Surfing Lesson, Living the Clichés, Weighing the Costs.

No -that's not me.

I went surfing today for the first time. I finally did it. It was one of the things in my bag-o'-tricks that I've always wanted to try. I wiped out, wished I had longer arms, and got schooled. And that wetsuit is quite possibly the tightest thing I've ever put on my body. Second skin, no joke! After finally getting the thing on I was tired!  Anyhew, a whole lot of paddling out, gaining my balance, and riding the waves.  Bellyboarding it and then did manage to make it on the knees.  Must work up to standing up.

Note to self: Need to do daily push-ups regimen before going surfing again.

My arms are definitely feeling the workout. My wrists and forearms, achy from what I suspect to be from the strain on my existing tendonitis/carpal tunnel issues. Will ignore for the time being.

Living the Dream - I mean, Clichés
As I write this on my laptop, I am sitting in a cafe near my apartment. Doing what else? Writing. Working on my screenplay. How trite, I think. But hey - if that's what it takes to make me write, I will DO IT! I am in Sherman Oaks, and in this particular cafe there are other writers, students, and laptop-toting nerds. I get the sense that I'm among my peers. Or maybe a bunch that didn't want to sit in their hot ass apartment since it must be 92 degrees today.

I've been reading a lot of things lately. Steven Pressfield's The War of Art. The Bible. Stuff on the Matador Network. I wonder if it would make any difference if I was writing a novel in a café in Paris. Or Buenos Aires. Or Prague. Who are these people, anyway? Does anyone really write novels in cafés, gallivanting through Europe? I would like to know. That cliché is a dream of mine - no, really. Writing novels in cafés in Europe sounds MUCH more romantic than going to Panera and staking out a claim on a table near an outlet. Ooh, baby. Being surrounded by a foreign language and ordering café au laits.

COTW [crush-of-the-week]

Easy-on-the-eyes surfers. Sure, you're cute, but why can't you make me laugh?

Costs of Commitment
I just sent a check for $195 to renew my car registration for a year.

Out of sheer curiosity, I checked what the cost would be back in Pennsylvania, in the place of my hometown. Cost of renewal? $36.

Lines and Words and Conversations[lines-of-the-week lotw]

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Don't teach a man to fish, and you feed yourself. He's a grown man. Fishing's not that hard." Ron, Parks and Recreation.

peoplesuck. Adjective. Doing a peoplesuck thing. Saying a peoplesuck comment to show that YOU are one of those PEOPLE that SUCK. You know, kind of like a buzzkill. But worse. Wonder if this one will catch on.

In Conversation
Me: "I kinda want to go shopping. I like clothes that are versatile that can go from work to after hours."
Friend: "Yeah. You could go shopping."
Me: "I will. For versatile clothes."
Friend: "Or you could just change clothes."