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Honey Badger Says…

Honey Badger Says…

I worship hard work & persistence as if they were gods. Not because I believe life to be a meritocracy, but because life knocks you down. The only way to succeed is to get back up. Lately, life has been knocking me down a lot (often literally), only to double back...

Attitude is Everything

Attitude is Everything

In New Smyrna you can drive on the beach. You drive really slow so as not to run over the small children who will dart out in front of you like wild animals; and you park on the beach (very carefully, so as not to flatten the taut ass of a Bud Light drinker who has...

The Big Bang (Continued)

The Big Bang (Continued)

The highway to Chad’s is straight and long. It’s nighttime. My head still hurts and I’m uncomfortable alone. Since the concussion, I feel lost without the context of another person. I don’t trust my thoughts. Everything is confusing. Beside the highway, I see a train...

The Big Bang

The Big Bang

It was dark in the hallway. The thick, inky kind of darkness that erases everything, including yourself, paints it all black.  From the light switch to my bedroom is six quick paces. Enough time, apparently, to build some serious momentum. I was on a mission to reach...

I am Unshakable.

I am Unshakable.

It’s cold now. The kind of cold that makes changing into your wetsuit in the parking lot seem like a nearly insurmountable obstacle. And taking it off? Forget it. Fingers numb, fumbling for your key while the wind whips your face.My favorite part is attempting to...

Crankypants

Crankypants

When I was with Brad (before I surfed), I used to pray that the ocean would be flat on Christmas. For Brad, waves trumped Holiday (and Katrina). And while I still wouldn’t ditch my loved ones on Christmas to shred, now I relate to the desire. It’s been flat here, I’ve...

Time in the Water

Time in the Water

As I paddled confidently against the drift, jockeying for position among the other wetsuit warriors at Lido last week, I was struck by a realization: I was at home here. My heartbeat firm and steady within its neoprene nest, my mind quiet like an animal, alert and...

Alone in Bed

Alone in Bed

This morning I woke up alone, sunshine sneaking across my face on the breeze through the blinds. The emptiness of the house is palpable. The usual Elvish murmurings of Dylan waking in the next room are absent (he is with his grandparents). And the gorgeous sleepy...

On Limits.

On Limits.

It’s warm in my bed. Cozy. I was laying there a few minutes ago. Trying to sleep. I’m here now. At my desk, pen in hand in the half-dark. Bed-headed and pillow-faced, attempting to excavate a seed of authenticity from the pile of debris that is the current state of my...

I Want More

I Want More

I love birthdays. All that cake and attention. This Sunday I will be thirty-three and despite my excitement, I’ve been unable to escape the inevitable self-reflection that accompanies the passage of another year. Experience has taught me that if I’m not a little...

On Becoming a Designer

On Becoming a Designer

The familiar sound of a Mac booting up is the first reassuring noise I hear every day. Before I look at any emails or otherwise taint my mind with media or ego, I open a blank InDesign document. My heart quickens, my face gets hot. Instinctively, I draw a long, deep...

Photo Love from Sebastian Inlet

Photo Love from Sebastian Inlet

Last week in Sharks in the Water Part 1 and Part 2, I wrote about my experience surfing at Sebastian Inlet. Oliver Kurtz and Alek Parker were there, landing sexy airs right in everyone's face. Keith Berryhill, one of my new favorite hotties in the water, captured the...

Sharks in the Water (part 2)

Sharks in the Water (part 2)

We take a break for lunch. A Clif bar, a coconut water and the world’s best BLT later, and I'm back in the water. Not quite as glassy as dawn patrol, but still thumping. The guys and I paddle out in different spots. I like to avoid the thick of the crowd whenever...

Sharks in the Water

Sharks in the Water

I'm writing this in my underwear with sand still in my hair. My fin sliced a tiny chunk out of my middle finger yesterday and it hurts as I type, but I love it. I love every exhausted moment of my life. Yesterday, we drove 7 hours to surf 9 and a half (minus an hour...

The Ocean is Magic

The Ocean is Magic

There was a time when public knowledge of autism was confined to Dustin Hoffman’s performance in Rain Man. Unfortunately times have changed, autism is the nation’s fastest growing developmental disability, likely affecting at least one family in your neighborhood....

Fear & The Pop Up

Fear & The Pop Up

This last swell was full of exciting firsts; driving alone from break to break listening to Rage Against the Machine too loud, struggling through a tough paddle-out only to emerge into the line-up alongside Brad (awkward!), inadvertently picking up a hot date on the...

Sole Surfer

Sole Surfer

Waves in the Gulf are like Christmas, and this Sunday Santa came. The line-up was packed with giddy children scrambling for presents. I was one of them. You never know what the vibe in the line-up will be, but Sunday morning at Lido the stars aligned and the place was...

California Alone

California Alone

I’m in California, alone. My heart is broken and I’m here to meet many of my best clients face-to-face for the first time. I’m praying that I won’t come off as a hot mess. Luckily, I love Los Angeles. Everything about it, even the driving. This is how people were...