Skate park ideology

I feel sort of silly and mom-like for thinking there should be some rules for the skatepark, but I do. Here is what I'm teaching my kids.

*If you aren’t having fun then it’s time to go home.
*Always wear your protective gear.
*Make eye contact with those around the bowl before you drop in.
*Take turns, and don’t over step your turn.
*Always bring your gear including:
Skateboard
Pads
Helmet
Ice water
Antiseptic of some sort
Skateboard tool
Cell phone
Broom
Towel
*Be kind. We all were beginners at some point so be mindful to people who are new. They are taking a step out of their element and that is brave.

*Don’t trash the park.

New haps

I haven't skateboarded much in the last couple weeks. I miss it. This weekend I will be on my board. I will!!

In the meantime I've been busy trying to help my son out with some of his stuff. He is now in middle school and they are trying to get a skateboard club together. So, being the good skateboard mom that I am I volunteered to be the parent sponsor. Fun times. Now my daughter wants me to sponsor the skateboard club at her elementary school! haha!! I hope I can do both. Also, my son's birthday is coming up so you can imagine how much board stuff he wants. Glad I have my skater girl friendly list. WooT!

I did buy my b/f a new board and some new bushings. He needed them and the guy at our local shop laughed when he saw the bushings. Yeah, they were that bad!

So, yeah, I'll be up super early on Saturday to get out and board before I have to do more "stuff." I need to clear my head with some good carves.

For the love of it.

Yesterday I got the new issue of TransWorld Skateboarding magazine. Immediately I opened it up and began flipping through the pages. I saw familiar face after familiar face. All of them were faces of the men. It was no surprise to me since I don’t know when the last time I saw a woman skateboarder in a skateboard magazine, but it still always manages to disappoint a little, tiny bit.
I took the magazine to the gym with me and read it while I was doing my time on the elliptical. There was an article about a guy who was from a small town in the South who dreamt of becoming a sponsored skateboarder. His inspiration came from videos and magazines. He knew that if he just worked at it and made it to California he could get sponsored and get in the magazines and videos, too. This was his career goal. A path to making money at something he loved to do. It was a nice story, but it made me realize the true difference between women and men that skateboard, and it has nothing to do with athletic ability or talent. It does have to do with the love of a sport without the opportunity of financial support or gain.
Women who skateboard don’t get to look at a magazine or a video and get inspired by other women. We have to look to the men to see skateboarding. The tricks and the terrain don’t care if we are men or women. The physics is the same, but the faces and the style are different. Another boarder in the same issue was talking about how much easier it is to skate when you can visualize yourself doing a trick and the clothes and the shoes and the board all fit. Well, the last time I was in the mirror I looked nothing like a man in physique or dress. So, how do we visualize the trick when all we’ve seen are men doing it? We can’t so instead we work hard to get it down and have it fit us in our bodies. That’s how women get it done without the representation in magazines and videos.
When a female skater is practicing and falling on a trick for the 50th time she doesn’t have the hope that someday she’ll be in a big name ad. It doesn’t work that way. She won’t get to grab the golden ring when she has a stash of tricks, because for women there are no 4 star tours through Spain. As a rule, women that make it don’t get ads, they don’t get months in Barcelona and they don’t get a board with their name on it. What they get is the admiration and love of all the other women out there that support them. What women skateboard for is simply the love of it. That’s it. The love of being on a board and riding for ourselves is why we skateboard. Period.

Thought for the Day

this thought brought to you by Patti (From my skateboard mom's group)

Friday, 9/7/07

There Are Millions of Us.Did you know that 2.3 million American women and girls skated at least once in 2006? That's 23.8 percent of all American skateboarders.You are not alone. We're all in this together.Keep rollin'!

(Source: National Sporting Goods Association, http://www.nsga. org/public/ pages/index. cfm?pageid= 156)

Women Friendly Skate Companies ONLY

For some time now (since I've been skating) it's been apparent that women are not well represented in the skater world. We do get blurbs now and then, here and there, but for the most part we are pretty invisible. Pick up a skateboard magazine and the only women you are likely to see are bimbo'd out babes trying to sell product to teenage boys, or in the unfortunate recent case an obese mother being told to have another twinkie. And all of that is fine. It's private industry advertising their product they way they want. The good thing is that I don't have to buy products that hate on women and don't support women skaters. So, that's just what I'm doing. In the near future I will be posting links and giving information to female skater friendly sites, products and groups.

I'm not saying down with the man (or panda) at all. I'm just saying that if the man doesn't want to highlight women in a positive light I don't have to give him my hard earned dollars.

Dr. Tae Makes Me Smile

I love watching this guy skate. Dr. Tae's not a professional skateboarder, but you can tell it makes him happy. I wonder if there's a physics equation for smiling.




