well i'm 22 today, and i've been looking forward to it for a while. 22 doesn't happen to a particularly important age, other than letting people know i'm getting slightly older then they are. i just view each birthday as a new beginning. a chance to make this year of my life a little bit better than the last one. a chance to improve upon my weaknesses, and strengthen what is already strong in my life. whether that be personal relationships, or commitments to things, or whatever. just to be a better person.
most people try to make that decision at new years, but i feel like when i do it for my birthday its always a little easier to keep things looking up.
anyway i just wanted to say how grateful i am for the people that surround me, the people in the community, and the people that influence me. i try to stay around positive people, and i try to stay positive around people. negativity gets you nowhere, and a negative environment is destructive to everyone. so i try to put forth that extra effort to be a nice guy, even when i don't want to be. and the more i do it, the easier it gets.
thanks to the people that inspire me. most people inspire me at one time or another. there is one that i'd like to mention today though, because he seems to keep popping up in things that i do, or read, and such. he's Kevin Wilkins.
many of you won't know him, but he's the editor at The Skateboard Mag. he lives here in lincoln, which i think is pretty neat. yes i said neat. anyway i absolutely am amazed by his work. he has a piece in (i'm pretty sure) every issue, and every time, without fail, i'm pumped on something after i read it. whether its wanting to get out there and go shred, or maybe its to get out there and take more time to film a trick a little better, or just try and improve my writing, which i'll admit is generally hit or miss. haha what even get me going more, is to be able to send him some of my stuff some day and have him say "i dig it." not that that would be something he'd say. i mean i wouldn't know, i've only talked to him a handful of times, but he might say that. the point is, is that he's out there doing things that inspire me to become a better skate/filmer/writer/person. and that's the sort of things that i love having in my life.maybe its the accessibility that does it. lets face it, having the editor or a major skate magazine living in your town is pretty tight. but i think its more than that. he's out there doing what he loves, and making the best of the opportunity he's been given, and those are things i want for myself. maybe its all the hype that is constant in the skate industry. every thing and person seems on be on a pedestal these days. there's a rift that seems to be growing between pros and industry heads, and just regular skaters. people are forgetting that pros are just regular skaters too. we're all here because we love it. maybe its because the magazine is the best out there. yeah i said it. the BEST out there. who know what the reason it. if nothing else its because he's an amazing writer. period. and as long as he can inspire, that's all right with me.
idk. anyway... today is my birthday, and its a whole new chapter. a chance to grow. a new sheet of paper on which to write my life story. a new beginning. you get the idea right? haha so i'm off to war- head held high, and guns blazing. i'll become a better writer, or a better filmer, or a better skater, or just a better person. any of which sounds like a great idea. i'd be happy with one, but will plan on them all, because if the last year of my life has taught me anything, its that i can't sell myself short.
so happy birthday to me! huzzah!
