56/100

Senior year of high school I worked at skate shop and when I wasn't fitting dudes for Etnies and DVS shoes or decks with Indie trucks I sat on the counter and watched skate videos. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of skate videos.

Even when I wasn't working I spent my free-time, flip flops dangling over the side of my boyfriend's backyard vert ramp, hand-built by his roommate and painted over by an artist, who kept a studio in the garage. When it got too dark to skate we all went inside, watched more skate videos, me decked head to toe in my boyfriend's sponsors, pro-ho-ho-ho.

The skate-shop moved locations soon after I left and my ex-boyfriend's house has since been demolished like many other personal landmarks, making way for strip malls and parking lots, but I still have a soft spot for skateboarding, no matter how many demons were born and bred from those times.

I was never attracted to hunky athletes in high school. The jocks were never my thing. For a year or two it was all about the surfers but after that? I only had eyes for boys on skateboards. Ten+ years later, I still can't help but turn my head when hearing the grumbled sound of four tiny wheels on asphalt, the snap of an ollie off a curb...

Don't know if that will ever change.

Mark Gonzales (who stars in the below video) was a god to every boy I knew. Still is today I imagine. With good reason:


56. West Coast by: Coconut Records

GGC

15 comments:

Emmie Bee | 8:42 AM

Yes. This was me in junior high & in high school. Except for me it was dudes on skateboards WITH LONG HAIR. Causing me to spend many moments checking out a hot dude only to realize it was a chick. That shoulder length middle parted straight hair got me every time. You could always find me watching the boys skate or watching their garage bands practice. In my birdhouse sweatshirt with the frog, my white hook-ups shoes & carrying my (barely skated) board. Ohhhhh the good ol days!

meredyth | 9:08 AM

I was always one for the shaggy hair (not the long like Emmie Bee). Even to this day, when my bf had the shaggy hair it made me oh so happy. And when I found out he used to skate (badly) AND play guitar, well it's no wonder we're talking about marriage.

My favorite skater to watch on videos with my friends was always Rodney Mullen. But the guy in this video might usurp him.

candace | 10:22 AM

Yup married a skater! I'm pretty sure that was the initial attraction between us.

I remember watching x-games at work with some dude I didn't know and when the roller bladders came on I said "stupid master-bladders" (as a proper betty would have said in the 90s) and he was instantly hooked! I was 19 and he 21, been together ever since (11 years) and I agree I will be hooked on those 4 wheels for life!

C (Kid Things) | 10:57 AM

I was always one for skaters, too. Preferably with long hair. If I couldn't have a rock star, my next choice was a skater. Lucky for me, my husband was a mix of both.

Amy | 12:47 PM

God, Gonzales is so fluid, so smooth. He flows like water. Gorgeous.

Amanda | 1:52 PM

Yep, definitely fell in "love" with the skaters in high school. My first boyfriend was a skater, many of my guy friends were there practicing off a ten stair as I swam laps in swim practice 50 feet away and eventually my little brothers got into the lifestyle and we bonded over Bam Margera's show on MTV and Jackass (Ohhhh Johnny Knoxville...). I'll always hold a fondness for skaters and they've actually turned me on to a lot of great music.

To bad they broke just as many hearts as they did decks.

Olivia Singleton | 2:16 PM

I remember being on a date with a perfectly nice boy. When I saw a boy drive by with tattoos on his arms I automatically thought about how attracted I was to him rather than the straight laced boy standing by my side. There is just something about guys and tattoos that gets me every time.

Anonymous | 2:18 PM

Ordinarily I hate it when people makes passing remarks about skateboarding, since it so often seems like the people doing the talking don't know what the hell they're talking about. But you sound like a real fan, Ms. Woolf. I like that. The first thing my husband and I talked about (before we were husband and wife) was skateboarding. We now take our kid to a skatepark every weekend, weather permitting. It's a huge part of our lives.

The Gonz is awesome, but Rodney Mullen is still my all time fave (ultra-fruity 80s freestyle stuff aside).

Carrie | 2:29 PM

That noise of trucks on the sidewalk always turns my head even though these days it's more likely some 12-year-old chubby wassup rocker kid, not a fine punk rock skater. It still makes me smile even as it makes me feel OLD. My first love was a skater and my husband still skates at 40. Love it!

Unknown | 3:37 PM

Yup, skateboard radar. 25 and I still have it. I wondered if it would ever go away. But I suppose some day my kid's friends will be skating around and I'll still turn around instantly thinking "cute boy?".

Allie Rose | 5:37 PM

I also worked at a skate/surf shop. If you can call it "work". When we weren't watching skate videos and making burrito runs, we were sitting on the couch playing video games.

And, Oh! Those skater boys - from the grungy to the ones that rocked all of the fresh skate clothes.

Sigh.

elle Vee | 4:52 AM

This is one of my favorite albums for summertime. Nothing like it for hot car driving. Heart the Schwartz.

Jessica Peck | 5:45 AM

Agreed! Love this post. That sound of a skateboard always turns my head! Thanks for the memories this post brought me :)

melani | 10:54 AM

my first crush was a skater. Tony Hawk was the end all be in those days. All the cute boys had that shaved head with the hair to one side, long. Ahhh, the 80's.

Moved on to Snowboarders though. Mmmm.

Ray | 5:48 PM

OMG, I love this song! I first found out about it from a YouTuber (who had this song in one of her videos). And even though I'm an East Coast girl, I still love this song. ;D