Just for Kicks
It’s nothing new.
We’ve all heard it throughout our lives. We’ve all overused the word, or the idea, when describing anything from music to the Brewers to fashion. And it has captured me within a lifestyle.
It’s passion.
Being truly passionate about something goes a long way for your mental health, your character and keeping motivated in life. I consider myself very fortunate for having several strong passions in my life that I thoroughly enjoy and that help me strive to better myself.
One of the first things I remember being passionate about as a child, aside from drawing and super heroes, was breeding red-eyed tree frogs. This is not considered an easy task. But at the age of eight, I created the ideal climate for breeding and mastered the construction of an artificial beach. Several years later when I was 13-years old I fell in love with aggressive skating. So much so that I quit playing all organized sports I was involved in at the time – basketball, football, soccer and baseball – so that my weeknights and weekends were not wasted with practices and sporting events/tournaments.
I was now truly focused and committed to something in life and had little time for distractions. Skating gave me an outlet to express myself, a new sense of freedom, a feeling of accomplishment, the opportunity to explore my urban surroundings and reason to travel to new places.
Whenever driving in a car or walking down a city street I can’t help but to look at architecture and wonder if I could skate that or perform a specific trick on that angled wedge up against a wall in that one alley way. I often wonder if my eye for skate spots will ever leave me, or if I will be someday be a 70-year old man who drives past a handrail in the city and is reminded of skating. My dedication to skating helped me define who I was, and introduced me to a lot of new things over the years.
15-years later I am married, have two children, work full-time as video editor/videographer for B+L and still find time to skate. And it was skating that got me into video production.
I remember being 14-years old and sneaking my friend’s parents’ video camera out of their house so that I could film my friends skating. Soon after, I began wiring VCRs and tuners to each other so I could turn our skate footage into skate videos.
Another passion of mine was born.
And it sure does feel great to have a career in a field that I am truly passionate about. My passions now weave together with each chance I have to create and skate. I invite you to view my film “Abstract Art II” and enjoy these passions of mine.