I don't know about you but this really makes me want to grab my board and go shred!
Wednesday 9 October 2013
New Season!
So, as some of you may know, the summer season has finished and the winter season is now upon us! I love the surf season (and I went on a surfing holiday this year too) but there's always something extra exciting about the snowboarding season and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe it's the idea of a new jacket and getting my board out after it's been sleeping over the summer and the coldness that hits your face and makes your nose feel like it's going to fall off (don't judge but I love that feeling) and of course the perfection of white crunchy snow, especially bending tree branches over.
I read Cooler magazine (I would recommend - so READ it) and I always look forward to the first winter issue of the year. It's just come through the post and it's sitting waiting to be read and I can't wait to stare at the nice boards...... Every year I pick out the board that I would have if money were no object, so let's see what it will be this year. It was a DC one last year and oh my it was nice.
So Carissa Moore was crowned the 2013 ASP women's world tour winner and all I can say is congratulations to her! It still seems slightly strange to hear that someone else has won the title because everybody just automatically presumes that Steph Gilmore will hold her reign, but it seems that the times have been changing over the last few years (about time to mix it up really).
So I hope the new season brings great things for you all both on and off of the slope, and let's get awesome!
I read Cooler magazine (I would recommend - so READ it) and I always look forward to the first winter issue of the year. It's just come through the post and it's sitting waiting to be read and I can't wait to stare at the nice boards...... Every year I pick out the board that I would have if money were no object, so let's see what it will be this year. It was a DC one last year and oh my it was nice.
So Carissa Moore was crowned the 2013 ASP women's world tour winner and all I can say is congratulations to her! It still seems slightly strange to hear that someone else has won the title because everybody just automatically presumes that Steph Gilmore will hold her reign, but it seems that the times have been changing over the last few years (about time to mix it up really).
So I hope the new season brings great things for you all both on and off of the slope, and let's get awesome!
Friday 4 October 2013
It Won't Stop
For three days my world has been full again. It's been full of H. She came to stay with me at uni and it felt right again. Before she came to stay, I managed twelve days without her and I missed her everyday. Twelve days seems like quite a long time and it especially feels like I've been here for a long time, so I thought that I would miss her a little bit less everyday but it's not working like that. Although I suppose the fact that I miss her reminds me that I'm lucky to have somebody to miss because it means that she's important. And she really is.
I waited for her at the station and we ran up to each other when she got off the train. Then the next three days ensued and we talked and drank coffee and ate chocolate and listened to Taylor Swift and laid on the floor and linked arms and made a bucket list and drunk a bit too much wine. We never need to do a lot just because we enjoy being in each other's company so much and that's why we talked continuously for three days. For three whole days we talked. And we stayed up through the night.
It's her birthday in a few days and obviously I won't be there which is a horrible thought for me because who wants to miss their best friend's birthday? She's going to phone me but it's never the same and Skype is never the same. Nothing is as good as seeing somebody face to face, but for now that's the closest that it will be.
But now she's gone.
We had a Starbucks breakfast this morning and I walked to the station with her (which was probably a bad idea in the first place) but we said goodbye and I managed to get out of the station before it started. It was like the last goodbye all over again and I cried the whole way back. The goodbye's keep happening and I can't stop them, if only I could. Although they're only temporary goodbye's until the next time I see her, they don't get any easier. And I don't think they ever will. She's such a huge part of my life that I still can't believe it when I turn around and she's not there. I see her face in every crowd and it hurts to be without her so much.
When I got back from the station, I walked into the flat and my flat mates just stared at me. I'd guessed that I would probably have red eyes but I looked in the mirror to be confronted with red eyes, tear streaks and mascara smudged and dripping down my face. It was proper movie-style crying. I realised then that I looked like Carrie out of the Sex and the City movie when she takes her sunglasses off in her hotel bathroom in Mexico. I don't think that they really knew what to say to me because they all looked as if they actually wanted to say 'seriously why are you crying because your friend has left?' and all I wanted then was a hug, but I didn't get one. I felt like saying 'thanks for the compassion guys'. I mean, they could have at least pretended to understand. Then I thought that different things affect different people and this is just one of the things that gets me. It really does get to me.
It's not pretty when you feel like that and it never will be.
I waited for her at the station and we ran up to each other when she got off the train. Then the next three days ensued and we talked and drank coffee and ate chocolate and listened to Taylor Swift and laid on the floor and linked arms and made a bucket list and drunk a bit too much wine. We never need to do a lot just because we enjoy being in each other's company so much and that's why we talked continuously for three days. For three whole days we talked. And we stayed up through the night.
It's her birthday in a few days and obviously I won't be there which is a horrible thought for me because who wants to miss their best friend's birthday? She's going to phone me but it's never the same and Skype is never the same. Nothing is as good as seeing somebody face to face, but for now that's the closest that it will be.
