It's been a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day ... until now.
At my house, everything is due at the same exact time. The coming of a new month signifies that it's time to pay life’s tolls. All of ‘em. At once. The credit, the dues, the fees. The trademarks, the taxes and the roof over our head. Ding, Dong! That beautiful dinner two weeks ago and the new fence that just got finished. The trinkets and the excesses. Due now. Mayday Mayday!
It happens every month, and regardless of your financial status and ability to hit the kitty — it’s obviously worse when ya can’t hit it and being indie darlings of media like we are, well, we’ve had those days — the whole exercise feels Sisyphean. A chunk of flesh and we start again. Ain't life sweet? Pay the dues, then get back to the scroll where life looks like sunsets, palm trees, pumping days at home that ya missed and backstage passes at country music festivals after every refresh.
Now, it’d be easy to rattle off the various chipped teeth in my life. We all have ‘em. My daughter's runny nose. The south wind and May gray currently plaguing my Friday surf window. The car needs a wash and the gas gauge is saying empty. Didn’t I just fill it? I’m sure you have your ailments. Your challenges. It’s why we love dark music, right? As AFI once sang: “We Dance in Misery!”
This morning I woke up to a new invoice. An invoice arriving on the 2nd of the month? What could this be? I thought I already paid my pound of flesh and my biggest challenge today would be what toppings I want for Pizza Friday. But there it was, awaiting my clickthrough. Due now.
I opened it and what was waiting? An invoice for two brand new surfboards that are ready. Take my money! This is the best day of my life!
Few things have the ability to alter a surfer's mood than the sweet scent of a freshly sanded and finished surfboard with their name in the foam. The possibilities that new surfboard promises are infinite and exclusively pleasurable. They sit there, sexy, smooth, beautiful, their story yet to be written. An instant classic no doubt.
The realties and near future for most of our surfboards involve dirty wax, dings, days rotting in the hot car, bogged rails and tons of surfing cellulite (pressure dings). But for this moment, before the wax has touched them, when they are simply an invoice promising future happiness, they are worth the investment. Which is why I make sure to always get two.—Travis Ferré
Editor’s Note: I want to thank all of you who became paying subscribers to our Substack. We are very grateful and fired up to keep your surf life inspired and entertained. If you haven't, consider buying in, we're having a ball. Drop in.
Below are some links to what we’ve gotten up to in our first month.—Travis
The Best Surf Book I’ve Ever Read
Interview with Paul Banks, lead singer of Interpol
Don’t Be Prey: A Love Letter to Lost Inspiration (and my wife)
10 Ways to Live With Intention
Interview with Chef Scott Clark of Dad’s Luncheonette
Notes of a Miserably Happy Surfer
How to Dress When You’re an Adult (who also surfs)
The Best $100 a Surfer Can Spend
Interview with filmmaker and photographer Michael Cukr
Bad Boy Club: Can Al Cleland Jr. Make Surfing Dangerous Again?
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[Above photo: Mike Hynson by Ron Church]
