Tag Archives: california

World Cup and SUP (Dude?)

First things first: I watched the Australia – Germany game yesterday (DVR, I love you) and I’m only going to say that it left me sobbing.  Ok, maybe not sobbing, but shaking my head, at least.  4-0?  Unwarranted red cards?  For shame.

Now that that’s out of the way, I can tell you that I SUPed for the first time yesterday, too.  My roomie and I rented the boards from a guy in the harbor who gave me a quick lesson before sending me off into the strong westerly winds.  I hit a docked boat.  After that, all was good.  If you haven’t tried it, SUPing is kind of a mix between canoeing and longboarding.  It’s weird because you stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, side by side, so the stance is totally different than surfing, but once you get used to it, it’s actually so much fun.  And a really great workout.

Dana Point

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The SoCal Learning Curve

Here’s what I’ve learned about Southern California so far:

It’s utterly packed with tacos, doughnuts, Starbucks, and – oh yeah – surfers.

June really can be gloomy, but these OC people know how to rally.  They’re all about the weeknight parties.  And being physically fit.  And making legal U-turns.  And also, being nice.  I mean, I’m not even one of those people who thinks New Yorkers are rude, but the kind citizens of San Clemente make them look downright cantankerous.  (Yes, cantankerous.)

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The Bible

As you may have deduced, I’m heading to California in a couple of days.  On Sunday, to be exact.  Right now, I should be putting the final touches on the toast for my best friend’s wedding, which is tomorrow.  Or at least packing something.

This toast is probably one of the more important things I’ll ever write.  I’m going to read it, mean it, drink to it.  There will be lots of drinking to it.  The morning after, hangover or not, I intend to be at brunch: 10 a.m.  I have an unnatural devotion to omelets.  The following morning (if you can call it that) it’s off to JFK airport while it’s still dark.  I should probably ask Kel and Dave to stop for a porkroll bagel on the way.  Hopefully around lunchtime — California lunchtime, that is — I’ll be in the OC (ha ha) with my surfboard, some clothes, and my laptop.

I’m going to work for the Bible.

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Small Apartments, Lots of Stuff

One of the funny things about living in New York is the way the smallest apartments can accommodate tons and tons of shit personal belongings.

Other funny things include angry bums, happy drunks, vegan chicken nuggets on restaurant menus, wind tunnels, $14 six packs, $1 shots, incognito celebrities, cats in bars, 9% sales tax, taxi drivers who disregard red lights, PORK ROLL VOID (more like tragic), the facility of spying on your neighbors, the fact that your neighbors (and you) are shameless… I could keep going, but let’s go back to the apartment thing.

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Buying Forgiveness … via FINS

My board, which is really beginning to show its age, has never seen new fins.  I feel like a bad parent.  So, like many bad parents, I tried to redeem myself by shelling out.  In honor of its premier voyage to Cali – or should I say, return home – I bought it a new bag (which, hopefully, will protect it from disgruntled luggage handlers) and a new set of fins.

Buying fins is a seriously confusing endeavor.  I mean, I guess not if you buy them all the time.  I Googled something along the lines of “find best surfboard fins” (that is an embarrassing admission) and what I came up with were a bunch of sites that didn’t make it much easier.  You’ve got to consider the system first, right?  FCS.  Then the flex, depth, sweep, surface area… too technical for me.  I ended up just looking at the different features and benefits of each type.

I decided on FCS K-3 Glass Flex, mostly because if Kelly Slater says “you should be set for pretty much any sort of waves you find,” well, that sounds like a safe bet.  They’re also reasonably priced, but should be a definite upgrade from my 10-year-old plastics.  I’ll let you know how it goes…

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“Pandemonium” at 09/10 Mavericks Surf Contest

Watching the Mavericks contest LIVE with more than 38,000 others – Waves are awesome, some really great rides (Pete Mel!), and there’s complete chaos on the beach as surges take out spectators left and right…

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