But now she's gone.
We had a Starbucks breakfast this morning and I walked to the station with her (which was probably a bad idea in the first place) but we said goodbye and I managed to get out of the station before it started. It was like the last goodbye all over again and I cried the whole way back. The goodbye's keep happening and I can't stop them, if only I could. Although they're only temporary goodbye's until the next time I see her, they don't get any easier. And I don't think they ever will. She's such a huge part of my life that I still can't believe it when I turn around and she's not there. I see her face in every crowd and it hurts to be without her so much.
When I got back from the station, I walked into the flat and my flat mates just stared at me. I'd guessed that I would probably have red eyes but I looked in the mirror to be confronted with red eyes, tear streaks and mascara smudged and dripping down my face. It was proper movie-style crying. I realised then that I looked like Carrie out of the Sex and the City movie when she takes her sunglasses off in her hotel bathroom in Mexico. I don't think that they really knew what to say to me because they all looked as if they actually wanted to say 'seriously why are you crying because your friend has left?' and all I wanted then was a hug, but I didn't get one. I felt like saying 'thanks for the compassion guys'. I mean, they could have at least pretended to understand. Then I thought that different things affect different people and this is just one of the things that gets me. It really does get to me.
It's not pretty when you feel like that and it never will be.
Tuesday 1 October 2013
Dear Fifteen Year Old Self...
When asked in an interview behind the scenes of her film 'The Women' what advice she would give her fifteen year old self, Meg Ryan simply said 'be as you as you can be'. It struck me that I think this is probably the best piece of advice that anybody could give. I have recently found that people don't want to know the altered version of you because they want to know the real you (it really is true, trust me).
So my motto in life is a combination of Meg's advice and just to follow your heart or your gut or whatever it is that points you to a decision or a life choice or a person because the best thing that you can do in life is be true to yourself. Remember that it's your life and you can do what you want with it, love who you want and be who you want. There will always be haters in whatever you do, but they're only haters because they're jealous, scared or confused. Simple as.
Being fifteen feels like so long ago but it wasn't and because so many things have changed since then, and I've changed, I've come to realise that people and things change and that the person that you are at fifteen probably won't be the person that you grow in to. It got me thinking what my advice to myself would be. So the number one piece of advice that I would give myself would be to be confident (because then everything else falls into place). Number two would be to be confident. Number three would be to be confident. And number four would be to get my hair cut because it looked so bad long (deep stuff I know).
But most of all in life, never be anything except yourself.
So my motto in life is a combination of Meg's advice and just to follow your heart or your gut or whatever it is that points you to a decision or a life choice or a person because the best thing that you can do in life is be true to yourself. Remember that it's your life and you can do what you want with it, love who you want and be who you want. There will always be haters in whatever you do, but they're only haters because they're jealous, scared or confused. Simple as.
Being fifteen feels like so long ago but it wasn't and because so many things have changed since then, and I've changed, I've come to realise that people and things change and that the person that you are at fifteen probably won't be the person that you grow in to. It got me thinking what my advice to myself would be. So the number one piece of advice that I would give myself would be to be confident (because then everything else falls into place). Number two would be to be confident. Number three would be to be confident. And number four would be to get my hair cut because it looked so bad long (deep stuff I know).
But most of all in life, never be anything except yourself.
Too Sexy?
There's been a discussion recently in the surfing industry that says maybe female surfers are only getting attention (especially from the boys!) because they're sexy. But unless people hadn't realised, it's kind of hard not to be sexy in a bikini. Anybody is sexy as long as they're confident and that's one of the important factors in surfing, so going on that theory, all of the surfers are sexy because they're confident.
I have a few opinions on this topic. Part of me says that any attention towards the female surfers is a great thing because we're still too outnumbered by all the guys and even the press. I mean, have you noticed how when you look at all the magazines in the shops there's only one or two female surfing or boardsports magazines and it annoys me, so that's why I think that any attention is good attention.
But then I do think that us girly surfers are being overlooked because of how we look in a bikini. Girl surfers are a talented bunch of people - look at Steph Gilmore (5 X ASP world tour winner!), Laura Enever, Malia Manuel, Sally Fitzgibbons, Lakey Peterson and Layne Beachley....... the list can go on. And look even at how young most of them are because that should hold some sort of relevance surely. These girls are at the forefront of female surfing, but still the guys are only talking about Alana Blanchard because of her little black bikini. Don't get me wrong, she is beautiful and if I walked past her on the beach I might end up staring but she has talent too and beauty is only part of the sport. Most people seem to forget that what you do with the board is why we all love it. If we wanted to be admired by how we look in a bikini all year round lets all go and move somewhere sunny! Although (maybe a hypocritical point) I partly think if you've got it, show it off!
