Boards and Ballpoints

Aymeric and I made this video in the spring of 2006, when I first lived in France. My intent was to create a souvenir, not show how well I can fall. The filming also became a way for me to hang out with friends at a time when my French didn’t cut it. All the others rollerbladed, but, after a couple of tries, I decided to stick with skateboarding. If I’m gonna fall, I’ll do it on something familiar.

After I got back from France in 2006, I pretty much stopped skating. Now my souvenirs come in writing. I’m an old man, better at falling flat on the page than my face. But writing doesn’t have that same satisfaction – of landing a trick after failing again and again, or weaving with a group of friends through crowds and streets in the city.