And yes, he's a real Dr. (of physics)

We watched the AKA: Girl Skater, White Knuckle Extreme a couple of days ago and I keep going to back to it and thinking about it. I was so stoked to find a video that featured women skateboarders. Then I watched it. I am not thinking about it because it’s a great skate video. Far from it. I am thinking of it because I think it really portrayed an important, yet unfortunate idea in skateboarding- Women are a novelty.

The video features some of the best women skateboarders in the world. Women like Amy Caron, Jamie Reyes, Monica Shaw and Vanessa Torres who really rip. Yet, what are they doing in the video? They aren’t skating very much, that’s for certain. Instead they are talking, joking, watching the director put on a skirt and playing with animals at a zoo. Mostly they did a lot of talking about how it felt to be on tour, how they were used to skating with men and not other women, and then they talked about various things they were doing. They just didn’t show off their skating.

One of the defining moments in the video, for me, was when Dave Carnie made a comment about how these women don’t have that “girl style” of skating, but are real skaters. I’m not sure what that means. Is that supposed to be like the old “You throw like a girl” insult? I have seen a lot of women out there that are fantastic skaters and I think for them it’s about being a good skater. I don’t think that they have this idea that they are good “for being a girl.” Gender has nothing to do with it when you are trying a new trick or are carving around a bowl. There are levels of skill that both women and men skate at and it has nothing to do with their chromosomes.

I think that right now there are a lot of indicators that there is a growing population of women who skateboard. In fact, twenty-six percent of the skateboarders out there are women. That’s a lot of women on boards. Some of these women belong to the International Society of Skateboard Moms which is a group of Moms, Aunties and yes even Grandmas that skateboard and has a current membership of over 350, and is growing every day. In addition there are lot of younger women and girls that aren’t represented by a group, but still pick up a board daily. There are women only events in most major skateboard competitions like X-Games, Gravity Games, etc. There are ever increasing local contests that have female competitors that aren’t in “girl” contests, but are out there with the boys and holding their own. Another indicator is the amount of female focused skate product that is out there. While a lot of it is fashion based I see companies who make these products sponsoring more and more women in “extreme” sports including skateboarding.

Taking all these factors into account I think that the idea of women in skateboarding is not a novelty so why are the videos that feature women exactly that? A novelty. There are a lot of women/girls out there that skateboard and that’s been the case since skateboarding got its start way back in the 50’s. The first Z-boys team even had a girl! We are not a novelty and we are not going away. In the end I’m still happy that there is a video that features women who skate, but am disappointed that they are treated as a novelty instead of as representative of the 26% of skaters out there. And yes, we do skate like women because quite simply we shred.

Hey, it hurts to fall!

That's right, folks. Falling on cement hurts! I tested this theory again yesterday in the bowl at Castle Rock after slipping on some of the debris. Remember when Lucy (from Peanuts) pulls out the football when Charlie Brown is trying to kick it and he goes flying up in the air? Yeah, it kind of felt like that except somehow I ended up falling on my side. The funny thing was that when we looked at my leg right after Dan said, "You have something written on your leg." Sure enough the "NIK" from the Nikita embroidery on my shorts had left it's mark on my leg. It's gone now and replaced by black and some blue from a huge bruise. Fun times, I tell ya. Whatever, I'll work that bowl if it's the last thing I do!!!

Excessive use of force

And this is exactly how you turn a good kid that is practicing his sport into a criminal. But then who are the real criminals? The kids riding their skateboards or the cop who is choking a CHILD?! You don't teach children by abusing them and this cop was clearly outside of the bounds.

June 21st- WooT!

We got up early this morning. It's been in the upper 90's so we wanted to beat the heat. We were at the skatepark by 7:30 a.m. Why? Because it's "Go Skateboarding Day!" WooT! So, go out. Get on a board and kick, push, kick, push, rollllll...

Frontside

Frontside carves have always been a little scary. I'm not sure why, but I guess my backside just seems more natural. That is until recently. It started a couple of weeks ago at the Longmont park where I was trying this section of the bowl that can really only be skated frontside. For some reason I wasn't really focused on the fact that it was frontside, but more focused on just doing something at this park that it's pretty difficult. Well, I carved this turn about 5 times before I realized that I was carving frontside! Then today we were at another park and the only way to really go in this one section was frontside. No biggie! I just did it. And then I got a little carried away and did 3 different corners frontside all successfully! WooT! I love when I just get it and it finally feels natural instead of something I'm thinking about.

