2009, we hardly knew you.

It's been a rough year, no question about it. We've pulled through and the prospects from 2010 look decent. I managed to make A's in both classes this past semester, something that I had not yet accomplished (always an A and a B). Mica graduated from UT this past semester, so the future will hopefully be bright.

Here are a couple of the last shots of 2009. We got the the skatepark Sunday morning and the gates were locked, which caused some consternation because the thermometer was actually above 49. This concrete wall on a column for the interstate is right outside of the park and it gives me a laugh to see how much we ride that when we have this nice park 100 feet away.


It seems like if you are gonna hail from Knoxville as a BMX'er...you better be able to do a hop wallride from flat. The ghost of Bobby Fisher mandates this. Lumberjack enthusiast Corey obliges...


I am thinking about doing some different stuff with the blog in 2010, so we'll see what happens. Stay tuned.

Thanksgiving...or the day my appendix died.

I got up this morning to some pretty sharp pain in my side...where my appendix is...and I know that I still have mine, so I am a little worried that I am about to visit the hospital over the next 24 hours. Sweet.

I rode the other night at the park and several of the dudes were in attendance, so that was pretty good. A healthy mix of skaters and BMX all getting along. I can only assume that it was due to the holiday season being upon us.

Out of all the pictures I snapped, this one of Neebo is my favorite. He was working on these over-footjams and the emptiness of the park in the picture really looked nice.


I really enjoy riding with Tim; he's got a good style and a pretty good attitude about things.




Adam might have left cougar-town, but he's still a funny retard that makes a session interesting. Even if he's uglier than Dak...



David is now the unofficial local park shredder, I reckon. He's got a hand-me-down bike and makes me feel bad for owning a dialed machine, but I'll get over it.


My daughter cleaned up her room in anticipation of getting more stuff to fill it with for Christmas. I was standing outside helping Mica with the lights when I took this. Creeping...


In the process of cleaning, she found her Curious George that I got her some time ago...like 2 years...and Garrett took over.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So I got to thinking...

about getting to meet the man that inspired me in such a way after posting about it earlier today. I had met Joe before when he rode for Standard while Bobby rode for them and he was nice as could be back then. That was during the Superdome days, and I can still see Taj doing downside whips on vert while "We Are 138" plays in my head. The next time I would see the Ultimate Male was on New Year's Day, 2008. It was cold and he was busier than he'd have liked, but he still obliged my visit to Terrible One and let me ride the ramp, albeit by myself. I was so awestruck by everything that I never thought to get my picture taken with him or anything like that. In fact, this is the only shot I have of him...


Oh well. If I ever meet him again, I'll be better equipped mentally.

As I was flicking through my pics of that day, I ran across this...Joe Rich poops there...

10 years later and I still wanna live lightly...

A friend put up the Joe Rich Props interview on youtube today (see it here)and there is not really a way that I can quantify how much these 9 minutes shaped my BMX life. I never managed to grow any dreads or get tattoos, but I did try to stay positive in the face of some pretty harsh things (two knee surgeries) and when confronted with trying a new trick, I would ask myself, "would Joe Rich hesitate right now?"

It was a seminal item for me. These days it feels like Terrible One is more of an ideal than a company, but what Joe and Taj put out there at the end of the 1990's was real and tactile and had more of an impact than I think they realize.

Now I want to build a street spine.

My appearance is substandard.

I have now given three speeches in my public speaking class. On the two of them, I have had points deducted for my appearance being "substandard". Nice.

Garrett is getting more and more capable. This is truly a joy to see and I am thankful that I have people in my life that we able to help me get things back in order.

I guess he owes Ocean some strings, but damn, he really likes that guitar...


They are getting bigger and I am getting older.


My arm is really sore right now, but I tried to ride anyways. Things are stabilizing in my head, but I still feel a little off. I took some pictures...Adam getting radical...


Tim has these tire slides in the bowl that are a delight. The Sword would probably approve...

Getting back to normal...

It's been a crazy last few weeks, but we are getting back to it. Garrett is doing so awesome with his potty training...he gets up on his own (usually by calling for one of us) in the middle of the night to make deposits in the pee bank, which is excellent for a three-year-old.

Anna is killing it in school and was a great zombie cheerleader for Halloween (pics later). I am so very proud of that kid.

Ocean has switched back to skateboarding again. This would be frustrating as hell were it not for the fact that his bike was so unbelievably inexpensive.

Phoenix needs to use less conditioner.

This "house check" for the BMX house in Austin, TX was awesome. I lived in a rider house for a bit and looking back...it was probably some of the best fun I had in my 20's. God, that was a long time ago.

http://www.odysseybmx.com/dailyword/2009/11/austin-bmx-house-check/

Of patches and pumpkins

We took the kids to the corn maze/pumpkin patch on Sunday. It was a very much a wonderful time and I am pretty sure they had a great day, which is all I can ask for as a father.

More to come...

All of these worlds are yours except Europa.

Attempt no landings there.

I saw this title on a Gizmodo blog earlier in the week and it served to remind me how much I love that line from 2010: The Year We Make Contact. I feel like I missed my calling, since I am absolutely captivated by anything that has to do with space exploration. Anna seems to have an interest in it though, so perhaps I will live vicariously through her. The idea that there is a vast intelligence out there that essentially gives the evolutionary process a nudge is tantalizing, to say the least.

