Have Board, Will Skate.

posted in: Day In The Life 8
How do they do that?? Photo: Wikipedia.
How do they do that?? Photo: Wikipedia.

 

Greetings from Westchester County, New York.

I have been in three states this week and I am resting up in this hotel room so that I can do two days of lecturing at the fabulous Northern Star Quilt Guild’s “World of Quilts” (WOQ) quilt show. If you’re in the area, you’d better getch’er tushie down/over/up here because there are vendors, demos, and something like 200 quilts ready to be viewed by 2,000+ people when the show opens tomorrow at 10 a.m. The WOQ show has been going strong since 1989 and I am honored to be a part of it this year.

In other news, I would like to talk about skateboards.

Actually — no. First, I want to tell you why I would like to talk about skateboards.

You may have noticed that this blog is updated regularly. These days, I’d say I’m posting 4.87 times a week. What this means, according to my arithmetic, is that if you click on my blog each day — you gorgeous, brilliant creature, you — roughly 70% of the time you’re going to find something new to read.* That number a little under my target of 5.6 posts per week, but with all that goes on in my life in a typical 24-hour period, I’d say it’s pretty good.

To help myself churn out such sparkling content (ho-ho!) week after week, I keep a running list of ideas on my computer. I don’t refer to the list every day, nor do I add ideas to it every day. But when I find myself with the time and inclination to blog but without a specific target in mind, I’ll check the list. Here is about half the list right now:

  • the time I did transcription work
  • Alexander the Great wore linen armor!!
  • the benefits of a degree in theater
  • everyone skateboards (“ca-chunk, ca-chunk-ca-chunk”)
  • the Wikipedia entry for “Mary”
  • Britney Spears in Las Vegas
  • apologize
  • Hannah letter to the editor
  • first kiss
  • “nabadana”

I’ll work my way through them, you can be sure. You might even decide that you have nothing better to do with your life than make up some kind of PaperGirl bingo card and play with your friends and neighbors! Every time I write one of the posts on the list… Okay, I don’t know how bingo works. I’m sure you could figure it out, though and I’d like to personally thank you for inspiring me to write the “PaperGirl bingo card.” I am inexplicably happy about that configuration of words.

Okay, so skateboards.

They’re absolutely everywhere. The other day, I realized that one of the major sounds of the city these days — as common as taxi honks, car alarms, the whoosh of the El — is the “ca-chunk! ca-chunk! ca-chunk!” of a skateboard as a rider whizzes by on the sidewalk. (The “ca” is the front wheels hitting the sidewalk seam; the “chunk!” is the sound when the back wheels cross it.)

When did the profligation occur? Skateboards have been around a long time and of course I have seen (and jumped out of the way of) many of them in my day. But there are way more right now and I’m curious as to why. Another interesting phenomenon is that though there are more skater boys than there are girls, there are so many girls who get around this way! I see them all the time. It’s pretty cool.

And that’s it. That’s what I wanted to say about skateboards. So…

Bingo.

 

*If that math so wrong it’s not sort of sweet but just embarrassing for everyone, please let me know. Thank you! — The Management.