Today marks the 5th year in a row that I have turned 25 years old or was it 24, I cant remember anymore. But seriously today is my 30th birthday and for the first time in my life I am not ashamed to admit to my true age. Im proud to have lived for thirty years. I mean that is quite an accomplishment especially for someone such as myself. Sure Im not a fire fighter or crack whore where your life is on the line everyday but there certainly have been plenty of close calls.
If someone would have asked me at twenty if I expected to be writing a blog about me turning thirty my first response would have been “what the fuck is a blog and why would I ever want to waste my time on something as pathetic as that?” after which I would have scoffed and declared I would never make it to that old age. I mean at twenty, thirty seems like a variable senior citizen. Im awaiting the arrival of my AARP card in the mail any day now.
Its nice to finally not be embarrassed or feel forced to conceal my age. Back when I was trying (in vain) to make it in the bullshit world of professional surfing anyone over the age of 25 was pretty much un-sponsor-able unless one had already made a name for oneself, which I had not. So every years since my actual 25th birthday I turned 25 again. Thanks to my “Portrait of Dorian Grey” like situation I could pull it off. When I went home for Christmas I was looking at pictures of myself back in high school and then my Berklee days to see if I have been losing any hair and I noticed an alarming stigma.
I have not really aged in the last 15 years. Yes I have grown a little bit more facial hair (mostly in my nose) and have a few stress lines on my forehead. Besides that I look pretty much the same. I weighted 135 lbs my junior year in high school now I fluctuate between 135-140 depending on how much I surf and eat. I dont know what that says about me or if I made some inadvertent deal with the devil like our friend Dorian, but so far forever young.
I only wish my body would hold up just as well, unfortunately I definitely have three times more aches and pains on a daily basis then when I really was 25. My back hurts nearly all the time, both my knees alternate on giving me shit and my neck hurts most days of the week. In other words I have a very nice stock of ibuprofen and thank mankind for such a miracle innovation.
Besides that I feel pretty good. My life is on a good track. I have a decent job and am in school working towards becoming a chef. Hopefully by the time Im 40 I can have enough money saved to get my Alpaca/Sheep/EMU farm/Vineyard in New Zealand I alaways talk about. If I do you are all invited to come live and work on my land, Emma Wood Ranch forever. Dont worry it wont be some hokey hippie commune or blue Nike wearing comet cult.
My surfing feels really good. I know I had a ton of bad luck this past fall, but since then I am surfing better then ever. A few of the older guys at Rincon have made a point to tell me how my backside attack at Rincon has finally come into its own. I dont really know what that means per say but I would like to think it is something positive. Hears to another year of living. Hooray for me I managed not to get hit by a car, stabbed by a bum or mauled by a tiger or the infinite other ways to die. Let me be the first to say Happy Birthday to myself (or the last considering it is 11pm).
Hooooooorahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Surfing Ruined My Life 