the cost of boards there. I bought a Powell Ripper. It was the only board on sale. I also broke down and bought a Church Of Skatan video. 80 something dollars later...I was heading back to Hampton. Growing up...I'll admit...I was spoiled. And this was the first time I was down to NO MONEY. I couldn't ask my sister who busted her ass at Golden Coral as a waitress and at The Checkered Flag Tavern. My mom had no money for that crap. And Flaco was nowhere as rich as he is now, he was a baby with no cash in his pockets or stashed in his sippy cup. I was away from my Dad who seemed to always have a sock full of quarters when we were ass out broke. Granted, I did not need the video...nor do i know of its where abouts now. But I realized that day that money was not growing on trees. So I learned to roll dice and got hella rich in the laundry mat of my apts.

i kid, i kid.