My Real Life

I had a friend tell me that they hadn't subbed to this blog because if it was about my "real life" I would put it on my other blog and she was subbed there. Well, to that I say- skateboarding IS part of my real life. I'm on a board every day. I talk about skateboarding every day. I read about it every day. It's even become how I commute to work (more on this later). It's as much a part of my real life as my garden, listening to music, reading books, cooking for my family, cleaning house, folding laundry, going to work, paying bills, and anything else that I do. It's frustrating that people see my life as compartmentalized and that skateboarding is something outside of my "real life." Skateboarding is part of the fiber. It's what helps keep me sane when life is stressful. It's my yoga. It keeps me challenged because there is always more to learn. So, really, I guess it's fine if friends don't want to read about my skateboarding, but it's really not fine for them to think it's somehow outside of who I am.

It finally happened...

I decided that I was going to start commuting to work via light rail, and that I'd get to light rail via longboard. It's been a really good source of exercise and I'm getting better at my longboard again. I've grown so used to my short board that my longboard feels weird. Anyhow, I was riding my longboard back to the train station this afternoon. I usually stay on the side walks, but after I cross out of the park there is a fairly unused street right near some shops that I use. A man came out of one of the offices and started telling about how there is no skateboarding there. Yeah! At me! A 38 year old mother of two on a long board! I told him he was really barking up the wrong tree since I was on public property. He pointed out some silly signs that say no skateboarding (on the side walk.) I have to say I was really both angry at this moron because I missed my train and laughing at him for yelling at me like I was trying to ollie one of his fancy marble benches. Whatever. I'm not going to stop longboarding on a public street. I'm such a badass...hahaha!!

CALLING ALL DENVER GIRLS!!

Girls Skate Too
- All Female Skateboard Clinics -
Denver Skatepark – 2205 19th Street
Hey girls, whether you are already pulling sick tricks, just a beginner, or want to learn how to drop into the big bowl, grab a skateboard and join us for this awesome summer skateboard program. Sign up today, space is limited.

· Highly skilled Instructors that will help you develop your skills, learn skatepark etiquette, and provide tips on avoiding injury
· Individualized lesson plans matched to your specific goals and abilities
· Play SKATE, meet other skaters, personalized instruction, product give a-ways, learn board maintenance, and even create a scrapbook to remember your experience

For more information, contact:
Mike Barney @ 720.913.0752

To find out about other Denver Parks + Recreation Classes, visit: www. denvergov.org/recreation

June 1 – August 11, no camp 7/3-7/7
Ages: 6 – 14 yrs old
Dates/Times: Session I – 6/1 through 6/29, meet every Friday from 8:30am – 12:30pm / Session II – 7/13 through 8/10, meet every Friday from 8:30am – 12:30pm

ALL ACTIVITIES HELD @ DENVER DOWNTOWN SKATEPARK

Cost: $150 / session (5 weeks) – Scholarships May Be Available

All participants must wear helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads - (loaner equipment may be available on a first come – first serve basis, specify need at time of registration)

Space is limited to ensure a 6:1 ratio of participants to instructors

To Register, call Mike Barney at 720.913.0752

This program is brought to you by a partnership between:

Denver Parks + Recreation Colorado Skate University
City Wide Sports www.theskateboardschool.com
201 W. Colfax Ave, 6th Floor
Denver, CO 80202

Check out my Baby Girl!

Rock on, Ms. Priss! She was getting a good 5 feet up the wall before she'd roll back fakey to the other side. WooT! Before you know it she'll be dropping in all over the place and giving the boys a run for their money.

She wrote a little blog entry of her own about skateboarding. Here it is:

Skateboarding is fun.
I like skateboarding because I get to do it with my family. I can feel the breeze on my face. Skateboarding may seem hard, but it’s not always hard. If you work on it you’ll get better and better and realize it’s not so hard afterall.

Last Friday

I took the day off from work last Friday. My children had a Shakespeare festival they were acting in, so while they were at school getting ready to head down to it Dan and I longboarded around the lake. We hadn't done that in a while and it was really nice to just goooooo.

After we got back to the school from the festival I was waiting for the kids to finish up with their teachers and so I took a spin around in front of the school. The kids were amazed. I like to think that the other mom's were a little envious.

So, yeah, that was last Friday. I don't know if I'll skateboard tomorrow. My shoulder is somewhat jacked and I don't want to push it. Maybe I'll just cruise on my longboard a little.

Barefoot!

I couldn't help myself. I just had to be skating and I was in flip flops so...

That's right. I took off my sandals, stole my son's board and off I went. WoooT!

Mighty Mama's indeed!

I'm a member of a group called International Society of Skateboarding Moms™. This past weekend they had their annual Mighty Mamma Skate-O-Rama. Unfortunately I was unable to attend, but there are some fantastic media reports out there about it. I did get to skateboard at the Boulder park on Mother's Day though, so I was there in spirit. Here are the links:

Skater Mom

Bellflower Moms

Skateboard for Life

It's a pretty cool group of women just doing what we love.

TO THE PARENTS...

