Because you said I should post this.

This is part of an ongoing effort to share details about my life with you in lieu of having your countenance opposite me at a dinner table or curled around each other on the sofa, or on the grass in Cental Park.

How do I spend my time? Well, this past summer (which extended well into October) I finally realized a lifelong dream of learning to surf.


As a very young boy I remember vividly how the fire Island surfers would paddle out and over these impossibly tall, steep waves. It seemed to me that they would float all day on the swell, catching random waves and almost before they finished the ride, would turn around and head right back out.

I've often lived in places that had great surfing but somehow never seemed to make it happen. Then this past summer, when I received a birthday check for $100 in the mail from my mother with an admonishment to only spend it on something fun, I turned to my favorite marketplace; Craigslist. Within one day, I was walking back from the west village with my new, used board under my arm and no idea what to do with it except to head out to Rockaway Beach.

I learned how to navigate the subway system with a 7'-6" piece of fiberglass that seemed to be magnetically attracted to other people's heads. Interestingly, few folks took it personally and actually seemed to like the idea that they could be conked on the noggin with a surfboard in the NYC subway. I wound up meeting more nifty people last summer in this way.

I realize that I haven't really said that much about the actual surfing part, but that's because I learned that it's all about the process and not always about standing up on the board on a wave.

Coming soon: A picture of me in September on the beach not standing on my new surfboard and not riding a wave.