manuals are hard

Proverbially, we should judge men by their friends. I think we can also judge women by how well they spot skateable debris.

I spend the day getting blasted out of the water at sciency meetings by people communicating with me in their second language. I was told, "don't worry, there is a learning curve." Yeeeesss. Everest has a learning curve as well, but it doesnt mean everyone makes it to the top alive. Much less back to the bottom. But the situation isn't hopeless, it's just totally humiliating. I was just saying that I hate that I'm not good at thinking just as much as I hate that I'm not good at skating to lzyk on our walk home (she was at the meeting and didn't seem to struggle with concepts, even though it was in her third language. My ego can't handle this sort of onslaught for long). We had thanks giving beers at a super beer bar in a super terrible town.

Anyway, we got off the bus back in Taipei near 行天宮 and walked home. Just as I was saying something witty and awesome, she pointed out five wooden pallets on the widewalk, and said "can you skateboarding on those?" Yes, yes, you can. We discussed how to bring them to the bridge. Ingeneously, she recommended taping them together wit hthe ducktape we have under the couch. She was impressed that I thought I could move them all they way from 行天宮 on top of my skateboard, since it's a few stations down the road.

I put her to bed and skated back up the sidewalk, through the hookers and empty black mercedes and white bmws that dominate the sidwalks in the prostitution zone. I half expected the pallets to already be gone when I got there, but they werent. I taped them up (goddam, lzyk is smart) and pushed them down the side walk for a long long while, stopping to beer up when appropriate.

arriving at the bridge felt like a triumph, like having run a marathon or having clogged a toilet. I have wanted to contribute something to this spot for three years, and finally, I did. It isn't much. It's just some manual pads, or if you're creative, something else, I guess. I thought I would have no energy left to skate, but I was so afraid that someone would steal the pallets and sell them for scrap before anyone actaully skated them that I staked them up and had a go. It started at about 2 am. it was fun. It kept going. I skated it like a race track, form one end ot hte other. in the back was a hobo sleeping on bench with a blue blancket, and in the front o nthe other end was a hobo with a white(ish) blanket. neither one of them responded the the musci I was making as my wheels thumped onto the pallets. I just couldnt stop, like a maniac. A cop came by eventually, but kept walking and didnt say anything. I kept going and going. my legs cramped up and I got more beer and tried some more manuals. finally, I ate it pretty hard. I did a few more, just to show myself that I wasn't giving up, but my feet hurt so bad that continueing wasn't really a long term option. I skated home, but didnt feel like sleeping, so i kept going north and found a brilliantly beautiful metal grate bank to marble ledge, both sides. I skated it until security decided it wasn't acceptable. The annoyingness of the sound of me hitting that metal bank was 10/10, I cant believe they let me skate it so long. Then I popped a hail mary **** **** in the cross walk and drunkely caught it, in front of a hoard of late night taxis and scooters. someone honked, maybe in anger at seeing me do that. I will never know, because I blasted back home and got two more tbs, but they're in the fridge, because I don't think I can stay awake long enough to drink them.

at least if someone steals those pallets, i have skated them every living shit out of them. I hope everybody else gets a try. Thanks lzyk. you are a good woman.