sunset

That time of year. Closing. Gearing up...as everything and everyone else gears down. New software. New files. New clients. New papercuts. Long days. Followed by long weekends. Three and a half months of hell. Little time for family. Little time for friends. Very little time for surf. Perhaps it's a blessing that tax season coincides with the shittiest season of surf. At least.....that's what I tell myself.

Self-deluding......is a gift.

Time to take stock. This will be the last season. Fourteen. .....or is it fifteen? I've lost interest. I no longer enjoy the game. I know every client by voice. (Even if I don't recognize their face.) I can find a file with my eyes closed. Even scarier.....I know the numbers on every clients' return. Yep....all 150+ of them. Really....it's no surprise. I handle them all.

At least.....I used to.

The numbers no longer thrill me. Long gone are the days of being awed by millions....on a W-2. No longer excited by ...working the line. ...adjusting. ....finessing. ...creative accounting.

The last season of bitchy clients. The last season of dealing with the IRS and ODR. The last season of working my 10-key and computer keyboard simultaneously. Right hand. Left hand. Working in unison. The last season of making coffee. Starbucks....Sumatra. The last season of watching people's eyes glaze over, as I explain what it is I do.

What will I do? Anything. Except write the next great modern american novel. A given. Hopefully.....find more time for surf. Find more time for my son. Find more time for.....whatever the tide brings.

I'm sure there'll be plenty of staring in the mirror. Oh...the horror.

Ample time to figure it out.

Three and a half months....to be exact.

I welcome the challenge.

photo courtesy of Gaz

nice

...apparently the rev was on santa's nice list this year. 

coal

this was the wish...


a world away....this is what showed up...

best

A valentine
on
Christmas Eve

How lucky am I?

scream

keep talking
I'm no longer
listening

glass

this one goes on my christmas wish list.... 

escape

I can't live without water. Yeah...okay smartass....none of us can live without water. It's more than biology....or anatomy. I need water. In water. Around water. Submerged. Breathing mouthfuls. Wading. Treading. Paddling. Stroking. Gliding. Splashing. Turning. Trimming. Flipping. Kicking. Feeling. Water.

...how could anyone live landlocked?

peaceful

cold again.....in the mid-twenties with freezing fog. nothin to do but contemplate warmer days... 

solace

Etta

At last....

was heading to bed
and
there you are
on
OPB

think I'll sit here
awhile

...my heart was wrapped up in clover...

soothe me
sultry lady
send me to bed
with
sweet dreams

...and then...and then....the spell was cast...

purgatorio

I sat in the dark last night and wondered....what now?

No power.

Seems simple enough...till you actually have to think about it. Not just "no power". No lights. No heat. (my apt is electric) No tv. No stereo. No movies. No pump working on the fish tank. (the v-man was quite worried about the two fish I've managed to not kill) No computer.

WHAT??!?

No computer.

Crap....what'm I going to do now? I can't get online. I can't view my favorite saffa break. I can't get a surf report. Not that there was one....combined seas of 40ft with gusts up to 65mph.....? Yeah.....I'm all over that one. Still....sitting and staring at NOAA. Knowing that no-one else is getting any. Kinda comforting....in its own sick way.

Aaaaaarrrrgggghhhh.........

No worries. Light 50 candles. Yes that many. Put the kid to bed. Pull Dante off the shelf and start reading. Not sure why..... The Portable Dante. Edited by Paolo Milano. Ragged. Torn. Read forward and back. More times than I care to remember. Notes jotted in the margins....in pink. I love this book. It's best when flipped through randomly. Okay...I have to confess...I was looking for something in particular. A passage. But that's beside the point. This book is close to 16 years old. It's been to the pool. The beach. The office. It's kept me company on the bus. Fended off my mother....when I burried my nose further into hell. My favorite.

Comfort food.

Fell asleep on the couch last night. Dante in my lap. Cantos on my brain....

Down there a place is that no torments try
But only darkness grieves, where the lament
Hath not the sound of wail, but is a sigh.

north

the rev sends his sunday regards... 

hush

If I whisper to the moon....will she hear me? 

genie

bottle up
blues & aaaahhhs
polish to a high shine
save your wish

calvary

skipped
the usual
and
opted for
the cemetery
this morning

subtle
shifts
open
eyes

lost

Victory at sea...found me on the dark side of the moon. 

monolith

Yesterday's surf report came in the form of this pic. Check out the soldiers marching in. I see her every weekend.... she still takes my breath away.

hungry

sensitive
energy
fields
emitting
frequencies
for
feasting

hoyt

winter's
decay
has
set
in

sweet thing

"...my skin is tan
my hair is fine
my hips invite you
my mouth like wine

who's little girl am I..."

check

I need
to not
turn off
my
self-editing
mode

revival

Surfed a new spot today. Checked it many times over the years....but it's never quite enticing enough to actually hit it. Not to mention....it's one of those spots. You know the type....gives you the willies...while standing on land.

Today though....got a call from ding that said it was reeling...consistently. Loaded up the truck and headed over the hill. Falling tide and the bar was working. Think NOAA called for 5' @ 14 with easterlies. Hadn't been in the water in a month. (Including the pool.) Even though it was a dry-hair paddle out......I sure felt it. Three of us out. Some steep drops and fast rights rolling through. Got worked on a left that shut down. Thought I had the right line....but was slow to my feet and didn't make the section. Tried diving over the back as it exploded around me. Like getting hit with a wall. Came up gasping....with a huge shit eating grin on my face.

I love being humbled by a beautiful woman.

The heavy locals were working it hard. They definitely had the place down. Kept riding the big outside bombs coming through every 15 minutes or so. Guess they felt we had infringed on their peak.

Three big males. Harrassing us for an hour and a half. They would pop up within feet of us...bare a chest or two...snort... and out surf us on every wave. Gaz got the face off after a really zippy right....didn't think it was gonna let him back out in the line up. Then one of the big guys takes a liking to ding.....who's sitting about 5 feet from me....hits his leg and literally flips him off his board. Scared the shit out of me. Ding's screaming like a little girl...I'm scrambling to get my legs out of the water...and gaz is laughing at the both of us.

Crystal clear water. Sun shining. Bone chilling easterlies. Good company. Great day.

.....much needed and appreciated.

x

HA!

killed it
one hour
no help

...yeah yeah yeah....all you fucknuts that can do it in 20 minutes with your eyes closed......you know the drill..

and yes
killed the jumble
as well

chance

I felt captivated sitting in front of you...

occasionally
a dream
will speak
to me

formal affair

a dozen pair
of
sexy heels

not one
friggin
dress

digressions

um......Allan? Mr. Weisbecker?
shut up

seriously

please go back to writing television
or...something that keeps you
a bit more
focused

...and no. I don't mean..focused on yourself...

your latest?
like listening to a slow stutter

sp... sp... spit it out