...and one day you wake up and realize youre closer to 50 than you are 30. Forty Three. Just yesterday I was playing kick the can, three flights up, skelly and building rickety ramps to jump BMXs behind my building on Staten Island. Passing notes in class to tell that girl I liked her. Discovering that linoleum was the best surface to learn windmills and head spins. Thanks Kim. Singing choir and playing in the junior high philharmonic. Moving to New England. Learning to skate. Thanks Scott Forbes. Going on the Graceland Tour with Paul Simon. Thanks Dad. Moving to Carlsbad. Learning to surf. Thanks Justin. Going to South Africa in 1991 for the first time with my father after hed been exiled for thirty years. Meeting my Grandfather Selema. Meeting my sister Pula. Getting a job at Transworld. Thanks Chad. Getting a job at Planet Earth Skateboards. Thanks Mirko. Going on the magnificent journey that was Alphanumeric A#. Thanks Alyasha Owerka-Moore. MTV. Thanks Carl Harris. ESPN. Thanks Phil Orlins and Jamie Reynolds and Esther Van Huystee. E! Daily 10. Thanks Kim Kardashian. HA!!! And now Red Bull. Thanks Claude and Charlie. To all the locals around the world who have shared and continue to share their waves, mountains and culture with me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The little kid in me is still in charge and I look forward to whatever life has in store. But above all, Im simply grateful for all the steps that have brought me to today. Enjoy the journey yall.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 11:21:57 +0000