Frozen Assets

22° (-5°) but everyone was pretty amped

the 4Runner is working out well - such a capable little truck

Fall to Early Winter Image Back Up.

Mostly Instagram until I get Adobe Lightroom figured out. But here they are anyway:

First Post in a Long, Long Time.

So why, you ask?

The main reason is software. This blog is mainly about pictures. One day I said yes to an Apple "upgrade", and discovered they no longer support aperture, their fine photo editing and file management application. OK, so if you don't support it, fine, but the upgrade has me totally shut out of the program, and all my files. Grrrr.

So for the past 3 months I've been struggling, and I mean struggling to lean Adobe Lightroom. After 3 months I don't think I'm any further along than when I first bought it. Apple, Adobe, you're killing me.

So – what's been up over here?
There was a lot of work done on my house, it's pretty much done. New shingles, new retaining wall, new kitchen. The good news is the whole project was finished pretty much on time and on budget. The general contractor and subs were outstanding. Let me know if you'd like a reference - they all rocked.


Also, a minor Labor Day fender bender in Gloucester turned into a totaled car.

Insurance guy: "oh yeah, that's minor, we can fix that no problem"
Me: "sigh--–great news"
Insurance guy: "just a few questions – how many miles on it?"
Me: "225,000 miles."
Insurance guy: "oh yeah, that's totaled"
Me: "sigh"

So now I drive a 4Runner, it rocks. Any 4Runner drivers out there? Check in and let me know!



Not much else for 2016 other than a long list of celebrity deaths, and the election of Dear Leader, and a bad case of the Fall/Winter blahs. It wasn't all gloom and doom, I had my 20 year surf anniversary. Two decades of donkey! So the holidays are over, it's a new year, and we'll just keep on keepin' on.

Lastly, I wish all of you, dear readers the brightest of dawns ahead in 2017.

July 2016 Image Backup

July has brought us a flat spell for the books. But the hot weather, 70° water temps, and epic Summer evening thunderstorms all mean that life is good around these parts. I'm in the water every day - friends, do yourselves a major and pick up some swim fins, you'll see, they're a gas.

Here are some pics - oh yeah - my house is being ripped up inside & out, new retaining walls (out with the RR ties, in with local granite -- yay!) and cedar shingles. Stoked that I'm finally getting to this, it was overdue, and I'll be even more stoked when this is all done and paid for.

Roof rack antics

I have nightmares about this happening to me, but this always cracks me up :)

Fly Away: the Necessity and Tragedy of Surf Racks from ENCYCLOPEDIA of SURFING videos on Vimeo.

Meet Marianne

A French girl you may know.
Marianne is a national symbol of the French Republic, an allegory of liberty and reason, and a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty.

Marianne is displayed in many places in France she symbolizes the "Triumph of the Republic". Marianne is one of the most prominent symbols of the French Republic, and is officially used on most government documents.

Marianne is

1. Opposed to monarchy
2. Opposed to tyranny
3. 100% for freedom and democracy
4. A big supporter Liberté, Égalité, as well as Fraternité.

Leave it to the French to use a woman to represent the Republic. Maybe a feminine allegory was also a manner to symbolise the breaking with the old monarchy headed by kings, and promote modern republican ideology. Furthermore, France and the Republic themselves are, in French, feminine nouns (la France, la République), as are the French nouns for liberty (fr:Liberté) and reason (fr:Raison).

France has had a very rough go of it since last November, so keep the faith Marianne, you are bigger than all this evil that's come your way, I hope you know that.

June Closes With Fun Waves, Healed Ribs