So, on to other things. Given the current state of affairs, the motivation to ride my bike or get out and take pictures has been sapped. My world is very much in limbo, which affects everything. My focus on school has not been as sharp, while my focus on work has increased in an effort to occupy my mind so that I do not dwell on what lay ahead of me and my family. It is my hope that a return to sanity and normalcy is on the horizon and that sound reason will dictate matters...not raw emotion.

So, while the will to do much else has been absent, I was coaxed outside on a Sunday a few weeks back and took some pictures of friends from Johnson City. All of those guys are committed riders and are genuinely good humans as well. Check it...


Jake Hunter with experiments in facial hair!


Jake Booher with failures in facial hair. Makes up for it in boost.


Will Love with confirmation that he is pretty good.


I can never remember this guy's name. Sorry, good guy.

So, Garrett is in the living room with Anna reading some books, so I will have some more pics up later of kids. Being a dad ain't at all bad.

The old world is rapidly fading.

Yes, the times they are a changing. It's pretty unoriginal to quote Bob Dylan here, but that is just about the best way I can sum up what is happening in the world concerning my family. Many of you know the situation that I am facing, and I appreciate the concern and kindness that I have received from my friends. I really don't want to get into it here, but just know that we are working very hard to get things back to normal. The kids are stressed out about as much as Mica and I are, but everyone knows that no matter what happens, we're still a family and nothing will tear that down.

We got to celebrate Garrett's birthday last weekend, and with the inclusion of BMX stuff, skateboard stuff and pizza, the G was in some sort of 3 year old boy heaven.

Under the watchful eye of big sister as he makes his wish...


My little sister Jaime brought Anna and Garrett's cousins for the celebration. This shot was about as close as I got to getting them all in there...Aiden is chilling on the floor...Madison is breathing on someone out of the frame...


We had a pinata, and though he is blurry, the look on my son's face is priceless. Also...looks like he might be a lefty. Just like his old man. We're awesome.


Aunt Amy sent over a special pillow case for his birthday that he loved. He made great use of it after passing out at the end of a really awesome day. I'll eat you up I love you so...


I'll have some BMX pics up in a bit. Thanks to Corey for the header design. I am a fan.

Happy birthday, son.

We've come a long way from the day you came home.


We've got many more years of wrestling time and seesaw riding ahead of us.

Happy 3rd birthday. I love you.

Things have changed.

That is all I can say right now. Well, I can also say this...

I'll eat you up I love you so.

Honk if Fox News needs a death panel...

So I finally got around to uploading some beach pictures to the big computer that I am on now. The beach is an oddity for me. My love of BMX tells me that I need to live in Austin, TX, but the rest of me wants to be near the sea for the rest of my days. I cannot account for this other than to believe that this is the substance from whence we originated all those eons ago and that we as a species are wired to be drawn to it.



Look! A Hemingway book!


Mica looked really nice here, and this was a pretty awesome evening on the beach. So really, the picture could not fail, despite my inability to photograph.


This picture was important for me to have. These two people are at least half the reason that I am alive, and they are excellent in so many ways. I really hope that healthcare stuff goes through because they deserve it. I'd gladly pay a little more for them to be taken care of.


Kid pics on the last days of summer. Anna loves school so she is stoked.

Garrett is just happy to be a part of things. In less than a month, he will be three.


Ocean got a new frame thanks to the awesome that is BMX board. 13 bucks is a hell of a price to pay for a bike. Chris is awesome.

It's not the heat...it's the humidity...and the miles.

My knees are killing me a little. When I have rode the last two times, I have had to cut the sessions short because of the aching in them. I am gonna try icing them and try doing some stretches. If that doesn't work, I might just start eating Advil again. So, I was looking at old pictures that I have stored on the internet and found some of old bike set-ups and old pictures. I think I might have even posted some of these before, but it is always interesting to look back at how horrible of a rider I used to be and how I have progressed to "just being not all that good".

Anyways, here is a shot of my Barcode, circa 2003. I had just gotten laid off of work and gotten a pretty nice severance package. It was just Anna and I, so after I bought her an inordinate amount of toys, I treated myself to a new bike...


Compare that to my current T-1...we've come a little ways...


This was me on my electric blue STA in 1999. I had just exited a very bad relationship and moved in with Robert Lee Fisher. He got me a deal on a new frame and I ran with it. This bike was probably as heavy as two modern bikes. Full english hop to ledge feeble...


I can't even tell you the last feeble grind I did. Now it's all about the 270's over the hip. (poached from Corey's site)...


I would be unwise to not mention that I am now engaged! So I will mention it...here. Thanks for the well wishes, facebook people!

It's eye opening when...

TerribleOne updates their page 3 times since my last update. Yeah, I have been really slack. I have no excuse other than the usual- school, work, kids, taking Mica to Nashville so she can see Neko Case. By now, I know my way around the city pretty well. I rode the concrete park and bashed my knee...


So after I dropped Mica and Shelly off at the Ryman for the show, I motored to 6th Ave. skatepark and rode with about 6 other skaters for a little over an hour. It was hot and I was the only BMX'er so I wore myself out.


The Corey had his house warming party a bit back and I took some pictures of the proceedings. His house is amazing and I am really stoked for him and Shauna. I am gonna continue to pressure him on the desk. DESK.
Stick your wiener in the cook's mouth...



Always watching, always judging...


I have officially pulled 2 of these on transition. Old dogs represent.


Corey has tables OVER the hip now. Way the hell over.


So, I might take this coming week off of work. I am done with school and need a little break. Also, this is awesome- ULTIMATE MALE