I’ve been having this thought lately….that I feel like I have no influence on the physical world anymore. I get up, stumble around in my apartment getting ready for the day, walk downstairs and out into the street. I wait for the bus, or I wait for the train, or I walk somewhere. Enter a building, wait for the elevator. Walk to my desk. Wait for emails and telephone calls. Wait for the day to be over so I can wait for a train or a cab or walk home. I feel like my effect on the physical world is negligible. If I didn’t get up and leave my apartment all the buses and trains and elevators would still run filled by other people moving throughout their lives. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel MENTALLY and SOCIALLY connected and active, just not physically. The only time I feel connected and aware of the physicality of existence is the hour spent playing indoor soccer on the weekends, bumping into walls and against other players as we scramble around NYC high school gyms, chasing an giant tennis ball.

So this spring and summer I am going to reconnect with both my roots and my grounding in this city. I am going to feel the concrete under my feet and probably under my jeans when I’m sprawled out on the sidewalk somewhere. My new method of transportation:

OK well, I probably won’t be doing anything like that rad dude, but I am committed to getting some exercise and ripping up some curbs on the way to work in the AM. I ordered a complete from CCS and it’ll be here in 8-10 business days….and I cannot wait, especially with the next 5 days being sunny and in the high 50s, promising spring to arrive soon. I got the Zero Safari deck:

…which I think elicits a new pair of sneakers and some new colorful summer wear. Maybe a new pair of DC Pure’s…

…or classic Van’s Chukkas.

And just to prove I’m not crazy, skateboarding as a reliable means of transportation is nothing new. Check out this article about Matthew Settle, the all-American dad-rocker on Gossip Girl, who is crazy enough to skate through traffic in Times Square, and look good doing it! So think about how you move in the world and how, if at all, you connect with the tangible world around you, and if you’re feeling disconnected, try skateboarding!