SLAG San Francisco's Super Secret Skate Date

The Skate Like A Girl super secret skate date started at 1pm in Golden Gate Park. About 20 girls skated throughout the session.

Cory brought a bunch of local girls from his after school skateboard program. They all demonstrated a lots potential and enthusiasm. We were stoked they could make it (thanks Cory) and look forward to skating with them again.

There were a couple of photojournalists who came to take pictures (including the ones above) and interviewed some of the ladies.

By 3pm there was a new batch of skaters ready to hit the rail and ledges or just cruise the flatground. Jolie tried to show me how to heelflip (no, not a lost cause) and a guy on rollerskates hit every square inch of that pavement with a battery operated leaf blower.

After that the party moved over to the ledges. Megan V. tried to get some footy of a ledge grind until it was well after dark.

Thanks for the good times to everyone who showed up.

Shambhala Mt Center, CO

I was invited by a friend/fellow Obama campaigner to stay at the Shambhala Mountain Center, which is high in the Mountains of Colorado. We were able to stay in exchange for polishing a giant brass door.

The first day we went on a hike and it was really cold. I mean it was about 25 degrees f before the sun set and all I could think about was eating. Each meal I would stuff my face with the maximum amount of food and two hours later I would be starving again.

There was a library where we could read books on the meaning of life. There was also a temple like building called a Stupa. We meditated in the Stupa under a giant gold Buddha. I realized that the closest thing I have to a meditative practice in my life is skateboarding, and for that I just wanted to give thanks to skateboarding, I mean for taking up so much of my brain space.

I mean think about all of the time you are thinking about skateboarding when you might otherwise be thinking about your waining sex appeal or about how your friends never call you or how your social life sucks or how your parents screwed you up or how you're not good at school or work or how the world is coming to an end... I mean the endless chatter in our brains that distracts and torments...

... and how easy it is to get on a skateboard or put in a skate video and just focus on that, and only think about that, and obsess about that, while everything else falls into the void.

Praise the Board.

The San Luis Valley, CO (and skateboarding?)

During my stay at the ranch in the San Luis Valley, Aimee and I ventured to the tiny town of Saguache, which resembles somewhat of a ghost town. There was a store open that sells cake so we got me some birthday cake and walked around. It was then that I found the most unexpected birthday surprise: an actual skatepark. This park is really out there, and proof that skateboarding has permeated every community in the U.S. and is increasingly more accessible. I'd like to show up at this park someday with a bunch of girls and do a demo. Anyone down?

I skated around while Aimee found the library and got a library card (which looked like a glorified index card) so she could check out some books on horsemanship skills and cattle handling.

We bought some dark beer and went back to the ranch to sit on haystacks and watch the sunset. That night we bundled up in her trailer and drank tea and laughed and cried over long stories. Thanks Aimee, I miss you!

The San Luis Valley, CO: Herding Cattle

My dear old friend Aimee Danch now works on the range. She coaxed me into herding cows and weening calves on a grass fed organic beef ranch in the San Luis Valley. I was trained by a patient old border collie named Chico.

These cows graze on a nature reserve. George, the rancher, works with managers to protect endangered plants (and animals) through proper grazing techniques. George and his cows are able to do a real service to the ecosystem here. He explains how the rangeland has adapted to large herds of grazing animals, and if the land is not grazed, plant diversity is lost as only a few species take over. On the contrary, if the land is grazed too often, it suppresses plant growth. What the range here needs is a brief but heavy grazing, then left to rest for a couple years. Beneficial grazing takes forethought. Every day these hard working cowfolk move the fence to allow acreadge that will feed the cows and the help the preserve.

My work at the ranch was rewarded with good company, guitar playing, and hearty meals (like cornbread from scratch and beef) cooked over the wood stove.

Nederland CO, the town with the frozen dead guy

Seriously, there's a frozen dead guy here. There is even a movie about it, and an annual festival for it. Nederland is a little mountain town at over 8,000ft and about 15 miles west of Boulder. The skate park is getting its finishing touches and looks super fun. Its an Airspeed skatepark so of course its a good one!

Boulder CO and 'the naked pumpkin run'

While working on the Obama campaign in Colorado, I got to spend Halloween in Boulder at my sister's house. There is this interesting tradition there called "the naked pumpkin run." People get wasted, carve out giant pumpkins, get naked, put the pumpkins on their heads, and run through town. Its not as easy as it sounds, some of the runners slip and fall and smash their giant pumpkin heads on the cold cement, others get ticketed for indecent exposure. There are hundreds of spectators gathered to enjoy the sight, and some get super excited, like the ones pictured above.

The skate park in Boulder is super rad and worth a visit. You can skate there from downtown. Its pretty empty during school hours.

Denver, Colorado

When I arrived in CO I was greeted by an old high school friend. She celebrated my arrival by taking shots of jager late into the night while I was asleep in her bed.

The next morning there was an Obama rally at civic park. We walked with a giant mob for blocks and blocks before even finding the end of the line to get in. One paper reported that there was 150,000 people attending. Later that day Obama spoke in Fort Collins CO and over 40,000 people showed up. I was fully ready to join thousands of other Americans across the nation and start knocking on doors and making phone calls for the most historic election of our lifetime... And yes, of course I cried during his acceptance speech.

Now my faith in democracy has been restored, and I no longer have to tell people I'm Canadian.

As for skating, there is the hugest park EVER just a few blocks from union station in downtown Denver. Its got some super slick red cement and the transitions are steep. You have to check it out if you are in the area. There's a little taco stand that sets up camp right at the entrance and its located within a city park where you can chill on the grass or stick your feet in the river. There's places to get food and coffee close by too.