Broken Boards

Howdy y'all! It's been a while. Good to see all y'all again. Here I am, back in the saddle.

I know I haven't been around in a while, but I have been skateboarding a lot recently. I think it is a result of my move to Los Angeles, my lack of work, Anne being in DC, an early mid-life crisis, a desire for a fun way to get some exercise and lose weight, and my general anarchic tendencies and lack of respect for authority. I am trying to skate for at least an hour a day, two hours if I get the chance or go to one of the local skate parks around LA. And I don't just cruise around on a long board like an old dude, I am trying to learn new tricks, like pop shove-its and rail slides. And I am an old dog, which means I wear knee pads under my jeans when I go out skating around my apartment, so I don't tear up my knees, and if I go to the skate park I also wear my wrist guards so I don't break another wrist. Instead of breaking bones, I have been breaking boards recently. One that Anne got me, that I broke popping ollies behind our apartment, and another that I had for about ten years, that I broke doing an ollie to board slide down in Venice Beach. The ten year old Powell board had been sitting in my parents' attic for about a year, so it may have gotten brittle and broke just because it was old.

Anyway, I have had to replace two boards in the last few months, so I had to find a good local skate shop that I trusted. There is one down in Venice where Anne got me a board for my birthday, but that is too far away. There was also a shop that I used to drive past on Sunset Blvd. everyday on my way to work when Anne and I were living at Seth's place in Echo Park. It is called Maintain, and is the best shop I have found in the Silverlake area. The first time I was in there, I was a little intimidated by all of the kids in the store, but once I met the owner Alex Rodriguez, I was thoroughly impressed by his skate and graffiti art knowledge. Not to mention, his reasonably priced decks. I have gotten two blank decks from him to replace my broken ones. Two blank decks were cheaper than one graphic deck online, so I won't feel bad if I break one of these. But if I did want a graphic deck, Maintain has a wide selection of them at very reasonable prices. As well as trucks, wheels, bearings, risers, and stickers. They also have a wide selection of spray cans, markers, acrylics, and other art needs. And Alex has some of his amazing art up in the shop. His other art can be seen on the walls around the Silverlake and Echo Park areas. Maintain doesn't have a website yet, but hopefully they will soon. Until then, check them out on their MySpace page or go down to the shop at 3318 W. Sunset Blvd. in LA and tell them Limited Ed. sent you.

Now I just need to get someone to take pictures of me skating so that I can prove once and for all that pigs can fly!