Another part of the argument is that it's not setting a good example to young girls that think you have to be pretty in order to be a surfer. Obviously this isn't true, but I definitely agree that it does look like that is the case. It's sad to think that girls aren't heading down to the beach because they think they're not pretty enough. But pretty is feeling confident and laughing and not caring what anybody else thinks and having fun.
I love the surf film 'Leave A Message'. Firstly because the surfing is kick-ass, secondly because it's great to have a girls only surf film, thirdly because it looks like they're having fun and lastly because it's a great spreader of stoke (it definitely keeps my stoke up). There's a section at the end where they're all wrestling in the sand and Laura Enever is wearing a cut off wetsuit but apparently this scene is too sexy? People have said that girls wrestling is too sexy? I've never heard anybody say that male wrestling is too hot so why should girls doing it make a difference? And Laura's in a wetsuit, so it's not like all of them are exposing a lot. I've seen this film a million times (literally a million - my mum even asked me why I watch it so much) and never had the thought that it was too sexy occurred to me. But I'm not going to lie, I did notice the smallness of Monyca Byrne-Wickey's bikini. And now whenever I watch it, all I can think about is the 'sexyness' of the wrestling scene and I still even don't think it's sexy!!
Kelly Slater. He gets comments about his looks. The guys get the comments too, ok so no where near as much as us but they still get it.
Maybe the comments about the bikinied girls are the catalysts for exposure, because maybe all of this hype will sometime turn into hype about the actual skill of female surfers. Maybe once the guys start accepting the girls as equal, we'll start seeing more female magazines and more girls in guys magazines. I was flicking through a magazine in a shop the other day and came across a two page spread about a female surfer (I can't remember who it was now) and I had to hold in a celebratory 'YES!' - so I think it's happening but just pretty slowly.
I have a few opinions on this topic. Part of me says that any attention towards the female surfers is a great thing because we're still too outnumbered by all the guys and even the press. I mean, have you noticed how when you look at all the magazines in the shops there's only one or two female surfing or boardsports magazines and it annoys me, so that's why I think that any attention is good attention.
But then I do think that us girly surfers are being overlooked because of how we look in a bikini. Girl surfers are a talented bunch of people - look at Steph Gilmore (5 X ASP world tour winner!), Laura Enever, Malia Manuel, Sally Fitzgibbons, Lakey Peterson and Layne Beachley....... the list can go on. And look even at how young most of them are because that should hold some sort of relevance surely. These girls are at the forefront of female surfing, but still the guys are only talking about Alana Blanchard because of her little black bikini. Don't get me wrong, she is beautiful and if I walked past her on the beach I might end up staring but she has talent too and beauty is only part of the sport. Most people seem to forget that what you do with the board is why we all love it. If we wanted to be admired by how we look in a bikini all year round lets all go and move somewhere sunny! Although (maybe a hypocritical point) I partly think if you've got it, show it off!
Another part of the argument is that it's not setting a good example to young girls that think you have to be pretty in order to be a surfer. Obviously this isn't true, but I definitely agree that it does look like that is the case. It's sad to think that girls aren't heading down to the beach because they think they're not pretty enough. But pretty is feeling confident and laughing and not caring what anybody else thinks and having fun.
I love the surf film 'Leave A Message'. Firstly because the surfing is kick-ass, secondly because it's great to have a girls only surf film, thirdly because it looks like they're having fun and lastly because it's a great spreader of stoke (it definitely keeps my stoke up). There's a section at the end where they're all wrestling in the sand and Laura Enever is wearing a cut off wetsuit but apparently this scene is too sexy? People have said that girls wrestling is too sexy? I've never heard anybody say that male wrestling is too hot so why should girls doing it make a difference? And Laura's in a wetsuit, so it's not like all of them are exposing a lot. I've seen this film a million times (literally a million - my mum even asked me why I watch it so much) and never had the thought that it was too sexy occurred to me. But I'm not going to lie, I did notice the smallness of Monyca Byrne-Wickey's bikini. And now whenever I watch it, all I can think about is the 'sexyness' of the wrestling scene and I still even don't think it's sexy!!
Kelly Slater. He gets comments about his looks. The guys get the comments too, ok so no where near as much as us but they still get it.
Maybe the comments about the bikinied girls are the catalysts for exposure, because maybe all of this hype will sometime turn into hype about the actual skill of female surfers. Maybe once the guys start accepting the girls as equal, we'll start seeing more female magazines and more girls in guys magazines. I was flicking through a magazine in a shop the other day and came across a two page spread about a female surfer (I can't remember who it was now) and I had to hold in a celebratory 'YES!' - so I think it's happening but just pretty slowly.
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