Has the Fabulousness of It All Rubbed Off on Me Yet?

I don't think so. I think I've got better things to do than worry about my clothes, my hair, my makeup and the like. The dreadlocks are still in full effect—sun-bleached and all over the place. My clothes are clean and somewhat stylish (as I had to do some serious shopping before I started this job), but that's all you get from me.

Basically, I kick ass at what I do. Period. I've never had a career. I don't believe in them. I'm not capable of staying in one job for a long period or of looking at the same walls for decades. Of all the jobs I've had, I will say that proofreading has always been the one I didn't hate. I can hang out and proofread for a year or two at just about any place. That is my goal here. And that's my only goal. They asked that I stay for a year or two. That's what I plan to do. After that? Who knows. Then again, if they are cool, I might stay longer. I don't foresee that though; I've never held one job for more than two years.

Anyway, I'm now making the transition from full-time free surfer to weekend warrior. It hasn't been difficult. No one was paying me to surf, so although my sessions were many, I could not ignore my concerns about the future. Once I got the job, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. I'm not fond of full-time work; I am fond of paying the bills. And that I can do now. Besides, surfing—like anything else—isn't always fun if you do it too often. It becomes routine. That's probably why I'd started going to the skatepark. It's why Joel Tudor started practicing jiu jitsu. Human beings need balance.

I had a good, long run of surfing for a good, long time. When I'm able to do dawn patrol, I will certainly do it about once a week. In the meantime, I'm staying in the pool and the weight room in order to stay fit for weekend warrior surfing.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm still fabulous . . . in my own inimitable way. I'll let the youngsters concern themselves with fashion. I, in the meantime, will sit at my desk with my shoes kicked off, dreadlocks in my face and my iPod on (because, really, I don't want to hear the word "like" used more than 10 times in one sentence again—"I was, like, you know, like, talking to them about Runway, like, every day and, like, it was just, like, pointless to keep talking since, like, we have another, like, next week and . . . .").

Promise to catch a wave for me when you paddle out. I would appreciate that. And I'll be around updating the blog. I just took a break this week since it was my first week and the kid was home sick with the flu all week.

What's that you say? Well, of course I'm already beginning discussions about having a new board shaped. I can do for myself while I pay the bills, can't I?