The Benefits of Resetting Dear Friend, Today is Good Friday or “the Friday before Easter.” Here in the northern hemisphere we’re transitioning from spring to summer. It’s also my and Sophia’s 12th year anniversary. While it’s hard to pinpoint the very exact day we started dating in the beginning of 2013, by Easter it was clear that we were a “thing”. After we had gone on a couple of dates, Sophia said that I wasn’t allowed to call or text her for ten days. This was ten days before Easter, and...
10 days ago • 9 min read
How to Return To Training, Foot Placement, More Slow Down Finally on the mend. Surfed fun waves in Lido Beach with Krishna, Rob, and Carlos (Arnaiz) last Sunday. I did two one hour sessions. At the end of both of them I could feel my lungs burning a bit. I wasn’t tired within either session. But also the waves were small and weak and I was riding alternately Krishna’s 6’10” Pearson Arrow and the CSC 7’0” Mick Fanning, both of which are pretty high volume for me. It was my first session back...
17 days ago • 15 min read
Full Sumatra Trip Breakdown First of all, I hope you enjoyed the photo-only posts the past two weeks. I’m still dealing with the end of whatever illness that beset me on day one of my trip to Indonesia. At this point there’s no way to tell whether it was Covid or some other flu variant. I had no symptoms when I left and none when I arrived. The first sign of illness presented itself on our drive back from our first surf at Jenny’s: post nasal drip and a headache. This developed into an upper...
24 days ago • 33 min read
Dispatch From the Field: SW Sumatra Pt 2: 100% Jenny's Coming at you with another photo essay. I wrote some real stuff, but we're packing up right now and leaving for the long journey home at 4a. We've only surfed Jenny's, and it's been FIRING. Enjoy the shots. I'm back in NY on Sunday morning. Excited for next week's zine which will have a full run down with videos! Last day best day at Jenny's in SW Sumatra The rules at Jenny's. Fair enough! Vegan nasi goreng and pumping surf anyone?! The...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dispatch from the Field: SW Sumatra Photo Essay Greetings from SW Sumatra for my first "Dispatch from the Field" since migrating to Kit.com. Here's a pulled out view of exactly where we're located. You fly first into Jakarta and then to Bandar Lampung. Believe it or not it's a six hour drive from Bandar Lampung to Amy's Place, which is in a region roughly known as Krui. Today I'm going to keep the writing brief, so that you can soak up the photos. Here's a pulled in view. Blue dot is...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Pre-Sumatra Eve Mistle: Derrida + Claude, Underwater Laps, Tucked Back Knee, Love Letter to TJ’s My dear philo-surfer, This zine is hitting your inbox on Sumatra-trip-eve. My board bag is packed and in my van. My check-in bag is also packed, but it is not in my van. There is a small swell making rideable waves out at the east coast beaches today. I had a look earlier this morning and decided I had far too much on my plate to make it worthwhile. I feel fortunate to live near enough to the...
about 1 month ago • 13 min read
Community Zoom, “Growers”, SR365 Outdoor Zone 2 1.0, Refresh Your Logic with Vegan Examples, Congrats Mom and Liam! Screen grab from the "Growers" vid. How are you holding up out there? Getting any surf? Going on any trips? How’s your work environment these days? Thoughts about the future? What are you reading? I want to know what is going on with you and how you’re doing! Let’s do a Zoom meetup before I go to Sumatra. I will provide two dates: This Sunday, March 9, at 1p and this coming...
about 2 months ago • 12 min read
Not Flat, Surf HIIT A, Personal Progress, Plant Proteins and Quick Meals Not flat out here in NY/NJ today folks! Just pesky WNW/W winds. Maybe not so pesky if you’re in NJ! I would have surfed Lido with Brian D this morning, but d’oh I somehow didn’t have a single one of my three pairs of booties in the van. I did, however, have two sets of gloves with me. All good though. It forced me to stay on the beach and film Brian. For the most part he had a struggle fest, but we did get some positive...
about 2 months ago • 14 min read
Phallocentric Politics Pt 1, How to Read Tide Charts, Apology for Bread, Shout Out to Fialka S and Deb A, & Mex Memories Nick Barker and Deb Ghatak, happier days, July 2022. Photo: Deb Altman The United States continues to devolve into a corrupt oligarchy that colludes with foreign strong men. Clearly Trump and cronies love an epic circle jerk. I desire to pen an essay on phallocentric politics. I have to admit, however, that since taking up the teaching gig, I have been a bit pressed for...
2 months ago • 9 min read