The Long and Short of It

I miss my longboard. There. I said it. I miss being on a longboard. I miss the glide. I miss the trim. I miss the feeling of security. Will that get me back on a longboard any time soon? Probably not (unless my shoulder continues to bother me). I paddled out today on the shorter board. The weren't any waves worth discussing, noting or even lying about. I'm simply putting my time in, trying to get this thing dialed in. It didn't help that I was at the home break dodging waves that jacked up and closed out. I still paddled out. I got a few rides. My pop-up is great at the beginning of a session. But after about an hour, things fall apart quickly. I somehow get stuck in the middle of the pop-up, too tired to keep it all together. It's as if my brain and my body shut down. Once that happens, I flounder on the shorter board. When it happens on a longboard, I can keep surfing. Everything is second nature. On this 7'0", I still need to think about what I'm doing. It's getting easier with each session though.

What would you do if someone approached you to sit down and discuss a possible reality TV show? Was that question vague enough for you? I can't get any more specific since I don't know specifics. Someone apparently thinks there might be some interest in a reality show about black surfers. That person approached the best-known black surfing group about this. The head of that group then approached me and a few others to sit down with the interested party. Here's my question: What's so interesting about black surfers? I can tell you my answer: nothing. What does being black have to do with making surfing anymore interesting or boring (depending on who your audience is) than it already is? I don't get it. And since reality shows are scripted, what exactly would the producers want to disseminate to the world about black folks who surf? I'll go to this little sit down, but it's more out of curiosity than anything else. Frankly, I think my issues related to surfing have more to do with being a middle-aged woman than they do with being black. The one thing I can say about being a surfer who's black is that no matter how much time non-black surfers spend in the sun, I still have a better tan! Aloha ya'll!