GreenSkate and why this summer will rock so freakin' hard

Yesterday, Liz asked me about moshing and why I would rather be in the pit than anywhere else at a concert. As I tried to explain it to her, it occurred to me that I didn't entirely understand it myself. I thought about it a lot more last night and today and came up with a rambling explanation of why I feel compelled to punch, jump and thrash.

Being in the pit, to me, brings on this incredible uncontainable feeling that's a strange combination of excitement and violence. It's absolutely amazing being in a group of people who are in the same place for the same thing, and are so passionate about what they are there to see that they feel the need to bleed energy.

I've never experienced anything remotely close to singing along with 100 people rocking out together in frenetic motion. There's something raw and real about sharing music with others and allowing yourself complete release. Afterward, I feel like I've been to therapy, like I could sleep for days.

I get a similar, smaller version of the that feeling when I run and longboard. All three of these things (running, skating, music) are deeply individual things that you sometimes share with a group, and all three are things that I feel very strongly about.

My goal for this summer is to take the three things I enjoy most and wrap all of my days around them.

At the end of each day, I want to be tired. Not tired like overworked, but tired like when you are 7 years old and spent the entire day running around with your friends and building forts in the woods. Tired like laying in the grass in your bathing suit as the sun goes down when you can feel your skin radiating heat from the days' sunshine. Tired like I haven't felt in years.

More and more as I delve deeper into the "adult" world, I find myself a different kind of tired. An aching tired that comes with stress and worry and the pressure to maintain order among people and things that have no desire to be organized.

I'm not saying that I've had a bad time the past few years; far from it. But I've moved away from the carefree good times of childhood and focused too hard on forcing others to have a good time. This life is one big decision, I will decide what to do with it and how I feel about it.

This summer is for me.

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GreenSkate 2010


Here is my first ever Beginning Longboarding Class


Here are a few shots of us in the booth at the Spokane Earth Day Celebration on April 17th
We gave out 100 skateboarding helmets

We did a drawing to win a complete longboard (not the one I'm holding, nobody touch my board!)

We gave out information and talked to visitors about the awesomeness of longboarding as alternative transportation.

**Photos for the 2010 Spokane GreenSkate are by Devon Kelley.**