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Showing posts from 2014

Egg Nog and God

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It's Christmas! Which means a season rich with traditions, responsibilities and fun, unique to each family and individual. For me, it all starts (before Thanksgiving I might add...) with two things: Christmas music and egg nog. And this year, as I was consuming that magical elixir of the holiday season, I examined my egg nog drinking habits and a thought occurred.... Egg nog is terrible for you. Everyone knows it. They try to help by making "low fat" egg nog, but it tastes like nothing more than holiday horchata. So in an effort to stay mildly healthy, instead of drinking a large portion of nog for dessert, when its saturated fat will bloat in my stomach overnight, I take it in little portions: a little in my coffee, maybe a sip after lunch or mixed with milk later. It's a bit healthier and spreads the delight throughout the day. And that's when the thought hit me -- taking in something as awesome as egg nog in smaller portions is a good way to take in God.

Surfing Trestles

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My first full summer in Southern California, a friend told me about a mystical and elusive spot known as  Trestles , at least that's how it sounded to me at the time. Somewhere in San Celemente, CA, you had to walk a long path through the bush to get to the rocky, but worthwhile break with amazingly long rides that my informant claimed was where he learned to pump. Sounds good to me! I've been, and it lives up to the legend (minus the mythical and elusive part), so I thought I would provide some tips in case you want to visit this famous surf spot. 1. It's a long hike to the break, so bring a bike or skateboard.  In actuality, it's not too terribly long, though it's definitely more than the usual parking lot-to-the-sand walk you might be used to. Plus, you want to save all your energy for the fantastic waves you are about to surf. Bikes, boards, bags. All good for Trestles. 2. Trestles is a rock break, so bring your booties if you have them . On my l

The Longing

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I've been spending time with some artists lately and heard one of them describe his art as a pursuit and a longing. He said that he used to think he could write a song that would sum it all up, ending the pursuit and satisfying some sort of lack in his life; but later he realized that this would never be the case, and that life would be a never ending pursuit of satiating this nondescript longing. As an artist myself, I can relate. I have an overwhelming desire to write, tell stories, make music and shoot movies; so much so that any free moment needs to be filled with one of those pursuits. What's worse, is that the ideas keep coming, but the time to flesh them out is rarely there, and so I'm left with a constant feeling that I'm behind and may never catch up. So what would happen if I never told all of those stories, or wrote all of those songs? Would the world be any worse without my art? Would I be any better or worse of a person because of it? Or is all of this j

You Will Never Have It All - Part 1

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They say entitlement is a problem with my generation, and I believe it -- I know I've had my moments. I think you could even say that it is  more  of a problem amongst Christians. In my mind (and probably the minds of others too), this is the way it works: I serve God, the Creator of everything, and He loves me, so why wouldn't He just make everything work out in my favor? In a way, I can even support this with scripture ( Romans 8:28 ). The problem with this thinking though, is that things don't work out all the time, just the way I want them. And then what do you do? I was thinking this weekend about how nothing is ever perfect; not in a defeated, self-pitying way, but just realizing that life rarely works out 100% the way I want. For instance, I've wanted to work from home for years, and by work I mean write things I want to write, make music I want to make, shoot movies I want to shoot...and get paid for it! Well, we had a daughter this year and I was able to bec

Tips for Handling Standouts

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Have you ever been sitting in the lineup and waiting for a set when, out of nowhere, a giant bulge of water comes at you like a miniature tsunami? You're in line for a normal set, but this is something different, breaking farther out and bigger; and so you have to make a split-second decision to either paddle and beat the wave, or sit and duck dive six feet of white water. You choose Option 1: Paddle, as fast as you can! The wave is growing, becoming dark, ready to double over. You're close, just a few more strokes away! The wave crests and you thrust your board down just in time to avoid taking it on the head. When you come up on the other side of a miracle, you look back and watch boards and heads pop up in a massive pool of sea foam and whitewater, gasping for air and hoping there isn't another one on the way...but there usually is. This is the story of a standout set, my friends, and knowing how to handle these are key for a successful surf session on a big day.

Humility - Pride Comes Before a Wipeout

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They say  pride comes before a fall ...but they didn't mention anything about the washing machine tumult  after  the fall, followed by gasping for air and a long swim in. Last winter was a big one for me in Southern California, with waves in the 20+ foot range at some breaks. As we head into this winter, I thought I'd share a couple stories of some of the bigger days from last year, and the lessons learned past the aftermath. Surfing is a progression , and so calling a wave "big" can be a relative thing. That being said, I spent last winter paddling into progressively bigger surf, and as I had been thrashed and also conquered, my sense of what I could handle grew. And as it grew, I have to admit that a little pride creeped up in my water-logged brain.... February 2014:   Massive swell coming through . My friends and I shared bloated surf reports through texts and social media leading up to the weekend, excited for the potential glory ahead. But deep down, a tiny nagg

Known by God

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Now about food sacrificed to idols: we know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 Read those verses a couple times and ask yourself: Why is loving and being known by God the answer to haughtiness in knowledge? I would have picked something like, "the fear of the Lord," but Paul says this; it seems kind of like an odd combination to me. I had the privilege of sitting next to  Curt Thompson, M.D. , on a plane once. He told me about a book he had written,  Anatomy of the Soul , which is about the importance physiologically to being known by others and God. It was an idea I had only heard a few times, as the Western church puts way more emphasis on knowing God, usually through disciplined actions. But look at this: Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and

New Skatepark, Better Skating

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When I moved to Los Angeles five years ago, I have to admit I was a little unsure about what to expect from LA skaters. It's a big city where the level of skating is sky high, and so I imagined territorial skaters protecting their little pieces of turf in the vast concrete expanse of Southern California skateparks. To my surprise, though, I found the opposite... Most skateparks I visit are filled with kids who love skating and love the people they skate with. But I just had a  particularly  awesome skate session at the  Alondra Park  in Lawndale, CA, and as I reflected on the sweetness that happened, I wanted to share some things that made it stand out amongst the plethora of skate spots LA has to offer. 1. The vibe at the park was great. I love going to a park where people actually enjoy skating together. High-fives abounded as friends challenged each other to skate better, along with other typical skater hijinks. The park was even crowded with both bikes and boards,

Too Old for This...

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Two years ago, my friend  Kyle Hamilton  and I set off to make a skate video to commemorate his time in Los Angeles, before moving to the more compressed big city of New York. After day one of shooting left us so sore that day two quickly became a wash, we discovered the title for our movie: "Too Old for This."  That was two years ago, and I'm still skating, so I guess I wasn't too old for it. But then last weekend I found myself injured in a  (two-hand touch)  football game that nearly jeopardized an excellent South swell the next day. And so I have to ask myself again, am I too old to keep doing these extreme sports? This was taken just before the peak of my skating "career." The answer is a resounding NO! And neither are you. The fact of the matter is, though age deters progress, it only increases your ability to have fun. Case and point: at the peak of my skating, I had dreams of sponsorship, traveling the country (dare I say it: the world?