Summer 09.

Hello everyone! Hopefully summer has been going great for all of you out there. I realize school is out and I'm in Minnesota so I can't exactly write about CMC/Steamboat life, but I thought I'd let you know how my summer's been so far and some things I'm excited for in the coming school year.

Summer is great. Unfortunetly right now its about 60 degrees here, as well as cloudy and rainy. But luckily we've had some amazing days here in Minnesota, full of all the awesome things summer has to offer.

So far, I've already been wakeboarding more in my first month of summer than I usually get to throughout the entire summer. My friend Ben, who has the boat we use, was unfortunately not able to get out snowboarding as much as he wanted to, but that just made him that much more all about wakeboarding. We've gotten out on the lake around 3 times a week so far, which has been awesome. I've already learned some new stuff and can't wait to keep progressing. Plus the wakeboard I have, the Hyperlite Roam, is shaped like a short fat snowboard and has no fins, so basically I get to snowboard on the lake all summer, so I'm very stoked about that.

Continuing with the board sports I partake in to fill the void of not being able to snowboard, I have been longboarding almost every sunny day this summer. There is a pretty long, kind of steep hill by my house, that I used to longboard down everyday after working at a daycare right by my house (that job I unfortunately did not get back but I'll talk about that in a bit). After breaking my collarbone longboarding down Bob Adams Dr. by CMC, I was very sketched out to bomb that hill once again. Lucky for me, when I set out to conquer my fear, the familiarity of the hill eased my nerves, and I have bombed that hill almost everyday I've been longboarding.

The final board sport is skateboarding, which I really haven't done very much so far. I had big plans to build a mini-ramp in my backyard, but unfortunately money is a bit tight and it doesn't look like that plan will be put into action.

For those of you seeking a new way to shred in the summer, I recently saw a commerical for just a way to do so. A lot of people on the coastal states do something called skimboarding, which I've had the pleasure of doing in Florida, and it's wicked fun. The company Banzai has come out with a slip n' slide type product made just for skimboarding. It's only $30 at Wal-Mart and even comes with a skimboard. I'm sure it's designed for kids but I think it looks crazy fun so hopefully some friends will want to go in on it with me an we can spend the summer shredding in a new way.

Unfortunately, summer is not all fun and games. I just recently went back to my job at Pacsun in Rosedale Mall (which I am not happy about). Before that, I definitly felt the effects of the economy as I searched for a different job with no avail. I even tried to use my previous experience at Pacsun to get a job in the same mall at Zumiez, but they just weren't hiring at the time. I especially tried to use the courses and knowledge I've gained at CMC to get a job at some local boardshops, but again, they just weren't hiring. As for the daycare job I had last summer, they even have let some people go because so few kids are enrolling in the program since their parents can't afford, so it's been rough for everyone. On the plus side, my mom, who was laid off from working at the St. Anthony Community Center, where the daycare program is, had found a new administrative job with the union she was a part of when she worked at the community center, so we were all very happy about that.

Something I am VERY stoked about that is happening soon is that I will be printing more shirts for my snowboard clothing company Rill. I am sure that once I get my designs finalized and begin production, I will put some shameless plug for my products on here, so you'll get to see them eventually. Something I've decided to try to pursue is actually the company we started in Product Design class. My original plan was to make Rill a snowboard company, but I've now decided to make Rill the clothing brand, and Able (the name we came up with in Product Design) the snowboard brand. I have to go through some legal aspects with everyone in the class so I don't get sued or something if the company gets big, but it'll for sure be worth it.

Another great part of my summer so far that I wasn't able to do in Steamboat Springs is go to concerts. There were some cool local shows in Steamboat, but there was no venue for any of the bands I listen to regularly to come play, so I definitly missed that. So far, I have seen Envy on the Coast, Anberlin, and Taking Back Sunday at one show, and Hey Monday, Metro Station, Cobra Starship, All Time Low, and Fall Out Boy at another show. On top of that, I have plans to see Green Day/The Bravery, Blink 182/Fall Out Boy/Panic at the Disco, and go to the Vans Warped Tour, which has a crazy amount of sick bands going, so it's definitly been/will be a musical summer.

On top of music, art has come back into my life a lot, right now just some sketches and pencil drawings, but hopefully it will expand into more mediums. I have plans right not to go sketch at the Art Institute of Minnesota on Thursday with a friend, so I'm very excited about that and will probably blog about that as well.

Finally, the last thing summer is all about, at least here in Minnesota, is going to cabins. I had the pleasure of going to my friend Joels cabin already this summer, and have plans to go again for his birthday at the end of June. Cabins here consist of pretty much relaxing in the sun, hanging out outside, grilling, and boating, so it's always a good time.

Well there you go, hopefully that gave you a glimpse at what summer's here are like, and maybe even made you want to make a trek to the great state of Minnesota. I'm sure I'll write a few more times over the course of the summer, but if not, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the fall. Peace.