Well, yes I have found a new way to kill myself. A few months back while I was still working at Willow, this high school kid named Phil came in with this freaky looking skateboard thing called a “Rip Stick” that only had two wheels instead of four and the wheels swivled 360 degrees. I humored myself and tried to ride it back…I was at least able to move around a little on it, but nothing to brag about by any means.
Little did I know back then that a few months later I’d be seeing these things popping up at your local sporting goods store, Target, and the infamous cover of SkyMall magazine. So I was with the boys a week or two ago in Florida at a skate/surf shop and they had one and I took the dive and picked one up. Not only have I never had so much fun on a skateboard before, but actual real live skater folks have respect for me being able to ride this thing around! With such glory comes sacrifice though, I do have my first wrist injury racking up over $1g worth of emergency room bills – yes I will be buying the $20 wrist guards and pads at Target before I try riding down any more steep ramps.
But hey, you can only live once. Riding the rip stick around the neighborhood has started more conversations with my neighbors than ever before, plus I get an added kick trying to see Jamie, Brian, Nathan, Catlin, and other friends try to ride the thing around. Keep practicing folks!
