RE: I'm Not A Cool Guy Anymore, As If I Ever Was Before - The Descendents And Skating
Great post, @rt395 ! It was really cool to read about your childhood which seemed quintessentially Californian at that time! While my friends weren't as good as yours at skateboarding (the most advanced trick that any one of us could do was an ollie, lol), I spent a lot of my free time in high school skateboarding in grocery store parking lots with friends.
We would drive around with our windows blaring Rancid and other punk rock bands. I wasn't super into punk like my friends were, but I loved the energy it just seemed to add to our adventures. Hanging around, goofing off, ribbing on each other... man, your post brings back some good memories!
You mentioned that you had lost some pics of your adventures, most-likely during your move to Tokyo. I'd love to read more about why you moved to Japan and what it was like when you came here! I have buddies who came during the bubble period, and hearing them talking about their adventures definitely makes me green with envy!
Apologies for my writing style. Whenever I post things on the fly my writing is horrible.
I wasn't so good at skating, but I had fun and could do some tricks my friends couldn't, especially on vert ramps. Some of my friends actually turned Am, Ryan Bartsma, Tuan & Tone and several others. Ryan was a little kid who I helped teach. He picked it up fast. It was awesome to see him transform into a damn good skater.
We were just like you and your friends man, skating the grocery store parking lots, etc. The only reason we had so many ramps was because we lived in a new developing area with lots of open space and wood!
I was actually writing a series about my journey to Japan as a DJ in my DJ Wednesday series. I hope to start continuing with that this week. I came over originally in the summer of 2001, long after the bubble. I also had a friend who was there during the bubble and he said it was pretty wild.
Honestly, Steemit really feels like one of those periods in my life I will look back fondly on in 20 years. I've met some great people and friends through Steemit. I've done meet ups and even a club night with some of them and we are working on another big event later this year.
We def have to keep in touch because I see you are doing quality content down in Osaka. Be sure to hook up with @miho who is the Osaka community leader for Steemit Japan.
Cheers 🍻