YONDER BREAKS

As Thanksgiving has been approaching, naturally most of the radio/tv/web ads have been concerned with trying to get me to buy something, checking items off my Christmas shopping list as quickly as possible so I can get to the important stuff, like watching Elf and drinking  egg nog . What has been a little unique about this year, though, is that I think Black Friday, once the hallmark of every retail store's year, is disappearing. The ads started about a week ago, with most of the online shops claiming to provide Black Friday-calibur deals early. Amazon.com of course lead the pack in this endeavor, who, by the way, have kicked out the greatest pillars in the collapse of Black Friday with their Prime Two-Day Shipping (and in some cities, Two-Hour Shipping!); for who would bare the crowds of a busy mall when he or she can wait mere hours and get the same item for cheaper? Last year was the first time Prime shipping really affected things I think, which I realize...

It had happened by accident a couple years prior... We had season passes to  Mt. Baldy  and decided to get one more day in as winter was ending and the little bit of spring Southern California gets was approaching with haste. I grew up riding the icy mountains of  North Carolina , but after only two seasons of West Coast powder, had gotten too accustomed to it. That final day in Baldy was a throwback to my roots, which I quickly realized as I tossed myself off of a little kicker into what looked like soft snow, but was anything but soft... A couple hours later we were exiting the mountain and heading back to town -- Baldy was a bust. It was the first hot day in a while in Los Angeles, and some friends were going to the beach, and that's when it hit me: I could feasibly snowboard, surf and skateboard in one day. God bless California. I managed all three that day, but only barely, as the  skatepark  was dark by the time I got to it and I was onl...

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:   “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.   Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.   Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out,  “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant.   He said,  “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see;      though hearing, they may not understand.’ " This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of Go...

I recently had an awesome surf session with the  Wavestorm , my first time riding it in months, and so I thought I'd dig up this old post about why I love such a seemingly unlovable board. (Originally published on the  StoreYourBoard.com blog , with a few additions.) -- I bought one of these for my wife a few years back and, on a smallish day, I took it out instead of my short board. I have to say I was blown away by how good this 8-foot piece of Taiwanese foam actually rides... It's the $100 Wavestorm from Costco, and though it takes a certain lack of self-consciousness to ride one, I can't deny its prowess, though I'm pretty sure that was an accident on the manufacturer's part. I promise I'm not paid by Wavestorm or Costco or some Soft-Top-Board-Riders Association, but I recommend this board so often that I thought I'd write a blog about why I have such a soft spot for this soft-top... I Catch More Waves It's big and light, so once you...

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me -- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father -- and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life -- only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." At these words the Jews were again divided. Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?" But others said, "These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" (John 10:14-21) In this passage Jesus is finishing up using shepherding as a metaphor for his role as Messiah in relation to the Jews and the world. As ...