I really want to keep this blog going with positive posts about fun skateparks, really good sessions where I’ve learned something new, or talking about the really fantastic people I meet when I’m out skating. However, this post is not about any of that. I need to get this off my chest so I can focus on the good.

Parents- GET OFF YOUR ASSES and get involved in your children’s lives!!! Don’t sit on the side of the skate park while your kid goes around terrorizing smaller children, nearly getting themselves (and others) seriously injured by snaking other people, and in general making a complete nuisance of themselves while you catch up on work, or read the newspaper, or whatever the fuck else you might be doing that is keeping you from having quality time with your kid teaching them how to be respectful of other people WHILE having fun.
How can you participate? Most obviously ASK THEM QUESTIONS about what they have learned, want to learn, or are having problems learning. ENCOURAGE THEM to keep trying. Also, when you see that your kid is cutting in when someone else has been waiting patiently let them know that it’s not alright! It’s bad manners and those are unacceptable anywhere. You know your kids learn by example IF you are there to guide them. So simply BE THERE WITH THEM. Let them know that the skate park is just like anywhere else that they need to be respectful of other people. That doesn’t mean that they can’t have fun. It just means that they can’t do it at another person’s expense. Lastly, if you are willing and able GET ON A BOARD. It’s hard. Yeah, o.k. it’s really hard, but that’s what pads are made for. I understand that it’s not for everyone, but even if you do it one time your kid will understand that what he/she’s trying is worthwhile and that their interests are important to you. So, in conclusion GET OUT AND BE A PART OF YOUR KID’S SKATEBOARDING. IT’S IMPORTANT TO THEM!!!

O.K. That’s all I have to say about this.

I'm slightly better than this

Spring!!

We had a 3 hour session on Sunday morning at 20th Street. It was a lot of fun, but I really over did, and by Sunday night I could tell. My knees are so shot. meh... It still didn't stop Bronte and I from going back on Monday for an hour or so. While there a mom that has been bringing her little guy (he's 4) there said, "You've gotten a lot better since last summer! Way to go!" That made my knees feel a lot better. YAY! The weather has turned and we are sooooo skateboarding again!

You can do this on a skateboard... TOMORROW, April 10th!!!!

Background
In the spring of 2005, Libra, the bartender at the Mars Bar in Seattle, wanted to do a luau night. What was created was “Tiara and Lei” day. At the time, Annetastic (Seattle) was very active on tribe.net and decided to share the event with her friends. The first “Tiara and Lei Day”, April 10, 2005, was celebrated in Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and Memphis mostly by member of tribe.net in addition to the celebrants at the Mars. Celebrants dressed up in tiaras and leis. Fruity drinks were drunk and many photos documenting the various parties were taken.
April 10, 2006 saw the 2nd Annual celebration of Tiara and Lei day celebrated across the country. Again, celebrants donned their tiaras and leis and partied with their local friends, sharing the various events across the internet with friends afar.

How to Celebrate-

It's really as easy as it sounds. You make plans with friends and put on a tiara and a lei. You can wear them to work, out on the town, or just acting silly at home. The point is to put on a tiara and a lei, submit pictures with a brief description to:

Tiara and Lei Day Flickr Group
External Links:
Historical evidence of the founding
First Tiara and Lei Day as celebrated by Smoooochie
First Tiara and Lei Day as celebrated by Mynx d’Meanor
Second Annual as celebrated by Annetastic!
Tiara and Lei Day at the Mars- Year One

Second Annual as celebrated by Mynx d’Meanor
Second Annual as celebrated by Smoooochie and Danimal
Third Annual Announcements:
Annetastic!

double post on happiness

I posted this on my regular blog, but I liked it so here it is again. It fits better over here.


Happiness. It’s a word that encompasses something different for each person and in varying degrees. I’m not setting out here to discuss deep or profound happiness, but rather something that can give perspective on the things that make us unhappy or something that makes us smile or feel good. Oddly enough I’m not talking about sex here although the last sentence might give that perception.

For me this happiness is skateboarding. I’m on the couch with my boyfriend and we just popped in a skateboard video. And as I was sitting here mesmerized by these pros skating happiness came over me. No, I can’t skate like the pros, but I don’t have to. I see them just doing a push and kick and I know how it feels to be on that board. I know the feel of the board, the way the wheels feel as they roll along the pavement, and the way my feet feel on the board. I know that is what happiness feels like.

When I see guys skateboarding it makes me want to get out to the skate park immediately. I want to try to bump up what I can do and try some new stuff. I’m not that good, but it makes me want to be that good. When, and this is unfortunately very rare, I see women skateboarding it makes me proud and makes me KNOW that I can get better. While I’ll never be a pro that’s hardly the point in me being on a board. Skateboarders get on a board over and over because it’s our happiness. When that stops for me then I’ll know it’s time to quit. Until then this is my happiness.