Posts filed under
it's your life too, I'm just taking credit for it.
posting is a frame of mind.
it comes in fits and spurts for me.
right now I'm in an expressive frame of mind waiting for reality to smack me in the face.
mail: gio at agnoli.com
December 26, 2008
deferred maintenance
Deferred maintenance is partly learned, partly cultural for me, lately I've been wondering if its truly an innate human nature. With respect to our automobiles its definitely innate. Take for example the above picture. Witness Lewis driving his girlfriends car late last night along the lagoon road with the gas light shining brightly. We've just coasted down the hill into the y to save gas, and are debating whether he can make it back to the city w/o filling up. Of course its christmas eve/morning and nothing's open so its all very academic at this point. We are reminiscing about how coasting down from Pantoll was routine in our high school days. It was sport to see how far into Tam Junction one could get before applying the gas. Apparently this is not just a male thing, my Ex called hours earlier, stranded by the side of the road half way to SB, having misjudged the distance between gas stations.
The kicker to all this is that Lewis is driving his girlfriend's car because his car, a second generation deferred maintenance vehicle, ( passed down from his father Michael, the King of deferred maintenance to the Prince, Lewis ) is only reliable enough for checking the beach during daylight hours.
I should talk, I'm driving around an unregistered vehicle that needs to have the coolant topped off every week or so. The replacement radiator and waterpump sit in my garage, awaiting spare cycles in my hectic life. I think I'll have time in the new year.
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December 23, 2008
fun with dave and adele
I arrived late to dave and adele's christmas gathering. life is good.
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December 11, 2008
first gopro session
here's to Lewis surfing the day away while the rest of us slave at our desks. no, I'm not bitter.
Lewis says...
Got some OK ones, considering. I had the angle adjusted a bit wrong. We need to pull into some closeouts with the camera mounted on the tail next. I'll get my brother to get us a bunch more mounts so we can put them on different boards.
Got some OK ones, considering. I had the angle adjusted a bit wrong. We need to pull into some closeouts with the camera mounted on the tail next. I'll get my brother to get us a bunch more mounts so we can put them on different boards.
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December 07, 2008
sympathetic neck pains
Woke early to surf, but the surf wasn't cooperating. Everybody was angry or hurt or both, sometimes life sucks even when it doesn't. Can't we all just get along? Delayed surf and performed some routine maintenance to make everybody feel better. Avery hung his samples, and Cline cleaned his car while we waited for the surf to shape up. Lewis and Dave eventually arrived, Lewis shot some photos, and we finally paddled out around 10:30 with Blair and Spyder close behind. The waves were a wee bit bigger than earlier in the morning. I surfed my 7'8" gun for the first time in a year.
Took a while to get out, made it past the inner bar quickly, but ended up in the in-between soup duck diving whitewater and the occasional closeout for 20 exhausting minutes trying to find a channel while the current dragged me down the beach. When I eventually made it out the waves were large and glassy. Lots of waiting for the right one. Caught three nice ones, got blown apart or clipped each time. After the second big wave I was feeling really good, after the third was I was feeling really bad. Got stuck inside for ten minutes of thrashing in the soup, was about to give up when I looked over and saw Cline paddling next to me with the same look of exhaustion on his face. Misery loves company. He finally gave up and turned for the shore, I paddled for another 5 minutes before doing the same.
Went for lunch at Zazi, sat out back under the heat lamps and ate a wonderful un, duex, trois soaked in maple syrup and talked. Retired to Lewis and Ange's to sit by the fire and make sure Haley hadn't also been stricken with neck pains. Thankfully she was her usual bouyant self.
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December 06, 2008
Not a drop of water out of place
Saturday started out good and got better. Met Cline and Avery before dawn to surf cold offshores. Lewis and Dave joined in along with a thousand of our friends. Absolutely freezing but nice. Retreated to Lewis and Ange's to hang out by the fire, trying desperately to raise my core temp above 52 degrees farenheit. Warm feet, warm heart.
Hurley sample sale went off without a hitch, and it was time to surf again.
Second session was even better, head high offshore peaks that broke in long reeling lines. Easy to slide into, and doubling up on the inside bar. Paddled into my best wave since Chile. A well overhead picture perfect left with not a drop of water out of place. Rode it to the inside with the lip feathering overhead. Perfection. Life should be so easy. Reminded me why I started surfing.
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November 30, 2008
No waves for you
I had family obligations, that's my alibi and I'm sticking to it. You others, you are just lazy. No waves for you.
Lewis was the only one of us who scored Saturday. you can tell by the smile on his face as he regales us with his war stories while we watch fort point do its east-wind-outgoing-tide-thing. Could have surfed any number of places if we had been on it. no, we are just lazy.
Eventually ate some Pho and saw the new bond flick. not half bad, it appealed to me in a lot of ways.
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November 30, 2008
post turkey day surf
Woke up early, rested and relaxed. Asked Adrian if he wants to go surfing, he says only if there will be a fire, I can't guarantee one, so he decides on the living room fireplace instead. Drive over to Linda's, walk into her house taking photos as usual.
At this point Michael starts commenting to Dani (in a combination of french and english) that I act very much like her 13 year old nephew, always taking pictures of everything. He notes the only real difference is that her nephew requires ugly and/or scary faces, while I am less demanding of my my subjects.
Lewis and I make the standard, "we are about to go surfing" movements/body language, and shuffle towards the door. Lewis has been exhibiting this pattern for the last 25 years (it changed slightly about 18 years ago when he got his drivers license). His family is totally unfazed, its as if your dog needs to go out, or something equally routine and expected.
We drive out and surf that warbly left around the corner. The tide is high, but not too high, and we surf for an hour or two. The water has a distinctive taste and smell from the silt, reminds me of home. Towards the end of the session the waves get better, and Lewis get's shacked. I'm sitting on the beach watching the action, and as he pulls up into the high line the water is so silty that the inside of the tube goes dark. There's lots of wood on the beach to burn. I should have brought adrian out, he would have had a good time. As we walk away the swell is building and there are head high waves breaking off the point. The only guy out is Shred Ed. Raibo is on the cliff changing, we all have to go back and attend to our families. A final look back only confirms our content.
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November 26, 2008
failed dawn patrol - surfed all day
Woke up early in an attempt at a dawn patrol. All the elements were there, cold crisp air, offshores, swell, hang overs, old friends, everything except the surf.
Hung out with Avery, Marcelo, and Warsaw at Sloat for too long waiting for it to get better. Eventually made the call to move to VFs for the tide switch. Lewis showed up well rested and we fought the ever increasing crowd until I couldn't take it any more. Lots of great waves, just too many good surfers burning other good surfers. The whole attitude has changed in the last couple weeks. All of a sudden its ok to drop in? one step closer to socal. In the end its the burners (the good surfers) that will lose out, when the not so good decide that they have nothing to lose by dropping in. the beginning of the end?
Lunched with the usual suspects. I think I won the most calorific prize with my burger, fries, and root beer float. Full bellys didn't stop us from venturing back out in the middle for some mushy outer bar. the wind eventually turned north and I lost my ability to paddle against the current.
Retired to Avery's and then went by the pizza place for a bite.
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November 25, 2008
laurie and cline throw a party
Laurie and cline broke in their new pad with a well executed mixing of their two social circles.
Lots of great food and wine, with cline mixing drinks. Met a whole new group of people.
The decorum broke down around 2 when the socks came off.
Lewis and I went home shortly thereafter with the hopes of waking early and catching an early surf.
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